24 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



January 



Jno. H. Rising, Lestershire, N. Y., 

 writes: "It seems that we ought to be 

 able to stir up a Bee-Keepers' Camera 

 Club, for thus we could learn much 

 and in a way become acquainted with 

 one another. It is much easier to 

 make things very plain by the use of 

 illustrations and the camera affords 

 an excellent means of getting ac- 

 curate illustrations." 



Let us hear from all the camera 

 users who are "in on" the club. 



AN ASTONISHING STORY. 



Once upon a time (I always like to 

 see a story start that way) there was lacteal 



a man, who, by the way, is living yet 

 ("that's the worst of it"). The poor 

 fellow, too, was addicted to the milk- 

 drinking habit. This may have been 

 a result of "trifling" with it when he 

 was very young and thereby acquiring 

 a "taste" for it, and should serve as 

 a warning to others. 



However, the gentleman in ques- 

 tion had but recently moved into the 

 neighborhood that is to be distin- 



contemplated with delight the possi- 

 bility of being soon able to add an- 

 other pint of slop to the daily ration 

 of his cow, which he well knew would 

 result in improving the quality and 

 increasing the quantity of his product. 

 And so, with solar regularity, the 

 dairyman left the bottle of milk upon 

 the doorstep of his new patron, for 

 one, two, three weeks. Then he be- 

 gan to wonder why his esteemed pa- 

 tron did not say something about the 

 cash end of the deal. He needed the 

 money to buy slop for the cow, and 

 he felt that some equivilent ought 

 to be forthcoming for the supply of 

 fluid upon which the gen- 



tleman had been wont to regale him- 

 self at breakfast so very long; but 

 he hesitated to harass his patron, and 

 time drifted on. It has a habit of do- 

 ing that, you know. 



Finally he decided to inquire, very 

 respectfully, if it would be convenient 

 for the gentleman to make a payment 

 on the account. 



"Why, I only ordered you to leave 

 the milk for one week," said the ir- 



guished as the scene of this astonish- ritable patron, "I only paid you for 

 ing tale, and hearing the bell of the Q,-,g ^reek." 



approaching dairyman on the street, 

 rushed out, and, hailing him, inquired 

 as to the price of a specified quantity 

 of milk per week. 



"Thirty-five cents, sir." 



"All right, just leave it at the 

 house," said the gentleman, and like 

 a real man, dug up the required 

 "thirty-five." 



The reader's attention is invited 

 specifically to this point, for now we 

 enter the mysterious part of the story. 

 The chief mystery is involved in the 

 fact that the gentleman did not at- 

 tempt to "stand ofif" the dairyman for 

 the week's supply — but he didn't. 

 That is, he did not even suggest the 

 extension of credit to the extent of 

 35 cents. 



Well, the milkman was delighted 

 to have found another customer. He 



"But, my dear sir," protested the 

 dairyman, "why did you not tell me 

 if you did not want it?' You've been 

 using it right along, haven't you?" 



"Yes, but I didn't order it. I 

 thought you were giving it to me." 



Then the gentleman (?) refused to 

 accept the milk any longer, and the 

 milkman, "poor dog, got none" of the 

 acount that he had permitted to ac- 

 cumulate through a wish to be oblig- 

 ing. 



It will be noted that the gentleman 

 thought the milkman was giving him 

 the milk. What do you think of that? 

 I think he must have fallen out of a 

 cherry tree wheM he was little and 

 injured his head. 



W^,ell sir, we looked the matter up, 

 and found that this gentleman was a 



