856 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



apart, a big thunder-storm came up and we 

 had to hustle to get into the shop near by. 

 Had the accident occurred when I was in 

 the country, far from any town, just before 

 the approach of the storm, I might have 

 been in a very bad predicament. As it was, 

 we made the repairs while I was waiting for 

 the storm to pass by. 



A gentleman at the hotel gave me a little 

 sketch of my new-found friend. He was 

 brought up on a farm close by the little vil- 

 lage of Raymond. He always showed such 

 a love for machinery that, as soon as he 

 was old enough, he made machinery his bus- 

 iness. He and his brothers first built two 

 or three automobiles, but finally settled down 

 on the building of gasoline-engines — the 

 business they now follow in Columbus. He 

 informed me that at the present time he is 

 called for all over the country to do adjust- 

 ing and putting in order gas-engines. If I 

 am correctly informed, the trouble with the 

 one he had just visited was about like this: 



It runs a gristmill, and had been giving 

 great satisfaction for nearly three years, 

 when it suddenly refused to go. Mr. Lowe 

 looked it over, and found every thing in prop- 

 er order. Then he began tracing up the 

 soui'ce of gasoline, and this is what he found: 

 A few weeks ago the iron pipe that carries 

 the gasoline to the engine rusted through or 

 broke off, or something of that sort. The 

 owner mended the break with a piece of 

 rubber tubing ; and as that seemed to answer 

 every purpose he rather forgot about it, 

 and let it remain. When Mr. Lowe saw the 

 rubber tubing he took it out and made a 

 connection with an ordinary iron pipe, throw- 

 ing away the gasoline in the engine, or strain- 

 ing it. As gasoline dissolves rubber it had, 

 after a time, rendered the gasoline unfit. 

 Lots of expensive breakdowns are the result 

 of some such carelessness as that. Perhaps 

 I might mention that gasoline-engines are 

 rapidly taking the place of steam power, be- 

 cause it may almost be said they require no 

 engineer. Mr. Baldner, of Xenia, before 

 mentioned, told me their gasoline-engine had 

 run their own machine-shop for a year and 

 eleven months with an outlay for repairs of 

 only 25 cents. His explanation of this was, 

 "Mr. Root, nobody ever touches that engine 

 but me." Well, Mr. Baldner does not touch 

 it very much, for he worked on my auto from 

 morning till noon without ever taking a look 

 at the engine; or if he did I did not see him 

 do it. 



The trouble with my machine at Raymond 

 was that five steel pins in the transmission 

 gear had been sheared oft", or broken by the 

 hard knocks I had given it. I thought we 

 could get some steel for pins or rivets at the 

 hardware stores that would answer; but Mr. 

 Lov/e declared that nothing was safe for 

 such a critical place but the very best Stubbs 

 steel rod; so he telephoned for it at their 

 shop in Columbus. After the rod came we 

 found it was a trifle too large, and we pro- 

 ceeded to grind it down on an emery wheel. 

 I turned the crank while he did the grinding; 

 but when my wind gave out, I looked about 



for some of the boys or loafers who had been 

 hanging around; but, for a wonder, when I 

 wanted them they were all missing. At this 

 juncture a ruddy-faced red-headed farmer 

 boy came into the shop perspiring freely. 

 He wore on his head a broad-brimmed straw 

 hat with many a rent. He happened to over- 

 hear my inquiry for some cheap hand. Fi- 

 nally he came up with a good-natured smile 

 on his boyish face and said, "Brother, I will 

 turn that crank for you. I think perhaps mij 

 wind will hold out." 



I thought by his manner he had come in 

 on an errand, and would have to get away 

 again soon. But pretty soon Mr. Lowe ex- 

 plained that that red-headed youth was his 

 brother, and suggested that they could get 

 me on the road quicker if this younger broth- 

 er turned in and helped. Then I found out 

 he was one of the firm of Lowe Brothers, 

 and that his name was Charley. I suggest- 

 ed to the boys that, after they got the pins 

 put in and the machine set up, I was going 

 to have some fun in seeing them cure the 

 gas-engine of missing explosions. Charley 

 is a little more talkative than his brother. 

 He sailed his old straw hat away over in the 

 corner, and went to work with a vim that 

 was refreshing. I did not have any anxiety 

 in regard to those two boys, the way they 

 went to work on that machine. When I sug- 

 gested they might fail as I had, Charley re- 

 plied, "Oh! no, Mr. Root. If we fail it will 

 be the first time in our lives. We will 'run 

 down ' the mischief and mend up the defect 

 in a very short time. ' ' 



Now, I want to stop right here and call 

 your attention to the contrast between these 

 two young farmer lads working on that hot 

 day until the sweat fairly dropped from their 

 ruddy faces, and the idlers that stood by. 

 While thus at work a crowd of town fellows 

 stood around doing nothing. Some of them 

 were complaining, perhaps, that they had 

 not a job; and I am not sure that anybody 

 would have given them ten cents an hour; 

 but the Lowe Brothers had all they could do 

 at fifty cents an hour. They were called for 

 by telephone before they finished my ma- 

 chine. I think their regular price is fifty 

 cents an hour and traveling expenses, and 

 they are full of business at that. If these 

 friends of mine in Raymond should see this 

 I hope they will excuse me for speaking 

 plainly; for plain talk is the only thing that 

 will do them good. These men not only had 

 nothing to do, even though the storm had 

 cleared away, and it was a most beautiful 

 morning to do work of any kind, but they 

 were almost to a man smoking pipes, cigars, 

 or cigarettes, and each cigar seemed to have 

 a different flavor. I felt so vexed by the 

 nauseating smoke that I was tempted to use 

 the term "villainous" flavor. Each one of 

 the crowd who used tobacco did not mind it; 

 but I felt pretty sure that the elder Lowe, 

 at least, was annoyed by the nauseating 

 fumes. He pulled his head out of the ma- 

 chine, and said: 



"Jim, won't you be so kind as to bring us 

 a jug of water?" 



