236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



ApRn. 1. 



health commissioners of New York city last 

 season in condemning grapes. They did see a 

 little poison on the sterns of the grapes, very 

 likely: but in order to do any harm, a man 

 would need to eatr/fo» of (ir a pes at a meal, 

 stems and all: and even then it is doubtful 

 whether the quantity of poison he received 

 would prove fatal. The honey at Trebizond. 

 Turkey, is "always poisonous," is it? Perhaps 

 we can find out something more about that. If 

 there is anybody who reads Gleanings who 

 has ever been near that locality, I would 

 kindly ask him to give the address of some 

 proper pei-son. and have the matter investigat- 

 ed. Such a newspaper statement would be 

 damaging to the "real-estate prospects" of 

 that locality. We would respectfully call the 

 attention of the Sublime Porte of Turkey to the 

 above slanderous statements in regard to his 

 dominion. Another thing, does the honey-bee 

 always put formic acid in the honey? Prof. 

 Cook, will you please stand up and tell us about 

 these things that come within your domain? 

 Some writer in some of the journals, if I am 

 correct, once suggested that the operation of 

 extracting honey stirs the bees up to such an 

 extent that they inject beesting poison into 

 the honey, and this is vvhy extracted honey is 

 more likely to make people sick than comb 

 honey. The writer was probably working for 

 comb honey, and felt anxious that the great 

 public should give comb honey the preference — 

 i. e.. pay a bigger price for it. Then, again, 

 " The person who eats rank honey will be tak- 

 en sick." This is another of the positive asser- 

 tions: and yet we have readers of Gleanings 

 who eat raw honey about as friend Terry and I 

 eat strawberries, and it does not make them 

 sick " worth a cent." The rest of the sentence 

 would indicate that, whenever any of you 

 break out with a rash, all you have to do is to 

 think back when you last ate some honey. Dr. 

 Kellogg, you are a whole team when you go for 

 tobacco, cigarettes. Dr. Wilford Hall, etc., but 

 when you are writing about honey, please recog- 

 nize that it is 7(0t a terrible curse to humanity 

 that needs stamping out by such vigorous state- 

 ments.] A. I. R. 



RAMBLE NO. 56. 



IN SAN FKANCISCO. 



After a few hours' ride from Napa City we 

 arrive at Vallejo(VaUeo)on the San Pablo Bay. 

 A little to the east is Benicia, where a United 

 States arsenal and soldiers' barracks are locat- 

 ed, and where, also, will be found one of those 

 immense ferryboats that will take a whole 

 train of cars. Just across the bay we come to 

 Port Costa, where we find immense warehouses 

 stored with wheat, ready for shipment. San 

 Pablo Bay is but a continuation of the bay of 

 San Francisco, and we now follow the shores of 

 the bays for 20 miles, and soon arrive in the 

 city of Oakland. Although Oakland is noted 

 as being called the Brooklyn of San Francisco, 

 it is a thoroughgoing business placed and has 

 the motley and lively makeup seen in all 

 westei'n towns. It was here I saw, the first 

 time after many months, faces that were famil- 

 iar for many years in my native town. A young 

 doctor had located here only a few months pre- 

 viously, and. among otlu^r household goods. 

 had brought along his father-in-law and moth- 

 er-in-law. and we all had a sort of jubilee. 

 After answering innumerable questions about 

 home affairs we quieted down for the night. 

 The next day I was off for San Francisco. 



It is about five miles across the bay, and the 

 railroad piers run out some distance into the 



bay. The immense ferryboats are loaded everj 

 morning and evening with from one to two 

 thousand people going from their homes in one 

 to their business in the other. Oakland being a 

 more desirable place of residence than San 

 Francisco. 



At the ferry way I met an old-time friend who 

 had followed the high seas for many years in 

 the United States navy, and had finally got 

 settled down to punching ferry-tickets. 1 pre- 

 sented ray ticket, but held on to prevent the 

 punching. He looked at me witli an angry 

 frown, and was about to utter hot words of 

 rebuke. Said I, '" George, do you know me?" 

 and. though 2(i years had elapsed since we had 

 met. he knew me. and so arranged his ticket 

 business that he spent a day showing me San 

 Francisco. 



The narrow point of land ui)on which San 

 Francisco is located, as shown upon the map. is 

 fully ten miles in width: and if Rome was built 

 upon seven hills, this city is built upon seven 

 times seven. The surface is very uneven, and 

 in some portions back of the city it rises to the 

 dignity of mountains. The chief means of lo- 

 comotion is by cable railroad, and it seems that 

 any other railroad would be a failure here on 

 account of the very steep gradients to overcome. 



San Francisco has probably the most hetero- 

 genous population of any city on this continent. 

 It has its Italian. Portuguese, Chinese, and other 

 quarters of distinctive nationalities. The most 

 noticeable is the Chinese, for they bring and 

 retain all of their national characteristics and 

 dress. The senior editor of Gi,?:anings remark- 

 ed about seeing his first Chinese woman in 

 Portland, and noticed her head, but did not 

 seem to notice her feet. The Chinese women 

 that come to this country are not of the class 

 that have those very small feet, but they wear 

 the regular Chinese shoe, and it is a mystery 

 how they stand on them. Nearly all Chinese 

 wear the wooden-soled shoe: but the woman's 

 shoe differs in being raoi'e rounding on the bot- 

 tom. As they waddle along, the sole of the 

 shoe looks like a rocker, and you expect to see 

 the wearer pitch one way or the other. I sup- 

 pose the shoe was invented by Confucius, and 

 the people have had a long time in which to 

 learn its peculiarities. 



The prettiest sight, and one that always 

 draws attention, is the little Chinaman of four 

 or five summers. He is usually decked out in 

 bright green and yellow, or other hues, with 

 decorated shoes, and is evidently proud of his 

 fantastic appearance. 



The fogs roll up over San Francisco nearlj 

 every morning, but they do not get across the 

 bay to Oakland. The nights are cool, and a 

 great portion of the year it is desirable to live 

 on the sunny side of the house. There are, 

 consequently, but few shade-trees on the streets 

 of this city. Tiie visitor will scarcely fail to 

 notice the healthy and robust appearance of 

 the women of this city, and even their faces 

 of good rosy color and beauty. 



A point of never-failing interest is to visit the 

 Cliff House and the Seal Rocks. We run out 

 by rail past the historical (Tolden Gate, and the 

 grand Pacific Ocean is before us. We had 

 viewed the old Atlantic from many points, and 

 it was with a feeling of satisfaction that we 

 were permitted to look out from this far side of 

 the continent upon the Pacific, and see the 

 breakers roll in upon the sandy beach. 



The Seal Rocks are .so named from the num- 

 ber of seals, or sea-lions, that congregate there. 

 They bellow and quarrel as the waves dash 

 over them, and one very large one. named Gen. 

 Butler, seems to rule the roost. Sutro Heights 

 and Sutro Park are open to the public, and it 

 is truly a beautiful place. The Golden Gate 



