236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



and lamps, but all to no avail. When I came 

 around again I found the pipes were still cold, 

 and said to the men, " If you can keep on 

 with your work just a little while longer /will 

 get the steam through these pipes. I am sure 

 I can, for I never yet failed when I stuck right 

 to it." Well, I fussed with those pipes all 

 day, but I could not get the steam through. 

 I consulted the " boss plumber," and he said 

 the drip must be freezing up somewhere, for 

 there could not be any other reason why it 

 should not heat up as it had done every day 

 all winter. During the middle of the after- 

 noon I decided there was not pressure enough, 

 and so I got the engineer to give more pres- 

 sure on the exhaust steam. This, of course, 

 loaded the engine more, but it was only tem- 

 porary. It did not make any difference. The 

 men stuck to their posts and kept at work. I 

 pitied them from the bottom of my heart, and 

 felt disgusted with myself to think that I could 

 not unravel the mystery. I went to Ernest 

 and John about it, thinking I could get sym- 

 pathy, even if I did not get any mechanical 

 assistance; but they just laughed, and told me 

 not to worry myself out (and catch more cold) 

 about the pipes ; if the men got so cold they 

 could not stand it, let them go home. But I 

 knew these men sadly needed the money for 

 every hour they worked. Besides, it was 

 quite important that the work should be push- 

 ed ahead. The day's work was finally ended. 

 The men stuck to their work, but the mystery 

 was unsolved. I told the night watchman I 

 was going to have steam through that coil of 

 pipes, even if it took all night to do it. Then 

 we managed to turn on "live" steam; but 

 even live steam would not go through. I took 

 hold of the valve and turned up it until it was 

 closed, and — then I swung my hat. Turning 

 the stem of the valve out and in made no dif- 

 ference whatever. During the day I had sug- 

 gested to the foreman of the piping that it 

 seemed as if that valve was stopped up ; but 

 he declared it could not be, for it was certain- 

 ly wide open, and it was a brand-new valve. 

 I went after him when I made my discovery, 

 for he happened to be in the factory, and ask- 

 ed him to get a wrench. A few minutes re- 

 vealed the trouble. Even though it was a 

 brand-new valve, and cost quite a little money, 

 the disk that opened and closed the passage 

 had come loose from the stem, and was stuck 

 in the seat. The only steam that could get 

 through, either live or exhaust, was what got 

 through the center of the disk. The next 

 morning, when the whistle blew, the radiator 

 was hot, you may be sure. Now, perhaps 

 people do not often suffer this way in factories; 

 but this illustrates the way people at large do 

 suffer from defective machinery ; the same in 

 the way of framing laws or governing nations ; 

 and unless the king or the law-makers " swap 

 places" with the working people once in a 

 while, who would see to it that these wrongs 

 are righted ? 



At another time, on going into the saw- 

 room the air was so full of dust it made me 

 cough so that I could not have stayed there 

 many minutes at a time. I asked one of the 

 men what the matter was, and he said the dust- 



pipe was off from his machine. When I asked 

 why it was not put on he said it filled up right 

 away, so it was no use, and so they just pulled 

 it clear off. I asked him if somebody was 

 remedying the defect, and he said he did not 

 know. The foreman said they had been fuss- 

 ing with it, but the matter was dropped, and 

 he did not know what they were going to do. 

 I traced the matter up, and was told that the 

 large belt was loose, but they could not very 

 well fix it until they shut down at night. I 

 then explained to the men who were suffering, 

 and asked them to get along as well as they 

 could. If they stopped work it would stop 

 the work of the men ahead of them, and so 

 there seemed to be no way but to put up with 

 the dust. I got over in the morning as soon 

 as the grip would let me go, but they were 

 still suffering from dust. I was told the belt 

 had been repaired the night before, but the 

 room got so cold during the night that the 

 glue did not hold. On a similar occasion 

 before this, some coal-oil lamps had been kept 

 burning by the night watchman, so as to keep 

 the glued joint warm enough to have it dry 

 thoroughly. I inquired why the lamps were 

 not used the night before, but I was told it 

 was because nobody looked after it. I should 

 have looked after it, probably, had I not been 

 "under the weather." Now, I hope no one 

 will feel hurt when I suggest that there seems 

 to be a sort of indifference all around in re- 

 gard to these necessary details. If the men 

 who are obliged to bear the dust had had a 

 chance, I am sure they would have put in 

 vehemently to have that belt looked after so 

 there could not be any failure. 



Now please do not think, dear reader, that 

 I attend to all these things as I might do and 

 as I ought to do if I really loved my neighbors 

 and my fellow-workmen as myself. I need 

 exactly the stirring-up that Mark Twain's 

 piteous appeal in that book gave me ; and the 

 whole wide world needs stirring up in just 

 this way. Jesus came and lived and died to 

 exhort men along this very line. He said not 

 only in words but by acts, "Not to be min- 

 istered unto, but to minister.'" Now, I know 

 we are not all proprietors of factories ; we are 

 not all kings and princes, nor even high offi- 

 cials for the government, nor superintendents 

 of railways or other institutions ; but we usu- 

 ally get into these high and honorable places 

 because we are faithful. The Bible says so. 

 " Thou hast been faithful in few things, I will 

 make thee ruler over many things. ' ' We are 

 none of us as faithful in the little things as we 

 ought to be. The little incidents of evervday 

 life will illustrate it. You can not hang up a 

 bright tin cup at any well or spring, because 

 somebody will carry it off — not dishonest 

 people necessarily, but I do think they are 

 selfish people. A carriageful of ladies carried 

 off a tin cup from the well right out in front 

 of where I am writing. They drove up, pass- 

 ed the cup all around, and seemed to enjoy 

 thoroughly the water that was running freely, 

 purposely for the public benefit. But they 

 carried off the cup. Perhaps they forgot to 

 hang it on the nail by the hydrant. Is not 

 forget fulness largely selfishness, when you get 



