AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 561 



end of the car, and I brought out my collection of apicultural photographs and 

 passed them around. Then we talked of the past, and built castles in the future, 

 and, as Dr. Miller remarked, enjoyed the best part of the convention. At last we 

 were tucked away with a Doctor in each berth, and my last memory was of raising 

 the curtain a wee bit, and seeing the moonlit, prairie landscape apparently slipping 

 silently back towards Chicago. 



When we awoke in the morning the sun was shining brightly on what might be 

 fairly called the garden-spot of the earth. How homelike it did seem to see rolling 

 land again, with good-sized trees growing upon it. Then there was orchard after 

 orchard bending with bright-red apples that glistened in the morning sun. The 

 soil was dark and rich, and, with one exception, there was a thrifty look about the 

 farms, and that was the great fields of corn-stalks going to waste ; that is some- 

 thing seldom seen in Michigan. 



As we left the " Eli " at about ten o'clock on Oct. 10th, the first man to meet 

 and greet us was E. F. Quigley, of the "Progressive." He is a nice-appearing 

 young man, but, like myself, is a little too quiet in conventions. Bro. Quigley, you 

 must talk. 



President Abbott had left no stone unturned to make our stay in St. Joseph a 

 pleasant one. The Commercial Club rooms, at which the meeting was held, were 

 the most pleasant of any place at which the North American has ever met. They 

 were really luxurious. Carpets on the floor, stained-glass windows, tables furnished 

 with writing materials, and covered with magazines and illustrated papers, while 

 the chairs were great, big, comfortable, leather-covered, platform rockers. A few 

 members had already arrived, and Secretary Benton was at his desk taking in the 

 dollars and giving out badges and " numbers." 



The " Numbering " Scheme. — Just a word of explanation about the "num- 

 bers." At all conventions there will always be present members who are strangers 

 to the one reporting the proceedings, and when such a member addresses the meet- 

 ing, and the President does not know him, and announce his name, it must be asked 

 for, which makes an awkward break in his remarks. By numbering the list of 

 members, and attaching the respective number to the lappel of each member's coat, 

 all this annoyance is done away with. This plan ought, however, to be carried one 

 step farther. Let the Secretary make arrangements with some near-by printing 

 office, to put the names and numbers in type at the end of the first session, and 

 print enough copies to furnish each member with a copy. Then a simple glance at 

 the list will show everybody who is present, and a glance at the numbers and the 

 list will show who is who. If many new members should come in after the list had 

 been printed, a new list could be printed and distributed. It has happened that a 

 man has gone home from a convention not knowing that some one he very much 

 wished to meet was present. The value of a convention is greatly increased by an 

 early acquaintance among the members. If one objects to appearing upon the 

 street with a number attached to his clothing, it can be removed upon leaving the 

 hall. Friend Benton is to be congratulated upon inaugurating this scheme. 



Some Criticisms. — The criticisms brought against the Chicago meeting of last 

 year — that of opening the meeting with no programme arranged, and of holding 

 only a two days' session when three days had been advertised— cannot be urged 

 again the St. Joseph meeting, but there was one mistake made in getting up the 

 programme, and I am not sure but it is a worse one than that of having no pro- 

 gramme at all. It is not pleasant to point it out, as it is evident that this feature 

 was secured at the expense of considerable trouble and correspondence, and with 



