•388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



senses, and wilh 50 years or more of careful 

 and constant teaching, 1 am in some respects 

 but a cliild after all, and a cliild tiiat might be 

 pitied. Again, Helen Keller has astonished the 

 world. The general decision seems to l)e that 

 she was gifted naturally. I presume some 

 credit is also to be given her teaciiers. They 

 were discouraged about Tommy because he did 

 not seem to possess Helen's natural talent. But 

 suppose Tommy develops into a boy or man 

 wilh a promise almost equal to that of poor 

 Helen; and suppose that the other one of the 

 three, Willie Elizabeth Robin, also manifests a 

 wonderful and unusual intellect. To tell the 

 truth, 1 begin to suspect such ivill be th(^ result. 

 What, then, shall be our conclusion? Why, it 

 is forced upon us that it was the education, 

 and Itind and loving care, that liave been be- 

 stowed upon thfse unfortunates— perhaps not 

 altogether; but is it not probable that their 

 progress is largely due to surroundings? to the 

 careful pergonal woriv and training that hav^ 

 been given them? And, to go a step further, 

 can it be true that, if the inmates of our jails 

 and penitentiaries had liad a like training wlien 

 they were young— yes, very young— that they 

 too might have been noble ( xamples of Chris- 

 tian character and brilliant intellects? Oh 

 dear me! can this be true? The bright gentle 

 matron at the World's Fair who liad thuse 

 children in charge assured m(^ it was a great 

 mistal<e to wait till the deaf ones were five or 

 six years old. Let us have them, she said, at 

 the age of two years, or, better still, one year. 

 She even declared (if I do not forget) that many 

 things could be accomplished between the age 

 of one and two that are almost out of the ques- 

 tion if the child were neglected till it is seven 

 or eight; and some pupils who have been al- 

 lowed to grow to the age of ten or twelve before 

 getting a glimpse of the world of intelligence 

 that is hidden from them were almost dwarfed 

 in intellect— so much so that they could never 

 become great scholars, li this be true, just 

 thinli, dear reader, of the responsibility that 

 rests not only upon those of us who have a 

 tolerably good education, but especially those 

 who have felt the retining, ennobling, and puri- 

 fying influences of the gospel of Christ Jesus. 



Go ye Inlo ail tlie world, and preach the gospel to 

 every creature.— Mark 16:15. 



BEING POSITIVE GOODS -WERE NOT ALL 

 RECEIVED. 



A LITTLE STORY THAT CONTAINS A GOOD LESSON 

 FOK US ALL. 



1 have sometimes thought that a man needs 

 to be forty or tifiy years old before he can learn 

 by experience not to be too sure of f<ni/ thing; 

 and almost every year's business brings us more 

 or less unpleasanlness in the way of deciding 

 who is at fault when sometliing can not be 

 found. The following transaction illustrates 

 the point so well that we have thought best to 

 give it entire. 



Friend Root:— Yesterday I was looking at my sup- 

 ply of foundation, and discovered a mistalie. When 

 I gave you an oi'der, Oct. :i8, 1893, 1 ordered with 

 otlier goods (amounting in all to over $27.00) 5 lbs. of 

 tliin toundaUon, whicli I have weighed on scales 

 bougiit of y(Hi, wliicli aie correct, also .5 lbs. 0>ooa 

 foundation, winch is not uere. In my liurry to get 

 In shape for winter 1 put the foundation into a 

 bureau drawer to keep it from freezing, and paid no 

 further attention to it till yesterday, siii)i>osing it 

 to be all right. I then unpacked anil examined it, 

 with above results. No person but myself opens or 

 has any thing to do with my bureau. More, I have 

 my own house, and keep my fixtures and clothes 

 and tools in it, and lock it when I go away. Ihe 

 package was not opened till yesterday. What 1 



have is 5 lbs. of thin surplus foundation and noth- 

 ing more. As I shall need tlie brood first, if you 

 will kindly eorrect the mistake and send iheSlDS. 

 brood, less the price of Gleanings for the year, 

 you will greatly oblige C C. Eddy. 



Reiuersville, O., April 3. 

 To this we replied, under date of April 6: 

 Fiiend Eddy:— On referring to the order in ques- 

 tion we find Ijotli items checked, and they were 

 packed with your goods, each in a separate package. 

 It is altogether probable that you put away in the 

 draw.*r tne 5-lb. package of thin ana left the other 

 package witli the other goods. You should check 

 up your goods as soon as received, and report any 

 shortage. When you wait so long there is no chance 

 for us to make any investigation. Please make a 

 tliorough investigation, and see if you do not tiiid 

 the other package of foundation. Our shipper who 

 put up your goods says he knowi^ it was in. and he 

 is generally very careful. A. 1. Root. 



Medina, O., April 6. 

 April 9, friend Eddy replies: 

 Yours of the 6th inst. is at hand. As you mi.v, 

 both items were checked on the order; but that 

 they were packed is hardly possible. Being checked 

 made me more careless, as 1 have always found 

 orders correctly tilled, or nearly so. To eoiivin.t 

 you 1 am not in error this liine, absolutely no pi r 

 son handled the goods but myself. After thej 

 reached station at Caldwelll went for the goods, 

 paid freight, loaded, unloaded at home, and un 

 packed them by myself, and 1 am perfectly satisti.c 

 they were not opened or tampered with en nmli 

 also there was but one package of loundatinn 

 which 1 immediately put into a Urawer, as stall il 

 which reuiaiiied unopened or undisturbed lu ;in3 

 way until the day before 1 wrote you. lo tin: 

 statement 1 am perfectly wihlng to qualify. I knew 

 from the first uupackii.g there was but one package 

 of foundation. That 1 have been a little carelesi 

 about being sure every thing was right. 1 admit 

 but there is positively no chance of my being mis 

 taken this time. , ^'- P- °,^\l, 



P s _i supposed the one package contained th' 

 10 lbs. of foundation, but neglected to weigh it 

 further every article has been handled over severa 

 times all made up and painted; even the boxe 

 containing goods have been worked over into fiJ 

 tures; consequently I see no chance that I^hav 

 made a mistaKe. ^- ' '• ^'• 



Now, a good many times the difficulty end 

 right here; at least, no one is able lo say wher 

 tlie mi-sing goods went to; and a good man; 

 times we send things a second time when w 

 feel sure the fault is not ours. Sometimes w 

 decide to divide the loss, each party beanni 

 half; and 1 believe that, as a rule, we general!, 

 preserve pleasant relations and pleasant feel 

 ings Sometimes, liowever. as time passes, th 

 missing article comes to light. See one mor 

 letter from friend Eddy, below: 



Friend Root:-! liasten to acknowledge my mis 

 take 1 found tiie brood foundation put away in a 

 old trunk where I thought there was nothing bu 

 some rags; vet 1 felt sure I was right. But it i 

 here-another instance of how positive one may be 

 and still be mistaken. I am sorry this has occurrec 

 but can now only correct it and inclose stamps t 

 pay the extra postage 1 have caused you. -11'? fjuf 

 excuse I have is, 1 thought 1 was right. 1 will tr 

 to improve by this lesson in more ways than one^ 

 Keinersville, O., Aitril 10. C. C. Eddy. 



As I look hack through the years I have beei 

 doing business, 1 remember several siiriila 

 cases. One man was sure we did not send al 

 of a lot of goods, and with much protest w 

 sent a part of them over again Some tim 

 after, came an apology. When he unpacke. 

 the goods he laid partof them on a wheelbaiTOV 

 belonging to his neighlior. The neighbor wari 

 ed the wheelbarrow, and sent a boy after it 

 The boy wheeled the barrow over home, good' 

 and all As they were in a hurry they tooli th 

 stutt from the wheelbarrow, intending to hav 

 somebody carry it back; but it got tucke 

 away, and came to light only after many day^ 

 Oiu' customer said it never occurred to him tha 



