568 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



half-heartedness ; but how aboiit letting these 

 thievish rascals in human fonn prey upon us ? 



A young lady, who is almost our next-door 

 neighbor, heard of Oxydonor, and was actually 

 considering investing |25 of their hard earn- 

 ings. Are the editors of our religious papers 

 excusable for receiving advertisements of 

 things they knozo and admit to be frauds and 

 humbugs? Dr. O. W". Holmes said, some years 

 ago, ' ' Quackery hobbles along on two crutch- 

 es. The one is the superstition of women, and 

 the other is the indorsements of clergymen." 

 Instead of clergN-men he should say the editors 

 of religious papers, to better fit the present 

 time. You know, friends, how I have labored 

 in this matter ; but if I should take this Offi- 

 cial Gazette, and read this whole thing to the 

 editors of some of our religious papers, they 

 would coolly inforin me (in substance) that it 

 was no business of theirs so long as they got 

 />^i' for the advertisement ! Let me digress a 

 little. 



A few days ago my sister, Mrs. E. J. Gray, 

 a prominent worker and officer in the \V. C. T. 

 U., while attending a temperance meeting at 

 Lakeside changed cars at Elyria and went in 

 to purchase a ticket. A dull, stupid, country- 

 looking chap stood in her way while she was 

 purchasing her ticket. When she attempted 

 to go out of the door this same chap stood in 

 the doorway, evidently not having sense 

 enough to go either out or in. She then no- 

 ticed stupid-looking, awkward coinitry chap 

 No. 2, and they were around pretty near each 

 other. When she attempted to board the 

 train, these two ever-present " greenies " were 

 in the wa}' again, and she began to lose 

 patience at their stupidity. The leader did 

 not really seem to know enough to get out of 

 the wa}' ; but she finally managed to get past 

 them, but in doing so they gave her quite a 

 push. She passed on, feeling vexed to think 

 that anybody could be so dull as to be a con- 

 tinual stumblingblock in the way of busy peo- 

 ple. Pretty soon she noticed her handker- 

 chief half way out of her pocket, and then 

 she found her pocketbook was missing. Then 

 the whole thing revealed itself all of a sudden. 

 This fellow was a pickpocket, and No. 2 was 

 his " pal." She remembered the latter stand- 

 ing near, and almost remembered something 

 passing between them when she jostled against 

 No. 1. He stood by the ticket-office window 

 to see where she kept her pocketbook ; then 

 he tried to get it while she pvished past him 

 when going out of the door ; but when he got 

 in her way the third time, as she was get- 

 ting on the train, he succeeded, and passed 

 the punse to his pal, so that, even if she had 

 had him arrested, she could do nothing. The 

 ticket-agent infonned her afterward that as 

 many as three pocketbooks were found on the 

 sidewalk that morning. These fellows quickly 

 emptied out the money, dropped the pocket- 

 book so to escape identification, and then 

 stood around watching for more "game." 



Permit me to say, before dropping the sub- 

 ject of pickpockets, that we should get rid of 

 this pest of society and civilization just ex- 

 actly as we get rid of rats and mice ; and, 

 furthermore, it is a disgrace in the locality to 



have such fellows prowling and succeeding in 

 their work, just as it is a disgrace to have rats 

 and mice in and around your premises. Wake 

 up, and declare with manly energy that these 

 things shall not be ; then stick right to it till 

 you get them trapped and the nuisance is 

 abated. 



Now for the bearing of the pickpocket stor}- 

 on the case before us. These two fellows, 

 with their countr\-fied air and cheap ready- 

 made clothing, were rascals. They ought to 

 be, and the good of society demand that they 

 shall be, speedily locked iip, and then convert- 

 ed from the error of their ways. Their calling 

 is a disgraceful one ; and the matter is so self- 

 evident that you look up in surprise when I 

 say picking pockets is a " disgraceful occupa- 

 tion." But, my friends, these two chaps who 

 aped stupidity are gcntlevien beside the Oxy- 

 donor and Electropoise people. They do not 

 ape Christianity — at least, I never heard of a 

 pickpocket so doing ; neither do they rob sick 

 people — certainly not as a rule. They get 

 their monej- from people who are able to go 

 about and do business ; and I shouldn't won- 

 der a bit if they would actually blush with 

 shame to be caught charging f25 or even $10 

 for a humbug scientific apparatus advertised 

 in religious papers, and boomed by ministers 

 of the gospel who lack even the rudiments of 

 a knowledge of electricity or chemistry. 



Do you ask how we shall abate the nuisance 

 of pickpockets? Well, in the first place have 

 your money stowed away in some place where 

 a pickpocket can not readily get at it unless, 

 indeed, he should knock you down. Then 

 when you go into crowds or places where such 

 fellows frequent, avoid showing money or 

 your pocketbook. I have done quite a little 

 traveling, as you may know, and I always 

 make it a point to have the money for \\\\ tick- 

 et in my fingers, or in some convenient pocket, 

 before I reach the ticket-office or get into the 

 crowd. Never take out a roll of bills if you 

 can help it, where people are standing around, 

 especially among strangers. W'ith a very lit- 

 tle care }-ou can manage to pay all your bills 

 without having a sum of money in sight, or 

 where a pickpocket can get at it. Especially, 

 avoid anybody who seems to be awkward or 

 always in the way. This is an old game. And, 

 by the way, if people generally would take a 

 little pains to avoid standing still in doorways 

 or busy thoroughfares, or in crowded church- 

 aisles, it would be a great help all round. I 

 frequently come pretty near losing all the ef- 

 fect of an excellent sermon because somebody 

 stands in the church-door, and goes neither in 

 nor ovit, keeping a whole string, myself among 

 them, waiting when I am in a great hurry. 

 Perhaps I too am guilty sometimes of getting 

 in the way of busy people ; but I have made 

 man}' big resolutions to try and not do it 

 thoughtlessly again. I am under the impres- 

 sion that a cvoman's pocket is not the place to 

 put money. I do not believe, either, it is just 

 the thing for her to carry her money in her 

 hands — at least, not very much money. I was 

 just going to tell you where I carry my money 

 in traveling ; but it might be a bad plan to 

 give away my secret. In the first place, I do 



