May 30, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



347 



here an opportunity at once secured the papers which treated 

 of pet stocli and were deliglited to note tliat not merely tlie 

 advertisements but everything about the prospective pets was 

 not only scanned but thoroughly read. The pets came, were 

 housed according to the latest rules and improvements, and 

 were for a little a great pleasure. They soon, however, lost 

 their attractiveness, but the taste for reading commenced in 

 the scanning for advertisements, ever remained. These pa- 

 rents never see white mice but they feel grateful for their 

 share in the development of a taste for reading which has 

 ever been of inestimable value to their boy. 



Mr. Coggshall's implied reason for reading — that it brings 

 success — is certainly one not to be neglected. We all remem- 

 ber "Sedan "and the speedy undoing of Louis Napoleon. 1 

 have seen it often stated that the greater intelligence of the 

 Oerman army explained the quick conclusion of that momen- 

 tous conflict between the two great nations. 



I have been greatly impressed as I have visited among 

 our farmers, not only In Southern California, but also in the 

 East, to note how the best success in the field and orchard 

 always goes hand In hand with a good library and numerous 

 excellent papers in the home. It is true that in the past, fru- 

 gality, native sense, and a close attention to business, would 

 often bring success even to the unlettered. But that day is 

 becoming a thing of i he past. Competition Is rapidly crowd- 

 ing the weakling to the wall. This is becoming as true in 

 agriculture as in other lines of business. Very soon the man 

 that succeeds must know the best and practice It. He must 

 be fully up to the times. To do this, he must possess the 

 books and papers, and must be a close reader of the same. 

 What has given such sections as Western New York, Northern 

 Ohio. Michigan, all of New England, their supremacy in the 

 way of progress and advancement? Unquestionably it came 

 from the fact that they were preeminently a reading people. 

 The home-table gave to the home circle the best of books and 

 magazines and such papers as The Country Gentleman. 

 Rural New Yorker, and American Bee .Journal took no second 

 place among the literary works in these homes. 



In speaking to our people of Southern California, I often 

 hold up one hand with fingers and thumb extended and 

 explain upon five things of which, we of this State, have great 

 reason to be grateful : Our mountains, our wondrous climate, 

 our incomparable fruit, our pure water right from the moun- 

 tain rocks, and last and best of all, our splendid people. 

 Visitors from the East often remark upon the splendid culti- 

 vation which they note in the orchards of our Southern Cali- 

 fornia. They often say there is nothing to compare with it In 

 the East. If they should look in upon the home circle of an 

 evening, they would make the more interesting discovery that 

 this intensive culture was not alone characteristic of the 

 orchard work, but was equally true in the mind-field. I have 

 heard it said that every one reads in our Southern California 

 homes. While very likely this is an exaggeration, it certainly 

 is true that ours is a reading community, and is destined to 

 become entirely so. The man who does not read must catch 

 the habit or move out. This is a kind of blessed leaven, and 

 every community may well pray that it be brought in liberal 

 gauge to their ■' home circles." 



But the business advantage is by no mea"ns all that conies 

 from this habit of reading. We not only need men who know 

 the details of their work, l>ut we also stand in pressing need 

 of men with broad views, men who grasp the right relations 

 of things, men who have broad sympathies, that go beyond 

 neighborhood. State, or even country. With what pride and 

 gratitude we have all noted and followed the course of Mr. 

 Hay, our Secretary of State, as he has managed the intricate 

 problems of our recent international affairs. We would not 

 liave been so honored if he had not been a man of widest 

 view and broadest sympathy. In this case the whole world is 

 to feel the influence and receive an uplift because of the wide- 

 reaching stretch of a single mind. It goes without saying 

 that Mr. Hay could not have taken the proud place which he 

 occupies except for the fact that he was a man of widest read- 

 ing. His culture stopped not with his home affairs, but he 

 shows that he understands the temper and relations of tlie 

 various other nations even better than they understand each 

 other. It Is, then, one of the best uses that we derive from 

 wide reading, that our view is broadened and we are not dis- 

 turbed by the petty things of life, but are able to grasp the 

 right meaning of the great events, and so are able to plan and 

 work for the greatest good of all. 



Every right-minded person loves companionship. K\rn 

 the dear Master, in those bitter hours in the garden, was sor- 

 rowful when the. disciples fell asleep and could not watch with 

 him in that terrible hour. I iu'ver see a good man or a g"od 

 woman treading life's patlnv:iy alone that I do not feel sorruw- 



ful, and wish that a better fortune had granted to them the 

 dear companionship which Is the brightest crown of the best 

 home circle. Even the most favored of us can not always 

 have our loved ones about us. Death, cruel circumstance, 

 often forces separation whether we would or not. Then it is 

 that the book comes as a very angel of mercy. Who of us 

 has not driven loneliness from our homes and hearts at least 

 by a short-lived forgetfulness as we have chosen for our com- 

 panion the treasured words of some great author? That 

 greatest and best-loved American — .\braham Lincoln — it is 

 reported, had but two books in the long preparatory days of 

 youth— the Bible and Shakespeare. Yet what good use h(> 

 made of them. The one made him companion of many of 

 the greatest minds and greatest hearts that ever blessed the 

 world ; yea, it did better than this, it gave him a heart that 

 reached out even to the most lowly of God's people and was 

 ever alive to the needs and sufferings of those about him. 

 Except for reading, and these two great teachers, who were 

 such good companions during the long, prosaic days of Lin- 

 coln's boyhood, we should have been poor indeed, for we 

 should not have had Abraham Lincoln to put the superlative 

 gilding upon the pages of our nation's history. 



The ability to entertain one's self, and to be happy even 

 though all our friends depart from us, is certainly one to be 

 treasured among the best of our possessions. A library full 

 of the masterpieces of literature, and a taste and desire to 

 seek out the be.^t they have for us, will do more than aught else 

 in the world to drive ennui and the gloom of loneliness from 

 the one whom bitter fortune has separated from the loved ones. 

 It is a problem, and no less a puzzle, to many of us to know 

 how to keep the children Interested in the home, that they 

 may not know of the evil or be enticed by the sinfulness that 

 the street and even worse places are ever reaching out to lure 

 the precious children into ways that lead to death. 



I have two habits of mind for which I have never ceased 

 to be grateful. I think I am mostly indebted to my mother 

 for them. She was the mother of a large household, and the 

 cares incident to her life, minding as she did not only the 

 household, but butter and cheese making, and often the care 

 of the yard, made her life, I think, one of the fullest that I 

 ever knew. Mother loved books and nature. She was never 

 so busy that she could not get a little time each day to read, 

 and, as I look back, it seems to me one of her best pleasures 

 was in reading with us children, or going out to Interest us in 

 some insect or flower that seemed peculiarly Interesting and 

 beautiful. The result of all this was not only to make mother 

 the dearest companion of my childhood, but such a love of 

 books and reading that I never find the time to drag heavily, or 

 the days or hours to last too long. 



I remember once, a few summers ago, I was dropped at 

 Y'ucca, one of the most desert places of our great mid-conti- 

 nent desert. Numerous others were alike unfortunate. I 

 think I never knew more yawning in a single day or more 

 complaint against fortune. Yet it was one of the most inter- 

 esting days that I ever spent. A book, describing the natural 

 history of the country and the numerous object-lessons right 

 at my feet which vividly illustrated the word-picture of the 

 book, made the day all too short. It was with regret that I 

 greeted the evening and the coming train that was to bear me 

 away. 



The greatest good from books, is the soul uplift, for this 

 is immortal. Space permits me only to mention it here. 



Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now 



g-et the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their 

 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on 

 other matters. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a prelrty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer. a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy 

 of this song. 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



