1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



15 



WHY PEOPLE ARE OUT OF WORK. 



•SOMKTUING BOTH ENCOURAGING AND DIS- 

 COURAGING. 



Dear friends, I am moved to write this be- 

 cause of a little recent experience. Some of you 

 know, but perhaps not, all, that in our saw- 

 room we have saws lo cut across the grain. 

 These are called ''cut-ofif'saws. Then we have 

 .saws to split boards lengthwise of the grain. 

 These are called "rip-saws." One is all right 

 for the ripping business, and the other is all 

 right for the cut-otl business; but to change 

 them about, neither would work at all. Oh, 

 yes! you might crowd a board lengthwise a 

 little way on a cutoff saw, and vice versa; but 

 it would be like hitching a team to the back end 

 of a wagon instead of the front, to do work. 

 Well, now for the illustration: 



There was a man in the saw-room, who, if he 

 were given boards square in shape, or something 

 near square in shape, would continually make 

 a mistake and push them against the saw at 

 right angles from the way they should be push- 

 ed; that is, he did not seem to know whether he 

 was sawing with the grain or across it. When 

 I heard of it I remonstrated with him. I told 

 him I could hardly believe it possible that he, a 

 wrown-up man, should even once make such a 

 blunder as that. He excused himself by saying 

 that others did the same thing frequently. I 

 have not learned whether this is true or not. I 

 told the foreman of the room, when we were 

 discussing the matter, that, in my opinion, the 

 man who does such a thing even once should 

 be sent home, and never permitted to come into 

 a shop again where machinery is used. The 

 above may be rather severe. Perhaps it is; but 

 one whose mind is not on his work lo the extent 

 that he does not know whether he is pushing 

 his board lengthwise or sidewise, I should say 

 that he by such act of indifference or half-heart- 

 edness, literally cuts off his chances of making 

 his way in the world. It is just this very thing 

 we are considering that makes the difference 

 between a man worth 10 cts. an hour and one 

 worth 35 cts. an hour. You may say that every- 

 body makes mistakes sometimes. Yes, some 

 kind of mistakes. But did you. my friend, ever 

 in your life, hitch a horse to the back end of 

 your wagon, and start off, instead of hitching it 

 to the front end? My illustration is. perhaps, a 

 little exaggerated, but it shows what I mean. 

 Now, this man of whom I am speaking is or has 

 been a special friend of mine, and one whom I 

 should be glad to help. When his shortcomings 

 have been reported I have taken his part, and 

 talked with him, and afterward said I was sure 

 he would do better. When he did not do better 

 I began to study into the case, and this has 

 come to light: He is naturally full of boyish 

 spirits, and is much given to good-natured jokes 

 and pleasantry; and he carries this thing so far 

 that he is very apt to be making fun during his 

 •work. We have had trouble in the saw-room 

 by certain ones indulging in throwing blocks at 

 each other. Notices have been put up, request- 

 ing that this thing be stopped. But even right 

 in the face of these notices I saw this man 

 throwing a block at one of the other men. He 

 explained it by saying that the block was thrown 

 at him. and that he simplv threw it back again, 

 and I happened to see only the last part of it. 

 Now. this may be some excuse, but it is not 

 a sufficient one. A grown-up man with a family 

 to support should be above every thing of this 

 sort— that is, during working hours. Some 

 people do not seem to be able to comprehend the 

 fact that almost all kinds of work nowadays 

 require careful. tJioutjhtfuI, earnest attention. 

 The men who get good pay, and who are mak- 



ing great strides in their profession, concen- 

 trate all their energies — all their attention and 

 thoiujht — on I he work in question. Let us take 

 another view of the mattir. 



I believe we have now the reputation of mak- 

 ing pretty fair work — 1 will not say the best in 

 the world, for every little while— in fact, al- 

 most continually — some customer (sometimes a 

 customer from clear across the ocean) is calling 

 our attention to little defects in our work. A 

 few days ago one of the endless chains in the 

 machinery that makes our sections broke a link. 

 A new one was put in, and the machine was 

 supposed to be all right. Mr. Calvert happened 

 to pass by. however, and he discovered the 

 bolts of beautiful while basswood were not 

 passing squarely through between the dovetail- 

 ing saws. One end of each bolt was ahead of 

 the other. It was only just a " lettle," as old 

 Yankees would say; but that " leetle" made a 

 great part of the sections grooved too deep on 

 one end, and not deep enough on the other. 

 The men who were running the machine neg- 

 lected lo make very careful tests after the 

 breakdown, to be sure the work done was ex- 

 actly as before the break. When we hold 

 our councils— that is, the members of the cabinet 

 of the A. I. Root Co. — it is the same old thing 

 over. '"Oh, I wish we knew where to get real 

 careful, accurate men — men of intense devo- 

 tion to the work that is intrusted to their 

 charge!" Now, please do not all of you write 

 to me, saying that you are just the chap we are 

 after, and that you want to come here. If you 

 are just the chap we are after, you would not be 

 out of work. People would be watching for 

 you, and bidding for you, and may be quarrel- 

 ing about who should have you. I know, for I 

 have grown gray in this sort of thing. Some- 

 times I have been tempted to say, "Oh, why is 

 it that God made so many worth so little, and 

 only a few worth so much?" But, hold on. 

 (Jod did not make us so. We did it ourselves, 

 and we are doing it ourselves. The man who 

 has good common sense can stop his foolishness 

 and play, and attend to business if he tries 

 hard. He can, if he cores enough about mak- 

 ing a success in life, and the chances are that 

 he can do it at home, right where he is. You 

 see, the successful bee-keepers and the success- 

 ful berry-growers and the successful men any- 

 where, and they are the earnest, keen, hard- 

 working people. They do not always work 

 hard with their muscles, but their brains are 

 ever on the alert to discover better ways, and to 

 achieve greater perfection. Now, it is not be- 

 cause these heedless people do not know what 

 nice work is; for if they want to buy any thing 

 they are oftentimes the first ones to complain of 

 something that is not what it ought to be. We 

 all know when we are properly served by the 

 rest of the great outside world; but a great 

 many of us do not core very much whether we 

 serve other people honestly and well or not. 



This little sermon is written on New Year's 

 day; and if it meets the eye of some one who is 

 out of a job, or is likely to lose a job which he 

 already has, may God rouse him up to recognize 

 and realize what I have been telling him; and 

 may the Holy Spirit help him to see his faults 

 as others see them. My friends. I too am guilty 

 of poor work. I am guilty of half-hear led nei-s 

 and of slipshod ways — that is, at times I am. I 

 sometimes fear, however, that 1 am oftener 

 guilty of being too vehement and exacting be- 

 cause others around me seem to be so indifferent 

 to what is going on before their eyes — yes. to 

 put it plainly, so stupidly indifferent to their 

 own interests; or, to put it in a saddrr way 

 still, lo the interests of their ivives and children, 

 and others depending upon them. 



After the above was dictated, the following 



