Aug. 1, 1911 



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Hajjpy is the man that lindeth wisdom, and the 

 man that gelteth understandhig: for the merchan- 

 dise of it is better than the mercliandise of silver, 

 and the gain thereof tlian fine gold. She Is more 

 precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst 

 desire are not to be compared unto her. — Prov. 

 13, 14, 15. 



Some of our older readers will doubtless 

 remember about my finding the Grand 

 Rapids lettuce seed and giving it a name 

 about 25 years ago. I attended a bee-keep- 

 ers' convention — 1 think it was at East Sag- 

 inaw, Mich., and I was then full of my 

 hobby, high-pressure gardening, and I gave 

 at that convention a little talk on growing 

 stuff. I had a good deal to say about let- 

 tuce, especially lettuce grown in green- 

 houses. Somebody suggested that, if I 

 wanted to know what was going on in the 

 world in the way of growing lettuce under 

 glass, I should visit Eugene Davis, in the 

 suburbs of Grand Rapids. I accordingly 

 changed my route in going home so as to 

 go through and stop off at Grand Rapids. 

 In changing cars I got on to a train where 

 there were but very few passengers. In fact, 

 I was almost alone in the car. Just as we 

 started off, however, one of the bee-keepers, 

 whom I had become fairly well acquainted 

 with, came into the car. Of course, I felt 

 glad to know that I was not going to be 

 entirely a stranger in a strange land. The 

 new comer was George E. Hilton. I rose 

 up, extended my hand, and told him how 

 glad I was to meet somebody I knew; and 

 when he informed me that he was to get 

 off soon I apologized for coming immedi- 

 ately to what I had in mind. I said, "Friend 

 Hilton, you are, I believe, a professing 

 Christian." 



I shall always remember the pleasant 

 smile that came over his face as he replied 

 something as follows : 



"Mr. Root, the very moment my eyes 

 fell on you as I entered this car I felt that I 

 should be called on to answer that question. 

 And now I want to tell you that I am glad 

 you have spoken those words to me; yet it 

 is true that I am not and never have been 

 a member of any church." And then he 

 went on to tell me about the little church 

 near their home, and the earnest young 

 minister who was becoming discouraged, he 

 feared, because of a lack of su])port and 

 encouragement from the business men of 

 their little town. Before it was time for 

 him to get off he yielded to my earnest 

 l)leading, and gave me his hand and his 

 l)roniise that he would go at once to the 

 pastor of the little church and tell him that 

 he had i)romised we to unite with the 

 church — both himself and his wife, for he 

 said he kneiv she would be glad to unite 

 with him in so doing. In a few days, after 

 I arrived home, he wrote me that they had 

 united with the church, but Ijefore doing so 

 he had persuaded his brother-in-law and 

 wife also to unite with the chinch. A week 



or two later he informed me that he had 

 been elected superintendent of their Sun- 

 day-school; later on that he, with the pas- 

 tor's aid, had increased the membership of 

 the church to quite a respectable number; 

 and so it went on and on.* Dear friends, 

 you who have had no experience in such 

 matters can hardly understand the thrills 

 that went through my soul when I was told 

 of the outcome of my talk with friend Hilton 

 during that short ride on the cars. Suppose 

 I had yielded to the temptation to think 

 that such matters would be out of jilace in 

 traveling on a railway, or that folks would 

 think me eccentric or fanatical, for I have 

 Just such temptations (as you have), and I. 

 am afraid I oftentimes yield to them. 



What brings all this to mind just now is 

 the sad news that comes to me this morn- 

 ing, July 14, that George E. Hilton is no 

 more. He has gone to his reward, and has, 

 no doubt, heard the Master say, "Well 

 done, thou good and faithful servant; thou 

 hast been faithful over a few things, I will 

 make thee ruler over many things." The 

 above favorite text of mine proved true in 

 Mr. Hilton's life in this busy world. When 

 he became superintendent of that Sunday- 

 school, and worked so faithfully in building 

 up that church, he won all of the Christian 

 sentiment of the little tow^n where he lived 

 (it was a good deal in the backwoods of 

 Michigan 25 years ago), and he gained like- 

 wise the esteem and respect of his felloM^- 

 men outside of the church. Who is there, 

 friends, no matter what his belief, that 

 would not reverence and respect the man 

 who builds up the kingdom of God in his 

 vicinity ? P>iend Hilton was soon chosen to 

 important offices in his own town,t county, 

 and State; and not long after his sudden 

 start for righteousness he was sent as a Rep- 

 resentative to Congress.!. Ernest tells me 

 that Mr. Hilton was one of the very first to 

 start a rate of only two cents a mile on the 

 railroads of Michigan; and after that State 

 made that reduction, other States soon fol- 

 lowed. So we can consider friend Hilton as 

 one of the pioneer movers that brought 

 about lower rates of travel. He has also 

 been largely instrumental in getting better 

 foul-brood laws, even though the bee-keeji- 

 ers of Michigan have recently been ])artly 

 defeated in that work. In the language of 

 scripture, " His works do follow him." 



Friend Hilton visited Medina several 

 times. I remember vividly his making a 



* It wovild seem that Friend Hilton's start in that 

 little Michigan town was like the leaven which our 

 Savior speaks of in his parable: "The kingdom of 

 heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took 

 and hid in three measures of meal till the whole 

 was leavened." 



t When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh 

 even his enemies to be at i)eace with him. — Prov. 

 16:7. 



X He was, if I am correct, for many years post- 

 master. 



