GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



OUR 

 HOMES, 



BY A. I. R O OT. 



Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, 

 and shall cleave unto his wife ; and they shall be one 

 flesh.-GEN. 2:24. 



It rather seems, friends, as if my depart- 

 ment in this issue were to be largely letters 

 from women; and I have just clipped a lit- 

 tle poem from the Cleveland Leader that 

 comes in very nicely with my Home talk 

 about divorces. Here it is: 



"l AM YOUR WIFE." 

 Oh ! let me lay my heart to-night upon your breast, 

 And close my eyes against the light— I fain would rest. 

 I'm weary, and the world looks sad ; this worldly strife 

 Turns me to you ; and, oh I'm glad to be your wife ! 

 Though friends may fail or turn aside, yet I have you ; 

 And in your love I may abide, for you are true— 

 My only solace in each grief and in despair. 

 Your tenderness is my relief : it soothes each care. 

 If joys of life could alienate this poor weak heart 

 From yours, then may no pleasure great enough to part 

 Our sympathies fall to my lot. I'd e'er remain 

 Bereft of friends, though true or not, ju<i to retain 

 "Your true regard, your presence bright, thro' care and strife; 

 And, oh ! I thank my God to-night I am your wife. 



I read the above several times over, and 

 almost every time it brought tears to my 

 eyes. Then I called Mrs. Root and read it 

 to her. I think I will not tell you just what 

 she said about it. But I want to ask, how 

 many married men are there who feel they 

 deserve the very high compliment this lov- 

 ing wife pays to the husband God gave her? 

 and how many married tvomen are there 

 who have the faith and love and devotion for 

 the husband God gave, that is expressed in 

 this beautiful poem ? Contrast the above pic- 

 ture of married life with the husband and 

 wife who have been contemplating if not dis- 

 cussing the matter of separation. 



Another Cleveland daily told us a few 

 days ago that there are now over 2000 di- 

 vorce cases in Cleveland alone, 900 of which 

 were carried over from last year. Eleven 

 judges are busy with these cases, which 

 come in twice as fast as the courts can 

 ' ' grind them through the hopper ' ' as the 

 papers put it. May the Holy Spirit strive 

 with these poor deluded husbands and wives! 

 and may they have grace from on high to 

 say, "Get thee behind me, Satan." This 

 little poem, with the prayers of God's peo- 

 ple following it, ought to do some mission- 

 ary work where it seems so greatly needed. 



SOMETHING MORE ABOUT "THAT MISSING 

 LINE " AND THE HOME PAPER FOR JULY 15. 



From the large number of letters received 

 in regard to the above, we select the follow- 

 ing. First we have the complete poem. 



Mr. Root:— We send you not only the missing line of 

 the stanza but the whole poem. 

 Goshen, Ind., July 23. Mrs. J. W. Martin, Jr. 



THE WELCOME. 



Come in the evening or come in the morning. 



Come when you're looked for or come without warning; 



Kisses and welcome you'll find here before you. 



And the oftener you come here the more I'll adore you. 



Light is my heart since the day we were plighted. 



Red is my cheek that they told me was blighted; 



The green of the trees looks far greener than ever. 



And the linnets are singing, "True lovers, don't sever!" 



I'll pull you sweet flowers to wear if you choose them, 

 Or, after you've kissed them, they'll lie on my bosom; 

 I'll fetch from the mountain its breeze to inspire you; 

 I'll fetch from my fancy a tale that won't tire you. 

 Oh ! your step's like the rain to the summer-vexed farmer. 

 Or saber and shield to a knight without armor; 

 I'll sing you sweet songrs till the stars rise above me. 

 Then, wandering, I'll wish you, in silence, to love me. 

 We'll look through the trees at the cliff and the eyrie, 

 We'll tread round the rath on the track of the fairy; 

 We'll look on the stars, and we'll list to the river. 

 Till you ask of your darling what gift you can give her. 

 Oh ! she'll whisper you, "Love, as unchangeably beaming. 

 And trust, when in secret most tunefully streaming. 

 Till the starlight of heaven above us shall quiver. 

 As our souls flow in one down eternity's river." 



The last verse is a repetition of the first. The author 

 was Thomas Davis, an Irish poet and patriot, born in 

 1814, died in 1846. 



AN INVESTMENT THAT IS ALWAYS SAFE. 



Mr. Root.— I read your Home Papers for July 15 with 

 admiration and approval ; and I needed only an ex- 

 cuse to prompt me to express to you the esteem with 

 which I regard your example and counsel. I found it in 

 the request for a missing line of an old Irish toast, with 

 which you gallantly toast your wife (no doubt your 

 toasts are all drunk with water). 



If all husbands and wives would cultivate the self- 

 sacrifice and consideration which you counsel and nobly 

 practice, there would be no need for divorce laws, and 

 homes would be happy, and life partners content. If 

 all persons would consider what small things usually 

 begin and complete the wrecking of their peace and the 

 sundering of friendship's dearest ties, and how insig- 

 nificant would be the little " giving up " of opinions or 

 wishes in comparison to the great giving up of life's 

 love and happiness, how joyful would be the sacrifice, 

 which, after all, should be called by some other name, 

 as true love knows no sacrifice! That which adds ten- 

 fold to one's joy should never be considered sacrifice. 

 You and your sweet-tempered Mrs. Root have exempli- 

 fied this to your own satisfaction I know. 



It is worth so many times more than it costs! It bears 

 " compound interest " at a high rate, and is absolutely a 

 safe investment. 



What a fine " building and loan" association could be 

 run on this plan— building for life and eternity, with no 

 mortgage on the home, and the interest all coming in 

 instead of being paid out. D. L. Carleton. 



Indianapolis, Ind., July 22. 



I noticed in one of the papers that three- 

 fourths of the divorces come about, directly 

 or indirectly, through strong drink. Well, 

 there is another element that sometimes (but 

 not always) comes along with strong drink. 

 May God help us in 7-ecognizing Satan when- 

 ever he starts in to do the kind of work de- 

 scribed in the following. It is an extract 

 from quite a long letter; but the writer pre- 

 fers to have his name withheld: 



I have heard of some men who pretend to love their 

 mothers to the exclusion of wife and children, but who 

 spend their nights running around town visiting bar- 

 rooms, and, perhaps, even places of worse repute, and 

 who have formed an attachment for some woman whom 

 they seem to think of continually, and steal off to when- 

 ever they can, or take out on .some little racket of ques- 

 tionable propriety. Men in the professions and in busi- 

 ness nowadays who have lady clerks, type-writers, or 

 other female employees about them, seem to lay plans 

 to make "conquests" among such women. Then, the 

 telephone is another means of laying the foundation for 

 worming themselves into the good graces of unwary 

 girls. It is astonishing how easily oily words flow 

 through a telephone wire into the ears, and, too often, 

 into the hearts of silly girls who will allow themselves 

 to be the vessels for such blandishments. Many an 

 otherwise good girl has been ruined for life by listening 

 to the sweet but devilish words whispered into her ears 

 by means of this modern invention for the rapid com- 

 munication of business. 



I ought to know something about Satan's 

 peculiar power in cases like the above; and 

 I would most earnestly urge that every fa- 

 ther, mother, brother, sister, or relative of 

 any kind, should keep a careful watch on the 



