788 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Oct. 



but duty pointed otherwise. Seven of us 

 were put in one moderate-sized room ; and 

 if we were not accjuainted when we went 

 into the room we certainly were before we 

 got out. A great tall young farmer from 

 Michigan, gave his name as Mr. Short (see 

 p. 616, Aug. 1), and this started merriment. 

 As we were all bee-men, we soon, in regular 

 Yankee style, opened up a lot of questions 

 on each new comer. If he was a stranger 

 when the door opened, he certainly was not 

 when he went out. Frank A. Eaton, our 

 good secretary of the Ohio State convention, 

 suggested tliat we had better look out for 

 our valuables, because the fire-escape came 

 right up to the window ; and as bee-keepers 

 are all men who love plenty of air, we want- 

 ed to sleep with the windows open ; so we 

 got out of bed and scrambled for our money, 

 watches, etc. 1 remarked, that the sum 

 total of my possessicjns was about $2.-50 and 

 a Waterbury watch. At this, friend E. sug- 

 gested that we all lie down and quiet our 

 apprehensions ; for if brother R. would just 

 hang his Waterbury watch where it would 

 be plainly visible, any thief, when he crawl- 

 ed up the fire-escape and looked into the 

 room, would clamber down again and go off 

 in disgust. Before we got to sleep I got to 

 laughing until it occurred to me that I had 

 not had such a good hearty laugh, to shake 

 my whole frame from my fingers' ends to the 

 tips of my toes, since— when do you sup- 

 pose? Why, since the last bee-keepers'' con- 

 vention I attended at Utica, N. Y. 1 believe 

 those hearty laughs not only shake the con- 

 ceit out of me, but possibly at the same 

 time some of the nervous prostration I 

 have talked about. Why, during the three 

 whole days of the convention I did not have 

 a single nap before dinner, and I did not go 

 to sleep at night until long after my usual 

 hour ; but I did not feel used up a bit. I 

 just laughed, and enjoyed myself all day 

 long, and ate such hearty meals that I could 

 hardly believe it was myself. We bee-men 

 were all put together at one table, as a gen- 

 eral thing. At this last convention there 

 seemed to be an unusual disposition among 

 all of them to make everybody else feel 

 pleasant ; and, no matter what turned up, 

 no one, so far as I can remember, felt hurt. 

 Before our last evening assembly opened 

 we were informed that the Senate Chamber, 

 which we occupied, must be vacated exactly 

 at nine o'clock, for another crowd. Yan- 

 kee-like, we inquired what the next crowd 

 were going to do. The reply was, that a 

 large company of male jubilee singers were 

 to practice on some campaign songs ; and 

 when we suggested that we bee-men were 

 fond of music, we received a very cordial in- 

 vitation to remain. Well, the singing was 

 the grandest and the finest, I believe, I ever 

 heard in all my life. It never dawned upon 

 my simple understanding before, that the 

 human voice unaided is capable of such 

 flights of melody as we had there. These 

 singers, of course, and the audience, were, 

 as a rule, members of one of our great polit- 

 ical parties. Now, our bee-keepers do not 

 all think alike nor vote alike, and I do not 

 know ^but 1 should be a little ashamed of 

 them if they did ; but I was happy to hear 



those who hold different political views 

 from the sentiments of the campaign songs 

 join heartily in the enjoyment of it. 



Our talents, abilities, and accomplish- 

 ments are in different lines. Friend New- 

 man is, perhaps, not so much of a bee- 

 keeper as some of the rest of us ; but he 

 has a wonderful gift in the ease and clear- 

 ness with which he makes himself under- 

 stood to everybody. President Mason had 

 to be continually telling us to speak louder, 

 while friend Newman could, without doubt, 

 make himself heard and understood to a 

 thousand people. He is perfectly at home 

 and at ease in addressing an audience, while 

 a great many, like myself, feel neither at 

 home nor exactly at ease in such a place. 



On the centennial grounds is a great 

 building erected exactly on the plan of a 

 half-sphere— an immense dome, so high and 

 broad that one speaker can easily make him- 

 self heard by 12,000 people. Not a stick of 

 timber nor a pillar, nor even an iron rod, 

 breaks the space inclosed ; and we soon dis- 

 covered that the acoustic properties of the 

 building were wonderful. A piano and an 

 organ stood there invitingly open ; and by a 

 liltle persuasion Dr. Miller was induced to 

 sit down and sing my favorite hymn, " The 

 Rock that is Higher than I." "To my sur- 

 prise, atid perhaps a little to his surprise 

 also, he discovered that his voice would fill 

 the room easily ; and before he got through, 

 several came forward and joined in the 

 hymn. Then we had the pieces which we 

 give in this issue and on page 756 of the last 

 number, and several more joined in the 

 chorus. One friend attracted our attention 

 by his beautiful voice, and Dr. Miller asked 

 him if he was a bee-man. He said he was 

 not a bee-man, but we found out he was one 

 of the 150 who surprised and delighted us at 

 the campaign meeting the night before ; and 

 as we chatted with him we felt that we had 

 found a new brother — yes, a brother in truths 

 although those that sang together represent- 

 ed the politics of at least three of our great 

 political parties. 



After listening to the music, by invita- 

 tion we attended the close of the session of 

 the Ohio State Horticultural Society, and I 

 was agreeably surprised to meet, face to 

 face, quite a number of the men of Ohio 

 whom I had read of, but whom I had never 

 before had the pleasure of meeting ; and I 

 tell you, friends, it did me a great lot of 

 good to have them express pleasure at meet- 

 ing .1. I Boot. I felt ashamed of myself to 

 think I had never before been present at a 

 meeting of the horticulturists of my native 

 State. After the social talks in regard to 

 fruit, I enjoyed looking at the samples on 

 the centennial grounds, as I never enjoyed 

 looking over fruit before. I not only got 

 acquainted with fruit-rjien, but I became 

 somewhat acquainted with the fruits ot owv 

 native State ; and somebody in the horti- 

 cultural rooms was kind enough to send a 

 basket of choice fruits over to the apiarian 

 exhibit. My friends, there is no way in the 

 world in which you can enjoy a nice apple 

 like hearing enthusiastic fruit-men talk 

 about apples and then to take a bite of one 

 of the very apples they have been talking 



