IS*. 14 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



or lieat that warms our liome, I becanio; ac- 

 <iuaint(>d with a boy wlio liad served a sort of 

 apprcMitiooship in piuiiihiiig:. He. helped ine 

 and 1 h(^lped iiirn. anil wr siot along nicely to- 

 gether. In skill and iniiscl(> he is ail I could 

 ask; but in the way of brains and tliis matter 

 of thinking continually what he is doing, he 

 does not quite come up to my standard of per- 

 fection. By the way, mo anc ev(>r did. and I do 

 not know tliat any one ever will, while I live at. 

 least. We see illustrations of what thinking 

 men may do in this way, but we realize there is 

 an une.xplored region in that line. Nobody 

 knows what humanity may bring forth yet in 

 the way of a f?/(/i/it;/'. Edison started out and 

 shot across the horizon like a bright meteor. 

 Wlio can contemplate the strides he has made, 

 and the blessings he has brought to the world, 

 without wonder and suri)rise? Let us now go 

 back to that boy friend of mine. 



One day it became necessary to shut the valve 

 that comes from the windmill — in fact, to cut 

 off the whole water-supply of our establish- 

 ment—for about five or ten minutes. I objected, 

 and asked if there were not some other way. 

 They said there was another way but it would 

 take a good deal longer. If I would consent 

 to having the water cutoff for just. /7/j)c minutes 

 they would have it all fixed. Well, I planned to 

 stand right there during the five minutes and 

 see that the big valve was promptly opened just 

 the minute the connection was made, for we 

 had liad some sad experience in having work 

 stopped, such as the horses led off to the creek 

 for water, somebody tinkering with hydrants, 

 spoiling them by twisting them too far, or the 

 wrong way, simply because the : accustomed 

 water did not come. I made all the arrange- 

 ments, and saw the big valve closed; but some- 

 thing else of importance called me away. Be- 

 fore I left I said to the boy, " Now, Harold, you 

 be very sure you open that valve just as soon 

 as that connection is made." He declared he 

 would; and the man who was helping him said 

 too that It would be opened inside of three 

 minutes. I went away, and supposed every 

 thing went smoothly, until, some time in the 

 afternoon of the same day, the foreinan of the 

 wax-room wanted to know how long the hands 

 had got to hunt up some other work because 

 \\n^ water lOds cut (ijf. I think likely I scolded 

 some. I went for the boy, and asked him if it 

 were possible he forgot to open that valve after 

 all the fuss I had made about it. He hung his 

 head, and admitted that it was not opened at 

 all after they got done. When I asked for an 

 explanation he did not say any thing. As he 

 was but a hoy, and such things are boylike, I 

 let it go. Now, if it were only hoys who make 

 mistakes of this kind I would not mind. This 

 kind of work is all through the laboring classes. 

 Of course, the circumstances are not always so 

 aggravating. 



When carrying the exhaust steam over to the 

 house, after I got the apparattis all rigged, the 

 arrangement did not work as I expected it to. 

 The pipes W' ere warmed somewhat, it is true; 

 but for nearly a week I fussed and botheriid to 

 see why the exhaust steam did not come 

 through the tiles as it ought to. Tlie engineer 

 grumblfd some because the steam was making 

 a back pressure on his engine; and the tjoys 

 rather thought — at least I rather fear they did 

 — that some of father's exp(^riments for warm- 

 ing the house without cost might result in a 

 pretty hUj cost. After a deal of study I located 

 the trouble. The big iron pipe at the end of 

 the line of tile, was stopped up in some way. 

 We dug it out and held it up to thef light, but — 

 there was no hole throiitjli it! The;, men, in 

 raising it up to its place, liad let it stand for a 

 second in the soft muddy ground. The lower 



end was plugged up with a couple of inches of 

 yellow clay, and in this condiiion the appara- 

 tus was expected to work.; 



Again, the drii)-pii)e near the engine!, that 

 was to carry olV the accumulation of water 

 from the condensation of exhaust sk am, did 

 not work — at least, the water dropperl only very 

 slowly. The men thought it was all righ't, bu"t 

 I declared it should run a (puirtcr-inch sticam 

 continually. The drip-pipi- was pulled up; and 

 the last piece, not more than six inches long, 

 was found to be plugged up near wlu're it en- 

 tered the elbow. I spoke to the boy— the same 

 one I have mentioned: " Harold, when you are 

 putting up piping do you not always look 

 through each piece, or blow through it, to see 

 that ii is clear?" He said he did sometimes, 

 and sometimes he didn't. I added: "liutwhen 

 you have a little, pipe, only six inches long, you 

 surely hold it up to your eye to see whether 

 there is a hole through it, do you not?" He 

 admitted he did not. Now, 1 wonder how- 

 many plumbers or gas-fitters there are in our 

 country who are in the habit of making it their 

 business to see that there is really a /lo/e clear 

 through the pipes they are putting up. Cut- 

 ting off the drip-water had necessitated the ex- 

 haust steam moving all this accumulation of 

 water several hundred feet up hill. 



Once more: One of the hearing-tubes of our 

 phonograph refused to talk. I do not know 

 how much expense it made us, nor how long the 

 boys worked at it to find the trouble; but after 

 some of the boys — I think it was John— got suf- 

 ficiently in earnest about^it he held it up to the 

 window and looked through it. What do you 

 think? A little spider ^had spun a web clear 

 across the tube, from one side to another. I 

 suppose that, as he progressed with his delicate 

 silky fibers, the voice from the machine began 

 to be more and more indistinct. When he had 

 got his web completed w'e could not hear at all. 

 All these expensive troubles are the result of 

 lacking thought, or need of brains, if you 

 choose. They are all simply a blunder; and if 

 the workmen who had them in charge had 

 been constantly thinking and studyii,g his bus- 

 iness, and having his whole mind concentrated 

 on his work, in his anxiety to have every part 

 perform its office, these things would not have 

 happened. Yes, it ivould be more than human 

 to demand that one should never make mis- 

 takes. 



Our radiators at the house were all working 

 beautifully, when all at once one of them began 

 to leak a little. I told Mrs. Root that the heat 

 and oxidation would soon close up 'so small a 

 leak. But it didn't. Finally one corner of the 

 carpet was being so constantly soaked by this 

 slow dripping it would ruin it if not stopped. 

 The leak was close to an elbow, and there seem- 

 ed to be no remedy except to draw off the water, 

 take down the, pipe, and screw it up tighter. 

 Mrs. Root had thought several times before, 

 that slie had had all the fussing with tongs and 

 wrenches, and men with greasy lingers, that 

 sh(! could stand for one winter. 1 greatly dis- 

 liked the idea myself of tearing up our work 

 when the pipes were finished and bronzed, and 

 every thing, except that one leak, so clean and 

 perfect. Just before going to bed one night I 

 soliloquized thus: " I turned up lluit joint my- 

 self, and 1 am sure it is tight enough so it ought 

 not to leak. Is it not possible that a little 

 brains will obviate the necessity of pulling 

 things to pieces?"" I told Mrs. Root what I 

 was thinking of. and asked her to bring a cer- 

 tain light hanuner slie always keeps in a par- 

 ticular spot in tlie pantry. Then I got the 

 best lamp with a hirge clear blaze, with a good 

 shade, so as to concentrate the light. I found 

 that, by lying fiat on my back, and pushing my 



