496 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June 15. 



is kept neat and lidj' we must have another 

 boy for sexton. He can shed the light of Je- 

 sus over his fellow-men just as well as the rest 

 of the officers. Who will be sexton, and take 

 this candle? " 



In a little time the stage was filled with lit- 

 tle folks bearing their lights. 



"Finally," said their bright leader, " Je- 

 sus said, ' Go ye, therefore, and teach all na- 

 tions.' May be some of you little folks here 

 will go out as missionaries to foreign lands. 

 Is there one little boy or girl who would be 

 willing to go away from home and carry the 

 light of the gospel to foreign lands ? If so, 

 let him or her come forward." 



Some of the little faces looked sober at the 

 thought of deserting home and friends ; but 

 they also looked serious and determined, and, 

 as before, the volunteers came forward. After 

 they were done, with an appropriate closing 

 she told them they could blow out their can- 

 dles and carry them home if they wished. 



This may seem dull when put on paper; but 

 Mrs. Bryner has had such large experience in 

 holding children and churches full of people 

 that she has become an expert in her line of 

 work. The love of Christ shines forth, not 

 only from every word but from every act ; 

 and no one who knows and sees her can for a 

 moment doubt that her influence over these 

 children will be a power for good as long as 

 they remember that brief lesson and the bright 

 woman who gave it. I suspected at the time 

 she had a power that would influence older 

 ones as well as the juveniles, if she chose to 

 use it ; and before the exercises of the day 

 were closed my conjecture was verified. 



Our State Association has been for years be- 

 hind in its finances. It has called again and 

 again on the separate counties to help them 

 out. A good many of the counties respond 

 promptly, and some pay more than their share. 

 But there arc- others who are away down in 

 Sunday-school work, and do almost nothing 

 at all. Printed cards were scattered around 

 among the audience, telling what each county 

 had done. I was glad that Medina Co. was 

 printed in black type, indicating that we had 

 paid our full assessment ; but I was pained to 

 notice that many others had paid almost noth- 

 ing. Permit me to digress a little. 



At the close of one of the largest sessions 

 the chairman called for contributions. He 

 said there were something like 1500 people in 

 the audience, and 10 cents from each one 

 would make !?I50, but we should probably not 

 get more than §100. Of course, some might 

 not be able to give even the ten cents ; but he 

 thought there were others who would give 25, 

 50, or 75 cents, or even a dollar. I could not 

 get a seat; and, standing where I was, I 

 could see over the audience. Well, when I 

 saw seatful after seatful refusing to give even 

 a nickel my heart sank within me. I could 

 not help thinking of a slang expression boys 

 sometimes use- -" We do not have to ;" and I 

 fear that was the trouble. 



Now, hold on, friends. May be you think 

 I am getting over into the same frame of 

 mind I alluded to in the commencement of 

 my paper. While I prayed for my fellow-men 



I also prayed that God would give me grace 

 to see things in their true light. And then it 

 seemed revealed to me that these people, all 

 of them, would respond liberally if they were 

 sufficiently arotised, or if something could 

 draw out their better feelings. Well, at the 

 close of the last session we were told the debt 

 hanging over the Association amounted to 

 §2500. I was appalled at this piece of inform- 

 ation. But the speaker added that, right in 

 the city of Akron, a man had been found so 

 generous as to volunteer $1250, or half of the 

 whole iudebtedtiess, if the people of that con- 

 vention would raise the other half. And the 

 people did it. It was, however, a long pull 

 and a strong pull. The sum of $1000 was 

 raised during the day; and, if I mistake not, 

 quite a good deal of it came from the business 

 men of Akron. At ten o'clock on the last 

 day of the convention there remained $250. 

 Half of it was raised without much trouble ; 

 and then it seemed as if everybody had got to 

 the bottom of his pocket.- I confess I was a 

 little bit surprised when the manager of the 

 matter suggested we should bow our heads 

 and ask the Lord to help. I was surprised 

 again when contributions started promptly at 

 the close of the prayer. Then it seemed as if 

 we absolutely could not get the last $50. At 

 this point Mrs. Bryner came forward, and one 

 other lady to assist her. Mrs. Bryner han- 

 dled that great audience of business men a 

 good deal as she handled the juveniles. Not 

 a word that she spoke or a motion that she 

 made was in the least bit out of place ; but 

 recognizing, as everybody did, that she was 

 heart and soul devoted to the bettering of hu- 

 manity, and looking after the children of our 

 State, how could her pleas be resisted? At 

 the close we sang: 



Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, 



and then some one closed witu a brief and ex- 

 cellent prayer. 



And now, dear friends, although I have 

 not had very much to do with this State 

 Sunday-school Association before, may I be 

 pardoned for suggesting right here that, since 

 this debt is paid, we hereafter pay as we go, 

 and do not, in the future, spend money, even 

 for Sunday-school work, until we have it ? 



The Anti-saloon League has had an experi- 

 ence like the above, and I believe their motto 

 now is, " Pay as you go." I do not know just 

 how large a part of this $2500 was paid by the 

 business men of Akron — half of it, as I have 

 told you, and perhaps the larger part of the 

 other half. In the first place, the rest of the 

 people of Ohio ought to be ashamed of them- 

 selves. Perhaps they can make it up by do- 

 ing their part when this convention swings 

 around their way. Secondly, the rest of the 

 State of Ohio should give three cheers for 

 Summit County and the city of Akron. Hon- 

 or and praise should be given to the progres- 

 sive businessmen of this enterprising go-ahead 

 little city. And, finally, may God be praised 

 for the business men who give their time and 

 money to hold up the Sunday-school as a bea- 

 con-light to the boys and girls of Ohio so they 

 may not stumble and fall because of the 



