1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



707 



house they had built a trellis about ten feet high 

 and 13 wide, by 30 long-, each way, and then they had 

 planted three vines in front of the house and three 

 behind, and those 6 vines covered that immense 

 trellis all over thick; and when I was there in Sep- 

 tember the fruit was mostly ripe, and looked so 

 lovely, the great purple bunches hanging down 

 through the trellis, and the beautiful leaves just 

 above them. I thought they surely had not picked 

 any of the fruit, as there was so much above our 

 heads ; but they said they had picked and sold a ton. 

 You may be sure the house with its thick walls, its 

 great windows, and heavy doors, and that monster 

 trellis covered with grapes made a unique scene. 



I had heard music when we drove up; and when 

 we entered the house we saw a large piano and a 

 fine guitar lying by it. Of course, we asked for 

 some music. I can not resist that temptation, 

 when I see musical instruments, and one of the 

 daughters played us some lovely pieces. The piano 

 had been played upon until its keys were hollow, 

 but it sounded very nicely. The owner of the 

 guitar, one of the sons, could not be prevailed upon 

 to play, as he said he was only learning; but he 

 brought us some grapes; and while we were eating 

 them we could not help thinking of the difference 

 between the present time and the time Mr. E. had 

 been telling us about, and of feeling thankful that 

 those wild times were over, and that peace prevail- 

 ed in this lovely land. Mus. J. Hilton. 



Los Alamos, Cal. 



BEE-STINGS OR "WHISKY. 



MKS. HARRISON TALKS TO US A LITTLE IN REGARD 

 TO THE GREAT ISSUES OF THE DAY. 



^ HILDKEN, a good many of you in your letters 

 m^ have said that you would like bees better if 

 ill they did not sting. A bee-sting is no joke, is 

 ^^ it, when it is on the lips or nose? Sunday- 

 school scholars all over the world are now 

 studying about Solomon; I am too. He is called 

 the Avise man, and he tells his son not even to look 

 upon wine, for " at the last it biteth like a serpent 

 and stingeth like an adder." 



Some bee-keepers advise whisky to cure a bee- 

 sting. Which is the worse, a bee-sting or a whisky- 

 bite? I have seen persons who had been bitten by 

 whisky, and their nose was all swollen up, and so 

 red it was nearly purple, and their eyes were sore 

 and running, so that they could hardly see, and 

 their faces full of big red blotches. When we are 

 stung by a bee on the nose, it may swell and look 

 red, and shut up our eyes for a few hours, when it 

 gets "better; but does a whisky-bite get well so 

 soon? 



The women of Illinois, who belong to the Women's 

 Christian Temperance Union, are holding a conven- 

 tion in the largest church in this city. They have 

 left their babies, and their boys and girls to go to 

 school, and come here to work "for God and home 

 and native laud." Across the organ is this motto, 

 in largo letters: "O woman! Great is thy Faith I Be 

 it unto thee even cs thou wilt." 



Miss West is the president. What a grand name ! 

 West! She is a power in the land; with her strong 

 arm she is able to lift the drunkard upon his feet. 

 She would tip the scales between two hundred and 

 fifty and three hundred. Her large mind, and great 

 generous heart would not have room in a small 

 body. 



Does your mother ever attend any of these meet- 

 ings, and listen to Miss Frances Willard, President 

 of the national society? or Mrs. Judith Ellen Foster, 

 national superintendent of legislative work? She 

 would be a better mamma than she is now, if she 

 did. Tell her that you will all be good, and take 

 care of the little ones, and you can bake apples and 

 potatoes, and eat bread and honey, while she is 

 away, and papa will be at home nights. 



Mothers are so afraid that " the cow will eat up 

 the grindstone, or jump over the moon," that they 

 stay at home, and grow ugly and cross. You all 

 love your mammas, don't you? Then let her have a 

 change. I'm like King David : " I once was young," 

 but now I'm gray-headed; yet I have never seen 

 that the children of those devoted mothers who say, 

 " It is my place to stay at home and take care of my 

 family," are any better, or as good, as those who 

 left home occasionally, both to get good and to do 

 good. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, III. 



WHAT THE STARS HAVE SEEN. 



Where is he that is born king of the Jews? for we 

 have seen his star in the east, and are come to wor- 

 ship him. — Matt. 3:3. 



[^ AKING the world at large (aside from the as- 

 ti'onomers), as we step out on a clear starry 

 [f night we are apt to view the stars as a i-ather 

 insignificant sight in comparison with the 

 silver moon reigning in silent majesty,.queen 

 over all. And yet the stars have seen more than 

 any human being ever saw. At the moment the 

 Almighty pronounced the words, "Let there be 

 light," millions of stars sprang into existence; they 

 saw the creation of man, and foi-med the first choir 

 that sang the first anthem ever sung on earth, 

 " when the morning stars first sang together." They 

 saw the garden of Eden in all its freshness and 

 beauty. They heard the command, " Of every tree 

 of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the 

 tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt 

 not eat of it." They saw that command disobeyed, 

 and the disobedience punished ; they heard the prom- 

 ise of a Messiah, and beheld the first murder, and 

 the terrible flood which destroyed every living 

 thing on the face of the earth. They saw the ark, 

 with its precious burden, withstand the fury of the 

 tempest, which the hand of God had sent upon an 

 erring world, and finally rest in safety upon the 

 mountains of Ararat. They witnessed the building 

 of the tower of Babel, and all the interesting scenes 

 which occurred from that time to the birth of the 

 Savior. At that great event it was a star that 

 guided those wise men on their journey. They 

 traveled by night and slept by day— on, on. 



Till till' star stood still 



This was the city of Christ, wliere, cradled in a 

 manger, the infant ,Tosus lay. 1 think the stars 

 must have looked down with admiration and won- 

 der on his life-woik, and with horror and astonish- 

 ment tlicy beheld him nailed to tlie cross, and i-e- 

 viled In- iiis fellow-lieings. Von know, all nature 

 sympathized with that dreadful scene; the sun 

 veiled his lace at such a sight: the rocks were rent, 

 and the i;ra\ cs ojiened. The stars saw him buried, 

 and it was the stars in their silent wateli at night 

 that saw that stone rolled from the seimlclier. They 

 saw him ascend to lieu\-eii, anil since that day the 

 Stars have witncsse<l many strange sights; have 

 seen the rise and fall of great nations and empires, 

 but never any thing so wonderful as the life and 

 death of Christ, and never will till he comes forth 

 again in all his glorious majesty to judge both the 

 living and the dead. Aunt Vie. 



Rockton, 111. 



