1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



187 



would throw a block and hit him in the back. 

 Of course, the man would start up and look 

 around to see who threw at him. but every one 

 would be sticking to his work, apparently. Now, 

 it seems to me that I hardly need tell you that 

 this is a dangerous matter in a room full of 

 hands and full of machines. A man might 

 start so as to get his hand caught in a machine 

 or in a buzz-saw. Almost ever since we began 

 manufacturing, we have been sorely tried by this 

 sort of foolishness. We can excuse a boy for 

 acting boyish— at least, before he has been told 

 irhy it would not answer: but a grown-up man 

 who can not be taught to get over this kind of 

 foolishness ought to work for low wages; and if 

 that does not help him, he ought to lose his 

 place. Well, a few days ago somebody who 

 works for this neighbor picked up a piece of 

 cast iron that had been chipped off from some 

 machinerv. He threw it, and it struck a man 

 on his back. Then it bounded into a machine, 

 got into the gearing, and a breakdown that 

 cost. I have been told, something like two hun- 

 dred dollihs was the result. Who threw the 

 piece of metal? The proprietor spent a good 

 deal of time and very much pains, but he has 

 not found out yet. The one who did it is not 

 man enough to own up and take the conse- 

 quences; and if the others know, they won't 

 tell. I believe it would be a good idea if the 

 friends who work in shops would cut this out 

 and paste it up. or give it to the boss and let 

 him read it to the hands. Now I will tell you 

 how it affects wages. In the first place, the 

 hands who work in that shop have got to make 

 good that ?200, sooner or later, or, at least, a 

 great part of it. Unless the business pays ex- 

 penses, including breakdowns, the proprietor 

 ■can not pay the same wages and go on with his 

 work. In the second place, the boss can tell in 

 a very little time which hand would be likely 

 to throw blocks and which one would not. In 

 talking the matter over with the foreman of our 

 lumber-rooms, I spoke something like this: 



"Look here, Mr. W., the boy you see going 

 along there will never be in any such work as 

 that." 



Mr. W. assented. The reason is, the boy has 

 been carefully brought up by hard-working 

 •Christian parents. I spoke again: 



•' Now, there are A and li, who have been 

 begging for work almost all winter. One is a 

 boy. and the other is a grown-up man. Either 

 one of them would throw blocks, or play tricks 

 on the rest of the hands, any time he felt sure 

 the boss was not likely to be around." 



The foreman again nodded his head. You 

 see, friends, it does not take very many weeks 

 nor even days to take the full dimensions of any 

 boy. or man either, in this respect. You may 

 think you are sly. and that you succeed in 

 cheating: but not only is God's all-seeing eye 

 upon you, but those round about you know the 

 real state of your heart better than you think 

 they do. " A. I. R. 



THE union's early 1893 VICTORY. 



The Union, it seems, is not less an exponent- 

 for the cause of bee-keeping than it was before. 

 Already it has scored an important victory, 

 affording another valuable precedent. General 

 Manager Newman writes: 



BiiiUicr Riiiit:— The "first round" for the year 

 1893, in tilt' battle waged by tlie enemies of the 

 pursuit of bee-keepina: has ended disastrously for 

 them. The Ndtiiiiml Bc(:-Hi:iprr><' Uniiin comes out as 

 usual, triumphantly, and I think the members of 

 tlie Union who read Gleanings will be pleased to 

 read the news. 



On .Jan. 16th, as soon as the Senate of Missouri got 

 U) work. Senator Sebree Ititroducert the following, 

 entitled, '• An Act to regulate the keeping of H(jney- 

 bees in Cities, Towns, and Villages in this State, 



and to provide a penalty for its violation." The full 

 text is as follows : 



Be it Enacted by tltc General Assembly nf tlie State 

 of Missintri, as follows: 



Section 1.— No person shall own, keep, or have in 

 his possession or under his control, any honey-bees 

 in boxes, bee-gums, or other thing of confinement, 

 in any city, town, or village in this State, whether 

 organized under geiieial or special charters, nearer 

 than fifty feet from the line of any adjacent real- 

 estate owner, or person in possession of such adja- 

 cent property. 



Section 2.— Any person violating the provisions 

 of the preceding section shall, upon conviction, be 

 fined for each offense not less tlian ten nor more than 

 twenty dollars, and each offense shall be deemed a 

 period of one week after o.ie notice in writing shall 

 have been given to the owner or person in posses- 

 sion of the bees to remove the same to a distance 

 provided by the first section of this act; and if, 

 after notice, tlie owner, or owners, or party, in 

 possession of said bees, it shall be the duty of the 

 sheriff' of the conntj\ or the constable of the town- 

 ship, in which the offense is fommitted, to remove 

 the said bees to the said distance of fifty feet; and 

 for reasonable compensation for his services he 

 shall have an act of debt against the owner or per- 

 son in possession of said bees; and the said bees, 

 nor the boxes or bee-gums, nor any tiling in which 

 they shall be kept, shall be exempt from execution 

 to pay the judgment founded upon such claim for 

 said sefvii" « for removing tlie same as aforesaid. 



Section 3.— If the said honey-bees can not be re- 

 moved and kept in boxes, bee-gums, or other thing 

 at a greater distance tiian fifty feet from the line of 

 the adjacent owner or propiletor, as provided by 

 section 1 of this Act, then in such event the keeping 

 of them in such city, town, or village is absolutely 

 prohibited, and, after ten days' notice in writing to 

 remove the same, the owner or person in possession 

 or control of them shall be punished upon convic- 

 tion, as provided by Section a of this Act. 



Here is a clear case of prohibition of the pursuit 

 in all "cities, tiowns, and villages " in Missouri, if 

 it should become a law, for a tiee-keeper must have 

 over a 100-foot lot to be able to keep his bees " fifty 

 feet from the line of any adjacent real-estate own- 

 er, or person in possession of such adjacent proper- 

 ty." But few bee-keepers would have more than 50 

 feet in all. 



Mr. W. S. Dorn Blaser, ex-Secretary of the Mis- 

 souri Bee-keepers' Association, sent the "Bill "to 

 the Manager of the Union, and instantly the 

 Decision of the Supreme Court of Arkansas was 

 brought into play like a Gatlinggun, and copies of 

 it were sent to the members of the Legislature and 

 to the Governor. Letters were written to them, advis- 

 ing them not to allow it to pass, showing that it would 

 be a dead letter, as it was u nconstitutional, and would 

 be so construed by the courts, as they had the prec- 

 edent of the Arkansas Supreme Court to guide them. 



The Hon. R. L. Taylor, President of the Union, was 

 appealed to, and he backed up the General Man- 

 ager, by giving his "opinion " on the bill— that It 

 was unconstitional, and should be " fought to the 

 end " vigorously. 



Mr. Joseph G. Banning, President of the Missouri 

 State Bee-keepers' Association, also appealed to the 

 Manager of the Union, and was instructed to fight 

 the bill at every step— that the Union would see 

 him through, etc. If it had passed both houses, 

 then the Governor would have been appealed to, 

 and would in all probability have vetoed it. Presi- 

 dent Banning writes me thus: "I thank you for 

 your prompt assistance." 



When it came up in the lower House, the legisla- 

 tors were " posted," and promptly kiUcd it. And 

 thus ends another chapter in the "Comedy of Er- 

 rors "of the enemies of apiculturel The Union is 

 again triumphant, and adds " another feather in its 

 cap." 



A similar "farce" is now being enacted in Ne- 

 braska, but it will doubtless end in a like fizzle. 

 Bee-keepers have a right to be proud of the 

 achievements of their Union for Defense. 



Thom.\s G. Newman. 

 Oencral Manager. 



Hurrah for the Union! It should have good 

 and hearty support. As it will have other im- 

 portant work, perhaps, in other lines for this 

 year, the membership should continue to 

 increase. 



