1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



147 



our premises. He thinks he is worth $3.00 or 

 f3.50 a day; but when we put him in beside 

 some of our expert boys, or a Medina boy of 

 eighteen or twenty, who has been with us, 

 say half a dozen years, the boy will beat him 

 all to pieces at any thing he may touch. The 

 old mechanic, you see, is of the class that 

 ^oes about here and there, and can not find a 

 steady job. The boy is one of the stripe who 

 would find even Garcia if his employer set 

 him at it, and he would use his brain as well 

 as his muscles. 



We have some young men with us of whom 

 I should like to tell you something if I could 

 do it without mentioning their names or let- 

 ting anybody know who it is I have in mind. 

 I say this because they might run on him or 

 become jealous of him if I should tell just 

 how diligently he (or she) has been using his 

 hands and intellect. In such an establish- 

 ment as this there is no end of things that 

 need looking after and repairing. There are 

 steam-pipes, water-pipes, and air-pipes that 

 are liable to leak. The air-pipes are connect- 

 ed with the automatic sprinklers. A great 

 many of these things, no one knows how to 

 do except the foreman of the machine-shop ; 

 and unless it is something very serious and 

 complicated, we dislike to take him from his 

 post where he has charge of very important 

 work and of a good many helpers. Well, we 

 have tried again and again to find somebody 

 who would hunt up a leak and repair it, and 

 do it without objecting, and asking why John 

 would not do just as well, or something of 

 that sort. Well, there is one whom I have in 

 mind who is a very good-natured fellow. I 

 think I have known him since he was five or 

 six years old ; and although he has been most 

 of his life in our employ, I never saw him 

 look sullen, and I do not think he ever ob- 

 jected to any thing I ever wished him to do. If 

 a sewer was stopped up, and a man was need- 

 ed to crawl head first down into the sewer, he 

 would do it and look good-natured all the 

 while. Well, some time ago he began to de- 

 velop an unusual trait. He never gave up to 

 any sort of job. If the construction of some 

 underground or out of-sight work was some- 

 thing he did not understand he would ask 

 questions about it until he knew all anybody 

 could tell ; and if it was necessary to take 

 something apart that was complicated, and 

 something with which he was entirely unfa- 

 miliar, he would say, " Now, Mr. Root, I do 

 not think you need to bother anybody about 

 this — that is, if you can afford to give me a 

 little time. I think I can work it out and get 

 it all right." Where another man would de- 

 clare some expensive digging would have to 

 be done, this fellow would say, " No, I would 

 not go to that expense — not just yet, anyhow. 

 We will try to get along without it." and he 

 gets along without it every time. He never 

 says, as some do, " Oh, yes ! I can do that all 

 right — no trouble at all ; " but he always pref- 

 aces his remarks this way : "I think I can do 

 exactly what you want, but it may take a 

 little time ; and if you decide to let me try it, 

 I will do the best I can." Sometimes he asks 

 for certain helpers who have the right sort of 



spirit, and who he knows, by past experi- 

 ence, will work in harmony with him. 



Every little while I am surprised to find he 

 is pretty well posted in regard to some 

 branches of mechanics that I supposed he 

 knew nothing about ; and then I learn he 

 employs his leisure moments in storing his 

 mind with valuable facts that will likely be 

 useful to him in his work. Again and again 

 I have concluded to let him try his hand at 

 something I had been assured by competent 

 authority could not be done ; but so far there 

 has been no failure. When I express aston- 

 ishment that he has secured the result we 

 wanted, and did it in so short a time, I often 

 ask for more particulars, and for the details 

 that enabled him to do the thing that seemed 

 impossible ; and then I invariably find some 

 ingenious short cuts that no one but himself 

 would have thought of. Still more, he never 

 miscalculates the strength of materials or 

 tools, and makes no expensive breaks, thus 

 necessitating calling in outside help. 



Let me now sum up briefly some of the 

 qualities that are needed in this day and age 

 of ours. First, we want somebody who is 

 pleasant and good-natured. " He that ruleth 

 his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a 

 city." Do not stop to inquire whether you 

 are hired to do this, that, or the other. Sec- 

 ondly, we want, or, if you choose, the world 

 wants, young people who do not rest day or 

 night until they have the knowledge that be- 

 longs to their particular calling at their fin- 

 gers' ends. If any one who sees this wants a 

 situation as stenographer, do not think of ap- 

 plying for a place until you can spell and 

 punctuate, and read understandingly after 

 you have written it ( that is, so far as spelling 

 and punctuation go) every thing you take 

 down. Thirdly, be ready to do any thing or 

 put up with any thing that can not very well 

 be helped, in order to push along the business 

 that lies before you. If you have spare time, 

 study up every thing pertaining to your work. 

 Finally, remember it was the great Master 

 who said, "Thou hast been faithful over a 

 few things, I will make thee ruler over many 

 things." 



SOME GLIMPSES OF THE LITTLE GREEN- 

 HOUSE I HAVE BEEN TELLING YOU 

 ABOUT. 



You see I wanted Ernest to make a picture 

 of the little salvia, and I wanted it taken in 

 such a way as to show the relative size of the 

 pot in which the plant grew and the plant it- 

 self. He said I would have to tip it over on 

 its side in order to give a view of the spread 

 of the foliage beyond the edges of the pot. 

 So I placed it as you see in the cut. Now, 

 this little pot it is growing in is an ordinary 

 "thumb pot "just about big enough for a 



