64 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



J AX. 1.5. 



had gone on. it traced me to Seattle, found the 

 liotel where niv name was registered, and at 

 twenty minnti's before midnight the clerk wak- 

 ened me and lianded it in my door. Before the 

 clock had got to VI I wii-ed back, "I am quite 

 well now. Better await letter from me." 



Well, even at that hour of the night the te.le- 

 gi-aph company sent a messenger to receive and 

 send off my answer, without charge. That is, 

 they made no charge for sending a boy at that 

 time of night to get the telegram. Tbi> hotel 

 clerk simply pressed a button, and this notified 

 the office to send a boy to get an important mes- 

 sage. For $!2.(X). or about that sum, my family 

 in Ohio called to me in Seattle. Washington, to 

 know •• how I was." The hotel clerk woke me 

 up. and'l called back to them, nearly 3000 miles. 

 •' I am quite well now." Isn't it worth some- 

 thing to live in a country whei'e such a thing is 

 possible? And is it not true that we have a 

 good many people who acce])t responsibility, 

 and discharge these duties faithfully and well? 

 I am proud of our people, and I feel it a pleas- 

 ure to pay them for their faithful service. 



Probably most of our readers have heard of 

 H. A. March, of Fldalgo. on Puget Sound. 

 Washington. Years ago friend March gave us 

 some valuable facts on how far bees tly. and 

 these facts are embodied in our A B C book. Lat- 

 er friend M. has becoiue famous as almost the 

 onlv man in Aiuerica who grows successfully, 

 on our shores, cauliflower seed. Right near my 

 elbow, while I write, stands a bag of this seed, 

 worth about $1000: and there is more than 

 double this amount in cabbage and cauliflower 

 seed in the house: but I haven't got quite ready 

 vet to tell you about friend March's gardening. 

 While in Salt Lake City I received a letter from 

 friend M.. saying he should feel greatly honor- 

 ed if the President of the U. S. should conclude 

 to pay him a visit, and that he would do his 

 level best to make the visit a pleasant one: but 

 that, could he have his choice, he rather thought 

 he would prefer a visit from A. I. Root. Well, 

 this explains why you find me away up here at 

 Seattle, waiting for the steamer "Wasco" to 

 take me to Fidalgo. I was so weak after my sick- 

 ness that I felt faint when I stepped on board: 

 but something seemed to tell me I was going to 

 find health and strength there. As we pushed 

 out into the waves, which were already running 

 high, I stationed myself near the bow. where I 

 could readily imagine the steamer was a fast 

 horse and I the rider. Reader, if you ever get 

 seasick, try my plan. Look straight ahead, in 

 the direction the steamer is going: brace your- 

 self; lean a little forward, and hold on. I soon 

 began to enjoy it. Sea-gulls were all about us, 

 even flying so close you could look into their 

 eyes. And ducks and geese— oh my ! how thick 

 they are up here I There are so many varieties 

 of both, I feared I should never learn them: and 

 then there is a most handsome water-fowl they 

 call " brant." It is about half way between a 

 duck and a goose. Hunting water-fowls is a 

 trade here: and when the day is suitable, the 

 cracking of the guns is heift-d "almost incessant- 

 ly. Puget Sound is almost alive with ducks and 

 geese, and very often the air is full of them. 

 Sometimes their cackling and singing makes a 

 constant, steady nois(\ When we got out into 

 thi^ open salt water the steamer rolled and tum- 

 bled a good deal: but I rather enjoyed it. W(^ 

 pa-<sed one steamboat that had got into a trough 

 in the waves, and sin; couldn't get out. First 

 her wheel would be clear up in the air, then way 

 down under water. She tried to go back, then 

 ahead, and we left her floundering, with the 

 crew looking out with troubled faces. Soon we 

 made a landing, and then, to get under the shel- 

 ter of an island, our boat started across in th»> 

 trough of tlu' waves. Ohl but LUdn't she roll 



and pitch! The waves went right over her, and 

 did the neatest job of washing and scrubbing off 

 the decksiyou ever saw. Yes, the waters even 

 washed the window where I was looking out. 

 until I couldn't see ahead. It really .'teemed as 

 if the great steamer had taken a sudden notion 

 to dive, head first, clear down to the bottom of 

 the sound: but just befoi'e she got clear under 

 water she would strike something so solid I 

 really thought at first shi' was bumping her 

 head against the bottom. When I suggested as 

 much, don't you believe my fellow -passengers 

 were rude enough to have a big laugh at my 

 simplicity! ''Bumped against the bottom!"' 

 and then they " haw-hawed " again. Well, it 

 seemed just like a big load in a buggy that 

 makes the spi'ings strike together every now and 

 then. Finally some one >aid it was the front 

 part of the boat striking the surface of the 

 water, as she came down upon it. The wind in- 

 creased, and so did my enjoyment, until toward 

 night, when it was so high they tried again and 

 again to tie up at a landing. Somebody said 

 they would have to give it up and go by: but 

 one of the crew said we had got to lonrJ. for they 

 were out of both wood and water. Well, they 

 finally got her tied up: but when she was loaded, 

 the captain said it was not prudent to start out 

 in such a gale and such utter darknes-s. Then I 

 discovered that I had eaten three pretty good 

 meals; and after the clei'k had stowed me away 

 in a nice warm berth. I foi'got about being sick, 

 and went right to sleep. 



About 3 o'clock the whistle blew and we pull- 

 ed loose again. I looked out: and as the moon 

 was shining I dressed and came out to see the 

 rest of the fun. We soon landed at Anacortes, 

 a town of over two thousand inhabitants, 

 where, only ?^> months ago. was an entire wil- 

 derness. This is a fair example of the way they 

 get up booms up here in this northwestern 

 country. About a dozen steamers touch at An- 

 acortes every day. They have already two 

 railroads and an electric-motor railway, eleven 

 miles in length. Of coul•S(^ there has been a 

 wild excitement in selling land and lots for the 

 past year. 



I landed at the wharf, went to a hotel, and, as 

 it was at least two hours until daylight, the 

 landlord built a fire for me in the ladies' parlor. 

 . and at the proper time gave me a nice breakfast, 

 and charged only 35 cts. for all. So you see these 

 new towns that "start up so suddenly do not al- 

 ways charge exorbitant prices. At Seattle I 

 paid 75 cts. for breakfast, and no better, to my 

 notion, than tlie 25-centone. 



I must not forget to mention that, away up 

 here near the north pole, the days are very 

 short. It gets night about 4 o'clock, and it isn't 

 morning much before 8. Business men. many 

 of them, open their stores at about 9 in the 

 morning. The sun pops up a little, away off in 

 the south, duiing the middle of thi^ day, and 

 then pops down again. But in thesummer time, 

 oh what a difference! I)awn then comtnences 

 a little after 3 in the morning, and fiiend March 

 says lie can r(>ad a paper out in his dooryard 

 until almost 10 at night. 



From Anacortes I went 3 miles by rail to Fi- 

 dalgo. and then I had a mile through beautiful 

 woods of pine and fir to the March ranch I have 

 read about and seen for years, only in imagina- 

 tion. Salt water is everywhere, for this whole 

 country is islands, peninsulas, bays, and sounds. 

 The forest- trees are immense, and the perfume 

 of the firs and other evergreens is wonderfully 

 delicious, especially to one who has been sick. 

 I always love to see running water, and here I 

 found enough of it, as it has been raining so 

 much. The shrubbery and und(M'growth are so 

 thick in these woods one can hardly get through 

 unless he follows the wagon-roads. I passed 



