276 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



took some five or six years of preaching, and, to 

 succeed in the end, a double-handed dose. Well, 

 friend Terry, I will admit that it looks a little that 

 way; but then, I know that you will also admit that 

 a bad habit of Vt years' standing is not an easy 

 matter to break away from. All the satisfaction 

 that I can see, that you and brother Koot can get 

 out of my case, will be that you can add the name 

 of another convert to your list and the Tobacco 

 Column; but I do not want you to send me a smo- 

 ker nor potato-box. If 1 can not keep the pledge 

 without them, I am afraid I could not with them. 



G. W. Harkison. 

 Wharton, Wyandot Co., <)., Feb. S, 1887. 



JljYgEIiF MJ) J)IY]VEmpB0^^. 



Who is my neighbor?— LuKK 10:29. 



'HY did God give us neighbors? 1 

 presume the answer would be, that 

 he gave them to us to make us liap- 

 py. Suppose. hoAvever, we change 

 it al;oiit and say tliat God gave us 

 our neighbors thatv/f might make them hap- 

 py. How would that do? We are almost 

 unconscious!) so much in the ha))it of being 

 seltish that we answer questions from aself- 

 ish standpoint. In a sermon a Sunday or 

 two ago, our j);istor said tliat everybody is 

 our neighbor wlien it is in our power tci do 

 him good, or to help him. If this be true, 

 then vvlieu we are commanded to love our 

 neighl)ors as ourself, we are at all times to 

 hold ouiselves in ;is much readiness to do good 

 to those we meet as to do good to oiuselves. 

 There is an unexplored region in this line, 

 deal- friends. You may be a little suiprised 

 to hear me speak of an unexph)red region 

 when so much has been said about tlie gold- 

 en rule. Very likely you feel as if the sub- 

 ject hiid been "exliausted. Well, it may have 

 been exhausted so far as talk is concerned, 

 but it has not in putting the words of our 

 Savior into real practice. For instance, a 

 lew days ago I stei)ped out on the front 

 walk aiid saw a man a little distance away 

 who seemed as if he wanted to speak to me ; 

 and yet when I came near him he turned 

 away as if he really did not want to see me 

 after all. I hnaliy spoke to him when he 

 came up. His first woids were : 



"• Mr. Root, I liope you haven't laid any 

 thing up against me because I didn't do ex- 

 actly as I agreed to.'' 



'' Why. niy friend. I don't know what you 

 mean. Yoilr face looks familiar, yet I can 

 not now recall any transaction in which you 

 did not do as you agreed." 



" Why, it was about those potatoes. I 

 told you you might have them ; but I met a 

 man afterwardwho offered me five cents a 

 bushel more, so I let liim have them, and 

 went off home without saying a word tu you 

 al)Out it.'' 



I was obliged to smile when I told him I 

 had entirely forgotten the whole transac- 

 tion. In any case, however, I assured him 

 that I felt glad to know that he had been 

 able to get a larger price than I offered ; and 

 he looked quite happy when I told him 

 further, that, whenever a chance offered to 



get a better price than I could afford to give, 

 by all means to take it ; and I assured him 

 that I always felt pleased to see farmers get 

 a good price for their produce, no matter 

 whether it inconvenienced me or not. Since 

 then I have made it a point, when offering a 

 price for any such product, to add, ''Now, 

 my friend, if anyl)ody else offers you more 

 than I have offeied, take it, by all means, 

 and I shall be pleased for your sake." 



Now, please do not understand, friends, 

 from what I have said in the above that I 

 would encourage anybody in breaking a fair 

 and square business promise. If 1 had en- 

 gaged a load of produce, and made calcula- 

 tions on using it to fill special orders, and 

 the man should fail to fulfill his promise be- 

 cause he had a better offer, it would be quite 

 a different matter. In the above I have had 

 in mind only small produce, such as farmers 

 are constantly bringing in — something I 

 could use or get along without, with no in- 

 convenience. In such cases I enjoy giving 

 them standing permission to take up with a 

 better offer whenever they chance to get it, 

 and I do the same thing with the hands in 

 my employ. Whenever any one of them 

 gets a better offer than I am able to make. I 

 make myself feel glad for his sake. 



Our place of business is located on the 

 way to town, and almost every day some- 

 body brings in apples, potatoes, "honey, ma- 

 ple sugar, and other things, to sell. ' After 

 looking them over I decide what amount I 

 can afford to pay. Then I tell them pleas- 

 antly that, if they choose, I am quite willing 

 they should go up street and see what offers 

 they can get there : if they can not do any 

 better, bring them V)ack to me. This way 

 of doing business, however, seems, to sur- 

 prise our rural friends, and a great many 

 times I have noticed tlieir smiling faces as 

 they came back, telling me they had got a 

 half a cent a pound or five cents a bushel 

 better than my offer. Now. they sometimes 

 have something I really want, and jirohably 

 are not satisfied with what 1 think I can af- 

 ford to pay them for it ; and therefore I feel 

 a little sorry to have them drive off. Self whis- 

 pers, " Now, I really want that lot of straw- 

 berries ; and I am afraid, if he goes away, 

 somebody will offer him a little more, and I 

 won't get them at all.'' At such times, 

 however, I bid self get out and get down 

 out of the way, just as I would a little un- 

 mannerly cur that was hanging around, 

 watching for an opportunity to do some 

 mischief. If the man comes back, and 

 says I can have the lot, for he could 

 get no better price, I am happy ; and if he 

 comes back saying he got a" cent a quart 

 more than I offered, I am happy also even 

 then, for he is my neighbor; and whatever 

 helj)S my neighbor helps me. One old farm- 

 er spoke to me one day about it. Said he, 

 " Mr. Root, I have made up my mind after 

 this to always give you the first chance, for 

 I phall always remember the time when you 

 told me to take those apples up stieet and 

 do the best I could with them. I did as you 

 said, and sold half of the load for a little 

 better than you offered, and then you took 

 the rest at just what you said you would. I 

 tell you, it makes a man feel as \f one man 



