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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



Our Homes 



By a. I. Root 



For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 

 Son, that whososevet believetb in him should not perish, but have 

 everlasting life. — John 3 : 16. 



HAPPY SURPRISES. 



Some years ago I told you of my many " hap- 

 py surprises " that at that time met me almost 

 every day, and I think I told you that if we were 

 leading humble, honest lives, we had a right to 

 expect happy surprises. Well, they are coming 

 yet, and 1 want to tell you of some of them. I 

 am glad to tell you that some of them, at least, 

 have to do with spiritual things as well as the 

 things of this world. 



When I wrote about that " common-sense shoe" 

 in the Christmas issue I had not the remotest idea 

 that Mr. Coward was a Christian worker; but I 

 felt safe in giving his business the strong words 

 of praise I used, for I felt he was doing mission- 

 ary work for tired feet and tired bodies, whoever 

 he might be. You can imagine, therefore, the 

 surprise and pleasure the following letter gave 

 me. Let me explain first, that this letter comes 

 from Mr. F. J. Root (a brother of our good friend 

 W. P. Root). He is connected with the Ameri- 

 can Grocer, No. 90 West Broadway, New York. 

 Here is the part of his letter referring to James S. 

 Coward: 



Mr. Coward is a strong Methodist, and runs a noon-day prayer- 

 Bieeting on Greenwich St. I have bought a large part of my shoes 

 there since I have been in New York — 25 years. He is an old 

 friend of Mr. Barrett, publisher of the Grocer, and they have an 

 • enormous trade. I was talking with one of the men the other 

 day in the repair department. He says he takes in on an average 

 ISO pairs of old shoes every day to be repaired. They keep 24 

 men busy selling shoes on one side of the store, and about as 

 many women. Coward has built all this up from the humblest 

 beginnings. There are lots of different styles of shoes, but he 

 advertises these homely things most. He owns a shoe-factory in 

 Massachusetts, and Barrett says he is probably making $100,000 

 a year. His son is with him. It is a great shop. It is only 

 around the corner from us. 



When I read the above I said, " May God be 

 praised that we have at least a few rich men who 

 are not only glorifying God in their daily voca- 

 tion, but are not ashamed to strive to combine 

 business and religion." 



Well, a little latter I had another " happy sur- 

 prise " from the same source. I got a letter from 

 Mr. Coward in regard to some shoes 1 had order- 

 ed, and in the letter was a little book. I should 

 call it a pretty little testament, only it contained 

 only the book of John. Well, I was almost 

 startled to read on the first outside cover these 

 words: 



" j" : /6 — God's greatest gift to A . I. Root. " 



It was all in print except my name, and that 

 was so neatly written in that it almost seemed as 

 if it was the work of the printer too.* 



When I opened the book, on the very front 

 page I saw something that startled me still more. 

 Friends, what I saw there was evidently intended 

 for myself alone; but knowing me as you do I 

 am sure you will excuse me for giving it here in 

 print. This is what I saw, in large plain type: 



""The little St. John testament mentioned, I find is published 

 by the American Bible Society: but somel>ody (I presume friend 

 Coward) has pasted in an extra leaf over the title-page. This 

 extra leaf is put in so neatly (rounded corners like the rest of the 

 book) that one never suspects it was not printed in. This leaf 

 contains the words I have quoted. 



FOR GOD so LOVKD 



A. I. ROOT 



THAT HH GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON 

 THAT HE, BELIEVING IN HIM, SHOULD 

 NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE 



EVERLASTING LIFE. 

 John 3:15-16. 



Now please notice the delicate compliment 

 conveyed to any friend you may wish to send 

 such a book to. The book is printed in such a 

 manner that all you have to do is to fill in the 

 name. Such a present then means to the one to 

 whom you send it that jow not only love that 

 friend, but you want to tell him that God also 

 loves him. To get the matter before you clear- 

 ly, let me explain that this little book is almost 

 the only recogni'ion 1 have had frem Mr. Cow- 

 ard in regard to the wrire-up I gave his lifework. 

 Instead of writing me a nice letter, as most peo- 

 ple would do, he simply says to me in this way, 

 "God loves you," implying by that, that what 

 I said was out of love to God and humanity, and 

 not because I wanted to do Aim a favor, for he 

 was and is an utter stranger to me. 



Now, thij is not all. The head of ourshipping 

 department (Mr. Jacob Borger) came to me just 

 before I left home with a little book in his hand. 

 There was a comical look on Jacob's face that I 

 knew from past experience meant something. 

 Can't I stop long enough here to say that Jacob 

 has been with me toward thirty years.-' He was 

 one of the very first that God in his loving kind- 

 ness permitted me to bring to the feet of that 

 "only begotten S>n. " Some of you may re- 

 member the story of the barefooted boy I found 

 in that first mission Sunday-school, at Abbeyville. 

 Well, what Jacob had in his hand that winter 

 morning was a little testament such as I have 

 been describing. As he handed it to me he said: 



" The B. & O Railroad Co. send you this lit- 

 tle book. " 



Supposing it was something about directions 

 for routing cars of bee-hives, I took it; but when 

 I saw it was a little testament, the book of John, 

 I said: 



" Why, Jacob! do you really mean that the 

 Baltimore Sc Ohio Railroad Co has gone into 

 the business of distributing testaments to their pa- 

 trons?" 



Had I sent them a testament the world might 

 understand it; but the idea of a great railroad 

 company stopping its enormous traffic, say for 

 just a minute, and then to go to handing out 

 testaments — the whole thing was too ridiculous. 

 Jacob gravely enjoyed my surprise for a moment, 

 and then burst out in a regular schoolboy laugh; 

 and, if I remember correctly, several of the other 

 hands joined in with him. A little later, when 

 he explained that it was the Y. M. C. A. branch 

 of the B. & O. who were permitted to do this 

 work in the name of the B. & O., I understood 

 it better; but may God be praised for the fact 

 that the testaments are going out, and that it is 

 the B. & O.'s money that pays for them. Once 

 more, may God be praised for the great work the 

 Y. M. C. A. is now doing all over the world. I 

 am going to close this Home paper with an ex- 

 tract from the 34th Annual Review of their work, 

 entitled " Association Men." See if you do not 

 agree with me that it is a wonderful " boiled- 

 down " sermon: 



