206 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mah. 



you have actually become a teacher in the 

 Sunday-school, and have nine little boys in 

 your charge. As I read your letter my mind 

 goes back to the mild, demure-looking little 

 girl who came to me years ago, and asked 

 for a place. In due time that meek childish 

 form grew larger and stronger, and Bess be- 

 came a power in our business, and now she 

 is beginning to be a power in the army of 

 tiie liOrd. unless 1 am greatly mistaken, and 

 for the same may God be praised. 



MOE3 ABOUT GUNS. 



SOMKTHIXO ON THE OTHEIt SIDK OF THE QUESTION 

 THIS TIME. 



T SHOULD like to tell Mrs. Chaddock, that if her 

 aI? "big boy "has had the "bringinjr up" which 

 "^i WG may reasonably suppose she has g-iven him, 

 '^ she will not rejrrct satisfying his desire for a 

 gun. I have no boys, but I was a boy myself 

 not many years ago, and am still fond of a gun. It 

 is a very useful instrument, when projierly used, 

 and on a farm it plays an important iiart in the de- 

 .'^truction of skunks, hawks, and " sich like var- 

 mints." 



A boi' wlio aspires to be a fjailkinan will be one in 

 the use of his gun; not only in avoiding the wanton 

 destruction of God's innocent ereatui-es for the salte 

 iif hilliiKj, but in the matter of frightening his nerv- 

 ous mother and sisters. I think girls as well as 

 boys, should be carefully taught how to use a gun; 

 not only for the practical benefit they may derive 

 from it, but for their feelings as well. The nervous 

 apprehension at the presence of a gun will disap- 

 pear with a practical knowledge of the use and care 

 of firearms. In their use, however, the observance 

 of the following simple rules should be insisted 

 upon: 



1. Kemcmberagun contains elements of tianyer, 

 and must be handled with a firm hand— not with the 

 tips of the fingers, just ready to droj) it. 



2. Never point a gun, hxtded or dtliencisc. at any 

 person. 



;}. Never lean a gun against the wall (\hi1oss in a 

 corner) or leave it in any other i)osition whei'C acci- 

 dent may cause its discharge. Have a dry place to 

 hang it, in the liouse, and keep it there when not in 

 use. 



4. In practicing, never placi' a target on any 

 building, but in open ground, where you can see 

 beyond it, at least as far as the shot are likely to be 

 thrown— say 23 or 30 rods, if you are using a shot- 

 gun. 



5. Kill only such birds and animals as are unmis- 

 takably injurious when alive, or of some use when 

 dead. 



A young beginner should take his (or her) first 

 lessons from some careful and at least moderately 

 skillful person. JJchdett Hassett. 



Howard ("enter, Iowa, Feb. 24, 1SS5. 



Thank you. friend H. If our buys or 

 girls nnist have guns, I hoi)e tliey will ob- 

 serve the rules you give: but I confess I 

 should be better i)leased if they did not care 

 for them. Ernest has a gun, aiul sometimes 

 it seems to l)e handy : but 1 do not believe it 

 is called into requisition in our lo(;ality more 

 than once in a year. When I read of the 

 accidents that are happening almost contin- 



ually Avith firearms, I can not help conclud- 

 ing that, as a whole, their convenience does 

 not make up for the harm they do; but, of 

 course. I may be mistaken. 



r-r4 



Every hoy or girl, under 15 



years of age. who writes a. 



for this department, containing 



SOME VALUABLE FACT, NOT GENERALLY 

 KNOWN. ON BEES OR OTHER MATTEHS, 



will receive one of David Cook's excel- 

 lent Ave - cent Sunday - school books. 

 Many of these booLs contain the same raat- 

 (ii'"A *^'' that you find in Snndav-school hooks 

 iir,, costing from $1.00 to SL.M). If you have had 



•i.|u.~ f i one or more hooks, give us the names that we 

 'il'rAL '"!»y "ot send the same twice. We have now 

 ^k> *r in stock six different books, as follows; viz.: 

 'i\ > I f^heer Off. The Giant - Killer. The Roby 

 ■J; ' Family. Rescued from Egypt, and Ten Nights in 

 * .a Bar-Koom. We have also Our Homes, Part I. .and 



Our Homes. Part II. Besides the above books, you may have a 

 photograph of our old house apiary, taken a great many years 

 ago. In it is a picture of myself. Blue Eyes, and Caddy, and a 

 glimpse of Ernest. We have also some pretty little colored 



Pictures of birds, fruits, flowers, etc.. suitable for framing, 

 ou can have your choice of any one of the above pictures 

 or books for every letter that gives us some valuable piece of 

 information. 



' A chiel's amang ye takin' notes; 

 An' faith, he'll prent it." 



II EN in New Orleans we secured lodg- 

 ings witli a widow lady, where we 

 had been directed. .\.s we left early 

 in the morning for the Kxpositioii 

 grounds, and retired latt> in the even- 

 i ing, we did not get much acquainted with 

 ' the family. One evening, however, just as 

 we were getting ready to retire, I got to 

 thinking about Iluber. and began to be al- 

 ; most homesick, as I imagined that just about 

 ; that hour he would be teasing for his papa. 

 All at once a babyish voice, sounding not 

 unlike his, caught my ear. from the next 

 1 room. I listened, and felt a great longing 

 ; to get hold of the little one. Ernest, how- 

 i ever, declared it would be taking a liberty— 

 i that they were strangers, and it was late, 

 and so I "went to bed without getting hold of 

 I the baby ; but his childish prattU' i>ulled at 

 ! my heart-strings evei-y time he spoke, so I 

 i could not go to sleep. It was the same next 

 : night, and I liegan to feel as if I could not 

 I stand it much longer, miless I could have 

 [ that baby in my arms. Next day we were 

 ; obliged to be in the vicinity in the middle of 

 ' tiie day ; and as we came into tlie front yard, 

 there among tlie violets (you know they are 

 in bloom in New Orleans in March) was a 

 pretty, sweet-looking little girl, and on the 

 steps was tlie nuunmawith that "said baby.'- 

 It was not tlic ];uiy of whom we engaged the 

 j rooms, l»ul a vounger woman : and althoii<jh 

 I was a perfect stranger I stepped over the 

 1 rules of etiquette, and begged for the baby— 

 ! and I qot him too. lie seemed as glad to see 

 me as I was glad to see him, and in a little 

 1 time he got his soft fingers in my whiskers. 



