870 



GLEANINGS IN BEE (TJ.TURE. 



Dec. 



drivers and adjustable wrenches, where any 

 of the children can get them in an instant, 

 if you tell them the tools are wanted in a 

 hurry. And, my friend, as you value the 

 future happiness and comfort of those chil- 

 dren, teach them to be sure these things are 

 put back in their places as soon as you are 

 done using them, if you should forget it 

 yourself. A girl five years old can easily 

 save the time of a man and a team, may be', 

 by knowing where to find a wrench or an oil- 

 can ; and the little girl will get it, and put 

 it back, quicker than a big man could. That 

 is one reason why I like little girls, and lit- 

 tle boys too, because they can help such a 

 " big lot," when they get into the way of 

 helping, and when their papas make friends 

 with them. 1 wonder how many of the pa- 

 pas to whom I am talking to-day are in the 

 habit of making friends with the little 

 chicks at home. Why, if you don't you lose 

 half the pleasure of success in business. 

 Wlien a big crop of honey comes, and the 

 }>rospect is before you of being able to pay 

 off debts that have worried you, what a rare 

 pleasure it is to be able to tell the children 

 about it when you tell mamma, and have 

 them rejoice and clap their hands too I 



'J'here, friends, 1 thought I was going to 

 make a very short talk this time ; but some- 

 how, when" I got a going it " talked itself.'' 

 (iood-by. 



MRS. HARRISON TALKS TO THE JU- 

 VENILES ABOUT PETS. 



WHAT SHALL BE THE CHAKACTEK OF THEIH 

 LETTERS? 



MY DEAR JUVENILES:-! take a greut deal 

 of comfort reading- your little letters, 

 where one sa.ys she has a kitty, and anoth- 

 er a bossy. Some older persons maj' think 

 your letters of little account, but I do not. 

 I feel quite fiMsky, although I have lived in Illinois 

 half a century, and in Ohio awhile— I shall not tell 

 you how long-, though. 



I am not too old to go to Sunday-school. 1 was 

 there last Sunday, and two strangers were there, 

 and wanted us to form a " Humane Society;" that 

 is, a society whose members promise to be kind to 

 everybody, and to the horse, cow, dog, or cat; oh, 

 yes! to the elephant, lion, tiger, mud-turtle, and 

 every thing that lives — even to little boys who 

 throw stones at our windows, and steal our grapes. 

 My dear children, your pets do you a great deal 

 more good than you are aware of. Some persons 

 who belong to the Humane Society visited the 

 penitentiary— not one, but a whole lot of them, 

 and asked the prisoners who of them had pets 

 when they were little children at homo. Would 

 you have believed it? not one ever had any— not 

 even a cat to purr around and rub against his legs, 

 or a pet toad to live under the doorstep. Don't you 

 pity these poor fellows who had nothing of their 

 own to love, and so their hearts grew hard and 

 wicked? I am almost afraid to join the Humane 

 Society, for at their meetings thcj- ask the mem- 

 bers who have hurt any thing since the last meet- 

 ing, to raise their hand. I am afraid I should have 

 to stand up and say, "A bee stung me, and I hit it 

 and killed It." And when the president asks me 

 what made the bee sting me, I should have to tell 



" the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 

 truth," and it would be this: I went to their hive, 

 jerked off the roof, jarred and banged around, scar- 

 ing the poor bees out of their wits, who thought 

 their home was about to be torn down over their 

 heads, their babies killed, and their honey all eaten 

 up. 



Are the bees to blame, when they try to drive me 

 off, and shoot at me with their tiny guns? Our 

 country's laws protect us in our own homes, giving 

 us leave to shoot or drive off persons breaking open 

 the doors to steal from us; and should not the bees 

 have some rights too? If a person knocks gently at 

 our door, we open it, politely speak, ask him to 

 come in and " take a chair." If I treat my bees as 

 politely, do you think they would sting me? or if I 

 ask their permission, by gently tapping at their 

 door, and am not boistei-ous or rude, and have no 

 irritating odors aboutniy clothing, from bee-poison? 

 I have ti-ied to be kind to my bees in a general way. 

 I have fed and watered them, and made warm bed- 

 clothes for them; but I am going to try to be kinder 

 still— treat them more politely, wouldn't you? 



My bees go to a public well near b.y, and sip the 

 fresh water from the gravel; they are attending 

 strictly to their own business, and do not sting; yet 

 boys who gather there kill all they can. Where 

 there are new houses building, and they have beds 

 of mortar, bees sip from it, and boys with little 

 paddles spat evei-y one they can, down into the 

 mortar. Is this being humane? 



Peoria, 111. Mas. L. Hakrison. 



Well, now, really, Mrs. Harrison, I did 

 not intend that our little friends should not 

 tell about their pets, and confine themselves 

 to bees, instead. My purpose was to avoid a 

 little sameness in their letters, and at the 

 same time give them something useful to do. 

 Perhaps I put it a little too strongly, and 

 gave a wrong impression. If I did, I hearti- 

 ly beg their pardon, and thank you for yoiu- 

 seemingly indirect, but kind criticism. You 

 notice that the juveniles still mention their 

 pets in their letters as before, but yet I think 

 they should not be inserted unless of some 

 interest. We have more letters than we 

 have room for, and we think that only the 

 best should go into print. It seems hard, I 

 know, to show partiality to our little friends. 



A society like that you mention has only 

 recently been formed here in Medina for the 

 suppression of crueltv to children and ani- 

 mals. Father and myself are members. 

 Each member is expected to report promptly 

 any act of negligence or cruelty, to the mar- 

 shal. 



I agree exactly with what you say about 

 pets for children. There is "something so 

 innocent about these little dumb creatures 

 about us that God surely intended by them 

 to teach his little folks lessons of love and 

 purity. The younger members of our fami- 

 ly take great comfort with those baby- 

 rabbits that Caddie told you of. When I 

 w-as quite small I used to spend hours witli 

 my rabbits and doves : and when perchance 

 oiie of my pets was killed, I would sit down 

 and have a big cry over it. I don't think it 

 hurt me either. By all means, let the boys 

 and girls have their pets. Such harmless 

 amusements will tend to keep them from 

 associating with bad company, and make 

 them love all (xod's creatures. Ernest. 



