372 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



THE BEAN CROP, ETC., IX FLORIDA, IN SPITE 

 OF THE BI>IZZARDS. 



Mr. Root;— You reniPmber the 7th of Febru- 

 ary every ihinR was killed. We thought it of 

 little use to try again after being frozen out 

 twice in one season; but one of my neighbors 

 had 32 lbs. of seed beans on hand, which he 

 concluded to eat to save thera. I induced him 

 to sell them to me, and I planted them Feb. 13. 

 I have shipped 78 crates to New York, picked 

 from this 32 lbs. planting, and shall probably 

 get 40 more. We have a good crop of Irish 

 potatoes, which we sell here on the river for 

 $2.00 a bushel. Our table is well supplied, and 

 has been for two weeks, with cabbage, summer 

 squash, Irish potatoes, string beans; and rad- 

 ishes and lettuce for the last month; so you 

 see we do not have to wait long here, even if 

 we do lose all by a freeze, which does not hap- 

 pen more than once in about ten years, and this 

 the hardest in fifty years. H. T. Gifford. 



Vero, Fla., April 22. 



EIECTEOPOISE, OXYDONOR, ETC. 



A PLEA ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CASE. 



Bro. Boot;— I see you have inserted in Gleanings 

 several notes condemnatory of the Oxydonor (in- 

 cluding it with the Electropoise). Now. may I not 

 asl? if j'ou are not talking- too fast, and perhaps con- 

 demning a thing whicli you may not understand 

 because you do not see how it can be useful 1:)ecause 

 it does not coincide with what lias been used in the 

 past. Ts it so perfectly impossible that there shall 

 be any new discoveries made in science? and is it 

 not possible that this shall,be one ? Other discov- 

 eries have been ridiculed in tlie past, aud no doubt 

 will be in the future. 



I send herewltli a circular of the O.vydonor Vic- 

 tory. Please look it over, and decide in your mind 

 whether you can believe that all these certificates, 

 over 2,'jfl, are either frauds, or liave they been re- 

 lieved or cured all by the powers of their imagina- 

 tion ? If you had advised your sick friends to go 

 direct to tlie Lord Jesus Christ, tlie great physician, 

 for healing, rather than depend on Electropoise or 

 Oxydonor, I should not have said one word more 

 than "Amen." A. H. Van Doren. 



Hamraonton, N. J., April 19. 



My good friend, I should be very glad indeed 

 if it were possible that these people have made 

 a new discovery. Yes, new discoveries are 

 being made in science every day; but it is not 

 possible that some new discovery may decide 

 that 2 and 2 make .5. instead of the old orthodox 

 way, 2 and 2 make 4. Another thing, you con- 

 found legitimate discovery with fraud and 

 deceit. In regard to the 2.")0 testimonials, it not 

 only makes it sadder but more deplorable. 

 Suppose these people all declared that nailing 

 a horseshoe over a door performed these wonder- 

 ful cures — would you believe it? Well. Electro- 

 poise and Oxydonor are even worse than this, 

 for they claim to be scientific, and that they 

 have made a discovery; whereas, it is all hum- 

 bug, cheat, and fraud. These men are hypo- 

 crites. Read again what U. S. Chemist, Prof. 

 Wiley, said on page .321 of our last issue. 



And now read below the testimony of Pres. 

 Ballantine. of Oberlin College: 



Ohirlin CiiUege, President's Office, Apr. 10. 

 Mr. A. I. Riiot, Medina, Ohio:— I agree with you 

 that it is inexcusable for reliaious papers, or re- 

 spectable papers of any kind, to adveitise such 

 frauds as Electroiioise. To take the money of sucli 

 ad%-ertisers is to connive at a confidence game wliicb 

 is all the meaner liecause practiced upon the sick. 

 If I can co-i)perate with you in any way in awaken- 

 ing the public conscience itwillgive'me satisfac- 

 tion. Very gratefully and truly yours. 



W. G. Ballantine. 



It is not a difference of opinion, mind you, in 

 this case; neither is it something these fellows 



have discovered that Prof. Wiley and Pres. 

 Ballantine know nothing about. In their cir- 

 culars and their claims they have invaded the 

 chemist's domain — have talked about taking 

 oxygen from the air with their humbug appa- 

 tus. They evidently know too little of chem- 

 istry to realize what absurd quackery they are 

 promulgating. In any case, they are guilty of 

 hypocrisy and deceit. They know full well 

 there is no meaning at all, and no science, to 

 the jargon of their circulars. Now, mind you, 

 this is not simply my assertion. All learned 

 men and scholars of the present day are in 

 accord with the position I have taken. They 

 must stand with me, for there is no other place 

 to stand. I leave it to you— is it probable that 

 these pretenders have discovered something 

 valuable and good? Do men gather grapes of 

 thorns, or figs of thistles? Since you have un- 

 dertaken to defend these things, I wish you 

 would turn to page 274, where I quoted from 

 the Oxydonor circular, and answer me as 

 to whether there is sense or science In what I 

 quoted. 



I thank you for your concluding words. You 

 are aware, friend V., that I do. in every issue of 

 our journal, exhort all mankind to turn to the 

 Lord Christ Jesus; but should I be called upon 

 to stop a thief in the streets, or to arrest a mid- 

 night assa.«sin. I should hardly think it worth 

 while to exhort the thief or assassin, in the 

 same breath, to turn to Christ. Should I not, 

 rather, call upon the officers of the law to ar- 

 rest him and put him safely in prison, and then 

 sit down by his side and exhort him to lead a 

 different life ? 



I have looked the Oxydonor circular, which 

 you were so kind as to send, all over, and I con- 

 ifess the testimonials are astounding; but. dear 

 friends, have you not noticed testimonials are 

 now floating for almost every thing ? And they 

 are setting men with " Rev." attached to their 

 names to indorse it. If you go among the 

 heathen you could, no dotibt, get thousands of 

 testimonials as to the efficacy of their gods, 

 made of wood and stone; but it would not, in 

 your opinion, help your faith in those gods; on 

 the contrary, it would sink your faith in those 

 who were so foolish. If Oxydonor and Electro- 

 poise shall be the means of waking people up 

 to the absurdity of this whole matter of being 

 cured by every new thing that turns up, no 

 matter whether it has sense or science either to 

 back it. then I grant you some good will be 

 done. If these men have made a discovery, 

 why do they not come forth boldly, and pro- 

 claim it to the scientific world? They t7are 7iot 

 do it. I do not think I have ever met a man 

 who had the cheek or hardihood to stand up 

 before intelligent and educated people, and 

 attempt to palm off such ridiculous stuff for 

 truth or sense. I should pity a man who would 

 even attempt it. 



On page 333 we gave the names of four reli- 

 gious papers thai would not accept advertise- 

 ments of Electropoise. There was a fifth one 

 in this group — the Outlook; but before we went 

 to press a late copy was received containing a 

 large advertisement of the thing. Of course, 

 the Outlook was taken out. As we go to press 

 "•e find the following in Electririty for April 24: 



For a journal to assist in the promotion of a gross 

 swindle, and to accept the money of a swindler as a 

 consideration for that assistance, precludes tlie 

 possibility of such a journal, or the clergyman con- 

 ducting it, doing successful missionary work among 

 those who kuow the facts, and there are thousands. 

 We may add that we have the names and addresses 

 of six ' members of Plymouth congregation who 

 state that they were humbugged out of the price of 

 an Electropoise through seeing it advertised in the 

 Outlook some months ago. 



I will add here that the editor of the Outlook 



