lie 



ization in the country. The saloon element rose up 

 in arms against such an order by boycotting my com- 

 pany. They boycotted the cars, would not use elec- 

 tric light, would not have any dealings with the 

 •company unless they were absolutely compelled to. 

 But vfe stuck to the order, and have prospered in 

 spite of the opposition of the saloon element. This 

 same saloon organization controls the politics of our 

 city, and they elect their own mayor, sworn to en- 

 force the laws, and he enforces them so well that 

 saloons are open day and night, Sundays, holidays, 

 election days, or any other day. On any pleasant 

 Sunday or holiday, citizens may have the pleasure 

 of seeing "His Honor "(?) seated at a round table 

 in the back room of some saloon, guzzling beer with 

 his boon companions. You may rest assured that 

 that kind of mayor has used every effort in his power 

 to annoy a public-service company, so utterly regard- 

 less of the ordinary amenities of politics as to dare 

 oppose the gang in power — the gang in this case 

 being the saloon men. Naturally there has been a 

 time in this city about as (cheerful and entertaining 

 as the proverbial Donnybrook Fair. The brewers, the 

 i^alonn men, and their friends are a crafty lot of 

 individuals. Pew people realize the enormous power 

 jf the liquor element in politics. If they did, the 

 whole gang would be wiped out in one election. 

 Some very level-headed thinkers have been of the 

 opinion that much of the hue and cry against public- 

 service corporations has been skillfully engineered by 

 the liquor interests to draw attention away from the 

 ulcer of their own existence. In the midst of this 

 turmoil, and the mud of political campaigns involv- 

 ing saloon men, it is and has been a pleasure to 

 receive Gleanings twice a month, and go through 

 its pages reading of the clean, honest business icon- 

 ducted in a clean and honest way, and capped by 

 the kind observations and comments of your Mr. A. 

 I. Root. 



FROM NEAR " TJIE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT 



SUN ;" A VERY KIND LETTER FROM A 



NORWEGIAN SCHOOLTEACHER. 



Dear old Friend: — Of course you have long since 

 forgotten me; but I often think of you, especially 

 among my bees, and every tim. when Gleanings 

 flies into my house; also among my poultry I think 

 of you. 



Since you are in my eyes an old brotherly friend, 

 whom I should so like to see, I will make bold to ask 

 you a favor. Many of our newspapers speak of a 

 new plant as an exceeding blessing to manhood, 

 going to supplant the potato. They call it dasheen. 

 I. S. Young told me of you. He is dead now. Now, 

 I should like you to send me a little seed, and at the 

 same time tell me how it is planted, and when and 

 how it is treated, and when it is ripe. The news- 

 papers say not only the root is excellent, but also the 

 leaves, stewed like salad. Both also are good for 

 cattle. Are the roots cooked or fried? or both, like 

 the potato ? The bags you put it in must be strong, 

 so that the seeds may by no means be mixed up. 



You know schoolmasters don't earn much, and I 

 have eight children to educate, so my little part of 

 Norway (exceedingly picturesque) costs me only 280 

 English shillings ($70.00), and consists of wood, 

 mountain precipices, debris, and oak roots; but now 

 I have cleared it myself, with the assistance of my 

 wife and children, and have two fruit trees and ever 

 so many bushes and a kitchen garden. If what these 

 three American plants or grasses promise holds good 

 I might also easily have a cow (or even two), which 

 would be a grand thing. 



My three oldest sons go in for the agricultural 

 line, so you see what way my interests go along with 

 teaching children, which is by far the most beautiful 

 and blessed calling of all in life. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULtURfe 



My oldest son is just now with two empty hands, 

 but a life and heart full of good will; and after 

 having passed his agricultural examinations with 

 the very greatest distinction, he bought a farm of his 

 own; and if now these American plants hold good, 

 you know what a blessing it would be to him as well, 

 if I give him part of what you send me. Of course, 

 I shall pay your outlay. His farm cost 24,000 En 

 glish shilMngs ($6000), and he has but 3000. Fan 

 cy, then, how the poor fellow will have to work. 



Perhaps you think, like others, that Norway is a 

 country high up under the pole, with " ice bears " 

 in the streets. Well, if you do, to undeceive you I 

 will tell you that here in the South our gardens are 

 as full of the most splendid apples, pears, plums, etc., 

 as ever you saw, and myself and another man here 

 get ripe grapes and peaches and apricots every year 

 on free land ; therefore I don't think you need fear 

 your seed would not thrive. To-day, Sept. 12, we 

 have 73 degrees Fahr. in the shade (no sun in the 

 sky to-day, otherwise it would be still warmer), and 

 the water in the "fjord" (bay) is 72 Fahr. It 

 would give your heart joy to see how happily and 

 tidily people live in their little houses, and how the 

 weest spot of ground among the mountains and 

 rocks, by means of stone walls, is made into a gar- 

 den with fruit-trees and flowers, often no bigger 

 than 5, 6, or 8 feet square, and even less than that. 

 Indeed, so rocky is this part of my glorious father- 

 land that there is not a single garden about the town 

 but is now, by means of stone walls, built up 15 

 feet high to get a patch of garden no bigger than 

 the floor of your own dining-room. You never saw 

 the like ; but if you once have such a little spot, 

 whatever you plant grows most beautifully, and the 

 steep mountains around absorb every ray of the sun 

 and make it very warm, day and night ; and as the 

 nights are very light even here in the south you can, 

 if you will strain your eyes, read your newspapers 

 at twelve and one o'clock at night in your garden 

 about the middle and end of June. The plants grow 

 day and night as well. Such a country, with so much 

 stone and so little earth, must needs be poor; but 

 as the nation is enlightened and gifted and pious 

 and striving, you never see extreme poverty as you 

 see in the rich countries. 



I do believe the word of God thrives nowhere so 

 well as in the valleys of Norway, and perhaps you 

 will think I speak right when I tell you of our 

 missions among the heathen. We carry on missions in 

 Zululand, Madagascar, Santhatistan, China, besides 

 among the .Jews, and a minor mission in our own 

 country. Well, the statistics some 20 years ago (and 

 I feel sure it is the same yet) said that Norway 

 alone (2% millions of inhabitants) gave as much 

 to the mission as Sweden (5V^ millions of inhabi- 

 tants) and Denmark (2^4 millions), and half of 

 Finland (2% millions of inhabitants), put together. 

 May I not be proud of such a fatherland, for Sweden 

 and Denmark, at least, are ever so much richer 

 countries than Norway. Norway is, perhaps, the 

 most democratic country of Europe. Indeed, since 

 1827, nobility and gentry are forbidden by law. We 

 are Lutherans ; and in all the country there are but 

 a hundred Jews or so, and but 1100 Roman Catho- 

 lics, which is a most happy state of affairs. 



Formerly our people were very much given to 

 drink; but during the last thirty or forty years the 

 uation has made such violent efforts against this 

 unhappy habit that there is now but one country in 

 Europe that consumes less spirits — viz., Finland. 

 I am more than happy to say that, like their father, 

 my three grown-up sons (28, 27, and 19 years) have 

 not been under the influence of wine a single time 

 in their life, which is much; for when young fellows 

 come together in Norway their first thought is whis- 

 ky. I think it is all owing to a tale out of my own 

 brave, unselfish father's life. He distinguished him- 

 self so much serving as a soldier that two lieutenants 

 and one captain in the army offered to send him to 



