502 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JuiA- 1. 



musical career, issued his first important song. 

 Daisy Deane, the words of which were written 

 by a cousin, a quartermaster of the 19th Regi- 

 ment. After the close of the war, James be- 

 came associated with the music house of Root 

 & Cady, of Chicago, where he filled various 

 positions. Under his brotherly care I was en- 

 couraged to design for sheet-music title-pages 

 and covers of books, which led me more partic- 

 ularly to study composition, ornament, and 

 design, as well as lettering. In 1867 or '68 1 left 

 home to take up that branch of business, and 

 to engrave the same on metal, at first under 

 a Mr. Chandler, then under Woodbury, whose 

 place I afterward filled. It was here that I 

 first met Dr. C. C. Miller, or, as he was best 

 known to us. under the mo7JI de plume of P. 

 Benson, Sr. (which the Sr. stands for Singer). 

 A series of his letters were running in the Song 

 Messenger, and afterward issued in book form. 

 I met him many times there, and also. I think, 

 at a place when^ we all loved to go, the home 

 of Prof. Orlando Blackman, now teacher of 



K. V. MTKIIAV. 



music in the schools of Chicago. It was also 

 the home of Rev. Dr. Hibbard. a minister of the 

 New Jerusalem Church, or, as commonly, but 

 erroneously, called Swedenborgians. Many 

 musical people of note were frequenters at this 

 home, among them our esteemed and lamented 

 P. P. Bliss and wife. Bliss had a good deal of 

 the comic in him, as well as the doctor. Bliss 

 has written several comic songs: but his humor, 

 like the doctor's, requires somi' thinking to see 

 rightly. All true genuine luunor I'equires 

 thought, in a true sense, to look below the sur- 

 face and see what is intended to be taught — not 

 vulgarity, as some imagine humor to consist in. 

 lean remember the expressions of regret tiiat 

 Dr. Geo. F. Root felt that P. Benson could not 

 be retained as a feature of the great music 

 house, and which was shared in by others. 

 While at Chicago the firm were kind enough 



to influence themselves, and I was in due form 

 introduced and admitted to the Chicago Acad- 

 emy of Art and Design, and I was allowed half 

 a day a week to study there, as an extra help 

 from what the evening classes could give me. 

 There I met and came under the infience of 

 artists and teachers such as Dehil, P. F. Reede, 

 Donaldson, Wilson, and others. Then came 

 that great event, and what appeared as a ter- 

 rible evil (which turned out a blessing, as most 

 appearances do), the great fire of Oct. 9. 1871. 

 and blotted out academy, music-house, and a 

 thousand things which entered into my life, 

 and at one time barely escaping with even that: 

 with clothes torn and burnt, witli body bleed- 

 ing, I, with multitudes, made our way to the 

 lake, and in many dangers made our way to 

 places of safety. I was in a dazed and helpless 

 condition. But. let the details of those events 

 pass. Suffice it to say. that at that time I real- 

 ized more than ever that great truth, and the 

 blessed hope that came with it, that "the Lord's 

 providence is exerted for our good every atom 

 of time." 



The mhsic-plates of the sheet-music depart- 

 ment were saved in an underground vault, and 

 were afterward purchased by S. Brainard's 

 Sons, of Cleveland: and thi? circumstance, and 

 my intimate knowledge of the catalogue, etc., 

 brought me to Cleveland (have not seen Chicago 

 since). The music-books went to John Church 

 »*t Co., of Cincinnati, where my brother now is. 

 Afier serving the Brainards about a year I 

 became associated with the business of wood 

 engraving as artist and designer, and have been 

 in that up to date. 



In looking back I can see now what the 

 Chicago fire was all about (that is, so far as 

 regards myself), which was, that I might meet 

 and wed one of God's loving helpmeets, and to 

 give me work to do which I should not other- 

 wise have had. Then there was the church 

 work and Sunday-school, which I am just old 

 enough to attend: then the Medina Roots were, 

 with many others, looking for me, for I had to 

 become attached to a Root of some kind; then 

 you know the Rambler was gradually edging 

 this way, and he had to be "done up," thougli 

 he doesn't stay so. but persists in unraveling 

 himself. R. V. Murray. 



Cleveland, O., June 1. 



[R. V. Murray is the senior member of the 

 firm of Murray & Heiss. the engravers who, we 

 presume, have done three-fourths of all the 

 engraving that has been done for the bee-keep- 

 ers of the United States. When we talk about 

 hives, brood-frames, bee-spaces, queens, drones, 

 and workers, they know just what we mean. 

 For instance, in writing instructions we tell 

 tnem to put the bee-space above the frames or 

 sections, and they know exactly what we 

 mean. Mr. Murray, however, is a bee-keep- 

 er, oi", rather, owns a few colonies in or near 

 tlie city limits of Cleveland. He has had the 

 bee-fever, got over it, and experienced the ex- 

 quisite pain of bee-stings, hived swarms, and 

 lias done every thing, in fact, except secure a 

 big crop of honey. In fact, in a city like Cleve- 

 land it is a hard matter for bees to find very 

 much natural forage, and no doubt Mr. Mur- 

 ray has done well under the circumstances, 

 even to make the bees woi-k for nothing and 

 board themselves. Many a Ijee-keeper counts 

 himself lucky, in these days of bad seasons, if 

 he can do even that. 



From the reading of the notes, one might pos- 

 sibly gather the idea that Mr. Murray knows 

 something about music. Although he gives 

 you no direct liint to that etfect. he is a very 

 fine musician, and is especially skilled in play- 

 ing the guitar.] 



