1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



435 



JAKE SMITH'S LETTERS. 



TKUHBLE INTO THE MEKTIN HOUSE. 



A.I. Olcenings—dcer 

 Sir: -Wove been hcw- 

 viii trubble into our 

 raeetin-house. Mis- 

 sus Welder is 1 of our 

 members, and she 

 wears the best close of en- 

 ny buddy into the meetin 

 house. Pier man is a mem- 

 ber, too, and. bein the 

 richest manjan the con 

 gerrygashun, he pays a 

 good eel. Well, the Wel- 

 ders took a notion that 

 wede ougth to hev a noo 

 preecher. I gess the oald 

 one wuzzent spruce enuff' 

 for them. His name is 

 Bond — Elnathan Bond. 

 And he doan't preech ver- 

 ry t]oury sermons. Least- 

 ways, not floury enuff for 

 them. And he doant dress 

 up slick enuff for them. 

 Welder sez he doant 

 preech Bible sermons. He preeched a sermon 

 about how men hed ot to vote for men which 

 was uprite, and woodent make laws to sell 

 whisky, and faver horse horse- racin and 

 gamblin and sitch, and Welder sed it wuz 

 bringin politicks into the pullpit, and that wuz- 

 zent Bible preech in. He made a good eel of 

 tock about it. 



He doant proprh. Bibi«_ 



4»rrWoni, -Ht br- 



He 6 

 4»rn 



politicks, infothf p; 





him woodent he hev respeckt enuff for the 

 Lord's house to let uthers enjoy the wurship in 

 silents. Jim's muther got her back up about 

 it. Sez she, '"Our preecher's alltogether too ir- 

 ritubble. He hczzent tack to git along with 

 yung fokes. He haint no influents over em." 



Uther people eobd see it different, but they 

 diddent say nuthin. If they had. it mite a bin 

 different, but they diddent say nuthin, for the 

 Barkers wood a soon got over it. But the Wel- 

 ders and the Barkers got toogether and become 

 verry thick. Missus Welder tride to cumfort 

 Missus Barker about Jim bein spoke to rite out 

 into meeting; and the more she cumforted her, 

 the more uncomfortable she felt about it. 



Then Missus Welder went to old Missus 

 Bleeker, as good an oald sole as ever lived, but 

 she izzent what you mite call the strongest car- 

 rickter in the world, and wants to keep onto 

 the good side of whoever shes with. Missus 

 Welder went to her, and, sez she, " Do you 

 know," sez she. " that they is a awful state of 

 discontentment into the church about our 

 preecher?" 



"Lawsakcs! nol " sez Missus Bleeker; "and 

 him sitch a good preecher! Why, I heddent 

 herd a word of it. And I doant see how weal 

 ever find a man as good as him to take his 

 place, one that evry buddy likes so well, and 

 that has sitch a good influents with the yung 

 fokes. Why, him and his wife has jist bin the 

 makin of the yung fokes Endevver sasiety. It's 

 jist too bad." 



"Yes, it's too bad," sez Missus Welder, "but 

 they is a larg- feeling of dissatisfaction, and. no 

 matter how good a man Mr. Bond is, we must 

 have harmunny and peas. The church is more 

 consequents than enny preecher, and Irae al- 

 ways willin to sackerryfize my oan 

 feelins for the good of the church." 

 " Why, yes." sez Missus Bleek- 

 er, " I spoze we must do evrything 

 for the best good, but it's too bad, 

 too bad." 



Then Missus Welder started for 

 Joe Parks. Jake Smith. 



This izzeiit the end. 



Then Barker's fokes got huffy. Thair hoy 

 Jim is about the worst boy around, bein spoiled 

 from a baby, and now hi'"s l(i. Evry vSunday he 

 kep up a racket into mietin. back by the dore. 

 Finelly it got so bad tiiat the preecher stopt 

 right into the middle of his preechin and ast 



SOME VENERABLE BEE-BOOKS. 



A BRIEF REVIEW OF SO.ME OF THE 



WORKS OF THE OLD ENGLISH 



WRITERS. 



A large pile of old hooks attract- 

 ed my attention the other day, just 

 as I was going out to our noon 

 service. Now. the sight of an old 

 book has a great charm for me, 

 and so I stooped down and glanced 

 at one. After dinner I asked what 

 the books w(>re and where they 

 came from. After stating their his- 

 tory in brief. Ernest asked me if I 

 would write a description of them 

 for Gleanings, as he had no time 

 for such a task, and knowing that 

 their perusal would at least please 

 me. and perhaps be instructive as 

 well. The books themselves schem- 

 ed so quaint, and yet meritorious 

 from a literary point of vi(>w, that 

 it seemed to me a great pity to 

 have them all standing idle in a 

 book -case, like a lot of prisoners 

 waiting for court to open; so I 

 made up my mind to let the bee-folks of to- 

 day know what those of old times have done; 

 how they grappled with the winter question: 

 how they tried to stop swarming, and how long 

 it took the world to Hud out the true se.vual 

 nature of the queen and drone. 



