n 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKti. 



jAif. 



for us, with the understanding that they 

 are to have all they are worth ; and the fore- 

 man of their room, together with my ad- 

 vice, is to decide by Saturday night. How 

 can we tell about how much a boy is worth, 

 in four or five days ? Well, my friend, 

 those who are old and experienced in the 

 matter will tell a great deal. If the new 

 comer commences very soon to run about 

 the establishment, under various pretexts, 

 it is against him ; or if he goes for a drink 

 oftener than people usually do, and stops a 

 little on his way back. Other ones will stop 

 every little while to see what time it is. 

 Among our smaller boys, one of the worst 

 troubles is playing during working hours. 

 Of course, we make due allowance for boy- 

 ish spirits ; but when, after he has been fre- 

 quently reproved, we find a boy who is very 

 sharp to see when the "• boss is around,'' 

 but ready to commence gossip or play just 

 the moment he is called out of the room, we 

 can not help concluding that such a boy 

 loves iniquity, and has no fixed purpose in 

 his heart to look out for the interests of the 

 business instead of trying to see how he can 

 pass the time until noon, and do the smallest 

 possible amount of work. This kind of spir- 

 it is not by any means confined to boys 

 alone. One day I noticed one of the saw- 

 tables standing idle. After a little time I 

 found the man whose business it was to run 

 it, gossiping with one of the girls upstairs 

 in another room. He gave, as an excuse, 

 that the sun shone in his eyes so he could 

 not work, and that he came up to that room 

 to get a piece of burlap to tack up for a cur- 

 tain. I was pretty sure it was a pretext, 

 and the same man soon had to be discharg- 

 ed, because he was not fit to work under the 

 same roof where respectable women were. 

 He loved iniquity. The bent, disposition, or 

 the purpose of the heart, is revealed to the 

 practiced eye, not only in three or four days, 

 but sometimes in three or four hours. 



What a sad thing it is, to think that peo- 

 •ple delude themselves with the thought that 

 they can cherish iniquity on the sly. My 

 friend, if the only sin you are guilty of is 

 sinful thoughts you can not hide even that. 

 You can not hide it from God, and further- 

 more you can not hide it from your fellow- 

 men. It will surely tell its own tale. Why 

 should we be guilty of any such folly? I 

 say we, because I am myself a sinner in this 

 very line. More than once since I began 

 writing these words (two or three days ago) 

 I have been stopped from some sinful 

 thought or sinful act by asking myself the 

 question, " Does this indicate that you love 

 righteousness and hate iniquity?" Con- 

 science spoke out very dearly and unmistak- 

 ably, " It comes from the side of iniquity," 

 and I was saved. 



I wish to say a word more in regard to 

 these faithful ones— these jewels I have al- 

 luded to. Each new comer must be, of 

 course, watched for a time, or measured, as 

 it were. We do this as a matter of business, 

 to gauge his money value. We try to pay 

 every one as nearly as possible what he is 

 worth, and therefore he must be weighed in 

 the balance. It is true, that some of these 

 friends have had poor advantages. May be 



they have been in bad company, and have 

 had improper bringing up. We try to make 

 allowance for all this. A few days ago the 

 foreman of the saw-room pointed with bis 

 thumb toward a certain boy who has not 

 been here very long. After watching him 

 for a few minutes I turned back, and we 

 both had a good laugh. Some of the others 

 caught our glances, and laughed too. The 

 joke was, that this boy was so exceedingly 

 slow and deliberate in his motions. I look- 

 ed toward his] eyelids to see if he was not 

 going to sleep. His eyes were wide open, 

 but Tiis motions were so slow that he was 

 worse than no boy at all. He occupied a 

 place at a machine where a smart boy would 

 have done in two hours what he was taking 

 half a day for ; and even had he proposed to 

 work for nothing, it would have been bet- 

 ter to send him away, and put a good boy 

 in his place, who could earn wages. Now, 

 young people sometimes work in this way 

 without thinking. If, after talking with 

 him about it, and stating the case to him 

 plainly and kindly, he does no better, we 

 shall have to let him go. " Do such boys ever 

 do any better?" you ask. Oh! yes, my 

 friend. Some of the swiftest workers we 

 have were guilty of the same thing when 

 they first began. Don't be in haste to as- 

 cribe every shortcoming to loving iniquity. 

 If, after a boy has been talked to, he should 

 work fast when the boss is near, and then 

 go back to his slow gait, it would indicate 

 an evil purpose in his heart. Such things 

 are often the result of thoughtlessness. A 

 kind word from the employer, suggesting 

 that they can give better pay when, he 

 learns to work faster, will oftentimes have 

 the desired effect. It is our business to 

 measure the money value of these young 

 friends as nearly as we can, as I have said. 

 To do this, they must be watched. But now 

 comes an encouraging point : After having 

 decided that an individual is faithful and 

 honest and true— that he loves righteous- 

 ness and hates iniquity, we very soon cease 

 scrutinizing so closely his work and his be- 

 havior. We do not look any more to see 

 whether he marks his time on the slate con- 

 scientiously, nor do we look after him at all. 

 The general result accom^Mshed is measured 

 and estimated — that is all. As he steps 

 from one post to another, he is honored and 

 respected still more. Finally, instead of 

 getting so much an hour, he is invited to 

 look after the general interests of the estab- 

 lishment. He is. perhaps, paid a salary, and 

 he need not mark his time on the slate, as 

 the others do. He is expected to give his 

 strength, energies, skill, and abilities, to 

 the general welfare of the business. Out- 

 side of working-hours he is planning new 

 machinery or short cuts to facilitate the 

 business, as if it were all his own. His em- 

 ployer knows it, and pays him for this work- 

 ing, even when he is away from the estab- 

 lishment. Now, contrast such a one with 

 the one who is constantly planning, notj^br 

 his employer, but to defraud him. The dif- 

 ference between the two is all summed up 

 in the thought of our text : One loved 

 righteousness; the other, iniquity. Plan- 

 ning for yourself, when you have been hired 



