108 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



FkT5. 



ble tiling lijfhL hick and biino; soinotliiiijif 

 l)Btter. Tlie comniMiid is often given in 

 such a toni^ that it makes my hU)od boil. If 

 tlie waiter is a colored man, he does not 

 seem to niirid it very much. Sometimes he 

 bows very low, and Ix'gs pardon. At many 

 ol' our liotels, however, tliey use American 

 women inst(!ad ol colored men. F say 

 Amerh' in women, because I iiave felt, a 

 good many limes, as if the great traveling 

 public ni^ed lo be reminded that not only do 

 the ro/cr.s' in this /arifl q/' ^i6er/// merit a cer- 

 tain degree of respect, but it seems to me 

 tiiat the women of our land, especially intel- 

 ligent, ladylike women, ;ilao deserve a kind 

 of resi)ec,t that they (h) not alwajs receive- - 

 esjiecially if they happen to be waiters in a 

 hotel. Well, at this crowded table sat one 

 of these indivitluals I have been trying to 

 describe. A whole tableful of teachers and 

 bee-keepers were waiting to be served. 

 There were not waiters enough in the estab- 

 lisliment. I<]very one could see that. The 

 waiters at Ihe Hudson House are all women. 

 So f;ir as I coidd see, they were intelligent 

 and ladylike women. They were dressed 

 neatly, and behaved themselves, for all I 

 coidd see, as well as the ladylike school- 

 ma'ams. Some of them, doubtless, lacked 

 education, but they were doing their level 

 best. When 1 took my place at the table, 

 this man of wealth and authority (I simply 

 guessiMl he was) was being served. The 

 overworked young woman had been helping 

 us to our food for a good hour, about as fast 

 as it is possible for even an expert to move. 

 As she gave this individual his coffee, she 

 hurriedly passed him the sugar-bowl, (Con- 

 taining siu)wy lumps of loaf sugar. The 

 bowl was only about a (piarter full ; but as 

 it contained a good dozen or more cubes of 

 sugar, there was ample for all his needs, 

 aiul for all those near him. His lordship, 

 however, evidently was not in the habit of 

 having things that way. 



" Here ! "' said he, in a lordly way, as if 

 speaking to a disobedient child, " take this 

 sugar-bowl and till it up.'' 



Her haiuls were filled with different arti- 

 (;les of food for others at the table. Her 

 lace cdloied up at the rude and uncalled-for 

 command, but only for a moment. She set 

 her heavy load down, took the sugar-bowl to 

 a table at some distance, filled it heaping 

 full, and put it down near him. Slowly her 

 face resumed its wonted pleasant kmk. and 

 she soon apparently ft)rgot the blow. I say 

 /)/()»), for it wax a blow. My fingers fairly 

 itched to get hold of that piece of lath 

 whieh I used when 1 made old ( 'harlie do 

 his duty. I suppose it is wicked ; but every 

 time I think of it. it seems as if I should 

 like to give a good sum of money for the 

 privilege of making that man srxiaVt for his 

 needless cruelty. I know, dear friends, that 

 it would not have mended matters at all. I 

 know that it is not by Diujhl nor by ponier 

 that these brutal men are to be made hum- 

 ble and kind. It can be done ovhi by the 

 spirit of (^hrist -lesus. And, oh how 1 do 

 pray thai I may hunger niore after that spir- 

 it, especially if it is ever my lot to deal or 

 plead with such as he! If anybody has 

 learned that a blow for a blow is not the way 



to make men better, / am sundy that one. 

 As I was late at th(i table there was no par- 

 ticular need of hurrying my meal ; for by 

 the time I was through, nearly every one 

 else was through also. Not only men were 

 waiting at the entrance of the dining-room, 

 but many lady teachers were also waiting ; 

 great numbers of schoolraa'ams, fresh from 

 their charges, and perhaps from country 

 schools. May (iod bless the teachers of our 

 jural districts ! Well, this waiter I have 

 just been speaking of, noticed, as soon as I 

 did, four pleasant-looking women waiting 

 for a place. They had, perhaps, waited 

 longer, as they perhaps preferred to sitto- 

 gcither where they could chat and feel a lit- 

 tle more- at home. I'retty soon four men 

 got up, right across the table from me, and 

 in a twinkling my heroine (1 call her so be- 

 cause 1 can not think of any better word, 

 and because she met the rude speech from 

 that overbearing man in such a heroic way), 

 with a pretty feminine wave of the hand, 

 motioned these young teachers to come 

 (piickly before somebody else crowded in. 

 They caught her invitation, and came 

 quickly. 



And now I want to tell yon of something 

 that did my heart good. Writers of love- 

 stories have sometimes tried to tell you of 

 the power of a woman's smile. None of 

 them yet, however, have ever done it half 

 justice, to my notion. A woman's smile may 

 Klart a man heavenward, and keep him iioin<j 

 until he gets there. Wait a little. I "wish 

 to mend my statement. A woman's smile 

 may start a woman heavenward, and keep 

 her' going until she gets there. As these 

 teachers came up, each one of them gave 

 this patient, hard-worked sister one of the 

 sweetest smiles I ever saw in my life ; and 

 I inwardly thanked (iod to see them do it. 

 1 thanked (iod that it was given to one of 

 their own sex, and not to one of the other sex, 

 as the dime novels w^ould invariably have it. 

 And, oh I do rejoice to think that the day is 

 coming when women will try harder to en- 

 courage women 1 when they will try harder 

 to use the gifts that (iod has given them, to 

 make other women in humbler stations feel 

 that they recognize them as sisters. I 

 thought this waiter seemed a little bit sur- 

 prised to get these smiles and thanks ; but, 

 oh how they did transform her ! She was a 

 pleasant-looking, handsome girl before; but 

 now she was beautiful. I gladly excused her 

 from waiting on me while she went here 

 and there giving these four teachers the 

 very best dinner the house afforded. And 

 they did not forget her while she waited on 

 them. They, thanked her as each article 

 was brought, and even chatted with her as 

 if she wei"e one of the band of teachers too. 

 .\nd, dear friends, who shall say that she 

 who ministers to us, even in a great hotel, 

 if you choose, and supplies us with our daily 

 foo(l, is one whit lower in station in life 

 than the educated college graduate who 

 teaches our children? I believe the great 

 wide world is not so much in the habit vow 

 of looking down upon table-waiters as it 

 used to be. We used to hear the words, 

 •' Only a waiter at a hotel ;" but I have not 

 heard it very much of late. And 1 have 



