500 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



respectable people attend and encourage the 

 dancing club. Where is the fault with it, 

 then? Well, it is because, in that dancing 

 hall and club, there will almost always be 

 found as well, quite another class; and most 

 of all, because our reformed boys will, a 

 great many of them, keep sober and steady 

 until the next dance comes off, and then 

 down, clown, down, they go again, until they 

 are lost hopelessly. A leading physician 

 was one night poking around in the dark in 

 a stairway, and when I asked him what he 

 was up to, he said he was trying to make 

 his drug store cellar so secure, if it were a 

 possible thing, that his boy and a lot of others, 

 should not get into it every night when they 

 had a dance, and get on a drunken spree. 

 A young lady who had once been a professor 

 of religion commenced going to dances, and 

 soon ceased taking her place among the 

 church people as a member. While she was 

 one among those who attended the dances, I 

 heard her say that, the next day after every 

 dance, she always felt she was a step lower 

 in her own estimation, than she had been 

 the day before; that never was her own 

 opinion of herself so poor, as on the day 

 after a dance. I know there is plenty to be 

 said on the other side, but, for all that, 

 through all my life, the fruit I have seen of 

 dances has been uniformly bad fruit, when 

 there was any fruit at all. 



I need not enlarge on other points, such 

 as billiards, card playing, etc. ; suffice it to 

 say, I felt, and feel yet, that God calls on 

 me to use the power he has given me of set- 

 ting people at work, in such a way as to 

 throw the money as far as possible where it 

 will do most good. With these thoughts in 

 view, I had the little paper that I gave you 

 on page 154, of the April No., printed and 

 given to the hands. At the bottom of it, I 

 stated as I thought clearly, that I wished to 

 know how many of my hands would aid me 

 in the matter, by signing their name to the 

 paper. As it did not touch the greater pro- 

 portion of them at all, I confidently expected 

 to get the greater part of their names. I 

 had no intention of getting any body to sign 

 it, unless they would do it of their own free 

 will ; certainly not, by threatening to expel 

 them, for that is something almost unknown 

 in our establishment. The papers were 

 handed them Saturday night, with their 

 week's wages. 



Monday morning, I found a great part of 

 them standing idly around the time clerk's 

 office, and I had my first experience of any 

 thing approaching a strike. There are two 

 sides to all questions, and while it was my 

 privilege to turn off all hands whose morals 

 did not conform to my convictions, it was 

 their privilege to stop all at once, in the 

 height of the season, and leave me without 

 a single skilled hand to wield the pens, and 

 run the machinery. I was asked by a spokes- 

 man, to go with them to the sample room, 

 and hear their side of the case. Of course, 

 I went willingly, and of course, I withdrew 

 the offensive paper, if it could be called 

 withdrawing, for I had never demanded 

 that any body should sign it. 



I had prayed earnestly over the matter, 

 and 1 felt that as God was with me, I should 



certainly be guided aright in the matter. 

 So I was ; but, do you remember what Moses 

 said, after he smote the rock for the children 

 of Israel? 



"Hear now, ye rebpls; must we fetch you water 

 out of this rock?" — Numbers, XX. 10. 



Well, after it was all settled, and they 

 were ready to go back to their work, I held 

 up my Bible which I had taken in my hand, 

 and said that, with God's help, this estab- 

 lishment would yet be conducted under those 

 rules. My friends, it was right for me to 

 think that, and to resolve in my own mind 

 that, with God's help, it should be so ; but 

 there was no necessity for my saying it. I 

 yielded to the temptation to show my powd- 

 er, and my speech was a little bit of a threat. 

 One who trusts God, does not always know 

 exactly what he is going to do, and there is 

 no particular necessity of telling long before 

 hand what you are going to do : doing a 

 thing quietly, at such a time, is sufficient, 

 usually. Pretty soon, it was evident that 

 there was dissatisfaction still. They had 

 got the " swarming fever," and there must 

 be some more swarming before they would 

 settle down peaceably to work. 



" Mr. Root, we want you to promise you 

 will never bring that paper up again." 



I pleasantly remonstrated, and told them 

 I should be yielding up my liberty in man- 

 aging my business on moral principles, did 

 I do so. They would not go to work other- 

 wise. I finally promised to drop the matter 

 for three months, that we might all have 

 time to look it over ; but I had given way to 

 them once, and they were determined I 

 should again. I am not blaming them, for 

 they were very likely doing very much as I 

 should have done, had I been in their place. 

 It illustrates how much we are swayed, at 

 such times, by those about us. The matter 

 was probably started by a few, and the rest 

 fell in with the current, and finally little 

 boys followed along, and gave up their plac- 

 es, when the rules and regulations did not 

 touch them in any way in the world, and 

 when they really did not know what they 

 were leaving for, as it seemed to me. Thir- 

 ty-five had signed the paper and were at 

 work ; but as the rest stayed around and 

 talked with them, even they caught the in- 

 fection. I asked them to go to work with- 

 out signing the paper, and let it drop, but 

 they were not satisfied. The next morning 

 things bid fair to right themselves, but an- 

 other incident upset it all ; " All things work 

 together for good to those that love the 

 Lord," the Bible says, and I prayed to be 

 guided then, and trusted him, and made up 

 my mind I should not yield any further, if it 

 took every hand I had. Mr. Gray came up- 

 stairs and told me my hands were all leav- 

 ing, even to the children. 



" Let them go," said I. Here I was in 

 danger of swinging over to the opposite ex- 

 treme again — of too much independence. 

 Mr. Gray felt it and replied, 



" I tell you, Mr. Root, if you do not go 

 down and counteract that spirit that is get- 

 ting hold of them, you will not have a hand 

 left." 



I went down and spoke mildly, but told 

 them that all who did not go back to their 



