7u; 



GLEANIHGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



Xow. Ill's information has been Avortli a 

 good dv-ui Lu me. I didn't understand be- 

 fore why this system ot checks and tickets, 

 witli punches I'or perforating them, was so 

 much in use everywhere. It is for the pur- 

 pose of making- dishonesty almost impos- 

 sible, providing the man who travels is in- 

 telligent enough to keep posted and under- 

 stand it all. To make mistakes, whether 

 intentional or unintentional, is almost im- 

 possible : that is, if the traveling public do 

 their duty. .Vnd here I was iynordut uml 

 uneharitable. You see, I was learning les- 

 sons. We sometimes think the world is 

 slow to receive lessons ; but we generally 

 tliink that we ourselves are bright and 

 smart. In some respects I have a very good 

 opinion indeed of myself. With these ex- 

 periences that I have told you of, I ought to 

 have had plenty of charity. Well, I guess I 

 ought, but I didn't have, after all. 



The tirst place I stopped at in the great 

 city was at the orticeof the Amerimn (hvcei\ 

 the' publisher being brother of our short- 

 hand writer who is taking down these notes. 

 It was the same way. I felt diffident about 

 intruding on his time, but I felt ashamed 

 almost as soon as I met him. It was the 

 same when I visited the great establishment 

 of Thurber, Whyland A: Co. I will tell you 

 sometliing al)0\it that visit in another place. 

 After that I visited the large establishment 

 where I buy the greater part of our counter 

 goods. One ol' the clerics was somewhat 

 aciiuainled by correspondence, because he 

 made it his business to take charge of all our 

 orders. AVell. what kind of opinion do you 

 suppose 1 had of him. without having ever 

 seen himy To get at the truth which I want 

 to inculcate to-day. I suppose I shall have to 

 own up a good deal. Some way I had got it 

 into my mind that most of the clerks in our 

 great cities are of a drinking, swearing, 

 theater - going class; that mcist of them 

 would laugh at me, and call me a fanatic or 

 religious enthusiast. Well, my reception 

 by the clerks of this great establishment 

 was a good deal like the rest I have been 

 telling you about. They were quite over- 

 joyed to see the man in New York who had 

 a plain notice on one corner of his catalogue, 

 saying that he gives away cards against pro- 

 fanity, to anybody who would take them. 

 This brought out the fact that my friend 

 was a Sunday-school worker — one who lov- 

 ed God, and hungered and thirsted after 

 righteousness. You know we sell quite a 

 number of books. Well, this establishment 

 had a book dei)artment ; that is, they sold a 

 few select books. When they asked me to 

 make a purchase of some "books, and I 

 ordered only a hundred Pilgrim's Progress, 

 and no others, the clerks seemed a little sur- 

 prised when I replied. "Boys, we sell only a 

 limited number of books, and I have decided 

 that these must be of such a character that 

 I can carry them to the ])risoners in our 

 county jail to read, with a clear conscience." 



Xow, I did not think by this little speech 

 that I was going to hurt anybody's feelings ; 

 but the clei'k who \uade it a business to pur- 

 chase their books made a start, and I coidd 

 tell by his face and voice that he was hurt. 



" Why, Mr. Hoot," said he. ''• are there any 



books among our collections here that are in 

 the least immoral in their tendencies ? " 



I assured him that I did not quite mean 

 that; but the talk I had with him on the 

 matter made me feel ashamed of myself 

 again: and when these two young men. a lit- 

 tle while later, introduced me to one of the 

 partners, while their faces seemed to show 

 they did it with considerable pride. I felt 

 ashamed of myself again. One of them 

 made a remark something like this : 



"Mr. P., this is Mr. A. I. Root, who ad- 

 vertises printed cards against profanity, to 

 give away ; and at home where he lives he 

 goes into the jail every Sunday and talks to 

 the boys and men he finds there," etc. 



I had a very pleasant talk with tlie pro- 

 prietor ; and while I was making my pur- 

 chases, a clei'k came to tell me that they 

 wanted to see me in the ofhce before I went 

 away. When I went in there to see what 

 was wanted, one of the firm come to me 

 with a little bit of paper in his hand, and 

 with a smile on his face, and said about as 

 follows : " Mr. Pioot, I have had one of our 

 book-keepers run up the amount of your 

 purchases since you commenced to trade 

 with us in 1880. Here it is on this bit of pa- 

 per. We have sold you, in a little less than 

 five years, $43i)2.24. Now, that is a pretty 

 fair amount to sell to one man in that length 

 of time ; but that is not the point just now, 

 although we thank you for the trade you 

 have given us. What I wanted to say for 

 your encouragement is this: That, during 

 "these five years, we have never had to ask 

 you for a cent of money, or hardly to send 

 you a statement. Every'bill has been paid 

 jiromptly. within about ten davs of its 

 date." 



"But," said I, " you gave a discount for 

 prompt cash, and who would not pay under 

 such circumstances':"' 



He replied, " Y'es, I know we gave a dis- 

 count ; but I tell you, Mr. Boot, the men 

 who pay as promptly as you do, are not so 

 plentiful but that when we find such a cus- 

 tomer we want to keep him. Now, while I 

 tliank you, I want to say this : We know 

 you buy largely in certain lines of goods ; 

 and we "have learned by experience that we 

 can safely give you close figures. We take 

 no risk in getting our pay. Whenever you 

 are in need of any article, whether we keep 

 it or not. we will take pleasure in hunting it 

 up for you, and in giving you prices that 

 we could not give people "avIioui we have 

 found to l)e uncertain. Why, ]\Ir. Root, you 

 liave no idea of how we are trouljled and 

 perplexed and bothered by men who make 

 promises they do not keep or can not keep." 



Now. dear friends, do not think I have 

 told you all this because I want to boast of 

 my good name in financial circles, but be- 

 cause I want to let you have the benefit 

 of the moral. Has any one any adequate 

 idea of the value of a good name'? and are 

 we working as we might work, even the best 

 of us. to keep this good name free from 

 blemish':' It was another illustration to me 

 of my want of charity. I didn't know that 

 these people would be particularly glad to 

 see me, and 1 had no conception of the es- 

 timation in which they held one who is 



