1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



615 



were flrst married we lived there for quite 

 a spell until a better place was ready. We 

 both worked hard, aud planned together; 

 and it is the honest truth, I have never seen 

 more happiness, contentment, and real en- 

 joyment at any time before or since than in 

 that little humble home." 



Dear friends, there are evidences all 

 round about us that show we do not need 

 money to make us happy. A little story 

 that I saw in a Sunday-school paper may 

 help us right here: 



Two farmers, whose lots joined each oth- 

 er, had quarreled for years over the loca- 

 tion of a line fence. There had been law- 

 suit after lawsuit until one of the two died. 

 I do not know but one of the lawyers em- 

 ployed took his client's farm for pay — at 

 least that lawyer came into possession of 

 the farm in some way or other. Now, this 

 lawyer had learned something by experi- 

 ence. He came over to see his farmer 

 neighbor to talk abcut the line fence. The 

 neighbors who lived around there, and who 

 were looking on, were laughing in their 

 sleeves. Would this old gray-head(d man 

 who had lawed so much about that line 

 fence undertake to fight an expert lawyer? 

 But he seemed to be like the game cocks we 

 read about — no matter what the odds, he 

 was ready to fight, and he informed his 

 lawyer neighbor that he would fight for his 

 rights to the bitter end. 



The lawyer finally inquired, "Well, 

 neighbor B., what are your rights? Where 

 do }Ou think the fence ought to be? " 



"Why, sir. it ought to be over on your 

 side two feet further at the south end and 

 three feet further at the north." 



" Well, now, my friend, I believe in hav- 

 ing peace and good will between neighbors. 

 You may not only have the fence over where 

 you choose, but you may move it two feet 

 further yet at each end. I shall have all 

 the land I need as long as I live, and it is 

 worth something to have things satisfacto- 

 ry with those who live next to me." 



Poor old farmer B. ! He was braced up 

 for a fight, but he was not prepared for any 

 such spirit as this. It took the wind all 

 out of his sails. He could not believe that 

 this man, and he a lawyer, should under- 

 take to settle disputes in that way. It was 

 not very long before he " flopped," as they 

 say in politics; and he told the new neigh- 

 bor he didn't propose to be outdone in gen- 

 erosity, and even suggested that they leave 

 the fence where it then stood. Thus ended 

 a lawsuit of years' standing. Now, it 

 seems almost preposterous to lecommend 

 that we old people recognize practicing 

 similar tactics with our good wives. Let 

 me see. What was it that Jesus said in 

 regard to this very matter? " Do good and 

 lend, hoping for nothing again." And 

 then further on: 



Give, and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, 

 pressed down and shaken together and running over, 

 shall men give into your bosom. For with the same 

 measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to 

 you again. 



Why, bless your hearts, dear friends, no 



woman will be outdone in self-sacrifice and 

 unselfishness. Try it and see. But make 

 the Bible your daily counselor and guide. 

 You will never succeed unless you do. 



This thing opens up still further. If 

 such an attitude will move the wife, why 

 not the son and daughter? But the dear 

 wife should come first so she can give us 

 motherly help; and, by the way, my honest 

 opinion is that the mother's affection, or 

 you may say intuition, is safer to follow, by 

 tremendous odds, than that of the father, 

 generally speaking, and thus another home 

 will be made perfect through God's love. 



Now, dear friends, in all that I havewrit- 

 ten I have had in mind that sometimes, but 

 not often, it is the husband who is the suf- 

 fering one, and the wife who is the domi- 

 neering element. There is a slang expres- 

 sion for such a state of affairs that I do not 

 wish to repeat here. There is always 

 more or less fault on both sides; but as the 

 husband is the stronger, and the one in the 

 habit of taking the lead, I have appealed 

 to him. 



And this suggests just a word more to 

 husbands. I came pretty near saying, when 

 provoked, " That is a fair sample of a wo- 

 man's reasoning."* A woman does not 

 reason exactly as a man does. Her life is 

 in a different line — that is, most women's 

 lives are. We have reason to know, howev- 

 er, in this day and age, that there are wo- 

 men who are equal to men in almost every 

 line you can suggest, not only in art and 

 science, but in the trades and industries, 

 on the farm, in the field, or in the work- 

 shop. God has given us a diversity of tal- 

 ents. Some men have an aptness and a 

 love for cooking, and perhaps for house- 

 work — cleaning house, etc , and there are 

 women, scores of them, who are skilled in 

 the work usually accorded to man. I pre- 

 sume the largest happiness to the human 

 race consists in letting both men and wo- 

 men have the greatest freedom in choosing 

 their work. In fact, everybody does his 

 work better by having greater freedom. 

 Now, my friend, if this wife of yours had 

 greater freedom than she ever had before, 

 no doubt she would be a happier woman, 

 and be of more benefit to the world and of 



* I once heard a husband say to his wife, who had 

 asked vvhat he considered a foolish question, some- 

 thing like this: "Nobody of good common sense 

 would have asked such a question as that." No doubt 

 women sometimes ask foolish questions— at least they 

 seem so to the man who has not informed his wife or 

 kept her posted in regard to what is going on in the 

 world, especially in the line of men's business. The 

 following clipping from the Cleveland Leader graphi- 

 cally describes a good many husbands : 



The wisest man on this here earth 



Is paw ; 

 He knows a thousand times as much 



As maw. 

 The neighbors don't know near as much 



As he — 

 He's fnll of knowledge as he 



Can be. 

 He knows just how the housework should 



Be done. 

 And how this glorious country should 



Be run. 

 He knows exact! y how maw ought 



To dress- 

 He's certain he could do it for 



Much less. 



