772 



gleanijngs in bee culture. 



Oct 1. 



seemed to me T never met so many kind and 

 pleasant people. Do you know why ? VVell.it 

 was because that little bit of work had brought 

 the spirit of Christ Jesus into my own heart. 

 When he commissioned his disciples to go 

 abroad throughout the world he bade them 

 first " go rather to the lost sheep of the house 

 of Israel;" and there seems to be a special 

 blessing resting on every little effort that is 

 made to bring back to the fold backsliding 

 Christians. As friend Langstroth's daughter, 

 with whom he is living, had recently moved, it 

 was well along in the evening before I stood 

 before their pleasant home. Mrs. Cowan has a 

 beautiful family of seven children— four boys 

 and three girls. The father of this little flock 

 was called away some two years ago, and now 

 the charge— at least the greater part of it — of 

 looking after the seven children and the aged 

 father falls on Mrs. Cowan. As I was intro- 

 duced to the different members of the family it 

 seemed to me that I never saw a more beauti- 

 ful household. The grown-up son and daugh- 

 ter were about such children as you might 

 expect with such a mother; and the mother 

 was just such a lady of culture and refinement 

 as you might expect to find the daughter of 

 L. L. Langstroth. Two little girls, of ten or 

 twelve years, made the house bright with their 

 childish voices and pretty ways. One of them 

 is already showing a great inclination to be a 

 teacher. Teaching school seemed to All all her 

 childish thoughts and aspirations. Come to 

 think of it, has our nation produced many 

 greater teachers than father Langstroth? and 

 is it at all strange that even his grandchildren 

 should show a bent in that direction ? Our old 

 friend had started to retire; but when he was 

 told that A. I. Root was in th>^, house, he made 

 haste to come down. I was rejoiced to find 

 him feeling so well. One little incident that 

 occurred shortly after my arrival greatly pleased 

 me. Friend L. and I were having a very pleas- 

 ant talk, but I thought I noticed that Mrs. 

 Cowan had something on her mind. Finally 

 she said to me, in a most kindly way, that it 

 was the night for their regular prayer-meeting, 

 and that, although she knew beforehand it 

 would afford me great pleasure to go with 

 them, she was inclined to think duty called me 

 for once in another direction. The old father 

 caught on to the suggestion at once. Said he, 

 "Yes, yes; you go to meeting, all of you, and 

 let Tne have Mr. Root just this time." 



Now. I tell you. friends, there is something of 

 importance in this little incident. I once heard 

 of a great and good man who always attended 

 the weekly prayer-meeting. If he had visitors 

 he would inform them promptly of his regular 

 habit, and either take them along with him or 

 arrange for their entertainment elsewhere. 

 "Seek ye first the kingdom of (iod, and his 

 righteousness,'" no matter who your guest is. 

 A little after, in our conversation, some.thing 

 called up a beautiful text from our old friend. 

 If you have never heard him repeat scripture 

 promises, you can form but little idea of the 

 inimitable way, peculiarly his own, with which 

 he brings out and unfolds their wondrous 

 truths. I can not exactly remember, but I 

 think that, in answer to some of my inquiries, 

 he was telling me of the burden of care that 

 had fallen upoiuhis daughter by the death of 

 her husband. Hut there is a blight hopeful 

 look on that beautiful face, that makes one feel 

 she has some hidden sustaining power to lift 

 her over life's trials; and then comes, this text: 



Be careful for nothing; but in every thing 1iy 

 prayer and supplication witii thanksgiving" let your 

 requests be niailc l<ni)\vn unto Goil. And the peace 

 of God, which passi-th all iinderstaiuling, shall keep 

 yoiu' beartsand minds througli Christ Jesus.— Phil. 

 4:6, 7. 



As he repeated the words. I noticed a partic- 

 ular emphasis on the word "thanksgiving." 

 Now, friends, when we make our requests- 

 known unto tnid. is that element of thanksgiv- 

 ing always in our hearts'? and when he repeat- 

 ed the words, " the peace of God, which pa'J-'eth 

 all understanding," it reminded me of my ex- 

 perience in riding the wheel that evening in 

 the dark. I had forgotten there were words of 

 scriptu re to so exactly describe it. 

 ~ The next forenoon it was my privilege tO' 

 visit the Soldiers' Home at Dayton. All I have 

 said in regard to the Orphans' Home at Xenia 

 will apply to this; but the Soldiers' Home is on 

 a more extended scale. The lakes, the water- 

 fall, the fountains, the springs, the flowers, not 

 forgetting the aquatic plants in a little pond, 

 warmed by steam when the weather demands 

 it, were beyond any thing I ever saw anywhere 

 else. The World's Fair was nothing compared 

 with it; neither did I see any thing in San 

 P'raricisco, New Orleans, New York, or Boston, 

 equal to it. There had been recent showers to- 

 beautify every thing; and with friend Lang- 

 stroth near by I was in an especial frame of 

 mind to enjoy every thing. I soon suggested 

 to my friend that I feared the occupants of 

 this beautiful home were not furnished with 

 work when they preferred to work. I was told, 

 however, that every one could have all the 

 work he wished, and reasonable pay, and that 

 pretty much every thing done there on the 

 grounds was done by the old soldiers — of course,, 

 under competent and skilled directors. A good 

 many of them were getting well along in years, 

 and deaths in the hospital are quite frequent. 

 As I could spare only about an hour, I did not 

 by any means see every thing on the grounds, 

 for it would require a day or more to look 

 through all the buildings. 



It seems almost out of place right here to find 

 fault with the United States government after 

 it has done so much; but a letter that has been 

 for several months on my desk kept recurring 

 to me. I finally asked Mr. Langstroth if it 

 were true that these veterans of the war were 

 furnished intoxicating drinks on these beauti- 

 ful grounds. He admitted that it was, and 

 expressed much regret. The government has 

 some logic in defending the custom. They say 

 that, if the old soldiers could not get drink on 

 the grounds they could find it in Dayton or 

 elsewhere; and should they get off on a spree 

 they could be much better cared for on the 

 grounds than to find them off somewhere in 

 some low doggery. You see, as it is now, they 

 do not have to visit low doggeries at all, for 

 they can get a glass of beer right at home. 

 Notwithstanding this fact, I noticed, however, 

 gorgeous beer- palaces all along the road to the 

 grounds, some of them quite near the entrance, 

 ^lay be I am getting a little extravagant. The 

 proprietors evidently tried to have these places 

 '"gorgeous." but they did not strike me that 

 way. There was one thing about them, how- 

 ever, that I enjoyed. It was. that the most of 

 them seemed to be rather run down, as if they 

 were having a rather dull time of it so far as 

 business was concerned. The paint originally 

 put on was a rather cheap sort, and other things 

 were of like character. Jf the hard times has 

 been the cause of making them look rather 

 dilapidated, then I forone shall feel like thank- 

 ing (iod for the hard times. While on this 

 matter of temperance, permit me to say that, 

 while in Xenia. I learned that Mr. Howard H. 

 Russell had just been giving a series of tem- 

 perance meetings there. He succeeded in mak- 

 ing his way into every one of their nineteen 

 saloons before the saloon-keepers woke out of 

 their stupidity to know enough to tell who was 

 among them. Then in a rousing speech the 



