1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



191 



with food and fuel, and the burden would 

 have been borne on the shoulders of a great 

 many, which is the right and proper way to 

 relieve suffering. But the trouble is, the man 

 who was not too proud to steal was too proud 

 to "go on the town." I know I am getting 

 on to delicate ground ; but it surely is not 

 right that one man, and a poor man at that, 

 should support people who say they can not 

 get work. It should be done by the commu- 

 nity at large — by his own friends and neigh- 

 bors. Our county has a large fine farm, with 

 beautiful brick buildings for the accommoda- 

 tion of our county poor. Nobody wants to go 

 there. A poor old lady who depended on a 

 sewing-machine for a living, during the past 

 winter could not get work. At length she 

 suffered from lack of food and fuel. The 

 neighbors, one after another, took care of her; 

 but the final decision was that it would be 

 better for her to go to the infirmary. There 

 she could have plenty to eat, and a nice warm 

 room, and could use her sewing-machine to 

 good advantage in helping the matron, the 

 manager's wife. She declared she would 

 starve or freeze before she would go to the 

 " poorhouse. " The manager's wife finally came 

 after her herself, told her she really wanted 

 somebody to help her with a sewing-machine, 

 and agreed to pay her wages. But she would 

 not go, even then. In fact, they were almost 

 obliged to use force. I do not know but most 

 of our readers would say, " Poor woman ! I do 

 not blame her a bit." Well, there is certainly 

 no objection in the world to keeping such a 

 person from the infirmary by donations, or, 

 better still, hunting up work for her. But 

 most people will find this a pretty big job, to 

 keep hunting up work for somebody who 

 either can not or will not hunt it up for himself. 



During the past winter there have been 

 great numbers of people seeking work. They 

 have offered to work at any price, and at any 

 thing — at least, many of them have. May I 

 be pardoned for just a little divergence just 

 here? In a great many cases where people are 

 out of work, intemperance has had something 

 to do with it. In the first incident I have 

 mentioned, I think intemperance may have 

 had all to do with it. In the case of the poor 

 old lady this was, of course, an exception. 

 But right in our town, when so many people 

 were hunting something to do, a man has been 

 getting absolutely rich by selling liquor on 

 the sly ; and his riches came, too, perhaps, 

 principally from the poor and destitute. 



Now, in this land of ours, especially in the 

 prosperous farming and manufacturing locali- 

 ties, no one should suffer from a lack of food 

 or fuel unless it is those who can work but 

 absolutely will not. It does not hurt my feel- 

 ings at all to see such people suffer. In my 

 travels through our own and other States it 

 has rejoiced my heart to notice the beautiful 

 buildings and grounds furnished by the people 

 for the county poor. A little more than a 

 year ago I described the county house and 

 grounds of Belmont Co., Ohio. Well, now, is 

 it not a false pride that prompts any one to 

 say, "I would suffer or steal before I would 

 go to the poorhouse " ? If you have some 



ability, but not very much, why not go and 

 help the manager or his wife ? At our county 

 house there are some nice people, and quite 

 able people. Some of them I rejoice to call 

 my particular friends. They assist the man- 

 ager in looking after those who are more un- 

 fortunate. The farm is a nice thrifty one, 

 well taken care of, underdrained, and is grow- 

 ing splendid crops. Since they have put up 

 the new buildings it is a handsome and com- 

 fortable place to live. Aside from this, I 

 believe many counties have a plan of letting 

 people stay at home, or with friends, and giv- 

 ing them a little assistance, say during the 

 winter season. Yes, our own infirmary goes 

 so far as to furnish tobacco for the comfort of 

 the old people ; and when one of the inmates 

 asked if he could have the money instead of 

 the tobacco there was quite a little debate 

 before it was decided that he could draw reg- 

 ularly the value of the tobacco if he would 

 break off and go without it. He came to me 

 one day looking very happy. He had on a 

 pretty fair-looking suit of clothes, and said he 

 had saved his tobacco-money until he had 

 enough to take a visiting-trip off through the 

 country to see his old friends and distant rel- 

 atives. May God help us to look after the 

 poor and unfortunate in just the way that Je- 

 sus would do if he were in our places ! May 

 this love, of which I am sure we all have more 

 or less, for our fellow-man, prompt us to let it 

 be general and wide. Perhaps I should say 

 generous and zvide. Let it not stop at age, 

 sex, or color, nor any thing else. Let us love 

 all our neighbors as we love ourselves, with a 

 consistent and rational love. We have all de- 

 cided—or if we have not we will some time — 

 that giving money outright is not a very good 

 way. When we discover that some family or 

 person is suffering for fuel or food, supply the 

 deficiency at once, no matter if it takes all 

 the spare change you have. Then state the 

 case to your friends and neighbors; tell them 

 what you have done, and let a large number 

 bear the burden. Then hunt up employment 

 for them. Of course they will, at least as a 

 general rule, prefer employment to money 

 given outright. I suppose every town has an 

 organization that makes it its business to look 

 after things of this sort. The King's Daugh- 

 ters are doing a grand work; but I am really 

 afraid the King's Sons are lacking a little. 



But let us now consider a little further this 

 matter of robbing bee-keepers. I think that, 

 if the bee-journals act in concert, with the help 

 of their subscribers, they can largely do away 

 with this matter of swindling bee-keepers 

 out of their honey; at least, we can look after 

 persons who are permanently located. Snide 

 commission men who manage to get hold of 

 honey and other products, and sell them and 

 " light out," can not very well be hunted up. 

 But we should all be very careful about trust- 

 ing anybody who has not a record in the past, 

 and is not quoted by the commercial agencies. 

 I have been studying a good deal as to what 

 should be done with Mr. Robie. He had by 

 far the larger lot of the two. What should 

 we as Christians demand of such a man ? 

 Well, I think it will do him good, and do us 



