1887 



GLEAKtNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



135 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE DOING IT. 



Continued from Jan. 15. 

 CHAPTER XXXV. 

 For ye are bought with a price.— I. COK. 6: ; 



It is a happy thou,s2:ht to me, dear friends, 

 that I am bought with a price— that I belong 

 to Christ Jesus. The reason why it is a 

 happy thouglit is because 1 have a right to 

 feel that he has his plans, even for a poor 

 humble life like my own ; that he has some- 

 thing for me to do, and is watching me with 

 loving care. I have felt that he called me to 

 write this book; that it is his wish that I 

 should write it, and that he has a message 

 that I may, through the book, carry to you, 

 my dear readers. '• What to do, and how 

 to be happy,'" is a great theme ; and when I 

 undertake to tell the people of the world — 

 that is, such a part of the world as may be 

 interested in listening to what I have to tell, 

 it seems to be almost a sacred commission 

 intrusted to me. This book is almost con- 

 stantly in my mind. When 1 go away from 

 home I at once begin to think, " Xow, what 

 shall I finil during this trip that will be of 

 value to my fellow-men, and that will prop- 

 erly come within the province of this 

 book?" 



About the middle of January I was called 

 to a convention of bee-keepers in Albany, 

 X. Y.; and when I started out it was with a 

 prayer that God would help me in my feeble 

 efforts to grapple with this great problem of 

 something for the masses to do. In con- 

 sequence of snowstorms we did not reach 

 Albany by daylight, as we should have 

 done had it not been for delays. For my 

 part I was rather glad we didn't, for I could 

 look out of the car window and catch items 

 in regard to something to do. The first 

 thing that met my gaze was crowTls of peo- 

 ple and numbers of horses at work on the 

 frozen surface of the Hudson River, gather- 

 ing the ice-crop. Sure enough, here is some- 

 thing to do in the winter time; and, like 

 agriculture, the work seems to be a worthy 

 undertaking. I have noticed for quite a lit- 

 tle time past, that ice is used in many of 

 our large hotels and eating-rooms, almost 

 as much in winter as in summer. At the 

 Globe Hotel, where I stopped for breakfast, 

 the first thing the waiter did was to bring 

 a handful of pieces of ice, not quite as large 

 as a hickory-nut. These were put into a 

 clean goblet, which was then filled up with 

 w^ater. Every guest was furnished with 

 ice-water, whether he cared for it or not. 

 The water was pure and soft, and I enjoyed 



a good drink of it, even in winter. If you 

 take a drink before the ice has had time to 

 cool the water too mucii. it is not unpleas- 

 antly cold. 



After V)reakfast. as there was some little 

 time before the convention opened, I made 

 inquiries for greenhouses devoted to raising 

 winter vegetables. The clerk at the hotel 

 said he did not think there was a green- 

 house near the city of Albany, for sucli 

 things. He said they got their lettuce, rad- 

 ishes, etc., from the (iity of New York. I 

 knew by experience, however, that it is not 

 well to give up in such a search, so I in- 

 quired for the market. Before 1 got to it 1 

 caught a glimpse of great crowds of men at 

 work on the river again. Here was a broad 

 field for employment, even in the winter 

 time, so I decided to investigate. On the 

 bank of the river were not only great num- 

 bers of sleds drawn by horses, but theie 

 were ice-cars drawn l)y locomotives, taking 

 the ice away. The huge blocks were car- 

 ried up the l)ank by an apron made of end- 

 less chains ; and as they struck the plat- 

 form, men and boys who were expert at the 

 business quickly grasjied the blocks with 

 poles having steel points on the end, like 

 the cuts below. 



ICE-HOOKS, USED ON THE HUDSON KIVER. 



It is wonderful to see the dexterity with 

 which they would make these huge blocks 

 fairly spin where they were wanted. They 

 seemed to almost run of their own accord on 

 to the sleds until the sleds contained all the 

 team could well draw. The minute the sled 

 was loaded, a trained teamster took it out 

 of the way, and another one quickly slid into 

 its place. One new at the business, like my- 

 self, would say that every movement /happen- 

 ed to be a lucky one ; but there was not any 

 " happen'' about it. They had learned the 

 trade, and knew how. Then I clambered 

 down the ladder on to the frozen river. The 



