248 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Rambler has been writing up his 

 travels from New York to California, 

 where he has now located permanently. 

 While in Chicago, last July, he was "on 

 the sick list" for some days, and upon 

 recovering, he took in many sights, 

 including a view from the Auditorium 

 tower. In Oleanings, he writes thus : 



After leaving the Auditorium I went 

 directly to the office of the American 

 Bee Journal. Upon entering this 

 famous establishment I found confusion 

 in every department. I did not know at 

 first but too much Chicago gas here had 

 caused an explosion ; but I soon found 

 the true cause. Our friends were having 

 a moving agony, and were going to 

 larger and more commodious quarters. 



Mr. Newman is a genteel-appearing 

 man of medium height and breadth, and 

 would be readily recognized by any one 

 who has seen his photo in the journals. 

 The son, Alfred, is a chip from the old 

 block, as far as appearance is concerned; 

 and beneath the exterior I have reason 

 to know there beats a kindly and frater- 

 nal heart. 



My first acquaintance with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal dates back to about 

 the fourth volume, or when edited by its 

 founder, Samuel Wagner, and only a 

 short time previous to his death. The 

 old numbers of those early volumes are 

 carefully preserved. The editorials 

 have a scientific cast, showing that the 

 founder had a love for research, and a 

 power to impart the same spirit to 

 others. The Rambler's first essay in 

 the interests of bee-culture will be found 

 in these early volumes, over the name of 

 "Scientific," with not much scientific 

 about them either. 



After the death of Mr. Wagner I lost 

 my interest in the Journal until it was 

 revived by the present editor, since 

 which 'time I have been regularly its 

 patron. 



The enterprise of the present editor 

 needs no further comment than to refer 

 to the fact that he was the first to give 

 the fraternity a weekly paper. 



I do not know whether the editor ever 

 becomes discouraged or not; but be- 

 tween the gripp(i and the low price at 

 which the paper is published, it would 

 be no more than human if he did. 



Let us see — occupying the position it 

 does in the apii'ultural ranks, and the 

 legal status it has given to bee-keeping 

 through the ]}oe-I^eepers' Union, its 

 circulation should be great. It costs 

 the reader less than 2 cents per week. 

 Now, whatever circulation the Journal 



may liave, I feel that an addition of 

 10,000 more would give it such a boom 

 that, though valuable now, it would be 

 enabled to become doubly so. That such 

 a state of things may be accomplished is 

 the wish of the Rambler. 



The editor adds : " Oleanings desires 

 to second your wish jn regard to the 

 old American Bee Journal." 



Both " Rambler " (which is none other 

 than our friend John H. Martin) and 

 Ernest have our thanks for kind words. 



Oh, yes ! Editors do sometimes get 

 discouraged. It is up-hill work, and 

 especially hard when nearly all the 

 "pushing" has to be done by the 

 editor. 



The "grippe" does not help in the 

 slightest — but it does destroy energies, 

 and cause many heart aches. 



What a reviving influence that addi- 

 tional ten thousand subscribers would 

 have ! Oh, yes ! send them along. 



L,a Qrippe is yet heavily oppress- 

 ing apiarists as well as others. In 

 Oleanings for Feb. 1 we notice the 

 following : 



If you discover any lack of editorial 

 sifting in this issue, please lay it to that 

 old fiend La Orippe. It did not get liold 

 of us this time, but it laid low the 

 Business Manager, J. T. Calvert ; and 

 the consequence was, we were obliged to 

 take up his work for a week, and part 

 of the time work nights on Oleanings. 



Mr. Calvert is now back at his post as 

 usual, but little if any worse for his 

 siege of grippe, and things are going on 

 as usual again. 



We presume Brother Newman, of the 

 American Bek Journal, knows how to 

 appreciate the position we were in a few 

 days ago. 



Yes ; we do not only know how to 

 appreciate your position, Ernest, but we 

 can sympathize with yon. In December, 

 just as we were getting the better of La 

 Orippe, our Business Manager, Alfred, 

 was taken down with it, and we had to 

 assume the labor of both. Now a clerk 

 in the business department is down with 

 it. Oh, yes ; we can appreciate the 

 situation most fully. 



