1894 



(JLEANINtJS IN BEE CULTURE. 



879 



She came part way, then stretched herself 

 ■out in a lazy, indifferent sort of way. 



"O Polly! what makes you so lazy? Come! 

 ■come clear up here to me." 



Now, a seal on dry land has very little power 

 of locomotion ; but the dumpy fat creature, 



fierhaps three or four feet long, and nearly a 

 oot through, by a peculiar bobbing motion 

 came a little further. 



"Oh! you don't half try. Come! You can 

 get right up here if you try." 



Polly winked her eyes in a lazy sort of way. 

 and finally rolled herself over until her head 

 came clear up against his hand; then she look- 

 ed round at the visitors, and one could easily 

 imagine a comical sort of smile on her face, 

 such as a child might have when he had obey- 

 ed orders in letter but not in sinrlt. Heals are 

 migratory, so we were told; and the great mass 

 of fat they accumulate in the feeding season is 

 to last them while they swim a thousand miles 

 or more, entirely without food. 



Kansas City, of nearly 1.50,000 population, 

 was an astonishment to me. I did not know a 

 city of such business, wealth, and progress, ex- 

 isted anywhere in the West. I was greatly 

 astonished at their immense stores, with their 

 hundreds of clerks; but when I found their 

 little cash girls, from 8 to 12 years old. were 

 kept there the year round, and did not go to 

 school at aZ?. I felt like making a protest. If 

 the State of Missouri does not soon have some 

 laws, such as we have in Ohio, making the 

 education of her children compulsor'y she will 

 surely regret it. 



Saturday morning, Oct. 13, I expressed for- 

 ward my extra clothing and started on my 

 wheel- trip that I had so long looked forward 

 10. Just as I had got well into my second 

 wind, while about 10 miles out in the country 

 ■climbing a hill, I heard an explosion like an old 

 musket. I was so scared I nearly fell off the 

 wheel: but when I got steady I found my back 

 wheel running on its wooden rim. The tire 

 had burst, both inner and outer tube, and I was 

 forced to walk back to the street-car line. The 

 ■driver said he would have to charge an " extra 

 nickel" for carrying my wheel into Kansas 

 City. What an illustration of the advantages 

 of cooperation, or combining capital and labor! 

 A farmer would want a couple of dollars, cer- 

 tain, to take me und my wheel into the city. 

 The street-cars do it, and make it pay. for only 

 lOcts. They told me in the city that my 3-'-lb. 

 racer was too light for the stony hills of Mis- 

 souri; but they thought that, with a heavier 

 tire on the back wheel, that takes most of my 

 weight. I might make it go. . 



As the new tire had better not be used until 

 Monday I prepared to gn to La Cygne, Kan., 

 by rail. At the ticket-office in the city they 

 *aid there was a train out at 5 p.m. When I 

 arrived as the depot, however, they said Satur- 

 day night was an exception, and that no train 

 started until y o'clock. Four hours to wait for 

 a train! I just couldn't jtand the thought of 

 it. My new tire seemed all right, and I 

 thought I would ride a little way while I 

 studied the matter over. The farther I rode, 

 the better I liked it. Darkness came on, and I 

 was in a strange land on an unknown road; 

 but after awhile the moon came up. and then I 

 made very good time. Ernest gave me very 

 strong cautions about riding after night in 

 Missouri and Kansas, where robbers and high- 

 waymen were common; but I kept on. In the 

 first place, my money was about all spent; my 

 watch was only a Waterbury, and "Jesse 

 James " or one of the " Dalton gang " would be 

 sure to hand it back, saying. " Poor fellow." if 

 they should overhaul me. Furthermore, how 



could anybody catch me unless he had a wheel 

 too? 



The worst encounter I had in my whole 25- 

 mile ride by moonlight was a young lady, also 

 riding a wheel. As she might be afraid of me, 

 I said "good evening" in my most winning 

 and assuring tones; and when she returned the 

 salutation in a sweet, feminine, girlish voice, 

 I breathed a long breath of relief, and very 

 likely she did also. 



At Olathe, Kansas, I had a grand good sup- 

 per for only 1.5 cts. I noticed on the bill of 

 fare, " Two eggs, cooked in any style. .5 cts." I 

 thought this wonderfully low; but when they 

 brought me three eggs for the 5 cts., instead of 

 two, I asked the proprietor how he could be so 

 liberal. His reply embraced a grand sermon, 

 even though it was given in a few simple 

 words. Here it is, so far as I can remember: 



" Well, stranger, eggs are pretty low here 

 just now, and I have always found it better in 

 business to give a little mure than you adver- 

 tise, rather than a little less." 



Dear friends, this number of Gi-eantngs does 

 not contain any " Homes " or any " Neighbors;" 

 but I think the grand truth given in by that 

 humble shopman in Olathe will do for both. 

 " A good name is rather to be chosen than 

 great riches." 



When a man has a reputation of always do- 

 ing all he agrees, and sometimes a little more, 

 if he isn't rich he is better off than to be rich. 



When I stepped off the train at La Cygne, 

 Kan., one of the first things that attracted my 

 attention was a boy so intoxicated that it took 

 two other boys to hold him up. I asked them 

 if that was the way they did things in Kansas, 

 where. I understood, they did not have saloons. 

 One of the three replied, " Why. you see. stran- 

 ger, we are only eight miles from the Missouri 

 line, and this young man goes over there on his 

 wheel and gets his drink." 



"But you don't mean, boys, that he came 

 from Missouri, eight miles away, on a wheel, in 

 this condition?" 



•' Well, he probably brought some of it along, 

 and • got full ' after he got here. But he has 

 learned the trade so he can run the wheel 

 while he is pretty well ' set up.' " 



If the above statement is true, it is not so bad 

 a showing for Kansas, after all. When we can 

 oblige a man to go eight miles for his drinks, or 

 any other similar distance, we are greatly less- 

 ening the chances of his becoming a sot; and 

 the incident is really a recommendation for the 

 Kansas liquor-law, if it is true that the boys 

 have to go over the Missouri line to get drunk. 

 And now, then, can't our Missouri frienas brace 

 up and drive this kind of vice to some other 

 State? 



The town of La Cygne had quite a boon a 

 few yeai's ago, and real estate was a good deal 

 higher than it is now. It is a splendid farming 

 country all along the line between Kansas and 

 Missouri; and in former years fruit has been 

 raised in such quantities that it could hardly 

 be disposed of. The frost last spring, however, 

 cut off the greater part of the fruit in all this 

 region. The damage was much greater than 

 in Ohio, because the fruit was further along 

 when frost came. At La Cygne, and all 

 through Missouri, we found beautiful persim- 

 mons in great abundance. The trees hang so 

 full they are really a sight to behold. The 

 fruit has never been utilized very much, how- 

 ever, unless it is to make persimmon butter. 

 When people want to boom the town of La 

 Cygne they explain to you that the name is 

 French, and that it means "a swan;" but if 

 somebody gets mad. and wants to run the place 

 down, he changes the translation to goose, go- 



