GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1919 



in right here : The neighbors all around 

 the Beard home lost chickens in a like man- 

 ner. One farmer got up and attempted to 

 stop the thieves; but they raised a shotgun 

 and told him to go back into the house or 

 take the consequences. With a telephone, 

 however, he raised the neighbors and they 

 followed the load of chickens into the 

 city of Dayton. The driver finally evaded 

 them by going into a part of the city where 

 almost every house was a saloon. Of course 

 the police were notified; but they excused 

 themselves in some way, and said nothing 

 could be done about it. 



My good friends, the above is a sample 

 of the sort of policemen we used to have 

 years ago when the liquor gang put in of- 

 ficers that were according to their liking. 

 Even the city police were of a class that 

 could be persuaded to look the other way 

 when somebody called on them to inter- 

 fere with the liquor-trafific. 



Once more may the Lord be praised that 

 we have a better class of city officers, and 

 that the saloon business, like the slavery 

 of olden times, is largely a thing of the 

 past. 



This is dictated the 19th day of October, 

 so I can not tell now the outcome of the 

 coming election. 



HELP FOR DEAF PEOPLE. 



Dear Sirs: — I am anxioiis to know if A. I. Root 

 has found anything to benefit liis hearing. I seem to 

 be much the same as he is in regard to hearing, I 

 can't hear at church nor at any public meeting, but 

 can hear ordinary conversation, if near. I have 

 had put into my hands a circular from the General 

 Acoustic Co. (which A. I. R. mentions in back num- 

 ber of Gleanings, p. 818, Dec, 1913). There may 

 be improvements since that; but I am sure A. I. R. 

 will know of it if there is anything that will materi- 

 ally help. I have noticed remarks since the above, 

 but notliing encouraging from A. I. R. I have tried 

 Wilson's ear-drums, but with no benefit; auriphone, 

 etc., no benefit. 1 shall deem it a great favor for 

 any information on this subject. John Allan. 



Newboro, Oamaru, N. Z., Aug. 13, 1917. 



My good friend, I am sorry to tell you 

 I have not as yet succeeded in getting any- 

 thing that helps my hearing equal to put- 

 my hand over my ear. It is something I 

 camiot quite understand. I have tried elec- 

 tricial appliances, some of them costing as 

 much as 50 or even 75 dollars; but while 

 they enlarged the sound tdiere was so much 

 confusion of other noises that it really gave 

 me no help, and I have tried the thing long 

 and patiently loo. What I want most is 

 something to enable me to hear a sermon or 

 a public speaker. It has occurred to me 

 several times that something tliat would 

 take the place of my hand would be a relief 

 to my arm when holding it up so much of 



the time, and that, at the same time, ought 

 to collect the sound better than my naked 

 hand. Last winter I procured on trial 

 what I believe is called an " autophone." 

 As soon as I j^ut it up to my ear, the tick 

 of the clock rang out sharp and clear, and 

 I fairly shouted at the result; but when I 

 came to call Mrs. Root from another room 

 I was terribly disappointed t-o hear the 

 same rattling noises to such an extent that 

 I could hear better with my hand than with 

 the instrument. 



I'here is quite a difference in people's 

 voices. Some speakers I hear without any 

 trouble, while others, who speak sufficiently 

 loud, I cannot " catch on " to at all. I 

 should think that I am,, perhaps, i>eculiar, 

 or di'j'ferent from other people were it not 

 for the fact that so many report an experi- 

 ence similar to mine. In Florida I saw a 

 friend of mine using one of the electrical 

 appliances. He used it two or three Sun- 

 days and then came to ciuu-ch witliout it. 

 When asked, he replied that after investing 

 quite a sum of money he found he could 

 heai- better without the device. Another 

 friend, at our Chautauqua, said he had 

 made a like investment, but fijially laid it 

 aside aaid had not used it for several 

 montlis; and it was not because his batter- 

 ies had run down either. In regard to the 

 Wilson ear-diitms, I have never met a per- 

 son 3'et, face to face, who had received any 

 benefit from them whatever; and yet these 

 same " ear-drum " people send out a little 

 book containing more than a hundred testi- 

 monials from all over the land. 



Since the above was put in type I have 

 purchased a little instrument called the 

 Gem ear phone, 47 West 24th St., New 

 York. It cost $35, and is an actual help. 

 ^Mien Mrs. Root sits opposite me at our 

 dining-table, with the receiver placed near 

 the sugar-bowl, pointing toward her, I can 

 hear every word very distinctly when she 

 speaks in just an ordinary tone of voice; 

 but when 1 attemi^t to use it to hear a ser- 

 mon, unless I am within a few yards of the 

 speaker, it is little if any better than my 

 hand up to my ear. They all assure me, 

 however, that it will serve me better after 

 I get used to it. The particular objection 

 I have to it just now is that it is quite a 

 little bother to lug it around, even if it does 

 weigh only a few ounces. My right hand is 

 always with me, and is, as a matter of 

 course, " right at hand " without any 

 bother, and without any batteries to be re- 

 newed once in five or six weeks. 



