NOVEMBER 1, 1914 



873 



press at a regular rate of speed, and I could 

 well appreciate the difference between steam 

 power and wind power for running machin- 

 ery. I need not take space here to tell you 

 that pretty soon a larger engine was needed, 

 then a bigger building down by the railway, 

 half a mile away, where we are now located, 

 and so on and so on. I felt sad to part 

 with the windmill that had given me so 

 much pleasure and satisfaction in climbing 

 all over it to keep it well oiled, etc. What 

 was the use of having a windmill when the 

 steam-engine could do the work ever so much 

 better? One of my good friends at that 

 time, a farmer as well as a beekeeper, offer- 

 ed me twenty colonies of bees for the wind- 

 mill that originally cost me between two 

 and three hundred dollars. He moved it 

 over to his farm, put it on top of his barn, 

 and used it for running his cutting-box, 

 grinding gi'ain, pumping water, etc. My 

 good friend Ed Blakeslee is dead and gone; 

 but the old windmill stands above the barn, 

 even yet, I suppose because it is less work 

 to let it remain than to take it down. On 

 our front cover we have a picture of it. I 

 urged the boys not to give the picture, 

 because it is such a sad reminder of the 

 days gone by. Its dilapidated appearance 

 makes me think of some old man who has 

 outlived his usefulness. 



The second picture, given on page 854, 

 shows the beautiful Blakeslee home to bet- 

 ter advantage. On the left you catch a 

 glimpse of a row of basswood-trees. I think 

 the row is about half a mile long. While I 

 was planning my basswood orchard, neigh- 

 bor Blakeslee, an enthusiastic beekeeper at 

 the time, caught the fever and planted some 

 basswoods. His daughter, Miss Blakeslee, 

 now superintends the farm, but she does 

 not happen to be a beekeeper. She is in- 

 terested in growing currants and raspber- 

 ries. You can get a good glimpse of her 

 berry-patch with a white horse following 

 the cultivator between the rows. A new 

 windmill on a modern steel tower rises 

 above their dwelling. In the basement of 

 the barn where the old windmill stands she 

 keeps about 500 Wnite Leghorn hens. They 

 are kept there winter and summer without 

 any yard at all; and with her management 

 their eggs pay for their feed, and have for 

 three or four years, leaving a good big 

 margin for their care and attention. 



Windmills are ail right for pumping 

 water; but since the advent of gasoline- 

 engines (especially if the supply of gaso- 

 line continues to hold out), there is not 

 much use of talking about wind power to 

 drive machinery. With the use of a storage 

 battery it is possible to get a steady speed 



from the irregular and fitful blasts of win- 

 ter and summer wind; but so far as I can 

 learn there are only a few plants that are 

 successfully carried on in this way. With 

 the modern up-to-date windmills that are 

 not only self-governing but self-oiling, the 

 best machines are almost automatic for 

 pumping, and with a very little care and 

 looking-after they will last many years. 



" BEWARE OP PICKPOCKETS ! " NO. 2. 



This time I am going to say something 

 about the old-fashioned way of picking 

 pockets. Come to think about it, I do not 

 know but it is some improvement on the 

 old-fashioned way — that is, an improvement 

 made by the pickers of pockets. 



Last winter, among a great lot of bee- 

 keepers who called at our Florida home was 

 a great big chap who, I fear, did not enjoy 

 his Florida trip very much, owing to the 

 fact that his pockets were picked of some- 

 thing over $200 just as he arrived at Jack- 

 sonville. I might have taken his name and 

 address, but perhaps he would object to so 

 much publicity. Why I speak of it now is 

 to sound a warning. He said that, just as 

 they arrived at Jacksonville on a crowded 

 train, somebody came along and cried out, 

 " Beware of pickpockets ! " Now, this man 

 had been in the habit of carrying liis money 

 in an inside pocket; but for some reason 

 that morning he had it in an ordinary pock- 

 et. Not long after the warning, " Beware 

 of pickpockets ! " the train stopped in the 

 Jacksonville dejDot. Two men came rushing 

 up the aisle in the car in a big hurry, just 

 as passengers were getting off. One of them 

 called out in a loud voice to his companion 

 a few seats ahead, something like this : 



" Bill, we have got the wrong car. Let 

 us get back as quick as we can, or we may 

 get left." 



At this his companion turned about and 

 suddenly jostled several individuals in his 

 haste, and together these two managed to 

 make quite a jam and mixup. Now, my 

 friend thinks the whole thing was a put-up 

 job. The man who called out the warning, 

 "' Beware of pickpockets," expected that 

 every one who carried money would quickly 

 place his hand on the spot where his roll 

 of bills was placed (to he sure it was there), 

 thus giving the thieves the information that 

 he not only had some money, but just where 

 he kept it ; and the same man who called 

 out the warning was one of the gang. As 

 soon as my friend discovered that his money 

 w^as missing he hunted up the police at the 

 depot, and told them that he could identify 

 the men who made the jam. The policeman, 



