GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



343 



nine- tenths of those whose oye8 rest upon this 

 printed page (irmly believe that greater riches 

 \voiiK1 make them happier; and I fear that 

 a good niiiny. at li'ast. think that worldly pros 

 perity wonld make them better Christians. In 

 my recent iravels in Arizona I met with people 

 almost continnally who are more or less inter- 

 ested in gold mining. It is the absorbing topic 

 of the day. Several times I questioned bee- 

 keepers, and I found to my surprise that almost 

 every one of them had at different times hud at 

 least a taste of the gold-mining mania. Now, 

 there are devoted Christians in Arizona; in 

 fact, there are some of the most beautiful self- 

 sacriticing Christian characters away out on 

 the deserts that I ever met in my life. Some of 

 them were interested in gold-mining. Ves, I 

 know some good and faithful souls who have 

 prayed that God wonld bless their efforts in lo- 

 cating a paying mine, or in so managing a 

 mine already started that the expense would 

 not exceed the value of the product. You may 

 perhaps he aware that I was then, and am now, 

 rather prejudiced against the gold-raining 

 business. I was several times assured that 

 it might be, and in fact should be, .just as hon- 

 orable as growing crops, selling goods, or any 

 thing else. I replied that it had bid associations 

 connected with it, Christian people usually 

 ob.iect to card playing because cards are the 

 gambler's tools, and most people would prefer 

 to have them out of sight if they thought the 

 minister was likely to come. VVell. in a like 

 manner it seems to me that those who are af- 

 fected with the craze for mining gold would 

 hesitate a little to talk about it among Chris- 

 tian p'^oplc. Now, please do not misunderstand 

 me. Most of the men engaged in the mining 

 business are a hard hearted and ungodly class. 

 Let me illustrate: 



One evening, when we were discussing the 

 matter. I said something like this: 



" Dear friends, when a man makes a lucky 

 hit. and find'^ a good-sized nugget of eold, does 

 he not usually thank (}nd for this gift that has 

 for ages been stored away for him. hidden in 

 the earth, as it were?" 



My friends looked at one another and smiled; 

 and they finally admitted, each and all. that 

 they never heard of a case of thanking God be- 

 causp one had made a lucky find. 



"But when the proprietors of these mines 

 'strike it rich.' as they say, do they not. at 

 least .soTTiefimes. give thanks to God that they 

 are enabled to set a large party of men at work, 

 paving them promptly every Saturday night, 

 putting in nice and expensive machinery, etc.?" 



Aeain my friends shook their heaf^s, and 

 smiled. Nohodv had ever heard of any thing of 

 the sort* In the first place, all the successful 

 mines, so far as I know or could learn about, 

 are worked not only nights, but Sundavs also. 

 Several times this course was defended, and 

 some of the friends assured me that, if I were 

 right in the business. I would do as the rest do. 



"Why. look here. Mr. Root. Where they 

 have tried paying their men everv Saturday 

 night, and letting th m have their Sundays 

 without work, they all get on a hie drunk. 

 Sometimes there is abis' fight along with it. and 

 so the men entirely unfit themselves for busi- 

 ness on Monday morning. The miners are 



*One of the men s!iid he had heard that, the own- 

 er of onf of the richest minos in .Arizona was in 

 the ha>)lt of fiper^ff\Tie ii million xf duUnifi a year at 

 >fonte Carlo, that celdiratfd rampin(f-e' onrd where 

 all the p'eat p-amblprs of the wf)rld ;irp wont to 

 meet: and our proof-reader informs mo that a writ- 

 er at that placp sa.vs the numhpr of suicirtes there 

 laot year was 800, which is about a fair yearly aver- 

 age. 



mostly of a class that can be kept from drink- 

 ing and fighting only by keeping ihem busy. 

 I f they get drunk, and can not be on hand when 

 the whistle blows, they lose their. jobs; and this 

 is the only thing that will keep them sober " 



•" But." said 1, ••have not the owmrs of the 

 mines tried Sunday schools and churches?" 



•'Not so far as we know. They have excel- 

 lent reading-rooms. You yourself have seen 

 some of them. They have tine schools and ex- 

 pensive teachers: but the propri»-tors of the 

 mines do not seem to recognize the importance 

 or need of churches."* 



The miners are not, as a rule, paid every Sat- 

 urday night, as we pay our helpers. I believe 

 they are paid about once a month or at longer 

 periods. One reason why they make their pay- 

 days as far apart as possible is because, when 

 the men set their money, the bosses are abso- 

 lutely obliged to give them a day or two to get 

 over the effects of payday. Well, it is not only 

 gambli rs who keep track of these paydays, and 

 are promptly on hand around the mines a^ such 

 times, but I am told that lost women come 

 from distant cities, even as far oft' as Los Ange- 

 les, that they may, while the poor miners are 

 undtr the influence of drink, contest for their 

 share of the spoils insteal of letting the gam- 

 blers get all of it. Fights are common, and but 

 few arrests are made. If a man is on hand 

 when his time comes to go to work, that 

 is about all that is required of him. Atone 

 place where I visited, a drunken man fell into 

 an abandoned shaft. Some of the men were 

 talking about it. and when I asked if any 

 attempt had been made to recover his body, the 

 reply came: 



"To be sure, not. What do we want of his 

 bodyf He was given to drink so badly that he 

 was no good before, and we cm not bury him 

 any cheaper than where he is now. Why 

 should we bother about him?" 



If I am correct, the matter was dropped then 

 and there. Ihire was not a coroner within 

 forty miles or more, and nobody thought it 

 worth while to "bother" about it. Now to our 

 text: 



I told you I knew good devoted Christian men 

 who were praying that God would bless their 

 efforts to locate a profitable gold mine. If God 

 should hear that prayer, would it increase the 

 faith of the one who prays? and would he be 

 likely to make a good use of the money that 

 comes? I am afraid, dear friends, that past ex- 

 perience shows that money does not make bet- 

 ter Christians. I mpuLioned not long ago that 

 our good pa<tor said he had never known a man 

 brought to Christ or nearer Christ by prnsper- 

 itv. but many and many a one by adversity and 

 affliction. 



»0n pajre 130. Feb. 15. I spoke of the Rev. Mr. 

 Healy. and his afipointments for preaching in vari- 

 ous place'* One of these nla^es is in Jprome. 

 There is a BapiM ihurrli tliere. as I have explxined, 

 tiut it is at prest'iit without a mini.sier. Mr Healy 

 gets around once in two woekp. if I am correct, and 

 T)reaches in the evening. I spoke of the fact that 

 his people find it difficult to raise even a small por- 

 tion of his salary. Well, if I mistake not lie said 

 the church at .lerome in tin; vicinit.y of that great 

 mine, witli itsuntokl millions, finds more difficulty 

 In raising the small sum of money they pay him 

 than even the country places away out in tlie and 

 plains. Now, may be 1 have not got the facts in the 

 case e.vactly riglit ; but T tliink I am not far out 

 of the way. And this little incident, it seems to me, 

 points out to us all a tremendous moral. It is not 

 because of lack of money that cmr missionaries are 

 going without their pay, end our teachers in foreign 

 lands are being called home by the scores. It cer- 

 tainly is not t)ecause of the hard titncs so much Jis it 

 is because of the hardnei's of people')! hearts. There 

 is money enough to build railroads clear around 



