1890 



G^LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



68H 



" Vcs. we ciiti in;ik(> water ran up liill. if you 

 will do exactly as I tell you." said I. Then the 

 other one objected that it was all loose chips 

 and sticks, and said the water would all run 

 through it if used to make a dam. OhI why 

 couUhrt tlies(> friends in this emergency, when 

 the water was pouring into otir has(>ment. have 

 a little more confidence in my wistlom and 

 judgment? AVhy did they not reflect that I 

 should never ha\'e had charge of all this prop- 

 erty and these buildings had my judgment n(tt 

 lieen at least tohnihUi good? I did nut say any 

 thing, but went out and took hold of the tools 

 myself, and showed th(>one who saifl that wat<'r 

 \\ould not run up hill, that, by raising the em- 

 bankment high enough, we could make it fill 

 the depression and go over the higher parts. 

 The one who said sticks and chi])S would not 

 stop water was directed to take some soft mud 

 out of tlie road and i)laster the sticks and chips 

 until the\- would hold water. ^lud was in great 

 plenty, and as soft as butter: and it did not 

 take two minutes to " butter "over the porous 

 material so it carried water nicely, and in 

 H\<' minutes moi'f^ we had a big muddy streatn 

 going off beyond the building to a |)lace of safe- 

 ty'. How much can be done with a hoe and 

 sjjade and sliovel. in a crisis like this, if you only 

 have a man who is expert in their usel I love 

 tools; and I (>si)ecially love hoes and spades 

 and shovels. I love the man who is expert in 

 tlu'ir use: and I have sometimes felt like raising 

 my hat in respect to the man who knows how- 

 to hau<lle and is an exi)ert with a S|)ade. Why. 

 the mintite he takes hold of one I can tell 

 whether or not lie knows what a spade is for. 

 I ran down into the basement, and was rejoiced 

 to see the water had every bit sto|jped. Then 

 \\c I'ushed o\-ei- to the new building, and found 

 the same state of affairs there. The watcM' was 

 going down the open hatchway like a small 

 millrace. I called for some more hands to make 

 a dam and carry it off. It w as just as before — 

 they stood out in the rain and objected, not 

 d((iug any thing until I grasped the hoe and 

 showed them how. One man said we should 

 ha\e to dig down f/oTc fcef to keep the water 

 fiom lunning into the building. I pri'sume they 

 forgot I had played with water almost all my 

 life, and that I had watched irrigating ditches 

 along the sides of. the mountains in Califoi'uia 

 iuid Arizona with an intense interest that ordi- 

 nary people know but little about. 1 knoN\' 

 l)retty well what can be done with water. In 

 less than one ininute a great part of the Hood 

 that was going into the hatchway was turned 

 off o\-er the ground. Of course, it very quickly 

 iruide a little pond there: but that was a bettei- 

 ])lace for a little i)ond than around the founda- 

 tion stones of the new building. In fact, the 

 water was a foot deep thei'e already. The rain 

 was so great that the oi-diuary outlets were in- 

 sul'licient. esjjecially w bile slunings and sticks 

 were olistructing them. Well, liefore this little 

 pond had got o\-er its environments. l)ack to the 

 building again, a little ditch was hastily matle 

 w here it seenu'd most inclined to break over, 

 and in ten minutes we got it away from the 

 building, and in no s|)ot did we dig more than 

 six inches. The outlet of the reser\'oir had b>- 

 this time caved in again, and that was rapidly 

 tilling. The man who opened it the tirst time, 

 and who knew just how. could not be found, so 

 another one had to be instructed where to find 

 the tile, and how to manage so as to prevent 

 the mud from being washed into it. .lust then 

 I I'einembei'ed the printers wei'e on the last page 

 of tiie strawberi'y book. and. in fact, it was 

 already on the pr'css. I had been in the ol'tice 

 once or twice to see about it; but owing to the 

 excessive rain, nobody had yet come around to 

 whom I coulil sii\-e oi'ders. ^^■hen I did remem- 



ber it. it worried me a little. Sure enough, in 

 som(> way the impix'ssion had got out that I 

 was thi'ough with my corrections, and it was in 

 the press, and several hundred impressions had 

 been run off. I had ke|)t level until about this 

 time, and then I fear I scolded some. There 

 was nothing amiss, however, except some omis- 

 sions in a part of the index; and if you find that 

 a i)art of it is a little out of " whack." as some 

 friend exi)ress(>d it. you will know how it came 

 about. The press was stojjped. and I sat down 

 to finish the pag(> where I left off the night 

 before. The water was drii)i)ing from me all 

 over, and runiung away down into my shoes. 

 In fact, my hat was so soaked that the water 

 kept running down my cheeks and running 

 from the end of my nose on to the strawberry 

 book I was trying to read, until I pulled my hat 

 off. and then tlie draft was too severe on my 

 bald head. I got the page finished, liowever, 

 and went back to look after the water. One of 

 the men I w anti'd could not be found anywh<>re. 

 At last he turned up awav down across the 

 creek, letting the water oft from the celery. 

 When asked how he came tu go off there, he 

 said it was because I told him to. After we got 

 the waterstopped from goinginto the basement. 

 I told him to help let the watei- off' from the 

 vcUnr of the new building. I sup|)ose I stopped 

 at the word "cellar." so many things were 

 crowding me all at once, and he said he under- 

 stood me to say " celery,'" and so jjut away off 

 to the ci'cek bottom (witli his rubbei- boots and 

 coat), w here almost the whole ground w as sub- 

 merged. If there is any thing that will bear 

 unlimited ([uantities of water without injury, it 

 is celery. 



I have for s(nue months rather ludd back and 

 objected to the new improvem<'nts that have 

 been started. I wanted to have the new build- 

 ing put off till another yea)'. The reservoir, 

 with its attendant steam-pump. I objected to 

 also. One reason why I objected to it was, I 

 knew it must bring added respousil)ilities which 

 1 did not feel able to bear. But the boys, in 

 their enthusiasm, explained that these tlungs 

 were urgently needed, and will be an excellent 

 investment. If we are going to ha\'e them, the 

 soon(M' the better. They jjropose to take the 

 I'csponsiiiility off from my shouldei's — at least a 

 part of it. and look' after things. I jiresuine 

 this rainy moi'uing must have been a gooil time 

 to sleei) — at least, nobody seemed to be in much 

 haste in getting aroiuid, and it is not to be won- 

 dered at that 1 became a little cro.ss and im- 

 patient. I did not say much out loud, but I 

 declared mentally that things had got to come 

 to a standstill until we could get ready to do 

 every thing "decently and in older." (The last 

 is Hible te;iching. but you know Satan can 

 (piote Uible tii)toi).) I did not realize that I was 

 getting into a bad and unchristianlike fi'aine of 

 mind." A little incident, liowe\'er, I'emintled me 

 of it. St)nH'body canu' along cpiite leisui'ely, 

 and pleasantly wishetl me a good-moi'ning. 

 Now. just at that time the •■good-morning" 

 did not hit me just right. Wet and dripping as 

 I was. and tired out, it seemed to me that there 

 was no time foi' "■good-mornings." I answiM'ed 

 back pleasantly, because I knew it was my 

 duty. IJut— shall 1 dare tell you what was in 

 my mind".' I think I will, that you nuiy get a 

 glimi)se of the battles that your old friend has 

 to light. Instead of saying good-morning back 

 to him as is every Christian's duty, no matter 

 what is und<'r the surface. Satan (I think it 

 was) suggested that it would give nie rare 

 pleasui'e to throw a club at his head. I shouldn't 

 want a very big club. 1 think, but I felt just 

 spiteful enough at evei'ybody and every thing, 

 especially those who looked smiling and happ\'. 

 Pei'haps sonu' of you begin to incpiire. ■' \Vli\-. 



