912 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



our whole room, 14X20, nice and warm, and 

 it can be closed up so as to stop instantl}', 

 and it holds fire all night or even long-er. 



Our first stove had the pipe go out through 

 the wall, and then up into the air; and, in 

 fact, most of the houses in our neighbor- 

 hood have stovepipes sticking out through 

 the roof. But this arrang-ement was al- 

 ways an " ej'esore " to me. I asked the 

 carpenter who built the annex if he could 

 build a chimne}'. When he admitted that 

 he built the chimneys to his own house I 

 borrowed his team and hauled the brick, 

 and now we have a verj^ pretty chimney 

 that answers for both our stoves, and yet 

 it cost less than $5.00; the brick cost only 

 $1.50, and brick is very expensive here. 

 Every home, no matter how humble, should 

 have one of these fuel-saving air-tight 

 stoves. Get one to take big knotty blocks, 

 so as to save the expense of splitting. Our 

 stove will take a cut from a log- 10 inches in 

 diameter and 2 feet long. Such a block of 

 hard wood will keep fire 24 hours. 



We soon learned that, to keep the house 

 warm, every thing must be tight and snug 

 under the floor. This we managed with 

 rough boards covered with shingles, put- 

 ting building-paper between the boards and 

 shingles, using this in place of a wall, so 

 no wind could possibly ever get under the 

 floor. Our little "annex" has building-pa- 

 per all over under the floor and under the 

 shingles on the roof. The result is, we can 

 go into it to take a bath, and not feel the 

 least bit of a draft of air through any crev- 

 ice or crack. For a bath-tub we use one of 

 the hirgest-sized galvanized tubs, costing 

 only 70 cents. During a short dry spell we 

 ran out of rain water, and Mrs. Root then 

 put in strong for a cistern. There are very 

 few cisterns in this neighborhood. They 

 depend on tubs and barrels ; and when 

 there is a dry spell they get along with 

 hard water. Very few of the springs or 

 wells are really soft water. Every home — 

 yes, every individual — should have plenty 

 of soft water the year round. The shower 

 bath with cold spring water, such as I have 

 described, for warm weather, may be taken 

 with hard water. 



Before I forget it let me say, use building- 

 paper for ever J' thing yow build (unless it be 

 "the corn-crib" i, for it costs less a cent a 

 square A^ard, and it keeps oft' drafts of air 

 that might cause much sickness ( if not death ) 

 to some loved one. 



TWO AND A HALF MILKS FROM THE POST- 

 OFFICE. 



We have had another experience out here 

 in the woods. People who have all their 

 lives been in the habit of having mail 

 brought to their places of business three or 

 four times a da}' can hardly imagine the 

 inconvenience of having to go two or three 

 miles to the postoffice. We have got along- 

 very well by getting the schoolmaster to 

 give our mail to the children coming" our 

 way through the woods (we give them a 

 nickel each trip); but when it is ver^- bad 



weather, and on Saturdays, the children do 

 not go to school. I have also had glimpses 

 of the way our neighbors manage. During 

 busy seasons the mail is often left almost a 

 week. At other times journey after jour- 

 ney of several miles is made for an impor- 

 tant letter that doesn't come. You see Mrs. 

 Root and I are now ready to discuss under- 

 standingly "free delivery of mails in coun- 

 try places " that is so much talked about. 

 W^e take a daily Cleveland paper {News 

 and Herald), and we could hardly get 

 along without it; and you may judge with 

 how much interest we read the following in 

 the daily of Nov. 2: 



GOOD NEWS FOR THE FARMER. 



WITHIN FIVE YKARS EVERY RUSTIC IN THE COUNTRY 

 ■WILL HAVE MAIL DELIVERED AT HIS DOOR. 



Washington, No%'. 1. — Within five years every farmer 

 in the country will have his mail delivered at his door. 

 Superintendent Machin, of the free-delivery division 

 of the Postoffice Department, made this prediction to- 

 night, and is confident it will be fulfilled 



"At the rate we are extending the system," he said, 

 " it will spread all over the United States in the period 

 mentioned. It will cover an area of one million square 

 miles, and include practically all the inhabited area of 

 the country. 



•' There will be in operation by Dec. 1 about 6000 

 rural routes. Of these, 4700 will have been established 

 since July 1, 1900. During the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 190ii. ISiHJ routes were put in operation. There are 

 now on file 6000 applications for new routes, and they 

 are coming in by the hundreds It will take us from a 

 year to a year and a half to dispose of those already on 

 hand. 1 he people living in the country' are wiidlv 

 enthusiastic for this service, and we are supplying ft 

 as fast as our appropriation permits." 



It is Superintendent Machin's aim to apportion the 

 roiites among the Congressional dirtricts as uniformly 

 as possible. Congre s will be asked to make a largely 

 increased appropriation for this service at its next ses- 

 sion. 



Our nearest country store is where the 

 postoffice is kept, and we have had some 

 new experiences in finding- ourselves all at 

 once out of soap, matches, coal oil, sugar, 

 and even flour. I can now see a very good 

 reason why land may be very cheaji in re- 

 mote places compared with that near towns 

 and cities. I can also see, I think, how it 

 is that poor hard-working people waste so 

 much valuable time, even a busy season, in 

 going to the "store and postoffice." By 

 free delivery of the mail Uncle Samuel says 

 to these folks, "You keep right on with 

 your work. When there is an_v mail for 

 3'ou I will bring it rig-ht to j'our door." In 

 the matter of groceries, both tune and )iion- 

 ey are saved in getting enoug'-h to last. 



" In all thy ways acknowledge him, and 

 he shall direct thy paths." The great Fa- 

 ther not only directs the "paths" of his 

 followers when they go through the woods 

 to the postoffice, but it is on account of the 

 fact that we are as a people a Christian na- 

 tion that he is just now directing our gov- 

 ernment in this matter of free delivery of 

 mails to both rich and poor. I believe God 

 was directing my path when he gave me 

 this longing for a life in the woods; and I 

 verily believe that the experience of the two 

 months that are now almost ended will 

 help me, all the rest of my life, to feel more 

 than I ever did before that I know at least 

 somethins: of the trials and difficulties that 



