398 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



tell this; for if you do, a great lot of people will 

 rush here to Medina to get a situation. No 

 doubt they think they could fill the bill. But 

 the trouble is, there are only a few in this world 

 of ours who have got at the real great truth in 

 our little text— "Not to be ministered unto, but 

 to minister," 



Shall I try to tell you what is needed in such, 

 cases? First, we want a clerk who is so well 

 posted in regard to affairs that he recognizes 

 that farmers generally are having a hard time 

 to get along. They are the victims, to a cer- 

 tain extent, of circumstances. Every person 

 ought to have a kindly feeling for the general 

 farming community; and he ought especially 

 to try not to annoy them and hinder them in 

 their work. The clerk who took this man's 

 order for the netting should have kept the 

 whole transaction in hand until he saw the 

 man had what he wanted and was started off 

 for home. If he had other customers to wait 

 on he should have brains, ability, and mental 

 strength to feel responsible for each and every 

 one of them, and call the necessary help if 

 needed. If other clerks were half-hearted or 

 dilatory he should have presented the matter 

 to A. I. E, , who, at this season of the year, 

 spends a good deal of his time on the sidewalk 

 in front of the store, looking after the wants 

 and needs of those who are so kind as to come 

 to us. I have sometimes wished I had nothing 

 to do but to meet people as they alight from 

 their vehicles, ask them how we can serve 

 them, and then see that there is no hitch nor 

 delay in fixing them up in proper shape. 



A few days ago a customer asked if we had 

 any Battle Creek granola. I pointed to the 

 door of the lunch-room, and told him to go in 

 there and they would wait on him. I after- 

 ward found out, however, that the clerk inside 

 told him we were all " sold out," and sent him 

 away without any. He supposed it was all sold 

 out because a great awkward box was stand- 

 ing in a disorderly way right in front of the 

 goods the man asked for. The clerk could not 

 see the article wanted, without moving the box 

 or moving out of his tracks. Yes, this thing 

 sometimes happens at other stores as well as 

 our own, because I have known clerks to tell 

 me they were sold out; but I happened to know 

 better, and so found the goods I wanted, my- 

 self. Some of you may urge that the clerks in 

 our stores and groceries are, for the most part, 

 poorly paid. Their pay is so small they become 

 discouraged and half-hearted. If their employ- 

 er were a little more liberal, and paid them 

 better, they would have more energy. And 

 this reminds me: Not long ago one of the small 

 boys was getting to be so forgetful and half- 

 hearted about his work that we talked of let- 

 ting him go. His foreman, however, said he 

 was dissatisfied with his pay, and he intimated 

 that, if we would raise his wages a little, he 

 m^ight take hold better. It happens, however, 

 that I have tried this very thing a good many 

 times, and it has never turned out well. The 

 man, woman, or child who can not do his duty 

 well and faithfully until he is offered a little 

 more than he is actually worth or has been 

 worth, for so doing, never makes any perma- 

 nent improvement. 



And this is where our second text comes in — 

 "Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I 

 will make thee a ruler over many things." No- 

 tice the words " hast been." The reward does 

 not come until we have shown ourselves faith- 

 ful and trustworthy. We must be faithful ./irst. 

 And so it is with earthly duties. Young people 

 especially are oftentimes impatient because the 

 reward does not come soon enough. Many a 

 time have I seen people give up their work 

 when the prospects were bright before them. 



just because they could not wait a little for the 

 reward. Quite a few have written to me in re- 

 gard to the Home Paper for Mar. 15, about the 

 slave girl, and the glad willing service she ren- 

 dered her deliverer. I said something then in 

 regard to women who help to do the housework 

 in our homes, or hired girls, if you choose. 

 Well, since those words were written I am glad 

 to tell you that I have come across at least tliree 

 of these " home helpers " who are household 

 treasures; and I happen to know that there is 

 always somebody wanting them. I have been 

 insisting that these good and faithful ones 

 should be paid accordingly. In our communi- 

 ty, hired girls get from 12.00 to .*3.50 a week. 

 Now, it seems to me absolutely '"wicked" to 

 have one price for all — the good, the bad, and 

 the indifferent. I know of a good many indif- 

 ferent ones. I do not like the expression " hired 

 girl." They are helpers in the home. They 

 should be not only helpers, but companions for 

 the mothers in the home. Why nob call them 

 "home helpers" instead of hired girls? Well, 

 now, I would pay the real good ones, the real 

 jewels, four or five dollars a week, or a really 

 competent woman as much as you would pay a 

 really competent man, say a dollar a day, in- 

 cluding board and lodging. Then the indiffer- 

 ent ones should have about what they earn — 

 two or two dollars and a half. The bad ones — 

 I mean the bad-tempered, or those who do not 

 care, and who make it a study, apparently, to 

 do just as little as they can, and do their work 

 as poorly as they can and call it done — I would 

 give this kind a dollar a week, or give them 

 board and lodging — nothing more. This is the 

 way we grade men, and why not grade women in 

 the same way ? then we shall be paying a pre- 

 mium on good behavior, exactly according to 

 the language of our second text; and the low 

 wages will be a proper reward for bad behav- 

 ior. You may say there are some people who 

 can not do any better — they are not " made 

 that way," or it is not " in them." One of my 

 boys worked quite a while for 714 cts. an hour, 

 and he felt badly about it. I talked the matter 

 over with him several times; but after trying 

 him in several different places, the general ver- 

 dict of the different foremen was that 7^^ cents 

 was about the proper price. Well, this boy 

 finally became ambitious to have a wheel of his 

 own; but he could not very well save up money 

 enough for a wheel unless he had more than 

 enough to pay for his board and lodging. The 

 wheel, however, proved to be the thing needful 

 to stir up his ambition. All at once he took a 

 new interest in things, and very soon the cheer- 

 ing report came to me that he was worth more 

 money. A good many of these troubles are in 

 consequence of half-heartedness. We do not 

 care enough. Very likely we care enough about 

 self, but we want to be more interested and 

 anxious in the affairs of other people — especial- 

 ly of those whom we are serving or ministering 

 unto. 



I do not know but the present condition of 

 this great nation of ours is working against 

 these little texts. We have servants of Iron 

 and steel to wait upon us. Wheels, street-cars, 

 telephones, and no end of devices to save labor. 

 Perhaps we are getting into a state of affairs 

 where we get a notion that these new agents 

 are to do all the waiting, or all the minister- 

 ing, if you choose; but, O my dear friends! 

 none of these things can serve us well and 

 faithfully without some patient, hard-working, 

 self-sacrificing human life to guide and direct 

 it. With all "these new things there comes a 

 tremendous demand for somebody who will be 

 responsible for their proper working. We 

 want no end of intelligent, faithful, industrious 

 servants— servants who are willing to take 



