THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



295 



to fit the different lists. Then the entries 

 are made iiud everything is packed ready 

 for a start. An exhibition of bees and hon- 

 ey cannot be sent by express, as the cliargcs 

 aro so high that no protits would be left. If 

 the exhibitor goes from one fair to another 

 he cannot depend upon tlie railroad com- 

 panies to get his exhibit there in time, so 

 the only course is to go with the goods right 

 in the freight car; then if there is a delay 

 the exliibitor knows " where he is at, " and 

 can apply the remedy. A car always gets 

 througli (piicker than small shipments, as 

 the latter are delayed at junction points. 



We will suppose that we are loaded and ou 

 board the car. A space is left at one end for 

 a bed. A large piece of oil cloth is laid 

 down to keep the straw tick off the dirty 

 floor, and the bed is " made up. " As we 

 are sometimes two days and two nights on 

 the road from one fair to another, provis- 

 ions and water must be taken. A big piece 

 of ice is put in the l)ottom of a box, saw- 

 dust packed around it, and on top of it is 

 set the two-gallon jug of water and the 

 gallon crock of butter with sawdust packed 

 around them. Then there are oil stoves, 

 a lantern etc. Anything cooked on the oil- 

 stove will have to be held on while it is 

 cooking, otherwise it will be jiggled or jerk- 

 ed off, but a meal gotten up under such dif- 

 ficulties has a somewhat picuicy flavor. 



When it comes night we fasten the doors 

 of the car by nailing slats on the inside so 

 that the doors cannot be slid back, other- 

 wise the car would be full of tramps by 

 morning. When the conductor or brakeman 

 comes along in the night, that is, if he is a 

 new man that has just come on at the be- 

 ginning of a "run," and doesn't know that 

 we are in the car, he will be surprised at not 

 finding the car door sealed, and he will 

 shove ou the door, and pound it, and then 

 say a few things, and we will pull off the 

 slats with the hammer and open the door 

 and evplain and show our pass, or ticket, 

 and then nail up the door and scramble back 

 into our bed. You may be surprised that 

 one can sleep in a noisy "jonncy " freight 

 car. You can't in some of them. When 

 the car is running at a certain rate of speed, 

 the car will jounce so as to throw you 

 almost clear off the floor. Let the speed 

 either increase or diminish and this jounc- 

 ing motion is greatly modified. Some cars 

 are easy " riders, " and in such a car it is 

 possible to sleep pretty sound. I have gone 



to bed at eight o'clock and thought : "Well, 

 of course, I can't go to sleep with all of 

 this racket and banging going on about 

 me, but I will probably rest me some. " I 

 would finally find myself waking up, and, 

 wondering what time it was, I would light 

 a match and look at my watch. Four 

 o'clock as sure as your'e alive ! 



Finally the fair ground is reached, and we 

 must look out for a good drayman. We 

 always try to get a large dray and one with 

 stacks around the outside, so that we can 

 pile on the whole outfit. It is not only 

 cheaper, but it isn't very safe to leave part 

 of the goods in one, place while the owner 

 is away with the other part. When the 

 "show " is finally all in the hall where it 

 is to be shown there is always drawn a full 

 breath of thankfulness and relief, and then 

 we go and pitch our tent as near by as we 

 can, lay the oilcloth on the ground to keep 

 the dampness from our bed, get in our 

 trunks of clothing, our oil stoves, lantern, 

 and such "traps and calamities;" heat some 

 water and take a good "scrub" all over, go 

 out and get some supper, and finally come 

 back and go to bed, and, oh, you don't know 

 how we sleep! 



In the morning comes the work of putting 

 up the exhibit. We may have a well de- 

 fined plan in our mind as to how it will be 

 arranged, but this may have to be modified 

 by the surroundings. Then we watch 

 the "other fellow" and see what he lias got 

 and what he is going to do. and try and 

 out-do him if possitile. The second day 

 may come to an end before the final touches 

 are put upon the exhil)it. Then comes the 

 awarding of the premiums — the tying on of 

 the ribl)ons. If we get our share, what be- 

 longs to us, we are happy— if not, we try to 

 be happy just the same. Then comes a 

 couple of days of rest before the packing 

 up begins. Friday night yes, sometimes 

 Saturday night, comes before we can begin 

 packing up, and in two days from then we 

 must be on some fair grounds that are be- 

 tween 2()0 and :'>00 miles away, and must go 

 by freight. This often means night-work in 

 packing and in loading. Everybody wants 

 a dray at the same time, everybody is clam- 

 moring "for a car," there is pushing and 

 selfishness, and hurly burly, and a time 

 when a man must be cool and patient and 

 use all the tact that he has at his command. 

 Finally the exhibit is loaded again, and the 

 car billed, and, as we lie waiting for the 



