28 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



stand wetting. He said he hardly thought 

 anybody would be there, but he finally decided 

 to come. He was about to move out of the neigh- 

 borhood, and here was a little (lock of Missouri 

 boys and girls in their teens, great stalwart 

 young men of both brain and muscle, waiting, 

 as it seemed to me. for soim^body to form them 

 into line. I took the liberty of selecting a nice 

 young fellow for superintendent. He said he 

 had only rcci'ntly united with the church, and 

 that someboiiy with raor(! age and experience 

 would do a great deal better. My friends. I do 

 not agree with this kind of talk. A new swarm 

 of bees will frequently work with double the 

 vim, and gather ever so much more honey, than 

 an old stock with double their numbers. Is not 

 this true? Well, a new convert, even if he is 

 not so familiar with the IJible. and does not 

 know how things are usually done, will some- 

 times bring souls into the kingdom while one 

 of the old deacons would be getting them into 

 classes. No disrespect to the old deacons, how- 

 ever. They generally have enough to do if 

 they keep bright and young in spirit, even if 

 old in years. The boys were curious about my 

 wheel. Some of them thought that, with the 

 young Missouri horses they had there in the 

 inclosure, they could throw gravel in my eyes 

 where I had nothing but that little 22-lb. Vic- 

 tor. Well, may be they could. If I should 

 ever have a chance to try a race with them I 

 believe God would give me grace to rejoice and 

 feel happy, even if they came out ahead. 



I asked them about the state of temperance 

 in their county-seat. Said I, "Boys, what on 

 earth was it that brought the saloons back to 

 Lebanon after you had once got them banished 

 from your town ?" 



Nobody replied to my question just them; 

 but quite a spell afterward a fine young fellow 

 spoke up something like this: 



"Mr. Root, you asked what it was, a while 

 ago, that brought the saloons back to Lebanon, 

 after we had once cleaned them out. I think I 

 can tell you. It was the love of money.'''' 



There you have it, friends. That was a very 

 short temperance speech; but I think it strikes 

 at the root of the matter. Without Christ Je- 

 sus to drive selfishness out of the human heart, 

 all schemes for temperance reform, or any 

 other reform, in fact, must fail. 



EOBBING SICK PEOPLE. 



ELECTROPOISE UP TO THE PRESENT DATE. 



Our readers will doubtless remember that I 

 gave an extended expose of the Electroooise, in 

 our issue for August 1, 1894, page 627. Some 

 months before, I wrote it up with a caution, or 

 warning, in our Medina paper, because agents 

 were selling the bauble throughout our county, 

 and because religious papers seemed to be its 

 particular vehicle for advertising. Now, I want 

 to confess to you that this matter has been on 

 my mind a good deal. I felt greatly troubled to 

 see our people, during these hard times, paying 

 $2.').0O for a thing of no more value than a china 

 nest-egg, and not a whit more scientific, let 

 alone its power to cure the most difficult chron- 

 ic disease; but I felt more troubled still to think 

 that not a scientific paper — not a professor and 

 not an electrician, so far as I knew, in the whole 

 United States, had come forward to back me 

 up. I wrote to the Scientlflc Anieriam, and its 

 editor said that it was undoubtedly a fake, and 

 that they had no faith in it; but they did not 

 print a single word of warning. The boys in 

 our machine-shop were studying electricity, 

 and they backed me up, of course ; but nobody 

 seemed to care very much how much swindling 



was done in that line. I have written to our re- 

 ligious papers that advertise the thing, calling 

 them to order ; but they do not seem to care, so 

 long as they get their money; and. worst of all, 

 men and women, who ought to know better, 

 question my right to criticise. They suggested 

 it was improbable that such pi'omineiu men 

 would give the Electropoise such a testimonial 

 if there were not something in it. Some of my 

 good friends mildly suggested, too, that perhaps 

 / did not know ([uitc every thing, and may be I 

 was not up to the times in the way of improve- 

 ments. Well, a few days ago a woman was in- 

 jured by an accident near our home. Mrs. 

 Root took her in and cared for her until she was 

 able to ride home, lieforeshe went away, how- 

 ever, she said she had an Electropoise. and that 

 it was a wonderful help. The poor woman was 

 not able to talk very much, and so I did not get 

 a chance to interview her; but Mrs. Root says 

 her statement was something as follows: Be- 

 fore she had the Electropoise she was obliged to 

 take great quantities of medicine in order to be 

 up and get around. The agent who sold the 

 thing, however, informed her that she must 

 chop ofT all medicine entirely; the 'poise would 

 not " work " where medicines were around. 

 " Work," indeedl Well, she discarded all medi- 

 cines of every sort, and confined herself to fol- 

 lowing Electropoise directions implicitly, and, 

 strange to tell, she was very much better right- 

 away. Did you ever! And this reminds me 

 that I want to ask you to read T. B. Terry's 

 talk on medicines, on the next page. But now 

 for the triumphant expose of the Electropoise. 

 The following is taken from the Western Chris- 

 tian Advocate, of New York: A. I. R. 



AN ELECTRO-MEDICAL FRAUD. 



" Electricity " a scientific journal published in 

 New York, la Its issue of November 31, prints an eu*- 

 po.se of the "'Electropoise," an extensively advertised 

 panacea, with certificates of its effects from men in 

 high places. It turns out, Ijy scientific demonstra- 

 tion, to be the veriest cheat, acliieving its magical 

 healing through tlie imagination of its patrons. It 

 claims to cure by " thermo-electric induction " —a 

 conceit that has no scientific basis, there being no 

 such thing known to electricians; to so polarize the 

 body as to attract the oxygen to its surface, and 

 diffuse it through the system. Tlie expert affirms 

 that " neither magnetic nor electric polarization has 

 any effect upon the atmosphere, except, to abstract 

 from it tlie dust: thai, if the body were polarized 

 to a million volts, ihire would be no such attrac- 

 tion," wliile this " little joker" lias but "one-thou- 

 sandth of a volt." Tlie proprietor alleged that tlie 

 closed cylinder contained two rare metals no chem- 

 ist could analyze, while there are no metals which 

 can not he analyzed. 



Elrctririty purchased an "Electropoise," and had 

 its cotitents examined. It was found that the nick- 

 el-plated cylinder, three inches long and one inch in 

 diameter, was filled with flowers of sulphur and 

 graphite made into a paste and allowed to harden, 

 which, when used, is placed in cold water to set up 

 by moisture a chemical action, which is so small as 

 to be insensible and capable of exerting no influence- 

 on the system whate\cr. In one end of the cylinder 

 is fastened an ordinary flexible cord, tlie c)ther be- 

 ing affixed to the metal clasp of a garter for attach- 

 ing it to the wrist or ankle. Flowers of sulphur 

 costs two cents a pound, and graphite ten cents. 

 The cylinders can be made, in quantity, for ten 

 cents each; the cord, two yards in length, can be 

 had at retail for twenty-five cents; and the garter 

 for five cents, making the whole cost forty-two 

 cents. The 'poise is sold for $2.5. 



Another, a wall instrument, sold for $.50, consists 

 of a walnut board, upon which are two multiple 

 switches, each with six points. Two flexible cards 

 and garters are attached, and the "polarizer" is 

 suspended and dropped into a basin of water. Two 

 patients can be treated at one time by each attach- 

 Ino a garter. One of the switches regulates the 

 current by turning the lever to the desired point. 

 The other switch is for disinfecting germs and 

 destroying odors, which is electrically absurd. 



The proprieter professes to have a twelve-page 



