GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



about Avhal T found in regard to electricity 

 that I soon had a liome-niade battery. It 

 did not work, however, as I expected, and 

 I applied to the family doctor and to my 

 schoolteacher. AVhen I got hold of Parker's 

 Natural Philosophy I was almost wild with 

 delight. I shall always remember the eve- 

 ning when I first got my battery to work. 

 A traveling lecturer had magnetized my 

 knife, and with it 1 had made a magnet of 

 a good-sized steel pen. It was balanced 

 on the head of a pin driven into the table. 

 Now with one of the battery wires laid on 

 the table just under the steel pen (that was 

 pointing north) I could make it swii'g 

 around by m.aking and breaking the elec- 

 tric current through the wire; and when I 

 could make that magnetic needle bob back 

 and forth by simply touching the wire at 

 ihe further end of the room I was delight- 

 ed beyond measure. 



A little later the principal of our Mog- 

 adore schools made me a present of an old 

 book called " Conversations on Chemistry." 

 I read it over and over, backward and for- 

 ward, from beginning to end. 



When I was thirteen years old an uncle 

 invited me to spend the winter with them 

 at Wellsville, on the Ohio River, promising 

 to give me all the advantages of the Wells- 

 ville high school. Before deciding in what 

 department I belonged, the superintendent 

 put me through an examination. As he 

 did not mention natural philosophy and 

 chemistry, and Icnowing they had a fairly 

 well-equipped laboratory, I asked if I could 

 not have chemistry and philosophy with 

 my otlier studies. ] noticed a sort of smile 

 on Ids face as he questioned me in regard 

 to tliese branches; and T took great pride 

 in " showing off:" my acquirements. When 

 he decided that fo? the present I had bet- 

 ter stop these scientitic studies I protested. 

 He replied something as follows: 



" My young friend, did you ever see an 

 apple-tree with great branches all off on 

 one side? May be you have seen sucli a 

 tree after the wind had blown it over be- 

 cause it was ' lopsided.' Well, you are 

 like tliat tree. You have been following 

 your own bent in these studies that usually 

 have a place later on, until you ai-e ' lop- 

 sided.' Just now you particularly need 

 grammar." 



When T replied that I did not like gram- 

 mar he laughed and said : 



"That is about what I expected, and it is 

 ovr business here to help you to like g^ram- 

 mar." 



Then he took me into one of the rooms 

 and biought me to one of the Avomen teach- 

 ers. At first sight T was drawai toward her, 



for I thought she looked like my good 

 mother, and I was just getting homesick, 

 especially when 1 was told I could not study 

 chemistry and elect ricitj' nor go into that 

 laborator}' which had been in my mind's eye 

 since the first thought of going to Wells- 

 ville. The superintendent said, "Miss Udell, 

 hei'e is a j'oiing man who thinks he does not 

 like grammar. Now, I hope you will be able 

 to persuade him while he is with you that 

 he does like grammar." 



She put out her hand to me with tliat 

 kindly smile of hers, and said she felt sure 

 we should be good friends anyAvay. Then I 

 made a mental resolve that, if we did not 

 cret to be good friends, it would not be my 

 fault. Through tliat four months of school- 

 ing the prospect of getting a glimpse of 

 tier encouraging smile was the strongest in- 

 centive to work while at my studies. At that 

 time, over sixty years ago, we used to " go 

 up" in the gramm.ar class as we did in 

 spelling. I remember the superintendent 

 coming in after I had been a few weeks 

 there, and saying to Miss Udell, "Oh! how 

 about that boy who did not like grammar? 

 How did you two get on together?" 



With some ])ride, no doubt, she pointed 

 to me and remarked smilingly, "He is at 

 the head of the class, as you see, and stays 

 there; and he is making remarkable progress 

 in all his studios as w^ell as in grammar." 



Let me pause a little here. Suppose that 

 at that early age T had been allowed to have 

 my own way, and study what I liked, and 

 skipped grammar. Imagine, if you can, the 

 predicam.ent of the editor of a family jour- 

 nal that goes over all the world, and yet 

 wlio has never studied gri-ammar! I do not 

 knoAv but some of the other pupils thought 

 "Miss Udell was partial to me, and gave 

 me more of her time and attention than she 

 did the others; but if so it was because I 

 tried so hard to please her; and I thank a 

 kind Providence that it has always been 

 easy for me to learn anything when I get 

 right down to it and work hard. 



Miss Udell, bless her memory, was not the 

 only schoolteaclier who made friends with 

 m.e and gave me a helping hand; and as a 

 consequence I can most de>'Outly say, as 

 did King Solomon, of the good bright 

 " school ma'ams" all over our land, " Her 

 ]irice is far above rubies." 



T attended Sunday-school faithfully until 

 I was about eleven years old. When I was 

 four years old my parents moved into Sum- 

 mit County, wliere my mother's father gave 

 ns a home. Our circumstances were such 

 that it was a task on the part of my good 

 father to provide for a family of seven ; and 

 ray oldest brother, who was but a little more 



