29'2 



GLEANINGS iN BEE CULTURE. 



Al'KII, i"). 



nuisfc have been in a huri-y t(t get a dozen: be- 

 sides, the glass was not a very large one. and 

 probably it "slopped over"' a little in filling it 

 up. No matter: I did drink jnst all I wanted 

 of lemonade and sprinjg water all that after- 

 noon, and rejoiced to fei^l that I was a well 

 man, especially in this one respect. The en- 

 thusiasm and almost constant perspiration 

 probably had much to do with it. You know I 

 have had much to say about doctoring without 

 medicine. Well, here is another weakening 

 and distressing malady cured without any med- 

 icine at all, unless we call (iod's pui'e air, sun- 

 shine, spring water, and mountain scenery 

 " medicines." 



I was quite curious about the irilgating ma- 

 chinery, and the old engineer seemed quite glad 

 and willing to tell us all about it. A great iron 

 pipe, I should think six inches in diameter, for 

 it looked like a small stovepipe, ran along the 

 sides of the canyon and up the mountain until 

 it reached the spring, KiO feet higher up. This 

 gave an immense pi'essure. you will notice. 

 Now. this great pressure was utilized in work- 

 ing a sort of injector, using water under pres- 

 sure instead of steam, of course. Well, this 

 force was made to I'aise water from anothei' 

 spring oi' springs lower down in the canyon: 

 that is, this force raised water without any 

 pressure, so as to deliver it into the irrigating 

 canal that supplies the city. The engineer 

 receives a certain salary to remain at his post 

 and look after the waterworks, if T understand 

 it. he was to work at something else or not, just 

 as he chooses. Well, he is a man after my own 

 heart, in that he does not like to be idle; so. 

 just for the fun of it he made a tunnel into the 

 side of the mountain, working at it during his 

 leisure hours. The cut on p. 291 shows some of 

 his work. There was originally a crack or fis- 

 sure in the rock. With a pick and shovel he 

 made the opening larger, so that one could go 

 in and out without trouble, standing up. I 

 snapped the Kodak on it, and friend Stevenson 

 stood by the side of the opening so as to give 

 one an idea of the size of things. There is a 

 little stream of water that comes out under the 

 plank that runs in at the entrance. After our 

 friend got a little way into the rock he found 

 it so much softer thathe could dig it with com- 

 parative ease, and with a narrow wheelbarrow 

 he ran out the debris and made a very pretty 

 walk along by the side of the stream of water. 

 He had run his cave in about 100 feet, and he 

 was quite anxious that the whole party should 

 go in to see his work. We were already warm 

 and perspiring from our exercise in climbing: 

 and when we found that this cave grew warm- 

 er and warmer, until at the extreme end it was 

 almost like an oven, the party began to protest 

 — especially the women- folks, and we hustled 

 back for the open air faster than we went in. 

 The tin cup at the entrance looked so inviting 

 that we passed it eagerly from one to the other 

 to get a drink of these wonderful waters. Of 

 course, a "tenderfoot"' would expect to get rool 

 water as it issued from the rocky mountain-side; 

 but the water from this particular tunnel was 

 of about the temperature of common dish- 

 water. Of course, no one said any thing, but 

 passed the cup along for each one to drink. 

 Springs of water are like mines of gold, in Cali- 

 fornia; and ourold friend wasquite enthusiastic 

 in telling us how to locate springs. He says if 

 , you can find a fissure in the rock, or if it is only 

 a crack or crevice, if you follow the fissure into 

 the mountain or hill until you strike the bottom 

 of it you will surely find a stream of water. He 

 says he never knew it to fail. 



There is one thing about our trip up Eaton 

 Canyon I thought I wouldn't tell of; but as 

 there is a moral to it. perhaps I had better. 



after all. Up the rough and stony mountain 

 stream, over perhaps a mile of hard climbing, 

 there is a beautiful fall. After we got there the 

 boys spent quite a little time in fixing the stones 

 so that they could stand near the fall while I 

 took a Kodak view. When all was ready I 

 snapped the machine, telling them that 1 had 

 got a nice view, and then we trudged l)ack 

 again. When almost back to the carriage I 

 discovered that I had omitted to remove the 

 plug that covers the lens of the Kodak. In a 

 letter just received from friend Stevenson, he 

 adds the following in regard to it: 



Friitid f^)(l^•— Don't forg-et to give in Gleanincs^ 

 the picture you took of the falls in Eaton Canyon. 



Pasadena. Cat. , Marcli 2.5. W. Stevenson. 



Not only are the streets and buildings of Lo.s- 

 Angeles superior, but the parks that grace 

 many parts of the city, and the beautiful door- 

 yards and gardens, present a spectacle with 

 their semi-tropic vegetation that is almost over- 

 powering to one unused to such a scene. Our 

 first morning in the city was after what might 

 be called a summer shower: and Mrs. Root's en- 

 thusiasm at the sight of what constantly met 

 our view in some portions of the city was almost 

 too great for words. Adjoining this we give 

 you one sketch as an illustration. The palms 

 and palmettos will be recognized by all of our 

 readers, from having seen them in greenhouses 

 and at expositions. The tall treelike object in 

 the center of the picture is the dried blossom- 

 stem of the century-plant. These run up twenty 

 or thirty feet in only a few weeks" time. The 

 great quantity of vegetable matter accumulated 

 in the leaves during years of growth seems to 

 expend itself suddenly in the one last effort to 

 produce blossoms and seeds. The plant itself 

 seems to be something on the plan of the modern 

 storage battery, only that it accumulates for 

 years j ust for tlie one grand fl nale of a few weeks. 

 i was told several times that the century-plant 

 bears considerable quantities of honey: but I 

 don't think it will be worth while just yet to 

 advertise the seeds for sale as one of our honcy- 

 plants. The i)lant dies after this wonderful 

 effort to blossom and make the seed. 



Jan. 23d we bade adieu to the beautiful city 

 of Los Angeles. It certainly is at the present 

 time the cleanest and prettiest city I have ever 

 set foot in. The streets are broad and regular, 

 and the buildings are fine. Every night, after 

 traffic has ceased, a number of great carpet- 

 sweepers ("carpet-sweepers" drawn by horses> 

 go over the whole of the paved streets and 

 sweep them almost as clean as the floor of a 

 room. Then immense sprinklers lay the dust, 

 what there is left, so you can cross anywhere 

 without soiling the niost delicate shoe. The 

 various shopkeepers, as a rule, sweep the walks 

 in front of their stores so as to have them in 

 keeping : and, altogether, one is tempted to 

 think it some fairy land where "shines un- 

 dimmed one blissful day."" The people are also 

 nice and accommodating, and there is also a 

 very strong Christian element pervading all 

 classes. Some of you may think I am hum- 

 bugged by glitter and outside show. I am well 

 aware: but. dear friends, I know there is at 

 least much that is genuine. 1 presume likely I 

 am of late leaning a good deal toward that lit- 

 tle virtue that "' thinketh no evil;"' but I believe 

 it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit I 

 have been praying for that helps me to .see 

 and to find goodness and purity everywhere. 



After reading the above to Mrs. Root she 

 says it is all right except the great amount of 

 tobacco-juice spattered on those beautiful clean 

 pavements in Los Angeles very soon after they 

 are so nicely swept. I hope her suggestion may 

 be copied in some of the Los Angeles papers, and 



