1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



213 



" Why." said he. "it is astonishing how igno- 

 rant some p(>ople are of the common every-day 

 companions of their livt-s. To illnstrate,'" said 

 he, "a Scotchman in a remote county had 

 never heard of a smokei'. and to subdue bees he 

 carried a bllh-t of wool from the stove with the 

 tongs, and wafted it over tlie hive: and he be- 

 lie\-i'd that each drone laid an egg, and then sat 

 on it till it hatched 1" The idea was somewhat 

 peculiar, but as I had come across such an idea 

 before in my travels. I was not over and above 

 surpris. d at it. It was a pleasure for me to talk 

 with this clerical friend, for his moments of con- 

 verse weie packed with valuable information. 



But. again the feet of the Rambler sought 

 pastures new; and as the shades of another 

 night enveloped the earth he was over 100 miles 

 away, and in the land of steady habits and 

 — wooden nutmegs! The town of Southington. 

 Ct., cliarmed me for two days. Several years 

 ago I visited this town and found it a growing 

 nianufactuiing village. This time it had been 

 incorporated into a borough, and the reason for 

 its growth I could readily comprehend, as I fre- 

 quently stumbled through a shoal of baby-car- 

 riages. I have no doubt this will soon be a 

 large city. 



jasnrA bills and his apiaky. 



In this lively borough I found a live bee-man, 

 Mr. Joshua Bills. To make all of his spare 

 time useful. Mr. Bills is proprietor of a store 

 for books and stationery: conducts the tele- 

 phone office, and is also collector of the water- 

 tax. He is connected with several other items 

 too numerous to mention. Mr. B. has a pretty 

 apiary of '21 colonies in Root and Falconer 

 cliaflF hives. The average honey-yield in this 

 locality is about 50 lbs. per colony: and at the 

 time of my call, the bees were at work upon a 

 flower of the aster family. The home market 

 consumed all of his surplus. The aforesaid 

 babies were rapid consumers of sweets, another 

 evidence that Southington is to be a large city. 

 Mr. B. has but little competition. His most 

 extensive rival, Mr. Holt, lives out several 

 miles in the country, and is a veritable Huber, 

 as he is a blind man: but for all that he is 

 quite successful, being aided, where eyes ai'e 

 needed, by Miss Holt. 



The prosperity of Southington is derived from 

 iron-rolling mills, bolt and nut shops, manufac- 

 tories of novelties, cutlery, including the Yan- 

 kee boys' jack-knife, Britannia ware of many 

 beautiful designs, and common screws. While 

 in Pi'ovidence. ^Ir. Miller and the Rambler were 

 denied admittance into the extensive works 

 there located; but here, after passing the or- 

 deal of a few questions, George (that's my 

 brother-in-law) and I were allowed to pass, and 

 entered a vcn-y noisy room where over a hun- 

 dred machines were working (or. rather, bit- 

 ing) wire from large coils, and turning it out 

 into screws of various sizes. The work is all 

 done by automatic machinery. The little flat- 

 headed' pieces are picked up by steel lingers, 

 chucked, and the screw-thread cut. They are 

 then dropped into a box complete, and in an in- 



credibly short time. All the workmen have to 

 do is to change boxes or lill the hoppers when 

 the automatic lingers seize tlie pieces. And 

 now when I drive a screw home with the screw- 

 driver, I think of the wonderful machine that 

 made it, and am thankful for the genius that 

 has given us so many useful things which are 

 made so rapid and at such small cost. Won- 

 derful are the days in which we live! 



Rambler, 



THE MILLIONAIRES OF AMERICA. 



are our rich mex. as a rule, wicked men ■? 



Brother Root: — I have just read Alvin L. 

 Potter's letter in Feb. 1st Gleanin'gs: and I 

 must confess that, when I read what you had 

 to say in the December issue, I felt somewhat 

 as Mr. Potter has expressed himself; but " char- 

 ity sufl'ereth long, and is kind;" and I believe 

 you want to do what is right: but it appears to 

 me you are not posted in that line: and Dr. A. 

 B. Mason. I think, is a little oft' too. I should 

 like to quote you a few passages of Scripture: 

 Psalm 37:1(): '"'A little that a righteous man 

 hath is better than the riches of many wicked."' 

 Are not the rich nearly always wicked men? 

 Prov. 30:8: "Give me neither poverty nor 

 riches."' The Wise Man thinks it not best to be 

 rich. Dr. Mason does. Solomon says. " Labor 

 not to be rich."" — Prov. 23:4. "Deceitfulness of 

 riches choke the word." — Mark 4:19. "How 

 hardlv shall they that have riches enter the 

 kingdom of God. "" — Mark 10:23. Then why 

 wish for more millionaires? " Woe unto you 

 that are rich."" — Luke 6:24. "Woe unto you 

 lawyers also, for ye lade men with burdens 

 grievous to be borne, and ye touch not the 

 burden with one of your fingers"' — Luke 11:48. 

 Are not our legislative halls full of lawyers? 

 and are not many of them worth their millions? 

 I claim that no man has ever earned an honest 

 million. If that is so. how is it possible for this 

 country to prosper, and the people be happy 

 and out of poverty, when we have so many rich 

 men? Why. John D. Rockefeller is worth 135 

 millions: W. W. Astor. 120: Cornelius Yander- 

 bilt, 90: Jay Gould. 75: Henry M. Flagler. 60: 

 Charles Pratt. .55: Wm. K. Yanderbilt. .50: John 

 H. Flagler. 40: Fied W. Yanderbilt. C^eorge 

 Yanderbilt. William Astor. and Louis C. Tif- 

 fany, are woith 35 millions each: and I have 

 the list of hundreds more, running down to 

 three millions each. G. F. Heseltox. 



Homeland, Mo., Feb. 3. 



[Dear brother, the figures you give us, if they 

 are indeed true, seem to indicate, I admit, that 

 there is something wrong. But let us remem- 

 ber that, besides the good texts you quote from 

 the .Scriptures, there is another one that says, 

 " Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy 

 brother's eye, and considerest not the beam 

 that is in thine own eye?'" Please bear with 

 me if I suggest that there is danger — yes, vei-y 

 great danger — of a bad spirit getting into our 

 hearts also, when we undertake to discuss these 

 matters. When we get to feeling bitter and 

 envious toward the jnillionaires, we are certain- 

 ly in the wrong, whether they are or not. Now, 

 it seems to me your mistake is in your sweeping 

 assertions. You claim that no: man has ever 

 earned an honest million. Please bear in mind, 

 d^ar brother, that George Muller. one of the 

 grandest missionaries the world has ever known, 

 and a home missionary at that, handles money 

 by the millions of tlollars. In fact, the Bank of 

 England has said, if I am not mistaken, that 

 thev would honor a draft with his name to it, 

 for 'a million of dollars. Surely you do not 



