1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



897 



During the past two weeks I have been over 

 their road several times. 1 have talked with 

 the otheers about their contemplated improve- 

 ments, and they have told me, too. of their ci'amp- 

 ed financial condition. I have become acquainted 

 with iheir bosses, and with the men who shovel 

 the dirt. I know how many locomotives they 

 have on their whole line. In fact, I have 

 learned to feel so anxious for their success that 

 I feel a pleasure every time a loaded tiain pass- 

 es our place. I like to get a pleasant smile 

 from the engineer and from the fireman; and I 

 really believe I love the sight of the locomo- 

 tives, even if they do shriek in the dead of 

 night, and send smoke and grimy soot in the 

 •direction of our house when the wind is that 

 way. Oh I you do not know how much happier 

 we are when we become acquainted with men 

 and things, and through this acquaintance learn 

 to understand them and finally to love them. 



Some of you who have heard the talk within the 

 last few years in regard to the hated middle- 

 men may think it a little funny oi' odd that I 

 should see in these same obnoxious middlemen 

 God"s messengers to bring about his promises. 

 But, dear friends, is it not true that the middle- 

 men are the ones who usually do the work of 

 saving people from starvation? I saw a little 

 ■clipping in a paper, that haunts me. In speak- 

 ing of the suffering in Russia, it mentioned a 

 poor widow who went on foot to a neighboring 

 town to see if it wei-e not possible to find food to 

 save her little ones from starving. But. alas! 

 when she returned they were all dead, having, 

 in their fierce hunger, filled their little stom- 

 achs with rags and dirti Oh what a sight, 

 and what a thought! My friend, imagine your 

 children — your little helpless ones — being driv- 

 en to such a pass as this, and you powerless to 

 aid them I I would this minute rather be a 

 messenger, or middleman, if you choose, to car- 

 ry food to such sufifei'ing ones, than to have the 

 most exalted position on earth; and I feel guilty, 

 almost every hour, when I see the gi'eat waste 

 that goes on here in this God-fearing land of 

 ours. A few days ago I was urged to buy pota- 

 toes by the carload at 18 cents a bushel; and 

 yet with this vei'y fact I'ight before our eyes, 

 children are starving, and filling their little 

 stomachs with i-ags and dii't, in the frenzy 

 caused by hunger. " Lord, helpl" wells up. 

 and yet I fear I am not doing what I can to 

 bring about an answer to my prayer. 



You all know that I do not know very much 

 about politics; but of late I have been trying to 

 know more about the different political parties, 

 and, in short, to become acquainted with them; 

 and I believe I can say just now that I love 

 them all. Yes. I love them especially on this 

 election afternoon. I do not know how the 

 election will turn out, and, in fact. 1 do not 

 feel nearly as much anxiety as some do. My 

 greatest anxiety is. that all of us may be abid- 

 ing in Christ Jesus, and his woi'ds abiding in 

 us. Therein one kind of infidelity and unbe- 

 lief, however, that I have seen manifesting it- 

 self through one or two of the great political 

 parties. This infidelity comes in line with the 

 expression that " farming does not pay." The 

 people who quote this seem to have lost faith, 

 not only in farming, but in the affairs of our 

 nation. They have lost faith in our finances; 

 and some of the speakers have even said we 

 have the worst and most dishonest state of 

 finances on the face of the earth. Now, are 

 you much surprised when I tell you that some 

 of these same people are in debt,' and blame our 

 government and our finances because they do 

 not get out of debt? At least two individuals 

 have said, to my knowledge, that they knew 

 they were deeply in debt, and did not expect to 

 •ever get out of debt, intimating, at the same 



time, that there is no use of trying to get out 

 with such a condition of affairs in the govern- 

 ment as we have in the United .States. They 

 not only said they had lost hope, but intimated, 

 if they did not say so outi'ight, that they were 

 not going to try any more. Oh what a state of 

 heart for any one to be in I Suppose somebody 

 owed you a hundred dollars, and when you 

 talked to him about it he should say that he 

 could not pay it then, and that he had given up 

 all hope of his ever being able to pay it at all. 

 Then if he should add that he was not going to 

 try any more to pay it, what would you think 

 of him ? Or suppose he should, by his actions 

 as well as by his words, put it like this: '"I 

 know you loaned me a hundred dollars when I 

 was needy, and that you loaned it with full 

 faith and belief that I would work hard to pay 

 it back again. It was a great accommodation 

 to me at the time, and I fully expected to pay it. 

 But I have become discouraged, and have giv- 

 en up trying. I know it is not a very comforta- 

 ble feeling to think that I have taken your 

 hard earnings and can not pay you back; but 

 it is no woi'se than hundreds of others are do- 

 ing who have their homes and fai'ms mortgag- 

 ed, and we must all give up, and all go down 

 together. The crash has got to come sooner or 

 later, and for my part I do not care very much 

 how soon it does come." 



Dear friends. I have never yet heard any per- 

 son give utterance to any thing quite as bad 

 and hopeless and sad as the above; but I have 

 heard different persons make speeches that al- 

 together amounted to it. It comes from losing 

 faith in your fellow-men, from losing faith in 

 your country, from losing faith in yourself; and 

 finally from losing faith in God and in his 

 promises through the Bible. Just think for a 

 moment how fai'. how very far away, a person's 

 attitude of heart is who gives way to such 

 thoughts as I have expressed, from the brief 

 little promise in our text! " If ye abide in me, 

 and my words abide in you. ye shall ask what 

 ye will, and it shall be done unto you." The 

 Bible text is Iji'ight and joyous wi:.h hope; the 

 other has the sadness of despair and ruin and 

 death. 



High-pressure Gardening. 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



A TRIP THKOUGII .MICHIC4AN; GRAND RAPIDS 

 I.ETTUCK, ETC. 



Business matters and other things took me 

 on a week's trip through Michigan; and I want 

 to tell you some of the things I saw and found 

 out. In the first place. I wish to emphasize 

 again what I have spoken of so many times 

 before — the importance of being sociable and of 

 getting acqiuiinted while traveling. Of course, 

 I do not mean by this that we shall bore every- 

 body indiscriminately whom we come near. 

 Many traveling jjeople have, with good reason, 

 learned to really feel a disgust for the individ- 

 ual who is constantly talking to everybody, 

 and intruding his private affairs, without hav- 

 ing di.seri mi nation enough to know who wants 

 to talk and who does not. Taking it for grant- 

 ed, however, that you are at least reasonably 

 well informed in regaid to men and things, I 

 most earnestly urge the importance of being 

 cheerful, and taking an interest in things gen- 

 erally, being ready to lend a iielping hand, and 

 that you listen to what is going on. As an il- 

 lustration: Almost at the very outset I discov- 

 ered that I wished to get off' at a certain station 

 near my destination, as it would save me con- 

 siderable delay and travel. Now, I did not 



