GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



rying me along almost as if I were flying. You 

 see, the wind was just behind me. and my speed 

 was just about equal to that of the wind. So I 

 sailed along in company with the flying leaves, 

 feeling no wind at all. There is something 

 strange about this — feeling yourself in a dead 

 calm when there is a tremendous wind going 

 along with you. I was thinking I should make 

 Wadsworth in ample time if I could only keep 

 my wheel in the beaten wagon-track. But, 

 alas! the big drops of rain put an end to my 

 flights of fancy. Just ahead of me I saw a 

 bright light. It was so dark I could scarcely 

 see the building; but I knew it was a little 

 piece off from the road. I tried to And the 

 gate, but ran past it and up into the barnyard. 

 By the time I had found the door of the house 

 I was pretty thoroughly drenched with rain. I 

 tried to get the man whom I found there to 

 hitch up and carry me to Wadsworth. But he 

 said his wife did not like to stay alone in the 

 night; and as they hadn't lived there very long, 

 they were not very much acquainted with any- 

 body. In fact, the neighbors had not been very 

 neighborly to the new comers. 



It was getting late, and I was damp and wet. 

 I do not really relish riding in a buggy any of 

 the time; and then it occurred to me that, be- 

 fore I had the wheel, I used to be pretty good 

 on a walk; so I borrowed an umbrella and was 

 going to start out, when my friends very kindly 

 tendered me the use of a lighted lantern. The 

 lantern was bright and clean. There was not a 

 bit of dust on the tin work, nor a particle of 

 smoke or soot on the glass; in fact, it was just 

 such a lantern as I should not feel ashamed of. 

 evf'U if I were to go among crowds of educated 

 and intelligent people. Why do I speak of 

 such trifling things? Because they always 

 mean something. I made up my mind that 

 that woman was a Christian, whether her hus- 

 band was or not; and I got my impressions a 

 good deal from that lantern. My friends, if a 

 stranger should come into your house out of the 

 dark, what would the lantern look like which 

 you would have to offer to him ? More of this 

 anon. 



I found the roads quite sliopery, and I did not 

 make very rapid progress. In fact, it took me 

 over an hour to walk three miles and a half. 

 About a mile ahead was one of those beautiful 

 soft-water springs I have told you about. If I 

 rode in a buggy I could not enjoy a drink from 

 that spring; but by the time I got there with 

 my lantern and umbrella I was quite ready to 

 enjoy a cupful, and to thank God for it. 



The town of Wadsworth has, for a number of 

 years, been a '"dry." or prohibition town, and 

 this in spite of railroads and coal-mines in the 

 immediate neighborhood. Within the past 

 year, however, some strange state of affairs has 

 come about, and the saloons have been called 

 back — hence this special temperance meeting. 

 I sat a little while by a hot stove, turning my- 

 self until I was pretty thoroughly dried, when 

 I was called upon the platform. The house 

 was tilled, and the clergymen of the place were 

 together on the platform. Before the speaking 

 commenced, the pastor of the church leaned 

 over and whispered to me something like this; 



'■ Mr. Root, you have no conception of the 

 apathy, indifference, and general discourage- 

 ment that have got hold of our people here in 

 Wadsworth. The whisky men have crowded 

 on to us. and six new saloons are now bright 

 with new paint, and doing business full blast. 

 A part of our people think there is no use try- 

 ing — they are too much for us any way. An- 

 other part seem to think things are not so 

 terribly bad, and there is no use making any 

 fuss about it; still another part have become 

 discouraged, and do not care. If you and 



brother Russell can wake us up to a sense of 

 our shortcomings we shall consider you a God- 

 send." 



Howard H. Russell was the speaker. I was 

 simply to introduce him, and to back him up 

 when he seemed to need backing. But I am 

 not going to talk temperance to yon just now. 



By dayliglit next morning I picked up my 

 umlirella and lantern, and started back on foot. 

 Permit me to say I did not take a particle of 

 cold; and, like my friend Wilbur Fenn in re- 

 gard to the potato-bugs, I did not expect to 

 take cold. I have learned, by years of experi- 

 ence, that a thorough drenching by a summer 

 shower does me no harm at all. providing I can 

 keep up some sort of exercise so as to keep 

 warm. In fact, I was just getting over a cold 

 contracted by staying out too long when look- 

 ing at the fireworks at the World's Fair; but 

 my wetting did not aggravate the cold a parti- 

 cle. As I passed the spring I had another de- 

 licious drink of that beautiful soft spring 

 water. If any man who is addicted to intem- 

 perance enjoys his drinks as much as I do 

 quenching my thirst at these springs that God 

 has given, then I am mistaken. Any way, my 

 drinks are taken with a clear conscience and a 

 thankful spirit, with the conviction that God's 

 love is over and around me. The man who 

 drinks any intoxicant does not have this feel- 

 ing. Am I not right? 



I told the friends I stopped with the evening 

 before, that I should like to take breakfast 

 with them. Accordingly a nice breakfast was 

 in waiting as I came up the front walk. I 

 could find thi> gate easily enough by daylight. 

 We had potatoes and ham, and fried corn -meal 

 mush with syrup. When I asked them where 

 they attended church, the husband and wife 

 exchanged looks. Finally Mr. T. replied: 



" Why, Mr. Root, we do not go to church 

 much anywhere since we have got married." 



The wife looked from me to her husband, 

 and then added with a smile, " Please tell Mr. 

 Root whose fault it is that we have not been to 

 church since we were married." 



The latter was not said in a complaining 

 tone, but with an appealing look that I under- 

 stood. He answered; 



" Well. I am hired to work this farm of over a 

 hundred acres, and I do it almost all myself. 

 Of course, we exchange work some, but I am 

 sure I work for them more than they work for 

 me; and on Sunday I am too tired to do any 

 thing but rest and get ready for the work of 

 the next day." 



" Look here, friend T., you have been a 

 church-member and a Sunday-school teacher. 

 Now tell me truly, don't you feel a great deal 

 more tired when you stay at home than when 

 you attend worship and do your part toward 

 remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy ?" 



I had to smile pretty broadly when his 

 answer came out, bright and clear: 



" Yes, sir. I have noticed that very thing." 



As his wife and I both laughed at his frank, 

 candid admission, he added: 



"Another thing, a body feels mean Sunday 

 night, when he has not attended church nor 

 worship of any sort." 



Just a mile and a half away was a Methodist 

 church that was in sad need of members. Two 

 miles in another direction was a Lutheran 

 church. The good wife, before marriage, had 

 attended the latter, while her husband was a 

 Methodist. How often we come upon such a 

 state of affairs as this ! and how sad it is that 

 the result is also too often the case that they do 

 not go to church at all as a consequence! I ad- 

 vised them to attend service where the wife 

 and mother (a child just a year old sat in a 

 high-chair) felt at home; and as this was Sat- 



