262 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April 1. 



States could have lived here a few years they 

 could better appreciate the blessing of living 

 under the best government on earth. The 

 dawn of a new day is bursting forth at last ; 

 and under the tutelage of Uncle Sam, little 

 Miss Cuba will in time grow up to be an ac- 

 complished young lady — not that Americans 

 should expect too much from Cuba, for it 

 must be remembered that the people have 

 been under a government that has done all it 

 could to debase them. 



The present honey season is now drawing to 

 a close, and, according to reports from what 

 few apiaries are left, it has been a very good 

 one, there having been very few days so cool 

 that it interfered with honey-gathering. 



Havana, Cuba. 



[Nearly two years ago a report went abroad 

 through the daily papers, to the effect that 

 Fred L. Craycraft, an American citizen, had 

 been struck down by some Spanish guerrillas; 

 that his wife had been killed, with all his 

 servants, and that his ranch had been destroy- 

 ed. At the time there was no means for veri- 

 fying the statement, but we gave it to our 

 readers for what it was worth. Some months 

 later, Mr. Craycraft unexpectedly called upon 

 us, shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish- 

 American war. He had come home to recu- 

 perate, and at the same time make some ar- 

 rangements with a New York daily for which 

 he was acting as special correspondent. After 

 this he expected to go back to Cuba. 



The simple facts in the incident related 

 above were these : * He had charge of a large 

 ranch. A company of Spanish cavalrymen 

 raided the place, killed and robbed people, 

 and destroyed every thing they could find on 

 the ranch. Mr. Craycraft, last of all, was 

 requested to step outside of the inclosure. He 

 knew well what that meant, for the Spaniards 

 simply desired to get him at a point of range 

 where they would not kill any of their own 

 company in shooting him down. In self- 

 defense he held up his United States papers, 

 showing that he was an American citizen; but 

 this so enraged the captain that he drew his 

 sword and struck Mr. Craycraft on the shoul- 

 der, knocking him down, inflicting a bad 

 flesh wound. But Mr. Craycraft, knowing 

 full well the Spaniard, quickly arose to his 

 feet, and offered him a hundred dollars if he 

 would save his life. To this his would-be 

 slayer agreed ; but when Mr. C. produced the 

 money the treacherous captain demanded to 

 know where the rest was secreted, on pain of 

 death. Our friend Fred, realizing that the 

 money could be of no use to him dead, yielded, 

 though he suspected further treachery ; but 

 fortunately this last saved him. 



The story about Mr. Craycraft having a wife 

 and owning a ranch was all a hoax. 



I had many an interesting chat with Mr. 

 Craycraft, for we went together to Buffalo. At 

 a hotel in Cleveland he showed me letters of 

 introduction from such distinguished persons 

 as Gen. Gomez, Gen. Garcia, and Gen. Maceo. 

 These letters spoke very highly of Mr. Cray- 

 craft, and testified particularly to the point 

 that he was thoroughly reliable, and working 



in the cause of liberty. He had also letters of 

 introduction from our consul General Lee. 



Said I, " What do you do with these papers 

 when you are inside of the Spanish lines? " 



"Oh! I may have them ironed into my 

 shirt-front. At all events, I have them stow- 

 ed away where no one will ever find them." 



" Have you been searched ? " I asked. 



" Yes, several times," he answered. 



"Some time you'll be discovered ; then 

 what? " 



" Then I'll have to take the consequences." 



" What will that he?" 



" Oh, I suppose the machete." 



At the time, Mr. Craycraft desired that all 

 of this should be kept strictly secret ; for if 

 the fact should have leaked out then it would 

 have utterly- destroyed his chances for doing 

 some secret work which he expected to do 

 when he went back. 



Mr. Craycraft also had passes from the 

 Spanish generals ; in fact, he seemed to be a 

 privileged character on both sides. Among 

 other things he was assigned the important 

 duty of conducting Senator Money through 

 the Spanish lines into those sections of the 

 country held by the insurgents, a task which 

 he performed with tact and ability. Of his 

 skill on this occasion the senator spoke in the 

 highest terms. 



You may wonder why I have so much to 

 say about it. Simply this : Fred L. Craycraft 

 was one of the Juveniles who, years ago, wrote 

 for Juvenile Gleanings. In fact, he grew 

 up with the paper until it blossomed into the 

 semi-monthly Gleanings. He has kept more 

 or less in touch with us all these years, and, 

 as our older readers will remember, he has 

 been, during all this time, an occasional cor- 

 respondent, part of the time from Florida and 

 a part from Cuba. I know the readers of 

 Gleanings will be interested in knowing 

 that a member of our fraternity has rendered 

 such distinguished services in the cause of 

 freedom — yes, has been in the employ of Uncle 

 Sam ; has piloted distinguished persons 

 through lines that no one else could pa«s. 



When I last saw Mr. Craycraft at Buffalo 

 I said to him, " You are about to go back into 

 a very perilous work." 



" I know it," he said ; "but I believe it is 

 my duty." 



" I may never see you again," I said, " but 

 I should much like to hear from you." 



With this I bade him good-by and God- 

 speed. As the war went on I often wondered 

 whether he was still living, and at its close 

 I tried to learn his whereabouts. I directed 

 my letters to several points, and each time the 

 letter would be returned. Beginning to think 

 he had been killed, I tried once more, and 

 this time I reached him. In this last letter I 

 requested him to tell us something of his scout 

 experiences; but he very modestly declined to 

 say any thing about it, adding that he did not 

 think it would be interesting; but he did send 

 an article which I take pleasure in giving to 

 our readers. It contains one interesting sen- 

 tence, to the effect that Cuban honey, even if 

 the duty were removed, would probably never 

 be a competitor of American honey. 



