1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



29 



ance was good, and almost all took part. 

 After this we attended the Endeavor Socie- 

 ty, and the leader very soon called on " Bro. 

 Root." The attendance here was nearly all 

 young ladies. The lender told me they were 

 sorry that they had so far been unable to 

 get many of the young men interested. They 

 sent very kiud messages to the Society in 

 Medina. They take the Golden Bute, and 

 think much of it. The leader mentioned in 

 my talk with her that she had but little time 

 to spare, as three of them had in charge a 

 Chinese Sunday-school, and the pupils were 

 probably waiting for them then. I begged 

 to go along, and, on account of a vacancy, 1 

 was called upon to explain the lesson to a 

 lot of Chinese brothers. Yes, brothers they 

 are, no matter how they came here, or what 

 the purpose. They answered questions quite 

 freely ; and when the teacher told them to 

 let the stranger see how well they could 

 write on the blackboard, they expressed 

 their gratitude to me by well-worded and 

 neatly written sentences in our language. 

 Then they wrote for me in Chinese. At the 

 close of the school they repeated the Lord's 

 prayer, first in English and then in Chinese ; 

 and after the school was over, one of them 

 gave me some of their tea from a beautiful 

 China teapot, kept warm in a padded flannel 

 cushioned basket. The Chinese here are 

 very neatly and cleanly dressed, and the 

 boys in the school were, most of them, in- 

 telligent, fine-looking fellows. I questioned 

 them pretty closely in my talk with them in 

 the class, and the teacher tells me they told 

 the truth when they said they did not drink, 

 swear, nor steal. She also says Chinamen 

 always pay their debts, and seldom waste 

 time in idleness As I talked with them I 

 thought of Bro. Ament* and his labors ; and 

 when I walked home, pretty well tired with 

 the labors of the day, you need not be sur- 

 prised when I tell you I had one of those 

 bright experiences that seem to give a 

 glimpse of the heaven that awaits those who 

 delight in being servants of the Lord. Why, 

 the delight in meeting with such beautiful 

 and grand Christian characters as I have 

 met to-day, both among the men and women, 

 is enough to make one break forth in praises 

 to God ; and it is not to-day only, but every 

 Sunday since I have left home •. and the 

 probability is, that 1 should be able to rind 

 more like them in every town and city, were 

 1 to travel months and yearn, for I have had 

 the peace of God in my own heart, and this 

 has helped me to find Christian people, and 

 to appreciate their good qualities when 

 found. Does some one suggest that, if I 

 were to live by these people day after day, I 

 would think differently of them? God for- 

 bid ! The person who lias in himself the 

 " living water, 1 ' "springing up into everlast- 

 ing life," will always find good neighbors, 

 no matter where he is. Dear reader, what 

 kind of neighbors are round about you f 

 Dec. 3. — To Huber. Where papa is now. 



* The pastor of our church. He has been with us 

 tor about four years. The most of his life previous 

 to that time was spent in China. His people, how- 

 ever, kept sending so continually lor him to come 

 back that he left us a few months ago to resume 

 his labors at his old home 



the men who ride on horses carry long leath- 

 er ropes, called lassoes, that they can throw 

 so true as to catch a cow or a horse that is 

 running away, or even catch a man if they 

 want to. These horses with lassoes attach- 

 ed to their saddles are almost always stand- 

 ing hitched in the town ; and whenever a 

 team runs away, one of the Spaniards is 

 sure to lasso the horses and stop them be- 

 fore they have gone very far. They have a 

 slip noose in the end of the long leather 

 rope, that they throw over the head or catch 

 the heels of the cow or horse. Some time 

 ago a couple of Spaniards were riding along, 

 and a great grizzly bear came at them. As 

 quick as a wink one horseman threw his 

 lasso over the bear's head, and tried to choke 

 him ; but the bear chased the man and 

 horse until the other man lassoed one of his 

 hind legs. Then they had Mr. Bear in a fix. 

 When he tried to get one man, the other 

 held him off; and if he tried to get the oth- 

 er, he held him off. In this w T ay they tired 

 him out, and really brought him into town, 

 to the great delight of all the town people, 

 especially the small boys. The horses the 

 Spaniards ride are trained so that, when 

 their rider throws a lasso, they brace them- 

 selves and pull with all their might to hold 

 a cow or horse ; in fact, they say they rather 

 like the fun. They tell you here that, if a 

 bear chases you, you must not try to get 

 away by running down hill or up hill, but 

 just run along the side-hill ; and as the 

 bear's legs are not made for side-hill run- 

 ning, he will tumble down and roll over 

 every once in a while ; and this takes so 

 much time that the man can get away from 

 him. 



Dec. 3, just before going to bed. Here I 

 am, away up in a little notch amid the 

 mountains. Of all the winding, tortuous 

 roads, I never before traversed one like this. 

 I am staying with Mr. Thomas Arundel, or 

 better known by the bee-men as " Tommy 

 Irondale." Bee-keepers have been pushed 

 back by the fruit-men until many of them 

 have gone way back, where the bees can't 

 intrude or hinder, and in this way friend A. 

 has found his pleasant home. When he 

 found his bees here in .this wild glen gave 

 more and better honey than any of the rest, 

 he persuaded a charming girl, with energy 

 and determination like his own, to share his 

 lot ; and here, three miles or more from any 

 neighbors, they have reared their children, 

 four in number. The oldest is now about 7. 

 It seemed odd indeed to find so pleasant a 

 home after three miles of crooks and turns, 

 without seeing a house ; and when my neat 

 little room was assigued me, with its many 

 little evidences of feminine taste, so cosy 

 and snug and pretty, I could hardly feel as 

 if 1 deserved it. 1 felt like saying, "A. I. 

 Root, what have you done to entitle you to 

 the best of every thing everywhere you go ? 

 Why should these good people labor and 

 toil to fix up nice pleasant homes, and then 

 place them at your disposal ? " To tell the 

 truth, I do feel every day as if I deserved 

 no such kindness ; but every little while I 

 get a hint of why I am thus honored. As 

 we turned the last curve, and came out 

 through the leafy trees in sight of the cot- 



