1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



360 



yet there was that beautiful little Congrega- 

 tional church right across the corner. I 

 told him, in my poor way, that one who was 

 trying to do by his fellow-men as he would 

 be done by, as he had expressed it, I felt 

 sure would rejoice in being among Chris- 

 tian people. 1 told him, too, that I had felt 

 hurt and pained when the livery-man close 

 by told me he wanted $2.50 for a horse and 

 buggy for only two hours. Now, perhaps I 

 am a little uncharitable toward livery-men, 

 and may he toward some of the hotel-keep- 

 ers. It is said, that, in the winter time, 

 when they have but little custom, they have 

 to charge large prices for what they do get, 

 in order to pay the expenses of keeping up 

 an establishment ; and I believe it is true, 

 as a rule, that livery-men and those who 

 run conveyances to and from pleasure- 

 resorts are seldom God-fearing people. It 

 would seem as if il were the most proper 

 thing in the world to find God-fearing men 

 and women to wait on those who come to 

 view, visit, or enjoy nature's wonders in the 

 way of mountain scenery, rivers, lakes, cav- 

 erns, and the like. In regard to this matter 

 of having nothing to do in winter, the prob- 

 lem is much like the one bee-keepers are 

 obliged to solve ; and I think it would be- 

 hoove the hotel-keepers and the livery-men, 

 who minister to tourists and pleasure-seekers 

 in summer time, to make some other ar- 

 rangements for men and horses during the 

 rest of the year, and thus make prices mod- 

 erate. Our rural friends, manv of them, 

 feel as if they had been outraged when they 

 are asked to pay a dollar for a meal of vict- 

 uals while potatoes bring only 20 cents a 

 bushel. 



Now, before bidding good-by to Manitou 

 I want to ask my good friend the Congrega- 

 tional minister to make a friendly call on 

 my friend the shoemaker ; and may be he 

 can take him a bee-journal if he thinks 

 best. I wish he would also have a little 

 friendly talk with the boys who board at the 

 Mountain View Hotel, and may be they will 

 be interested in looking over what I have 

 written. I would suggest that he get on a 

 friendly footing with the folks in the livery- 

 stable. May be, however, it would not be 

 best to give them a bee-journal, for it be- 

 gins to occur to me that perhaps I have 

 been a little uncharitable toward them ; but 

 when Christian people prefer not to pay the 

 prices charged them when traveling, it is 

 certainly their privilege to eo on foot, as 

 did your humble servant. Yes, I am not 

 sure but we can perhaps go on our way 

 afoot, with more genuine earnestness and 

 zeal, than in the finest equipage. Now, we 

 must be careful about a want of charity 

 again right here, for it is not every one who 

 has been blessed with strong limb's and en- 

 ergy to do it, as does your friend A. I. Root. 

 If you do enjoy walking, dear reader, and 

 are equal to the task of walking several 

 miles on a stretch, then go this minute, if 

 you have never done so before, and thank 

 God that he has blessed you in this way. 



Dec. I8.~^lt almost makes me feel sad to 

 think the mountains are behind us, and I 

 am told we shall see them no more. To- 

 day, through Nebraska we have little be- 



sides mammoth corntields, and corn-cribs to 

 match— the latter piled full of corn, but no 

 roofs. Huge piles of corn are also seen in 

 the fields. 



What an uncertain thing " daily bread " 

 is, in traveling ! uncertain in expense, I 

 mean. Last evening I thought to save ex- 

 pense by going to the lunch counter ; but a 

 turkey-leg, cup of coffee, and a piece of pie 

 was 45 cents ; and as I felt hungry still, 1 

 afterward, at another place, got a dish of 

 oysters and a glass of lemonade, 45 cents 

 more, or 90 cents in all, when the regular 

 supper would have been only 75. Economy 

 on the wrong side. At Wymore, Nebraska, 

 I decided to patronize a one-armed soldier, 

 and, taking a lesson from yesterday's experi- 

 ence, I ordered only a dish of baked beans, 

 and coffee. He dished out so many beans, 

 however, that I mentally figured that I was 

 out about 45 cents, or pretty near it. again ; 

 but to my great surprise, it was only ten. 

 cents for the whole dinner. This man has a 

 dinner-gong that goes by clockwork, while 

 he, with one arm, waits on a dozen custom- 

 ers. I gave him some words of encourage- 

 ment. What a field is here for practical 

 Christianity! In the large city of Denver, 

 in their large tine depot dining-hall, they 

 charge only 50 cents for a meal. Why can 

 not smaller towns on the railroad do as 

 well? Another thing pleased me : Adjoin- 

 ing this tine dining-room, and in a conspic- 

 uous place, was a fine bath-room, close by 

 where trains stop and start out, so passen- 

 gers, while waiting for a train, can wash 

 thoroughly all over, for only 25 cents. Good 

 for Denver ! 



Near Burchard, Neb., the corn-cribs are 

 several hundred feet long, and the heaps in 

 the field are immense. Thousands of stacks 

 of hay are also scattered over the fields. 

 I am very sorry to notice a good many 

 mowers and horse -rakes also. Loads of corn, 

 and still larger corn-cribs, are now seen. 

 A man says they get only 20 cents a bushel 

 at the stations, and a lady says some are 

 burning it for fuel. It makes a very hot 

 fire, and one man melted his stove down 

 and burned up his house by firing up too 

 strong with corn. 



Near Kansas City we strike the Missouri 

 River. It is by all odds the largest river I 

 have seen in my travels xoest — that is, rivers 

 with water in them. I have seen plenty of 

 immense rivers in the great West, but they 

 lacked water when I saw them. Erorn Jef- 

 ferson City to St. Louis, the broad Missouri 

 River occupies and covers a vast extent of 

 land ; but it seems to be, like a meadow 

 brook, continually washing away the bank, 

 first on one side and then on the other. The 

 consequence is. that sometimes miles of 

 drifting sand are interspersed with bushes 

 and clumps of willows, indicating where the 

 river has been at some time, while the run- 

 ning water may be found to have a channel 

 less than a quarter of a mile wide. Judg- 

 ing from the growth of willows and weeds, 

 this bottom land must be wonderfully fer- 

 tile. It is probably, however, so liable to 

 overllow or wash that nothing has been 

 done with it. If this great sluggish river 

 could be made to take a straight line, and 



