1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



were standing in a row at the counter, wait- 

 ing to have their baggage checked. I found 

 out by inquiry that none except myself were 

 going to take that train, and so I asked the 

 baggage-man to be kind enough to wait on 

 me without taking my turn as usual. He was 

 in the act of doing this when some indiscreet 

 passenger who happened to be looking over 

 my shoulder declared that the agents at that 

 depot were the slowest set of fellows on the 

 face of the earth. The man at work for me 

 overheard it. He was a red-headed English- 

 man (no disrespect intended here for red- 

 headed people nor for Englishmen either ; in 

 fact, my wife would feel hurt in the latter 

 case). He turned around with an angry face, 

 and with a gleaming eye told me I had better 

 get somebody else to do his work if his mo- 

 tions did not suit me. My train was starting, 

 and there was no time for an apology; but, oh 

 how wicked it was for the man at my shoulder 

 to make .such a remark ! Even if what he 

 said had been true, it only made matters 

 worse. If this world could onlj- learn not to 

 make unkind remarks that do no good, what 

 a lot of hard and unpleasant feelings might 

 be avoided ! 



While in Livingston, Montana, I became 

 acquainted with a baggage-man. His wife's 

 mother keeps bees ; and when he saw "A. I. 

 Root" on my wheel-trunk, he and I were old 

 friends. He told me how exceedingly diffi- 

 cult it was for him to get baggage off when 

 people all seemed to think it was right and 

 proper to wait until the train was in before 

 they looked after their baggage. Do not 

 quarrel with the railroad officials, friends. 

 Adapt yoiirselves to the circumstances. Put 

 yourself in the places of these officials. I 

 know they are not all good men, and not 

 always doing their best ; but if we who profess 

 to be Christians would pray for the direction 

 of the Holy Spirit that we may make them 

 better instead of worse, oh what a change 

 there would soon be seen all around ! 



Now, I have not made half the applications 

 I wanted to. There are husbands and wives 

 who permit Satan to suggest that they can't 

 get along with each other ; yes, and after the 

 two have unitedly brought up a family they 

 sometimes have quarrels. That grand poem 

 by Will Carlton, right along in this line, no- 

 body knows how much good it has done, 

 and there are fathers and sons who can not 

 get along together ; and if you inquire into it 

 you will find many times the reason they can 

 not get along is just because the boy is a 

 " chip of the old block." Let me say to the 

 father, and to the boy too, remember the sto- 

 ry about the bent bicycle-cr irk. Sometimes 

 brothers go to law because they can not agree. 

 Whatever you do, dear brother or sister, do 

 not quarrel with a relative. Before 3'ou think 

 of going to a lawyer, give to the other all he 

 will take. Now, please do not understand I 

 am making a fling at lawyers, in the above. 

 Some of the best men I know of are lawyers. 

 I know these men have often urged their cli- 

 ents to settle things in a peaceable and in- 

 expensive way. In fact, I believe our best 

 and ablest lawyers always do this now. But 



when people are contrary, and will not be ad- 

 vised, then the lawyers will undertake to do 

 the best they can under the circumstances. Of 

 course, we must look out for ourselves. If 

 you do not wish to be disappointed in charges 

 by lawyers, railroad men, doctors, or anybody 

 else, insist on knowing beforehand what the 

 thing is going to cost. Have an agreement, if 

 possible, with everybody, before setting such 

 party at work ; then if things go wrong, cheer- 

 fully adapt yourself to the circumstances and 

 conditions, and make the best of it, and live 

 at peace with all men, so far as in you lieth. 



TEMPERANCE IN MEDINA. 



Since the issue of Our Homes for Septem- 

 ber 15, quite a number have inquired anxious- 

 ly about the outcome of open saloons in 

 Medina. May God be praised that those on 

 the side of righteousness were greater than 

 those who were working against us. Out of 

 5(»1 ballots, 320 were "dry" (or opposed to 

 letting saloons come back to our village), and 

 241 were in favor of letting them start up 

 again after a cheering absence of over twelve 

 years. The contest was the most spirited of 

 any thing of the kind I have ever known in 

 this place. The wets claimed to have been at 

 work for a whole year; and had they succeed- 

 ed in getting a vote at the time they called 

 for it, no doubt the saloon would have gained 

 the victory. Our town council, however, 

 managed to put them off so as to give the 

 temperance people a chance. Our ministers 

 got together and arranged for a series of union 

 temperance meetings, holding one every Sun- 

 day night at different churches as long as the 

 campaign lasted. As is usually the case, a 

 great many good people would not attend. 

 To meet this difficulty we had some of the 

 sermons printed in the form of bulletins. The 

 paper that I sent out for our employees (given 

 in our is.sue for Sept. 15), was called Bulletin 

 No. 1. The week before election, the women 

 of Medina voted in order to show the council 

 what they thought of the matter, and we were 

 rejoiced to find about 375 voted against the 

 saloon, and Jiot one for it. May God bless 

 the women for the stand they took. Then 

 our high school, and, in fact, all of our 

 schools, followed suit, and the vote of the 

 pupils was practically unanimous, although a 

 few of the boys would vote as their fathers 

 were going to vote, in spite of all the mothers 

 could do. 



Every argument was met that the saloon 

 advocates could advance. Lists were made of 

 our people, both wet and dry; and those who 

 seemed inclined to vote wet, or who were 

 indifferent, were visited by temperance people 

 who would be most likely to have influence 

 with the person in question. At the present 

 writing I have not been able to find that a 

 single one of our employees voted "wet," 

 although quite a number stayed away from 

 the polls and did not vote at all. Our people 

 marched in procession to the polls ; and as 

 there were about a hundred of them, they 

 were, in God's providence, enabled to turn 



