1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



711 



Close to the depot at Niagara Falls is a tem- 

 perance hotel. 1 have oiUMi been told in trav- 

 eling, that temperance hotels never furnish as 

 good accommodations as the other kind. I know 

 this temperance hotel ai Niagara Falls is not 

 that way. They gave me a place to lie down 

 and take my nap. and then as much beef- 

 steak as they give four or live ordinary guests, 

 and charged me just the same as the rest of the 

 crowd — 40 cents for dinner. The place is neat, 

 clean, and comfortable, and the managers are 

 courteous and obliging. 



As we had but little time at the Falls, a car- 

 riage was hired to take our crowd— Mr. Calvert, 

 Constance, and Carrie. The children were 

 greatly afraid I would tire myself out, even 

 though I reminded them again and again that 

 I was training for a racer or a wheel-rider, and 

 I enjoyed the fun of running and jumping, up 

 stairs and down, and getting ahead of them. 

 You see I am light as well as strong. When we 

 got on the islands of the Three Sisters I remem- 

 bered my corns, for it was a pretty hot day, and 

 I was taken with a great desire to wade in the 

 rapids above the falls. To my surprise, how- 

 ever, they loudly protested, declaring I would 

 fall down on the slippery rocks, and get washed 

 over the great cataract, like ever so many 

 other people from time imm'-morial. by their 

 thoughtless folly. I was inclin(»d to resent the 

 imputation that the rapids could wash down a 

 live Root who had his wits about him— espe- 



prefer and enjoy imre wato' to any other beverage 

 the world can afford. 



No doubt much of the intemperance in intoxicat- 

 ing liquors as well as other iiilemperate eating and 

 drinking, is caused by disordered digestion. The 

 patient is restless and uneasy, and ci"ives this, that, 

 and the other; drinks sod.i-water. Hires' root-beer, 

 etc., in the vain linpe that it may liit his trouble 

 and make liiin feel bettei'. Give us a natural, 

 healthy digestion, and pure water, when thirsty, 

 and it satisfies better than any tiling else that has 

 been invented. Is it not so ? 



From the "Yearbook of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture" for 1894 I quote the fol- 

 lowing: 



'■ I have come to the conclusion that more than half the 

 disease whii'h embitters the middle and latter part of lite is 

 due to avoidable eriors in diet, * * » and that more mis- 

 chief in the form of actual disease, of impaired vigor, and of 

 shortened life accrues to civilized man * * * in England 

 and throughout Central Europe f lom erroneous habits of eat- 

 ing than from the habitual use of alcoholic drink, consider- 

 able as I know that evil to be."— SiK Henry Thompson. 



And from the same book I quote from an article 

 written by W. O. Atwater, Ph. D.. the following: 



We consume relatively too much of the fuel ingredients of 

 food-those which are burned in the tiody, and yield heat and 

 muscular power. Such are the t.its of meat and butter the 

 starch which makes up the lart,'er part of the nutritive m.a- 

 terial of Hour, potatoes, and sugar of wnich such enormous 

 quantities are eaten in the Unit t a States. Conversely, we 

 have relativel.v too little of the iJiotein or flesh-forming stib- 

 stances, like the lean of meat and Hsh and the gluten of 

 wheat, whicli make muscle and sinew, and which are the basis 

 of blood, bone, and brain. 



Another most Important fact stares us in the face 

 right here. You know smnething of the trouble I 

 have had in finding water I eould drink with safety 

 when traveling, especially alter drinking from dif- 

 ferent wells and springs in different localities. 

 Well, on this Toronto trip I drank water from 

 many different sources, from wells having water 

 strongly impregnated with different chemicals; but 

 the Water, tjefore being used, was first made boiling 

 hot, then cooled, a little at a time, in a saucer; in 

 this way I could drink a pint, or even more, without 

 any liarm wliatever. I tried this so many times I 

 think there can be no mistake. Boiling any water 

 for drinking-purposes answi rs a twofold purpose- 

 it effectually liills organic matter or vegetable life 

 in tlie water, and changes or precipitates, at least 

 to some extent, what chemiials there are in solu- 

 tion. Still further, a patient sutfeiing with sum- 

 mer complaint, who can ii"t drink cold water or 

 water at ordinary temperatures, can drink water, 

 as hot as the mouth can liear, as a general rule, 

 without any distressing symptoms. 



cially the father of the Roots then present. I 

 heeded not their protests, but climbed down to 

 the water's edge, tossing my shoes and stock- 

 ings back at their feel to keep as mementoes if 

 I got washed away. The folks on shore made 

 such a fuss, however, I was really obliged to 

 wade out of the water (which, by the way, 

 was hardly knee-deep) and come ashore and 

 forego my delicious pastime; but I felt as I can 

 imagine a young duck does that has been hatch- 

 ed under a hen. and I told them I was coming 

 some other time when they were not along, so I 

 could have the fun of wading in Niagara Falls 

 rapids to my heart's content. 



John and I paid half a dollar for a water- 

 proof suit to go down under the falls; but the 

 girls thought they wotild stay on top. I did 

 not feel satisfied to go out under the falls as far 

 as the walk and railing extended. The guide 

 said I could climb out on the rocks a little 

 further if I wanted to. They guaranteed their 

 water-proof clothing to keep us perfectly dry, 

 so I walked out to the place where I could get 

 right under a part of the fall. The wind sway- 

 ed the broken-up spray one way and the other, 

 so occasionally it would come all over me like a 

 deluge. Once in a while the torrent was so 

 great as to make me gasp for breath; but 

 through it all there was a most delicious sensa- 

 tion (for it was a rather hot day) that for a 

 time seemed strangely familiar. Finally 1 re- 

 called that wheel-ride in the dark, when I pass- 

 ed through a foggy swamp where the air was 

 so laden with vapor that it gave a delicious 

 sensation likedrinking water in filling the lungs 

 with the damp water-laden air. Now, I have 

 never heard this mentioned before; but I believe 

 it is not only delicious but wholesome, during 

 hot dusty weather, to wash out the lungs by 

 breathing air so heavily laden with watery 

 spray as to make you pant a little at times for 

 breath. After I had enjoyed this until Mr. 

 Calvert reminded me we would have to hurry 

 back to the carriage, which was hired for only 

 a limited time, I decided I could not go back 

 without getting a better chance to kneel at the 

 very foot of the great cataract. I saw a place 

 where I could climb down through the rocks, 

 and get clear into that boiling, hissing foam of 

 mighty roaring waters. One little spot there 

 seemed to be, right at the very foot of it all, 

 where I could sit down and let the surging bil- 

 lows rush and roar up to my very feet. I got 

 almost down there — in fact, one minute more 

 and I should have been in the coveted retreat. 

 Just as I was ready to slide down, however, 

 there was a change in the program, and great 

 waves of snowy, misty spray covered the spot 

 entirely, and rolled up to my very feet. I am 

 sure there would have been no danger of being 

 washed into the boiling caldron: but the girls 

 would certainly have had more cause for alarm 

 had they been around just then. Now, why 

 don't they have some iron rods for inquisitive 

 Yankees to hang on to? or why don't they pro- 

 vide even a loo'^e robe, so that people may 

 safely dip into these delicious and entrancing 

 waters, if they choose to? Why, to me the 

 greatest charm of Niagara is to get right into 

 the foam and suds, and be really a part of it. 



T hate to find fault; hut there is quite a little 

 bit of humbug about the wav the ticket-vend- 

 ers advertise these places. The "' light water- 

 proof clothing" they tell about is a pretty 

 good load for a rna?i to carry, let alone advis- 

 ing women to go down there. And the " intel- 

 ligent guide" who takes yon around, and "ex- 

 plains" cueri/ thing, is a stupid, dirty fellow, 

 smoking a pipe. He never volunteers a word 

 unless you ask him a question; and then he 

 seems to begrudge the time it takes to keep the 



