433 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



true— that is, they were true from my stand- 

 point. Let me now give you the sequel. After 

 dinner 1 jumped on my wheel, with a determi- 

 nation to have that cow nuisance abolished. 

 If you will excuse me, I had rather not tell 

 where I started to go tirst. The exhilaration of 

 riding on the wheel brought out my better feel- 

 ings, as it almost always does, and I whirled 

 around and went down to the railroad depot. 

 The agent was at dinner. The division boss— 

 the very man who ma,ae fun of our sufferings 

 from the cows— sat resting with his men near. 

 I decided to commence very mildly, and I very 

 soon learned that the man who owned the cows 

 came to see them, and they promised to have a 

 good iron cattle-guard put in before his cows 

 would arrive at tlie pasture lot. And this had 

 actually been done. iJut the cows had learned 

 the trade so well with the old wooden one, they 

 walked right over the new iron one, with only 

 a little practice. Then I suggested digging a 

 pit, as they usually do under a cattle-guard 

 and offered to let my men do it. " Why, Mr. 

 Root, tnat is what we wanted to do, and would 

 have done it last fall; but there has been a law 

 enacted recently, against digging any more pits 

 under the cattle-guards." This was surprise 

 No. 1 to me. He added further that he thought 

 the superintendent of the road would let them 

 dig one there coHtrtt?'j/ to law if I would send 

 in my request. The telegraph instrument was 

 clicking within a few feet of me, and 1 thought 

 it very likely the pit could all be nicely made 

 before night, iini it would be simply digging a 

 pit for my neighbor's cows to fall into ; and 

 conscience put in, " Mr. Root, you know that is 

 not according to your profession." I replied as 

 before, " No, no! i can not think of digging any 

 pit." 



i rode over to see my neighbor who owned the 

 cows. His wife said lie liad just been told that 

 the cows were annoying me, and that he jump- 

 ed up from the dinner-table and went and got 

 them, and put them back in the stable the 

 minute he heard of it. That was surprise No. 

 2. Next day the neighbor who owns the land 

 came up to me looking considerably anxious 

 and worried. Said he: 



"Mr. Root, I have always heard that you are 

 a good-natured man; but 1 fully expected— in 

 fact, 1 should not have blamed you a bit if you 

 had done something besides talk, after all the 

 annoyance you have had from these cows. I 

 am thoroughly ashamed of myself; and I have 

 just come to inquire if you have any thing that 

 will do for posts, that you can sell us, so we 

 can put up a wire fence along each side of the 

 railroad, before night, i am very busy with 

 my farmwork, and i tell you it seems as if I 

 could not stop just now to put up that fence. 

 But you are taking it so good-naturedly it 

 makes me all the more determined that the 

 pasture shall be fenced so you won't have any 

 more anxiety or loss in that direction.'.' 



We delivered the posts for them, and in an 

 hour or two he and his men were very busy 

 making a substantial fence. You see, it really 

 belonged to the railroad company to put a fence 

 on each side of their track; but knowing the 

 circumstances of the new road at just this 

 period during the financial depression, without 

 being told, we knew they could not very well 

 do it. While they were at wotk at the fence it 

 just occurred to me that I wanted a favor of 

 my neighbor who owned the land. I had been 

 thinking for years back of turning Champion 

 Brook so as to run it into our carp-pond, and 

 nse it for irrigating the particularly rich creek- 

 bottom ground where we raise our choice 

 strawberry-plants. 1 told him my wishes; and 

 almost before I got through he said, "Just go 

 right on to our land and make any improve- 



ment you please, and take all the water you 

 want." Now, friends, suppose I had sued him 

 for damages on account of the cows. Would 1 

 have felt like asking him for permission to 

 start a small irrigating canal right on his 

 ground? Not much. Well, then I happened 

 to think further. I wanted to run the irrigating 

 canal (a small one) on the ground that belong- 

 ed to the railroad company. As soon as I told 

 them my wishes they said, like my neighbor, 

 "Go ahead, Mr. Root, with what you have in 

 mind. We know you well enough to know that 

 you will never do any thing that will in any 

 way injure or interfere with our property." 

 Suppose I had commenced a suit against them, 

 for damages sustained by the cows stamping 

 on my gooseberries.* 



Now, 1 do not know this minute who would 

 be legally responsible in such a case — the man 

 who owned the cows, the neighbor who owned 

 the pasture lot, or the combination of " neigh- 

 bors" who own the railroad. 1 feel a little glad 

 to think I have not even asked legal advice in 

 regard to tne matter; and, oh 1 am so glad I 

 I (lid not say out loud to anybody (except to 

 dear old Gleanings) that I was ever tempted to 

 think of prosecuting anybody! And I am glad 

 again that, instead of lighting any of these 

 neighbors, I fought and successfully downed 

 the spirit that prompted me to think of want- 

 ing money in the way of damages, through this 

 wuole transaction. Somebody might ask what 

 the damage really was. Well, I suppose I 

 might have got prejudiced witnesses to testify 

 that, all things considered — no. no! I guess 1 

 will not say that. I will say this, however: I 

 have seen farmers go to law and collect 150.00 | 

 damage because a drove of cows rambled all I 

 night through growing crops. A good lawyer 

 would make it seem quite reasonable that 

 about .^50.00 would be about fair. But perhaps 

 another good lawyer would make it equally 

 plain that the owner of the corn did not sustain 

 more than $5.00 damage, if he would take his 

 hoe and spend a few hours in straightening iij: 

 and lixing up the mischief done. You see, it j 

 depends a goud deal upon how we look at things. 



Now, in view of the above, let me ask you, 

 dear friends, which it is that hurts a man — the 

 damage he sustains from outside, or tlie perma- 

 nent damage to soul and body that comes from 

 letting words escape liis mouth that never 

 ought to have been allowed to slip out at all. 



BOOK AGENTS, AGAIN. 



Friend jRoot;— Don't you think you were 

 rather hard on that booK agent? Please un- 

 derstand 1 am not a book agent myself, and 

 never expect to be ; but, "' every man to his 

 calling." God did not endow us all alike. 

 Some men can come right down to business, 

 and others can not. Sometimes men appear 

 too fast, which they should not do. That is 

 scriptural. You should not blame him for 

 wanting your name at the head of his list. I 

 presume a great many men take a vast amount 

 of your time in getting to the point. I look on 

 my fellow-man as 1 do on the ditierent 

 churches. They are all treading the same 

 road, and I can not object to any man calling so 

 long as he keeps within the liounds of honor. 

 You say he began to talk about spiritual things, 



♦Some may urge tiiat there were peculiar circum- 

 stances connected with tne case 1 have mentioned, 

 and that it was " policy " tor me to keep still and 

 not make a fuss. Exactly; and I do not believe 

 there is ever a neighborhood (juarrel l^ut that this 

 same kind of policy exists. Any busy man is always 

 likely to need favors of his neighbors; and it is not 

 only" policy to be honcHl, but it is also policy to 

 piactice and cultivate this little virtue that "suflfe^ 

 eth loug and is kind." 



