64 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1."). 



and making it a light meal at that. And I 

 would earnestly advise omitting supper entirely 

 where it interferes with perfect rest at night. 

 The modern fashion of having dinner, as they 

 call it, after dark, is a fearful innovation. 

 Why! it makes me almost furious when I think 

 of the wholesale way in which the senseless 

 tyrant Fashion presumes to undermine and 

 break down the health of the coming genera- 

 tion. If the old sinners and devotees of fashion 

 want to kill themselves off in that way, let 

 them do it, and be out of the way of setting 

 such a bad example for peoph; of sense. But I 

 for one feel like thanking (Jod that it is in the 

 bounds of reason to expect to live SO or 100 

 years— yes, and keep strength, enjoyment, and 

 happiness.* When I come around to see you, 

 my friend, riding one of the modern wheels, 

 even at 75 years old, then you will believe what 

 I say, and may be you will believe me also, 

 when I tell you the rules of health, and the 

 food God has provided for us to eat. are plainly 

 described and pointed out in his Holy Book. 



Notes of Travel 



FROM A. I. ROOT. 



WASHINGTON. D. C. 



Very reluctantly we decided to omit the pro- 

 ceedings of the first day of the national conven- 

 tion, as we could not well arrange it without at 

 least a little Sunday travel. Another thing, I 

 was very anxious to see Pennsylvania by day- 

 light. By taking a sleeper at Cleveland on Mon- 

 day night, we should be ready for the morning 

 train that leaves Pittsburg a little after day- 

 light; and. at the same time, if the train reach- 

 ed Washington on time we should be able to 

 take in at least a part of the evening session. 

 It so happened, however, that the train was 

 late, so we missed the first day entirely. Tues- 

 day morning, as soon as it was light enough to 

 see, my face was close to the window, watching 

 for a glimpse of the beautiful Ohio River; and 

 I was rewarded by getting quite a view just 

 before we came into Pittsburg. As there was 

 but a short time between the arrival of our 

 train and the departure of the next, we break- 

 fasted at the lunch counter in the Union Depot; 

 and it is not a very bad i)lace to breakfast, 

 after all. Excellent appetizing dishes in great 

 variety, and at a moderate price, were smoking 

 hot for the throngs of hungry travelers. In 

 Pittsburg they have a waiting-room for ladies, 

 where no men are admitted under any circum- 

 stances; at least, the notice says "' positively;" 

 and I believe it is rather the nicest waiting- 

 room for ladies that I have seen anywhere. 

 This fact seems to reflect a little on the lords of 

 creation. A glass of excellent milk cost only a 

 nickel, and the dimensions of the glass were so 

 great that it held pretty nearly a small pitcher- 

 ful. Good for Pittsburg! By the way. I found 

 excellent milk everywhere, at a nickel a glass. 

 Why in the world should anybody want beer, 

 or even tea and coffee, when they can get both 

 food and drink at such an insignificant price '? 



I for one am very sorry that the natural gas 

 has failed in Pittsburg to such an extent that 

 they have been obliged to go back to coal and 

 its attendant soot. In fact, the morning sun 

 had a tough job of lighting up the city, even 



* Yes, andto "smt41 ^'ood" too. A baby, when it 

 Isn't overfed, is as sweet as a violet; some of them 

 keep that way until old enough to hear their hus- 

 bands tell them so, and I verily believe it is piissiMc 

 for biitli husbiiiid and wife to keep that wiiy all the 

 time. 



in broad daylight. Why didn't somebody ever 

 tell me of the wonderful number of manufac- 

 tures of diff'erent kinds lining the railroads for 

 miles out of Pittsburg? We used to think that 

 " Down East" was the place for machinery, and 

 for manufacturing establishments by the acre; 

 but I very much doubt whether there is another 

 spot on earth where immense factories are 

 scattered over the landscape so thickly as they 

 are for forty or fifty miles out of Pittsburg. I 

 suppose one reason is. that Pittsburg has un- 

 limited material, such as coal, gas, iron, stone, 

 slate, oil. and ever so many other things, with- 

 out end; and the way the towns are growing 

 up, it looks to me as if Pennsylvania were soon 

 to have 7>oys «?(f7. (jirls without number, to take 

 care of these beautiful factories and railroad 

 enterprises. It is true. Pennsylvania has not 

 many prairies and level plains — at least. I did 

 not see them; but she has grand hills and 

 beautiful rivers. I was very much interested 

 when I found our route lay along the Cone- 

 maugh Valley, and right through the little 

 city of Johnstown, that has become so celebrat- 

 ed all over the world. God grant that she may 

 never have cause for. such notoriety again in 

 thatVme. But enterprise and industry have so 

 built up the i)lace that there are now very few 

 traces of the flood. Great buildings, bright and 

 beautiful in their newness, have taken the 

 place of those destroyed by the flood; and were 

 it not for the fearful loss of life, one might be 

 tempted to think that the flood was not such a 

 very bad thing after all. 



Even though every thing was covered with 

 snow, the landscape was full of interest to me. 

 Although we did not go through the oil part of 

 the State, strictly speaking, yet the derricks at 

 some points were pretty thickly scattered over 

 the landscape. The mountains are not as lofty 

 as those in California, as a matter of course; 

 but some of them are very pretty ; and as only 

 a few of them are too high to admit of agricul- 

 ture, it looked pleasant to me to see good fences, 

 cultivated fields, etc.. for the most part, even 

 through the mining districts. 



Toward eleven o'clock I felt a strong tendency 

 to take my accustomed nap before dinner; but 

 there was so much to see that I feared I might 

 lose much of importance. Ernest and Mrs. 

 Root, however, promised to awaken me if we 

 should pass any thing of very great interest. I 

 had been watching for the Horseshoe Curve, 

 and making a great many inquiries in regard 

 to it. When I did wake up and take a look 

 across the great valley it reminded me very 

 strongly of the California views, and I began to 

 scold because they came so near letting me go 

 through it asleep. Just then Ernest declared 

 he could see a locomotive and accompanying 

 train away off' in the distance, at the further 

 end of the valley. Sure enough, there was an- 

 other railroad, away off there on the mountain- 

 side. The train was coming right toward us 

 too. Then we came to a jumping-off place, as 

 it seemed; but the locomotive decided not to 

 jump off— at least, not that day: so it began, 

 circling around the mountain. Pretty soon I 

 ejaculated. "Why. that other railroad comes 

 right up and crosses this one. See! over there 

 it is. close by us." In just a few minutes more I 

 went on: "Why, what a stupid lot we are! 

 TJiis is the Horseshoe, and that is our own road 

 over there. We are just going back into the 

 mountains around a curve, and then we are 

 coming out right across the valley." My com- 

 panions thought it could not be; but so it was. 

 sure enough. Even had the company decided 

 to put in an immense bridge across this valley, 

 it would have been going down hill too fast. 

 and so they made that circle out on the moun- 

 tains in order that they might get down a little 



