GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



I will not attempt to tell you what Mrs. 

 Gray has done in her lifelong work as an 

 officer in the Woman's Christian Temper- 

 ance Union ; but I expect to give you some- 

 thing in that line a little later. Since her 

 husband's death she made a trip all alone 

 to a state convention, and she was the only 

 member present of the old original crusade 

 of 1874. Her picture appeared in many of 

 the dailies and in the temperance journals. 

 Below is a clipping from the Medina Ga- 

 zette: 



Mrs. Eliza .J. Gray, one of the sainted mothers of 

 Medina, died in Akron, Monday morning of this 

 week. Mrs. Gray has for many years been one of 

 the conspicuous figures of Medina, having more than 

 a local name for her temperance and W. C. T. U. 

 work. 



Eliza J. Root was born of sturdy New England 

 stock, the daughter of Samuel and Louisa Hart Root, 

 being one of seven children. She was born Sept. 17, 

 1834. At the age of nine years she moved with her 

 parents to Mogadore (near Akron). She was edu- 

 cated in the public schools, but her education was 

 supplemented by self-culture all her life. At 16 

 years of age she began teaching, and was united in 

 marriage to James G. Gray at the age of 19, Jan. 

 19, 1853. Mr. Gray was at the time instructor in 

 Folsom's Commercial College, Cleveland. To this 

 union four children were born. 



At the time of the famous " Crusade " in 1874, 

 Mrs. Gray, with her family, was living in Michigan 

 and engaged in the activity of the work there, mov- 

 ing a little later to her present home, Medina. She 

 has been state treasurer of the W. C. T. U., serving 

 for three and one-half years, and state superinten- 

 dent of the literature department many years. She 

 also has been a most efficient superintendent of the 

 Demorest contests in Ohio, retiring only on account 

 of failing health, and a loyal supporter of the Prohi- 

 bition party, bearing criticism and even social ostra- 

 cism with remarkable Christian spirit. With time and 

 money at her disposal, she used both at all times for 

 the advancement of the cause to whch she had given 

 herself. She was a devoted member of the Congre- 

 gational church. 



Pier death occurred just before our return 

 from Florida. It occurred so near the time 

 that we had picked on for our return that 

 we knew nothing about it until we reached 

 Medina on the morning of April 20. As the 

 children gathered about us, after the greet- 

 ings were over I remarked that I must run 

 right down and see my sister. When they 

 exchanged glances without replying imme- 

 diately, my heart began to sink, and then 

 some one said, " Amos, we are sorry to tell 

 you your sister has been worse." 



I replied, " Dear me ! I shall have to 

 hasten right down." 



Then some one added slowly, " She has 

 been very mxich worse. You cannot see 

 her." 



Then another one added, " Amos, your 

 sister has gone to her reward." 



As in the case of a former sister, I could 

 not take it in all at once. I could not realize 

 it. Many of you know, dear friends, how 

 such tilings affect us, especially when we 



are getting to be old; and it has now taken 

 days and even weeks for me to realize my 

 loss. When I am upstreet on some errand 

 I almost unconsciously start to go. down to 

 that well-known home ; and when I open my 

 mail, Avithout thinking I say to myself, "Oh 

 there ! Eliza must see that." And then some- 

 body asks in a letter about some phase of 

 the prohibition work where I am not well 

 posted, and I say to myself, " I will just 

 carry that letter down to Eliza, and she can 

 give me all the facts in the ease." 



Of course, I thank God again and again 

 that she was permitted to live a good long- 

 life, and that it was always a busy life. 

 Eliza, as I firmly believe, directed all her 

 efforts to benefit poor and ailing humanity. 

 In the language of one of our texts, " She 

 hath done what she could;" and the result 

 of her earnest and busy lifework will follow 

 on thru generations to come. And the con- 

 cluding text well applies to Mrs. Gray. She 

 contributed to temperance and missionary 

 work thru all her busy life; and altho she 

 earned quite a considerable sum in different 

 ways, together with her good husband, if I 

 am correctly informed it was practically all 

 given to the benefit of humanity, thru dif- 

 ferent channels devoted to the cause of tem- 

 perance. 



FRICTION MATCHES; WHEN INVENTED. 



Dear Mr. Root: — I know you wish to be accurate 

 in dates as in everything, so I call attention to your 

 S'icond note, bottom of page 641, Gleanings for 

 Aug. 1. You say "friction matches were not in 

 vented at that early day," etc., 72 years ago. The 

 Century Dictionary, under " Friction Matches," says 

 they were invented in 1827, and elsewhere that they 

 wore in pretty general us in 1330. I was born Feb. 

 11, 18.17, and remember distinctly that they were 

 cheap and plentiful in Hudson in 1842, and that my 

 mother told of the days of her girlhood when they 

 had none. Your people used coals as more conveni- 

 ent tlian matches for burning sulphur at the beehive, 

 I presume, and not because there were no matches. 

 T am. three years older than you, but cannot remem- 

 ber when friction matches were not plentiful and 

 cheap. 



Hudson, O., Aug. 9. W. I. Chamberlain. 



Many thanks, my good friend, for cor- 

 I'ecting my mistake. When I said " invent- 

 ed " I meant they had not yet reached our 

 log house in the woods. I distinctly remem- 

 ber my brother going to a neighbor's to get 

 a shovelful of coals because the fire was 

 out; and I also remember later when father 

 brought home some matches from town — 

 the first the family had ever seen ; and what 

 p curiosity it was to see mj' father start a 

 fire with the queer-looking things plentiful- 

 ly coated with brimstone as we discovered 

 when we got too near! The roads were so 

 muddy at that early day, and in such bad 

 repair, lliat we did not get to town very 

 often; and I fear we did not have a weekly 



