1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



361 



about law. Piiltiug Ihem in jail does not do 

 any good, for that is just what suits them best, 

 especially in ihe winter time when it is too 

 cold to be outdoors. I agree with you that it 

 is a shame and a disgrace to our country; but 

 what are you going to do about it ? " 



Just then it occurred to me that I had seen 

 notices in the papers, of tramps being maimed 

 or kiUed while stealing rides on the trains; and 

 nobody seems to care whether ihey are l<illed 

 or not, and I don't know that they care very 

 much themselves either. All manliness, pride, 

 intelligence, or interest in any thing except to 

 satisfy their animal wants, seems lo have been 

 lost, or at least mostly obliterated. 



A few days ago a messenger boy at our sta- 

 tion, a bright little chap who carries telegrams 

 and other messages all over town on his wheel, 

 came to me saying there was a tramp over at 

 the depot, with a broken leg, and that nobody 

 would take care of him or seemed to care any 

 thing about it. 



'■ Why, go and inform the infirmary director, 

 and he will certainly see tliat the tramp has 

 proper attention." 



" Well, that is just what I have done, Mr. 

 Root; but he says he does not belong in our 

 town nor in our county, and he can not do any 

 thing for him without consulting the board of 

 directors. He has been there already since 

 seven o'clock this morning." 



"Was his leg broken by climbing on the 

 train '?" I asked. 



I was busy that morning, and had not time 

 to think of tramps or of anybody else, and I do 

 not know but I opened my lips to say some- 

 thing like this: 



" If he got his leg broken by jumping on the 

 cars, contrary to law, it served him rieht." 



I guess it must have been Satan who whis- 

 pered to me to add, " Let him lie there until he 

 gets enough of it; he is just meeting his own 

 deserts. It is good enough for him, and it is no 

 affair of mine, anyway." 



By this time I began to be startled. I was 

 thoroughly disgusted with Satan, and mentally 

 bade him shut up. I do not know but I felt 

 like adding, *' Get thee behind me, Satan." And 

 then perhaps it was to let Satan see that I was 

 not that sort of man atall, I turned to " Toney,"' 

 and said. 



" Toney, you get some help; have that man 

 taken over to the hotel; get a doctor, and fix 

 up his leg, and tell them all to bring the bill, 

 and I will pay it." 



Then I started to do several things that 

 ought to have been done while I was talking 

 there. To tell the truth, I was a little surpris- 

 ed when a pleasant feeling came over me, and I 

 did not know ju-;t why it came, either. Then 

 somebody seemed to whimper the words at the 

 head of my talk to-day. and I was almost start- 

 led lo think that I had unconsciously used al- 

 most the language of the good Samaritan: 

 "Take care of him: and whatsoever thou 

 spendest more, when I come again I will repay 

 thee." I did not have any thing to pay. after 

 all. Toney did as I told him; but by the time 

 the doctor got around, the infirmary director 

 had orobably come to about the same conclu- 

 sion that I had. So they fixed up the tramp 

 and sent him to a hospital in Cleveland. 



In conclusion let me say that it is, with»ut 

 question or word of debate, our duty, of course, 

 to take care of an enemy, a tramp, an escapad 

 criminal, or a liighwayinnn, who is wounded 

 and helpless, no matter how he got into such a 

 plight. When the matter was brought up at 

 our Saturday prayer-meeting, one good brother 

 said something like this: 



" Brothers and sisters, it certainly is high 



time that this lawless element in our land were 

 looked after; but I think Mr. Root is right 

 when he says that those who will not work 

 shall not eat; and I am really afraid it is the 

 good people of our land — may be the Christian 

 people— who are paymg <i premiuin on this sort 

 of tramp life by feeding inuiscriminately every- 

 body who comes along. These fellows often 

 boast that they can get a living, without work. 

 They have learned the knack of getting on and 

 off from moving trains. The railroad compa- 

 nies are helpless, therefore the tramps roam 

 from one end of the land to the other, having a 

 good time, and we Christian people support 

 and encourage them in it. They toil not, nei- 

 ther do they spin; but hard-working people 

 feed them. Is it any wonder that this class is 

 increasing to an enormous extent? " 



Last Thanksgiving day, just as we were sit- 

 ting down to our dinner over at Mr. Calvert's 

 a man came to the door for something to eat. 

 My daughter, Mrs. Calvert, in order to get rid 

 of him without worrying me to hunt up work 

 for him on that day, when the factory was shut 

 down, gave him a nice slice of turkey, and some 

 bread and potatoes — in fact, quite a comfortable 

 Thanksgiving dinner. As he passed by the 

 window where we were sitting at our meal, he 

 raised his hat and thanked us very graciously. 

 Now this fellow was tolerably well-dressed. 

 The hat lie raised was almost brand-new; in 

 fact, he was baiter dressed than A. I. Root is 

 most of the tinii- But he had discovered that 

 he could get a good meal of victuals without 

 paying a cent for it. if he met the right sort of 

 people and practiced the arts he had learned in 

 the way of getting into people's good graces. 

 Giving him a dinner was a trifling thing, you 

 say. But is it not true that trifling things like 

 this may be the cause of inducing thousands of 

 able-bodied men to throw up work and take up 

 a tramp life? 



SUB-IKRTGATION. 



The bed described on page 29, Jan. 1, is now, 

 during the middle of April, giving us some of 

 the finest strawberries I ever raised anywhere. 

 The foliage is beautiful, bright, and clean. 

 Under the influence of plenty of water, protec- 

 tion from severe weather by means of glass, 

 and steam underneath the bed to give the 

 requisite heat, we have complete success; and 

 during the past ten days of almost July weath- 

 er in the month of April, with scarcely a drop 

 of rain, the sub-irrigating beds have been work- 

 ing to perfection. By the way, in our corres- 

 pondence, a friend, Mr. E. W. Turner, of New- 

 ton Falls, O., sends us a little home-made wood- 

 cut showing how he applies sub-irrigation to 

 growing vegetable-plants, etc. We give the 

 cut and his description. 



A NEW WAY TO GROW CKLEKY— BY SUB-IRRIGATION. 



You Will see by the above cut its upplication in 

 celery or caulitiower growing-, where moisture is 

 the essential factor. Its cost is nominal compared 

 with the results you will g-ain by its use. 



The appliances necessary are a common Ji-inch 

 black gas-pipe. Bend up one end 8 inches; screw on 



