1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



85 



there were not land enough in this conntry 

 without talking up land upon which they have 

 to put so much hard work, to clear it and fit it 

 for the production of crops." 



"Yes." said Mr. S., '"it looks that way; but 

 this being government land it is obtained very 

 cheap: and after the stones are removed the 

 land is excellent for the production of crops, 

 and especially for fruits." 



Lytle Creek Canyon runs back far into the 

 San Bernardino range of mountains, and the 

 lively stream of water that flows from its mouth 

 plays a very important part in making thou- 

 sands of acres of land produce most bounteous 

 crops. Two rival water companies run their 

 ditches in here side by side, and the proximity 

 and the clashing interests have been in the 

 courts. The Grape Land Co. is putting a long 

 and expensive tunnel through a spur of the 

 mountain, and proposes to strike about twenty 

 feet under the bed of the creek above, claiming 



CcKpli9rmgtheTuiriinel.Bi|To®LBiUr^~^^ ^ 



to take the underflow, while the other com- 

 pany will have the surface flow. Thus do in- 

 terests conflict here over the little streams of 

 water. 



A bee-keeper of some local note has an api- 

 ary a short distance within the canyon. He is 

 not noted, however, for the size of his apiary, 

 which is less than 100 colonies, nor for the size 

 of his honey-yield, which was not large; but 

 he is noted for the size of his pedal extremities, 

 and this apiarist is known far and near as Big- 

 foot Bill. When Mi". Sealer repeated this name 

 to me I was anxious to see the owner of it. My 

 imagination pictured a man with an enormous 

 foot. It was soon our good fortune to find the 

 gentleman. He was employed in helping to 

 drive that water-tunnel to its completion; and 

 instead of meeting a deformed specimen of 

 humanity, limping around with one enormous 

 big foot, I found a splendid specimen of young 

 man. a six-footer, straight as an arrow, with a 

 courteous bearing, and known by the civilized 



name of William Ingalls. I could hardly see 

 that his understandings were much out of pro- 

 portion to his body: but owing to his feet being 

 athletic, as well as his body, he had earned his 

 soubriquet. Our friend William soon invited 

 us to view the beauties of the tunn<'l. The 

 mountain had been punctured to a distance of 

 over 7(X) feet, and the hole was just about large 

 enough for a man to walk through comfortably. 

 We were each provided with a tallow candle, 

 and our candlestick had a sharp prong on one 

 side. In fact, we might say that it was nearly 

 all prong, to enable us to drive it into a soft 

 place in the rock, or in a seam, and then work. 

 Our errand was, however, to see how other 

 men had worked, and we followed our leader. 

 Seven hundred feet does not seem a great way 

 when we pace it off on the surface anywhere 

 outdoors; but when we crawl, as it were, into a 

 hole in the rocks that distance, it seems quite a 

 journey; and that hole we came in at, as we 

 look back at it. grows smaller and 

 smaller as we advance, and we 

 find ourselves wondering if the 

 eternal rocks will fall on us. But 

 Wniliam sets a good example, 

 and walks ahead unconcernedly, 

 punching the sharp end of that 

 strong pronged candlestick into 

 the rocks overhead to see if any 

 of them are loose, and explains 

 many thinss of interest in relation 

 to tunneling for water. 



William managed his feet well 

 in the tunnel. They did not whirl 

 around and the heel get ahead of 

 the toes, as ducks' feet sometimes 

 do; neither did they get crosswise 

 and block up the tunnel. In fact, 

 William and the rest of us. in 

 the words of one of Watts' hymns, 

 kept "right in de middle ob de 

 road." We did not get to the full depth of the 

 tunnel, however, for. as we neared the heading, 

 we met the smoke from a recent blast, and were 

 advised to avoid it by retreating toward that 

 light at the entrance, which was now about 

 the size of a full moon. I noticed that William 

 was very careful to turn around on his heels. 

 His toes might otherwise hit the side of the 

 tunnel, but would hardly hit the top. 



When we entered daylight again we found 

 some Spaniards whirling a rude sort of blower 

 which conveyed fresh air to the heading and 

 drove the smoke out. Of course, the men at 

 work in this tunnel were in a bachelors' camp, 

 and I noticed that the cook, who was quite an 

 aldermanic man in his proportions, actually 

 possessed larger feet than our friend William. 

 In fact, the big cook seemed to be tired carry- 

 ing so much foot around, and was observing a 

 reclining position on a bench. From the 

 healthy looks of the men, however, he was on 

 hand and on duty at meal times. Had I been 



