1885 



GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



717 



working for dirist. No matter what a 

 man's religious belief is, he respects at once 

 the one who loves (iod and his fellow-men. 



You ma\ think that my heart should have 

 been enlarging a little by this time, and that 

 these experiences should have taught me to 

 have more faith in my fellow-men. Well. I 

 believe 1 did begin to have a little better 

 opinion of the world : but when I stepped 

 into the great seed-house of Peter Hender- 

 son iV Co.. somelhing of the same feeling 

 came over me. In Xew York, space is so 

 valuable that even large hou.ses can not 

 alford such roomy and airy ofhces as ours 

 are here at the " llome of the IIoney-Bees.'" 

 In all these i)Iaces I visited, every foot of 

 space was economized, as if it were pre- 

 cious. A good deal of the gi'ound in the city 

 of Xew York. I have been told, is worth a 

 thousand dollais a square foot. The oflices 

 were somewhat small where ^Ir. Henderson 

 h:is his book-keepeis, but somehow I fell a 

 little backward aliout going in and inteirupl- 

 ing so in;my busy jieople. esi)ecially when I 

 didn't want any thing, so lo speak.' One of 

 the clerks told me that Mr. Henderson was 

 very busy, and he diiln't know tliat .Mi'. H. 

 would want to i)e iuteri-uptc(l. Perl)ai)s I 

 should remark, that it was Peter Hender- 

 son's sou whom I found in the ollice that 

 da>. He was very busy with se\ci'al peoi)le. 

 and seemed greatly annoscd because some 

 valuai)lt' papei' was lost — so much so that I 

 thought al)outgoiugaway without disturbing 

 him. This v/ouldu't do, however, and sol 

 meulioiicd my name, and told him where I 

 came from. In an instant the troid)led look on 

 his lace ga\e way to kindly looks. He gave 

 up his i)apei-. dismissed Ids fiiends. and 

 with great kiiulness showed me from garret 

 to cellar of that gieat seed-house. As I did 

 not come to trade at this season of the year, 

 I felt soiry to see him turn ofC other people 

 whom I presumed must want sonu4hing. so 

 1 did not stay very long at the store. I will 

 tell \ou about my visit to the eight acres of 

 gieenhouses further along. I have spoken 

 of the friends in Xew York who knew of 

 uie, and now I want to say a word in regard 

 to utter strangers. 



When I first came in sight of Xorth River. 

 at the ternunus of our railroad. I was great- 

 ly astonished at the number of vessels, 

 steamers, ferries, lugs, and many crafts thai 

 1 could not tell Hie naniv of. and to see the 

 way in which they ci-owded and rushed 

 about in every direction, without smashing 

 into eacih other. They seemed like mosqui- 

 toes dancing in the sunshine, only it was 

 l)lainly evident there was no play about il. 

 It was the busiest kind of business. Every 

 craft was pushing for dear life toward 

 soniH" point ahead. Human beings were do- 

 ing the same thing on the ferry-boat, al- 

 though they did stand still until we neared 

 the city wharf. Then oid they poured into 

 the streets. H' I was astonished at the scene 

 on the w. ter. 1 was still more astonished at 

 the streets of Xew York. Street-cars were 

 chasing each other uj) one side of the street 

 and down the other; carriages, carts, drays,* 

 milk-wagons, and all sorts of vehicles, were 

 smashing ahead, crosswise, lengthwise, and 

 tui'ning and twisting. At almost every turn 



it seemed to me that some vehicle narrowly 

 escaped a smashup ; but as these narrow es- 

 capes were before my eyes all the while, I 

 was obliged to conclude that was the wav 

 they always did. Perhaps you have heard 

 of the Irishman, who, when he tirst landed 

 on our shores, was knocked down by a thun- 

 derbolt. Wlien he got up, the first 'thing he 

 asked was whether it did that way in Amer- 

 ica every day; for if it did. he thought he 

 would get aboard the ship and go back 

 straight home. This feeling kept coming up 

 to me all the while, but 1 thought I would 

 not go l)ack home just yet. In addition to 

 tlie annoyances and confusion on the pave- 

 ments, the elevated lailways overhead were 

 continuall\ scaring what little sense (me had 

 left, out of him. They, too, weiit down one 

 side and up the other, dmsing each other 

 like children about the loom. On some of 

 the streets, four tracks ran side by side on 

 these elevated street i-ailways. I thought I 

 was bright enough to take care of myself, 

 and keep out of the way ; but every little 

 while somebody would kindly take me V)y 

 the arm and pull me this wa\ and then that 

 way. to kee'p me out of danger. While I 

 was looking out for one vehicle, some one 

 from another direction would be right on to 

 me. I expected somebody to swear at me, 

 or call me a fool, because I kept continually 

 getting into jjlaces of danger. Iiut they 

 didn't: on the contrary. I received the ut- 

 most kindness ever> where. Tlie conductor 

 took hold of me. and pulled me into thecal', 

 when a slreet-car running in the opposite 

 direction was pretty close. Everybody an- 

 swered (piestions so'kindly and so fully that 

 I could not but thank (iod while I thanked 

 them. Policemen, conductors, clerks at the 

 hotels, and everybody else, seemed to lake 

 it for granted that their business in life was 

 to make it jusl as ideasant for such chaps as 

 my.self as they knew how to do. and it sur- 

 ))rised me. Dear friends, I am really afraid 

 it is true, that we in the country are much 

 more given to surlisliness and short answers 

 than our fellows in these great busy cities. 

 1 saw saloons, but I saw very little drunk- 

 ennes.N. One thing that i)leased me was to 

 see the numlicr of neat notices, even at the 

 .saloons, announcing " Ice-("old .Milk, only ;i 

 cents a (ilass.'" .Vt some places, il read, 

 ■•Orange-County ^lilk." Then the old un- 

 charitable feeling suggested that it was not 

 Orange-Couniy milk, and that it was per- 

 haps chalk and water thai we read about in 

 the i)apers. .My friends, the milk was just 

 as nice as that Vve get from our Jersey cow 

 at home ; and if one is short of means he 

 can live very cheaply, even in this great 

 busy booming city. ' 1 spent one evening 

 there. 1 had forgotten to ask my friends 

 where I could go in the evening, to a place 

 lit for a Christian to go, and so I consulted 

 the papers at the hotel. There were plenty 

 of theaters, but, of course, that was not the 

 place for me. So I thought I would study 

 humanity on the streets. Well, I went 

 miles on' the street-cars and on foot, in 

 dilferent directions, and pushed my way 

 into the crowds, but ever> thing was quiet 

 and orderly. \\'hy. it seenied to me like one 

 great family circle. Children were playing 



