ISSO 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUUl:. 



231 



0ui^ pejiEg. 



So is he that lavoth up treasure for himself, and 

 is not rich toward God.— IjItke 12:21. 



TT was Sunday evening, March 7, as I sat 

 11^ down to my" secretary, where I read my 

 ]|t agricultnral papers dining week days ; 

 -*■ bnt I didn't look at the agricultural pa- 

 pers at all, even tl*ough a great heap lay 

 there awaiting my review ; tor I have al- 

 ways noticed that I don't feel as light-heart- 

 ed, "and free from any twinges (.f conscience, 

 when I read such things on the Sabbattiday 

 as I do wlien I i-ead the Sunday- Schnnl 2'hiies 

 or the Bilde. I noticed tliatthe lesson for 

 the following week was fi'om the book of Es- 

 tlier, and so 1 took my wife's little liihle and 

 read the hook c f J-^stlier clear through. By 

 that time 1 remaiktd to her that I believed 

 I would gv) to bed. as I was getting so sleepy. 

 The print of her Bible is rather line ; but for 

 all that. I have never used spectacles, even 

 though I am 40 years old. May be the fine 

 print made me di-ovvsy before my usual bed- 

 time. Perhaps it was in a sort of drowsy 

 way that I asked (iod's blessing as we knelt 

 together. I did the best I ct)tdd. any way. 

 under the circumstances, and I think that 

 (4od kuows that I am ready to work for 

 him with my whole heart, wlienever he calls. 

 I do not rernember any thing more until my 

 .wife startled me from a sound sleep by ask- 

 ing what that light was out of the window. 



" Why Amos, there is a great fire ! and as 

 true as you live, it is our warehouse V 



I remember she said something about the 

 poor horses and our Jersey cow; and as I 

 sprang from the bed, wide awake in an in- 

 stant. I meditated running to the scene of 

 the disaster without dressing at all ; but in 

 a small part of a second I decided it would 

 be better to clothe myself so I could stand 

 the weather, even if some time were lost. I 

 had many times planned what I should do 

 if the factory should be discovered to be on 

 fire ; but I had never thought of a fire start- 

 ing in the warehouse, for no fire is ever kept 

 there, aud no lantern, even, had been there 

 for weeks. It is out in the lot, as it were, 

 alone, except for piles of dry pine and bass- 

 wood between it and the factory. As I 

 emerged from the house, a horse turned and 

 faced me and snorted. It was ''Meg." 

 " Thank (4od,'' I thought, ''Meg lias escaped, 

 any way." 



About this time I began to hear the hoarse 

 call of " Fire !" from neighbor to neighbor, 

 and the first thing to l)e done was to give 

 notice to the fire company. 1 mentally de- 

 cided that this was of more importance than 

 going near the burning building, to try to 

 save any property. Too much depended on 

 everv moment of time to trust to anyl)ody, 

 and "I started on tiie run for tlie engine- 

 liouse ; bnt just as I had passed the factory. 

 Neighbor II. shot past me on one of his hors- 

 es, yelling worse than a Comanche Indian. 

 I didn't know before that any horse coidd go 

 so fast, nor that any himian hmgs could 

 utter sucli unearthly shrieks; but I mental- 

 ly thanked God for the horse, for Neighbor 

 H.. and for his powerful lungs as well. 



Now I want to stop a moment to tell you 



that Neighbor II. had a brand-new self-bind- 

 er stored in a shed adjoining the warehonse, 

 and this binder was not insured. Had he 

 shot right down to the warehouse, with the 

 assistance of neighbors there he could, very 

 likely, have pulled his machine out. He 

 thought of it on his way to the engine-house, 

 but decided that the reaper would have to 

 slide for the sake of saving the few minutes' 

 time in getting the engine down to save my 

 property. By the way, boys, doesn't that 

 come pretty near loving your neighbor as 

 yourself V 



The boys who sleep in the factory were 

 now awake, and yelling, after the example 

 set them by "Uncle Ilen," as Iluber and 

 the rest of the children call Neighbor 11. I 

 told one of them to stay iibout the factory, 

 and then we went to see what could l)e done 

 with the wart house. You will hardly be- 

 lieve it, but by the time I got down there, 

 it was pretty nearly a burnt building. Not 

 only the million sections that we had been 

 making ahead to fill your orders were help- 

 ing to make the great contlagration, but there 

 were all my tools and agriculttual imple- 

 ments, and ever so many other things that 

 represented tlie hard work of years past. 

 Worse than all, a south wind drove the fire 

 fiercely into the lumber piles, and it seemed 

 for a time as if nothing could prevent it 

 from sweeping clear to the factory, and lick- 

 ing that up too. How I ached and prayed 

 to iiear the roar of the fire-engine, indicating 

 that a stream of water had started to the 

 rescue ! Finally it commenced coming, and 

 hundreds of willing hands lifted the great 

 hose toward the lumber i)iles. All at once 

 the water stopped. In their zeal they had 

 pulled the hose in two before it was fairly 

 coupled together. A messenger must be sent 

 back to the engine to stop the flow of water, 

 while the hose was mended. Finally it be- 

 gan pouring a great mtiddy stream on the 

 burning piles; but, to my great dismay, the 

 fire seemed to burn just about as well with 

 water on as it did without. The water was 

 forced through the openings between the 

 boards ; but as soon as it stopped, even for 

 an instant, out potned the fiames again. 

 The flames were within a few feet of our 

 second warehouse containing our seasoned 

 lumber and Simplicity hives ; but it seemed 

 as though even the fire-engine was powerless 

 to stay it. But by this time men and women 

 had formed lines, standing in the mtid mean- 

 while, and pails were passed from one to the 

 other, while this second warehouse was kept 

 drenched on the roof, and along the sides and 

 ends, by means of little fountain pumps. 

 For hot"n-s tliey fought, making apparently 

 but little headvvay; but tlie wind finally veer- 

 ed around a little, and a snowstorm set in, 

 and— we, by God's providence, conquered. 



Of late, my health has threatened many 

 times to break down, and 1 began feeling 

 that, if I would be of any use on the mor- 

 row, I must get some sleep. Many friends 

 told me that tliis was the wise thing to do, 

 after I was sure the fire was within bounds. 

 I obeyed, and laid my head on the pillow. 

 Now, it has always been said of me that one 

 reason why I could stand so much mental 

 strain was that I could go to sleep at any 



