1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



293 



What was to be done? My prayers were in- 

 deed answered, and, as in other cases, God's 

 mighty hand was seen through my fellow 

 men. They had placed confidence in me, 

 and here I was almost helpless. God had 

 sent the money and the work, in answer to 

 prayer; would he also, fn answer to prayer, 

 send the means of lifting this load, and 

 keeping my name good? To be sure he 

 would, but. alas ! here my faith was some- 

 what lacking. I worried, and scolded some, 

 when things went wrong, which I would not 

 have done, had I been sure that all things 

 would work together for good, even at such 

 a time. I worked with the hands until day- 

 light was gone, read letters pretty well into 

 the night, and then was up and stirring al- 

 most at the first glimpse of daylight at the 

 factory. The mails we kept fully up with, 

 and all orders to go by mail have been filled, 

 I believe, promptly. It is a delicate and 

 dangerous business, bringing in new hands 

 at such a time, and the best meaning per- 

 son in the world may do a "•heap of mis- 

 chief/' in going into a new place, where 

 everybody has his head as full of wants and 

 worries as it well can be. After praying 

 over the matter, it seemed to me I could 

 make bright, intelligent, educated women 

 understand the wants of the case, better 

 than anybody else ; but where should I find 

 them? Several girls had recently graduated 

 in our town, and one or two of these had 

 applied for a place. These were sent for, 

 and the tangled ends of the business were 

 placed in their hands, with such explana- 

 tions as could be briefly given, and they 

 were set to work filling orders. You can 

 hardly know how grateful I felt, as I saw 

 them take hold at once with skill and wis- 

 dom, and master the difficulties in a way 

 that caused me to go down on my knees 

 ugain, and thank God for his wisdom in 

 guiding me once again. So well have these 

 girls done their part, that almost every order 

 by express has gone off promptly, unless it 

 was for something that had to be boxed or 

 crated. Knowing how all the men and 

 boys were working, these girls were as 

 ready to weigh out and put up a two bushel 

 bag of buckwheat as to send off an A B C 

 book. 



To keep up orders for fdn., two sets of 

 hands were employed, and we ran day and 

 night; but the Insurance Co's would not 

 permit this in the lumber rooms, and so we 

 were obliged to do the best we could during 

 the hours of daylight. Our packing room 

 was found to be not near large enough, and 

 we therefore had hives boxed and crated on 

 the platforms out of doors. But to get care- 

 ful men, men whose minds had been drilled 

 so they could be trusted, and who would not 

 make mistakes, was another great want. 

 Over and over again, did we feel as did Mid- 

 ler, that it was an easy thing to get money, 

 compared to getting careful, trusty, and effi- 

 cient help. — help that would set a good ex- 

 ample before these little ones ; for, in the 

 various departments, we found work in 

 abundance for boys and girls of almost all 

 ages, if some careful man or woman could 

 keep an eye on them, and tell them kindly 

 and patiently, just what was desired of them. 



During these days, my almost constant 

 prayer has been, " Lord, help ! Lord, help !'.' 

 until I am afraid on several occasions I was 

 heard while I involuntarily said it aloud. 

 Lumber for hives and frames could be got 

 in any abundance, but the white basswood 

 for the new sections was only to be had of 



! farmers, and, in spite of all the urging we 

 could do, they seemed to reserve their usual 

 prerogative of moving slowly. Again the 

 only recourse seemed to be, to pray that the 

 basswood might come in faster, and when it 



; did come 1 knew it would we con- 



j structed a dryhouse, where it was dried by 



I steam in three or four days, so as to work 

 beautifully. Soon, complaints began to 

 come, of the delays on hives, but a new 



| trouble arose. With the flood of letters 

 ahead, how was one to tell without much la- 



I bor, whether the goods had been sent or not. 



i The search could not well but annoy and 

 hinder the different clerks in whose hands 

 the order might be. Of course, the orders 

 were all copied on books, alphabetically ar- 

 ranged, but as the clerk who opened the let- 

 ters and carefully noted the contents of each 

 could hardly get through with each day's 

 mail, it was nothing strange that the book- 

 ing clerk found a heap of unbooked orders be- 

 fore, him, when night came. Two could not 

 well work at it, for obvious reasons; here 

 came in the great troubles and delays from 

 those who mixed up their orders, or failed 

 to tell definitely what they did want. No 

 matter into what room I went, clerks were 

 asking, "Mr. Root, can you tell what it is 

 this man should have?" Many times I could 

 only guess, and, at the time I was guessing, 

 I knew I should get a scolding, if I guessed 

 wrong. Why not write back? well , I should 



fet scolded more probably, for the delay, 

 'his is not always the case, for many of you 

 have been very kind. 



A friend sent an order, and needing the 

 goods sooner than he expected, he wrote to 

 have them hurried up. Not getting a reply 

 by return mail, he sent a telegram. The 

 telegram was handed me at half past 10, Sat- 

 urday night. As the matter was all in the 

 hands of the clerks who had gone home, I 

 delayed the answer until Monday morning. 

 Monday morning brought the man himself 

 on the first train. He got his goods, made a 

 pleasant visit, exhorted me never to give up 

 my warfare against tobacco, although he was 

 an inveterate user, attended our noon-day 

 service, and went away feeling much more 

 charity for us all; but as he stood at the well, 

 getting a drink at parting, he spoke as fol- 

 lows: 



•• .Mr. Root, I would not be in your place 

 for the next two months for $.300." 



I mentally straightened, to think I was a 

 man of so much importance ; but at his next 

 words I settled down into my shoes a little 

 lower thau ordinarily. As he quaffed the 

 cool water from our hew well, he resumed : 



" I would not be in your place, and take 

 the cursing you will get, for hardly any 

 amount." 



"Cursing? Why?" 



" Because you do not fill people's orders 

 more promptly ; because, in fact, you can 

 n't till them. With the hold you have got 



