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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



Our Homes. 



E.Ycept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.— 

 Luke 13:3. 



If our readers will turn to page 8(50, Glean- 

 ings for Nov. 15. 1895, they will tiiid there a 

 sort of introduction to evangelist Rev. A. T. 

 Reed. Well, a few days ago difTerent members 

 of the family were discussing as to the way 

 they should pass the Fourth of July. When 

 the question came to myself I said I had not 

 fully decided. I had rather calculated on a 

 wheel-ride somewhere, but had not decided just 

 where it should be. It was that same day, or 

 shortly after, that a letter was put into my 

 hands, containing the following: 



DearBri). Roof.-— We are to have an all day meet- 

 ing July 41h. Mr. Chafer, my old sing-er, and his 

 wife, are to be here from Painesville, and neighbor- 

 ing' ministeis are to help. It is to be a l)asket pic- 

 nic, with two hours' Intermission for visiting- the 

 Ledffe, etc. This is the tliird year in which we have 

 held these Fourth-of-July meetings. I have found 

 that it works well. A. T. Reed. 



Thompson, O., June 30. 



I found, by looking at the map, that Thomp- 

 son was toward the northeast corner of the 

 State of Ohio, and not a great way from Paines- 

 ville. I had long wished for an opportunity of 

 visiting Storrs & Harrison's great establish- 

 ment, with Ihfir 1000 acres of land and 29 

 greenhouses, as we read about in the advertise- 

 ment which for some years has found a place 

 in Gleanings. 



The idea of holding a religious meeting on 

 the Fourth of July was something novel; and 

 an all-day meeting conducted by an evangelist 

 was something I had never heard of before. I 

 informed Bro. Reed that I would try to he on 

 hand at that meeting on the Fourth. Early in 

 the afternoon of the 3d I reached Painesville. 

 An account of my visit there will be found in 

 my Notes of Travel. Nobody knew exactly 

 how far away Thompson was from the Storrs 

 & Harrison farm. One man said he guessed it 

 was about four miles. Another said he guessed 

 it was nearer twice that. When I passed peo- 

 ple on the road there seemed to be quite a gen- 

 eral disagreement in regard to the matter, 

 from which I inferred that Thompson must be 

 an inland town of not very great importance. 

 By the way. it is a little singular how little 

 many people know about things or places with- 

 in ten miles of the place where they were born 

 and brought up. Perhaps the advent of the 

 wheel will work a reform in this matter. Any 

 way, it seems to me any real live person in this 

 age and day of the world should know some- 

 thing about distances to surrounding towns in 

 the neighborhood. I think it is about 13K 

 miles from Painesville to Thompson. The 

 consequence was, as I did not make my calcu- 

 lations for so great a distance, it was getting 

 dusk ween my wheel and I rustled over the 

 beautiful roads, and paths paved with white 

 gravel, of the little town of Thompson. As I 

 had had no supper I quickly repaired to the 

 only hotel in the place, and told the good 

 woman presiding that I should like a beefsteak 

 if it would not make too much trouble. She 

 said it would take a little more time, and I 

 thought I would hunt up Bro. Rped meanwhile. 

 I gathered from the singing that the meeting 

 had opened, even though it was early; and, 

 looking in, I saw Bro. Reed presiding down in 

 front of the pulpit. As soon as the hymn was 

 finished he called the congregation, that were 

 scattered almost all ovor the church, to nlease 

 come forward and occupy th« spats near the 

 speaker. How many times I had seen him do 



this! and he always gets them to come — even 

 the bashful boys and girls that slip in near the 

 door. I sal down by the door this time so as to 

 slip out unobserved and get my beefsteak. But 

 I could not well slip out after such a call from 

 my old pastor; neither could I very well sit 

 still in response to his urgent request; so I 

 found myself up very near the speaker. A 

 wheelman who has madel3X miles after his 

 usual supper time generally needs his nourish- 

 ment; but the old familiar words of my dear 

 friend of years ago proved stronger than 

 nature's demands for supper. It was not very 

 long a question as to whether it should be spir- 

 itual food or bodily refreshment. It seems to 

 me as I write, that that brief sermon would do 

 the readers more good than any thing I could 

 write; but there is no room for it, even if I could 

 give it in his words. When I was called upon 

 to speak I told the friends that I had come thus 

 far from home for the sake of worshiping with 

 people who felt it the proper and right thing to 

 continue the meetings right along through the 

 Fourth of July. 



It is not very long since I was looking back 

 to my boyhood days, and thinking especially 

 about the Fourths of July. What a thrill they 

 used to give me! How I used to enjoy every 

 hour, from the rising of the sun till its going 

 down ! I wondered if I should pass a Fourth of 

 July like that again. Let me tell you that I 

 have passed just such a one. 



1 was up early in the morning, and visited a 

 celebrated spring before time for meeting. My 

 account of this also will be found in my Notes 

 of Travel. The day was rainy; but I got back 

 from ray visit to the spring just before the rain, 

 and had time for my forenoon nap before the 

 meeting opened. In my own home I a great 

 many times awaken from my sleep with the 

 music of the piano in my ears, accompanying 

 the voices of my daughters. This time I was 

 awakened also by the voices of singers. Before 

 I quite came to consciousness I tried to compre- 

 hend how it was that such entrancing music 

 should come to my ears on that morning of the 

 Fourth of July, ft was a band of singers from 

 Painesville, led by a Mr. Chafer, referred to in 

 Bro. Reed's letter. It was a new gospel hymn 

 I had never heard. They sang while they 

 drove several times around the square in the 

 center of the little town, even though it did 

 rain. The singers were pretty well protected 

 by umbrellas and wraps, and carried out the 

 program of the day grandly in spite of the wet- 

 ness. I heard the same hymn several times 

 during their stay, and its melody has been 

 ringing in my ears every now and then during 

 the past week. 



There was a meeting in the forenoon, one in 

 the afternoon, and one in the evening. I won- 

 dered how Bro. Reed got such good audiences 

 in such an out o^the-way country place, and 

 on the Fourth of July too. Several people ex- 

 plained it bv saying the young people were all 

 anxious to "go somewhere," because it was the 

 Fourth, and therefore they came to meeting. 

 I suspect, however, that another explanation is 

 that Bro. Reed has been for a whole week vis- 

 iting their homes, not only through the town, 

 but quite a piece out in the country. And this 

 is one of the secrets of his always having good 

 audiences, no matter where his field may be. 

 This reminds me of a single sentence in his let- 

 ter, that I will give right here: 



My fields of labor in the summer are weak 

 churches that can give but little financial support. 



Personal work, you see, is what reaches peo- 

 ple in temporal matters, and personal work is 

 the thing that saves souls in spiritual matters. 

 Bro. Reed often visits people at their homes, 



