1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



889 



got about every log out of my way by the use 

 of his ax alone. I just began to understand 

 that it was a trade by itself to use an ax effec- 

 tively. I watched that man while he stripped 

 himself of all useless clothing, and then I 

 noticed, too, how he made every stroke of his 

 sharp ax count. His engagement would not 

 permit him to stay for more than about three 

 hours ; and by the way he worked I thought a 

 dollar would be cheap enough for his services; 

 but he was satisfied with just half that 

 amount. 



Well, the next morning I borrowed a dou- 

 ble-bitted ax. Orrville helped me grind it ; 

 and as it was not an easy matter to find help, 

 because everybody was digging potatoes, I 

 went at it al'.ne. Now, dear readers, I am 

 hitting on something that well deserves a 

 place in our department of Health Notes, but 

 I think we will let it run rigkt along here. 

 When I commenced chopping I had to stop 

 about every half-hour. I removed my coat 

 and vest, took off my collar, hung my cap on 

 a limb, and did the best I knew how to learn 

 to chop. When I found my resting-spells be- 

 gan to be shorter, and my chopping-spells 

 longer, I felt proud and happy. An hour or 

 two ago Blue Eyes brought her blue-eyed boy 

 over to our house and exhibited him to his 

 admiring grandmother and grandfather. He 

 is just one year old to-day. He has found out 

 that he can walk, at least a little, and it is the 

 most interesting amusement he probably ever 

 struck on before in his short life. He keeps 

 plunging ahead, laughing at his falls and mis- 

 haps, and crowing over his victories ; and 

 when he gets clear tired out then he takes a 

 big sleep. I happened to blunder into the 

 darkened room, and the picture of his little 

 self sprawled out on the bed while he drew in 

 the long breaths of infant slumber made me 

 think of myself when I was learning to chop 

 on that farm in the woods. I, too, required a 

 good nap a little before dinnertime. Such 

 violent exercise demanded, of course, a large 

 amount of nourishing food. Then I began 

 making experiments to see what would help 

 me to hold out best. Dear reader, what food 

 do you suppose braced me up best for putting 

 in big licks with that ax and grubbing hoe? 

 A good-sized bowl of scalded milk, together 

 with nice bread and butter was the diet ahead 

 of all else. During the second day I rested 

 only once or twice in the forenoon, and final- 

 ly put in a whole afternoon without once stop- 

 ping, hardly, to take breath. I worked so 

 late into the darkness of night that Mrs. 

 Heinforth, at whose house I boarded, began 

 to feel uneasy, and thought of sending the 

 children up into the woods after me. One- 

 year-old Wynne is not prouder of the progress 

 he makes everj^ day in learning to walk than 

 I was in having got up to the point, in one 

 short week, where I could swing an ax all day, 

 and rejoice in my strength. Bicycle-riding is 

 good, but it does not exercise the whole body 

 as does chopping ; neither does it always earn 

 your bread and butter. 



After I had satisfied myself that I was not 

 getting used up and not getting so sore next 

 day I could not move, I thought I would try, 



just for the fun of it, seeing just how far this 

 new reinforcement of muscle would help me 

 to take a long bicvcle ride. So I stopped long 

 enough to ride 50 miles during one of the 

 short days in the last of October, and again I 

 had one of my happy surprises. I was not 

 used up, I was not much tired, and I was not 

 sore. I just felt tough and hearty. This ex- 

 perience is worth to me more than I can esti- 

 mate. It is a most precious answer to my 

 prayer so often breathed during the years past, 

 that God would guide me in directing my fel- 

 low-men how to recover from sickness and 

 gain health. I craved for such advice as the 

 great Father above could consistently give his 

 children. 



Now, I have not learned all the secrets, by 

 any means, for getting rid of disease and se- 

 curing life and happiness ; but I have certain- 

 ly struck on one great secret. This Grand 

 Traverse region may be a very healthy locality 

 — no doubt it is. Dr. Munson, who is at the 

 head of the great asylum in the suburbs of 

 Traverse City, told me he had watched the 

 matter for many years, and he had never > et 

 been able to find a single case of malarial 

 /^z/^r that originated in the Traverse region. 

 There is not and never has been any chills 

 and ague. He said he had known a great 

 many people who came to the locality, sub- 

 ject to malarial attacks ; but so far as he could 

 learn they all recovered sooner or later I 

 talked with other physicians in regard to the 

 matter, and there seems to be no malaria in 

 this region. 



Another important requisite in the matter 

 of health is, that my work was something that 

 greatly interested me. I felt as if I wanted to 

 chop out that winding wheel path through 

 those ravines and around the hills more than 

 I wanted to do any thing else in the world. 

 My heart was in it While at work I remem- 

 bered the injunction to fill the lungs with air ; 

 and standing in the breeze that came over 

 those hills I drew in the perfumed air from 

 the evergreen and other trees, again and again, 

 for I felt myself a bigger man than I ever had 

 been before. Now, please bear in mind, dear 

 friends, that this experience came to a man 

 almost 61 years old. We are not surprised 

 that the year-old boy crowed with delight 

 when he found he could " navigate " from 

 one chair to another on the little feet that God 

 gave him ; well, I was a good deal pleased and 

 almost crowing too, with delight to find I 

 could learn new tricks of strength and endur- 

 ance when over 60 years old, and on a diet 

 principally of good bread and milk, the two 

 great staples, the most obvious and natural 

 food for mankind. 



Now I want to tell you about that fifty-mile 

 wheelride. I had often stopped during my 

 work to look across the bay at the opposite 

 shores, and especially to look with some curi- 

 osity on a narrow tongue of land that ."^^hot 

 out into the sea away over in the northeast 

 horizon. I took my wheel and skirted the 

 shore. The first half-day I went clear around 

 and stood on the tongue of land called Trav- 

 erse Point Resort. As I looked back from a 

 little eminence and viewed the hazy path, al- 



