1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



187 



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NOISES OrWItAVtL 



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J^ef). 12. — The fog, mentioned in my last, 

 delayed the starting of the steamer, and also 

 cut off the view when it did start, so that I 

 got only a glimpse of the top of the Goddess 

 of Liberty, that colossal statue from Bartholdi, 

 and I also missed the sights all the way out of 

 New York harbor. Mrs. Root has objected to 

 the location of our home because we are so 

 near two railways that the whistling keeps her 

 awake nights. I wonder what she would 

 think if she could hear the chorus of whistles, 

 fog-horns, and bells from the craft of all sorts 

 that were swamped in that fog. It was a per- 

 fect Babel, or bedlam of unearthly noises and 

 shrieks While we skewed our eyes in the 

 direction the strange sounds seemed to come 

 from, the mist would occasionally lift a little, 

 and a dim phantom of something that might 

 be another steamer loomed up right in our 

 track. It was like jostling through the crowd 

 on Broadway, only it was great boats and 

 ships that jostled instead of people. Thus we 

 worked along until opposite Coney Island, 

 then the pilot said he viust see the landmarks 

 or the boat would run out of the channel and 

 get stuck in the mud. There was nothing to 

 do but to stand still and wait for the fog to 

 lift. Toward night we got out around Sandy 

 Hook, and for the first time in my life I was on 

 the great ocean, out of sight of land. 



One after another began to get !^easick; but 

 I was all right until after dark, and even then 

 I stayed out in the air as most advised, until, 

 chilled and dizzy, I sought my berth. Sleep, 

 in much mercy, came soon, and at dawn I was 

 rejoicing, and up and dressed lo see the sun 

 rise out of the water. My rejoicing didn't 

 last long ; neither was I happy when the sun 

 rose. I talked with other sufferers, and we 

 tried all sorts of plans. When it seemed as if 

 I could not stand the anguish, I wiped my 

 weeping eyes (and mouth), and my little 

 prayer, "Lord, help," burst forth almost of 

 itself. I remember feeling my utter helpless- 

 ness as well as my insignificance as a mere 

 speck in that wide watery expanse of sea and 

 sky. I tried to be brave, and to bear it as 

 thousands of others have had to bear it; but I 

 was completely vanquished, and wept like a 

 little child amid the war of the elements. 

 Then I remembered, and clung to it as a ray 

 of hope, " Even the very hairs of your head 

 are all numbered," and the cheering words 

 that follow. Something suggested that I go 

 back to my berth. I crawled in as best I 

 could, and, after lying still a moment, memory 

 or something else brought vividly to mind 

 the words, " Be still, and know that I am 

 God." Most gladly did I heed the voice, and 

 very soon my suffering gave place to joy and 

 praise to God. I soon made a discovery. So 

 long as I kept my head down as low as the 

 rest of my body, and kept perfectly still, I was 

 in comparative peace. Dear reader, I kept 

 right there all that day and nearly all of the 



next ; and instead of being miserable I was 

 quite happy. I felt a kind of trust and peace 

 I had not known before. A disjointed frag- 

 ment or two fragments of a hymn expressed 

 better than any thing else what I felt : 



My Savior comes and walks with me, 



And sweet comnuinion here have we; 



He gently leads me hy the hand; 



And all my night has passed away. 

 The last line didn't rhyme, it is true; but the 

 sentiment did just then exactly. The steward 

 and room-mate were exceedingly kind. As 

 we neared Bermuda the steward brought me 

 ever3'thing the stea ner afforded, and declared 

 he was paid to make it his business to do all 

 in their power for seasick passengers. Out of 

 205, perhaps 2o or ;5(l were as badly off as my- 

 self. In my case, if I even tried to prop 

 myself up with pillows the sickness came 

 back. I could not even read, most of the 

 time; I could not swallow any food — not even 

 a cup of tea. It seemed to be God's will that 

 I should be siill, and rest ; and I enjoyed 

 obeying, to the very letter. All the winter I 

 have been unable to bear any kind of chilly 

 wind; but I soon found I could open the win- 

 dow in my berth, lie right in a strong breeze, 

 even in my shirt-sleeves, without taking any 

 cold at all. From this it seems we have an- 

 other proof that exposure to a draft need not 

 cause one to take cold, if the stomach and 

 digestive apparatus are in good order. A 

 doctor in Portland, Oregon, once told me if I 

 would go out on the ocean and get thoroughly 

 seasick it would do me more permanent good 

 than any medicine. Is not .seasickness one of 

 Xaf lire's remedies ? 



I did not know we were nearing Bermuda 

 until I saw floating seaweed out of my narrow 

 window. When we got into calm water I 

 arose and found I could stand and walk with 

 a clear head but rather feeble knees. The 

 sight of Bermuda somehow linked itself with 

 " Beulali Land;" and now as I write, after 

 having spent one day in rambling over it with 

 my wheel, in company with my good friend 

 W. K. Morrison, I slill cling to the illusion. 



The dainty gardens scattered here and there 

 wherever enough fertile soil can be found 

 between the rocks are all my imagination had 

 pictured them. The colored people who tend 

 them are unusually intelligent everywhere, 

 and seem very happy in their neat white houses 

 made of the coral rock. The houses are all_ 

 stone, and all of this one kind of stone, roof 

 and all. Then they are all whitewashed regu- 

 larly, roof and all. A frost is never known 

 here. The whitewash never comes off. I 

 have made several discoveries already. All 

 the water used here is rain water. It falls on 

 the whitewashed stone roof. The cisterns are 

 all of this same stone, and whitewashed with 

 Portland cement.* The water is remarkably 



*When we first came near the island I noticed what 

 I called fields of some crop covered with canvas; but 

 as frosts are unknown here, neither I nor any on the 

 steamer could imagine what they were for. Mr. Mor- 

 rison explains that near the military buildings, where 

 they need more rain water than fails from the roofs, 

 they smooth off the coral rock on an incline, then 

 whitewash it .so as to be impervious to rain, then catch 

 the water as from a roof, conduct into stone tanks, 

 and thus have a supply. The large hotels have a sim- 

 ilar arrangement. 



