1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



821 



g-ether. "Why, it almost makes me crj^ to 

 think of it."" 



"H-u-m-m," said slie, musing-ly; "and 

 what is your idea of pathetic ?" 



"Pathetic? Whjs ma'am, we had two 

 roosters when I lived on the farm in York 

 State — one a h'vj;; clumsy lubber, and the 

 other just a little runt. "Well, he would 

 everlasting-ly wallop the big- rooster. One 

 day he knocked all of his tail feathers out. 

 You ought to have been there to see that big- 

 rooster sneiik off into the bushes. Pathet- 

 ic? Well, I should say so; and that's just 

 my idea of the term. ' ' 



I know I had the best of the argument, 

 for the lady turned right away and seemed 

 to have urg-ent business at the other end of 

 the hall. Now, I may not have reported 

 the exact words of our conversation; but 

 any way, it convej's my idea of the pathetic. 



Then we have another artist in Los An- 

 g-eles, Mr. J. W. P^erree. Now, I am not 

 sure as to Mr. Ferree's nationality; but it 

 sounds as much like French as Longpree; 

 any way, he is ixn artist; and while Mr. 

 Lougpree's specialt}^ is flowers and land- 

 scapes, Mr. Ferree's specialty is house- 

 scapes. His housescapes are to be seen and 

 admired in all portions of the cit}'. His 

 reputation is so great in this line that well- 

 to-do people in adjoining- towns have em- 

 ployed him to paint housescapes for them. 



HOW PATHETIC, RAMBLER 



Now, any one would naturallj' think that 

 being- a popular housescape Jirtist would be 

 'aurels enough for one man; but that is not 

 che case with Mr. Ferree. He is one of us. 

 ^rle is a bee-keeper;, and, still better, he is 

 bul-brood inspector for Los Angeles Coun- 

 '-.y. The board of supervisors elected him 

 over several others who hankered for the 

 office, attesting to his popularity in the com- 

 munity, and a genial companion he is, as 

 the following episode will prove. 



Mr. Ferree and I were riding along har- 

 moniously one day; and as he removed his 

 hat to a passing" lady I artistically remark- 

 ed, " So pathetic I " 



"Why, Rambler, what do j'ou observe 

 that is pathetic?" 



"Bro. Ferree, it is the top of your head — 

 so bald — so pathetic." 



"Say, Rambler, did you ever look pathet- 

 ic?" 



"Not as I knows on," said I. 



" Well, we'll see about that," said he. 



Mr. Ferree was driving his old gray 

 mare, and leading- iinother pie-bald critter 

 behind the w^lgon. As we turned into Ver- 

 non Avenue in the southern suburbs of Los 

 Angeles, with Messrs. Brodbeck and Shaff- 

 ner following us in another rig-, he stopped 

 the procession, and remarked that he had 

 alwaj^s driven the critter on the oft" side, 

 and now wished to give him a few lessons 

 on the near side, and proceeded to form a 

 connection from said critter's head to the 

 near-side hame of the old gray, with a tow 

 string-, and gave me the end of the long- 

 halter rope to manage. 



The program was all very simple. We 

 started; and that critter, looking the situa- 

 tion in the face, and not liking it, turned 

 right around and looked us in the face and 

 winked his eyes, as much as to say, "There, 

 now, who is on the off side?" The whip 

 was applied to old gray. The critter back- 

 ed a few steps, got mad, reared, bolted past 

 the buggy, and nearly jerked my arms off 

 as I held to the rope and the seat, and, with 

 hat sailing to the ground, I frantically 

 shouted ' ' "VVhoa ! whoa ! ' ' 



Ferree laughed and shouted, "So pathet- 

 ic ! so pathetic ! " 



He was getting his revenge on me in true 

 artistic style. 



Well, the procession was stopped again, 

 the critter tied again with the same tow 

 string; the old gray was start- 

 ed again; but this time the crit- 

 ter bolted ahead ; and as I hung 

 balanced on the dash-board 

 Ferree shouted again, " So pa- 

 thetic ! so pathetic ! " 



We stopped again. Bro. 

 Brodbeck was just suggesting 

 that I ride the critter, when his 

 pet dog's tail was stepped on, 

 and, what a howl! "So pa- 

 thetic!" said Ferree; "so pa- 

 thetic ! " said I. 



"What a pathetic howl!" 

 said Ferree. 



"Nothing pathetic about the 

 howl," said I; "but that painful frown on 

 Brodbeck's brow — so pathetic — see, Fer- 

 ree?" 



"Yes," said Ferree, "I see." 

 Y^ou would naturally infer from the fore- 

 going, which was only a fragment of the 

 occurrence, that Mr. Ferree is a jolly good 

 fellow, and that's a fact. He is a genial 

 bachelor, a member of Dr. Bresee's church; 

 will go a long way to serve a friend; gener- 

 ous ever3r day in the week; polite and con- 

 descending to the ladies; always shows an 

 even temper, and the mantle of foul-brood 

 inspector could not have fallen upon more 

 worthy shoulders. 



He reports his work in Los Angeles Co. 

 as follows: Has inspected 148 apiaries; 

 8010 colonies; 284 foul-brood colonies. Prof. 

 Cook commends Mr. Ferree's method of 

 handling the disease. Where there is a 

 chance for saving the colony it is done; oth- 

 erwise it is submitted to the flames. Mr. 

 Ferree estimates 300 bee-keepers and 20,000 



