1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



251 



clined going up into the battlement I have de- 

 scribed, because the masonry has already in 

 several places broken away from the rocky cliff 

 so as to leave considerable, fissures; and many 

 times even my weight made the structure ruck 

 as though it might soon all tumble down into 

 the valley below. 



Our Homes. 



Be not conformed to this world; but he ye trtius- 

 formed by tlie renewing of your mind, that ye may 

 pro\ e wliat is that g-oucl and acceptable and perfect 

 will of God.— Rum. 13:2. ■ -— i 



There are a good many things thai are 

 wrong in this world; and ii puzzles a Christian 

 a good many times lo know jusi what he ought 

 to do under certain circumstances in regard to 

 these matters. Sumeiimes these wrongs that 

 come up before us appear so great that right- 

 eous indignation seems appropriate. As I grow 

 older, however, I tind it an excellent plan, when 

 1 feel like condemning others, and condemning 

 the world, to wait a little and inquire carefully 

 of myself whether I myself may not be more or 

 less to blame for the existing order and condi- 

 tion of things; and such examinations do me 

 good. Sometimes the searching power of the 

 Holy Spirit reveals so much that is bad in my 

 own life I feel almost as David might have felt 

 when Nathan said to him, "Thou art the man." 

 It is an easy matter to recite and relate the 

 iniquities that are going on round about us. 

 It becomes exceedingly easy, in fact, nowadays, 

 to raise our hands in holy indignation (if that 

 is not too strong a term) when we hear of the 

 tremendous salaries that some of our public 

 ofSeials are getting: and I do myself certainly 

 think it is not only too bad but a burning 

 shame that farmers who are getting such very 

 low prices for their produce sbould be taxed 

 just as they have always been in order that 

 county. State, and government officials may 

 have these great salaries and live in such style. 

 It certainly is wrong; but who is to blame for 

 It? 



Now. dear friends, I think it will do us all 

 good. anJ, furthermore, it will help us to rem 

 edy the matter when we bi'gin to search our 

 own hearts, and see if we, at least a great 

 many of us, are not more or less to blame. A 

 few weeks ago there was talk about enlarging 

 and improving our Statehouse at Columbus, 

 to the extent of something like a million of 

 dollars. Our sensible governor, however, ve- 

 toed the measure. I remembered that some 

 one said through the papers, that, in order to 

 make these improvements, they would have to 

 tear ud and destroy a lot of sawed-flagging 

 walks that had only just been put down at an 

 expense of many thousands of dollars. 



Now. dear friends, our beloved State of Ohio 

 is not the only one in the Union that is think- 

 ing about such pieces of extravagance. When 

 T was in the city of Albany, some years ago, at 

 a bee-keepers' convention, my attention' was 

 called to some beautiful and expensive carving 

 in the Statehouse, but it was put in some dark 

 out-of-the-way corners where ilobody could see 

 it. and probably had scarcely been noticed since 

 the work was executed. Those having the 

 matter in charge made an excuse for their ex- 

 travagance by saying they did it to furnish 

 needy people employment. To state it more 

 plainly, the great State of New York taxed her 

 hard-working farmers in order to get money 

 for expensive decoration; and after said decora- 

 tion was done, they admitted that it was of no 



use to anybody, but they did it to furnish some- 

 body work 



It is not only the fashion now, but it has been 

 a fashion for quite a few years back, to make 

 appropriations running away up into the mil- 

 lions, for doing something or other thai is only, 

 when you come right down it, " tomfoolery." 

 I know of no other word that expresses it more 

 briefly. 



When I was in New Orleans friend Winder 

 took me through the great postoffice builaing, 

 which was completed a good many years ago; 

 but there were va^^t rooms, expensively di co- 

 rated, that had never been used at all. They 

 v/ere beautifully lighted, and warmed by steam. 

 In fact, they were too warm for comfort. I do 

 not know exactly whose money paid for mak- 

 ing great massive rooms that nobody needs; 

 but Uncle Samuel had to foot the bill, or is foot- 

 ing it in some shape or other. A good di'al of it 

 seems to be owing to stupidity and bad man- 

 agement. 



Now, I think I had better stop right here 

 before I give many more such illustrations, or 

 our good friends may get the idea that A. I. 

 Root is not a true and loyal patriot. What 

 shall we do about it? Commence a reform at 

 home. Almost every large business establish- 

 ment makes more or less blunders, and throws 

 away more or less money in like tomfoolery. 

 Even when they are hard up, and paying heavy 

 interest, they often do this. I once heard of a 

 railroad engineer who expended thousands of 

 dollars in preparing for laying a track through 

 the hills of Southern Ohio. The company that 

 employed him, however, became so well satis- 

 fied that he lacked in judgment they turned 

 him off and got another engineer. The new 

 man selected a better route, and built the road 

 for less money than his predecessor had used in 

 getting hi" plan half done. This was a fearful 

 example of lack of judgment or lack of fitness 

 for his calling. In our establishment I could 

 take you down into some of th.Minused base- 

 ments, and tind machinery that cost a good 

 many dollars, which was discarded almost 

 before it was ever used at all. I can not well 

 blame anybody just now, for it was A. I. Root 

 himself who decided on making the purchase. 



Years ago I happened to step into the back 

 room of a wholesale jewelry establishment. I 

 saw there a beautiful clockworth a good many 

 dollars, lying in the rubbish-heap. The dec- 

 orated glass front was broken in shipment, and 

 it was tumbled with other like damaged stuff 

 back into the corner, cover.'d with dust and 

 cobwebs. This jeweler failed in businf ss a few 

 years afterward, paying only a small per cent. 



Now, it is not only our governmeni, and it is 

 not only at the capitol of our several States 

 where these things are going on. The great 

 railroad companies are not the only ones who 

 make blunders; neither is it the manufacturers 

 nor the wholesale dealers who alone waste 

 their hard earnings. When I happen to get a 

 chance look into the empty corncribs of some of 

 my farmer friends I find things that have cost 

 a good deal of hard earni-d money out of re- 

 pair, and stoi-ed away out of sight. They are 

 not always " out of sight," however, for some- 

 times nice and beautiful agricultural machinery 

 is left right out in sight, and out in the rain 

 and snow all winter long. You all know more 

 or less about this. And can we blame the gov- 

 ernment of the United States for doing what 

 many of her people do ? Yes, and the very men 

 and women who let high-priced tools stay out 

 in the weather, run in debt for more high-priced 

 things to keep in fashion. 



And now I am getting around to the point of 

 my text, somewhat. I do not mean to say we 



