Ai'RiI., 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



25i 



OUR older 

 readers may 

 recog n i z e 

 that the story T 

 am about to tell 

 of a wonderful 

 and not only 

 prompt, but 

 " 1 h g - d i s- 

 tance, ' ' answer 

 to prayer, is one 

 I have told al- 

 ready, perhaps 

 more than once. 

 After my 

 "craze," as 

 some people call- 

 ed it, for start- 

 ing Sunday 

 schools I started 

 a sort of Sunday 

 school in our county jail. Medina had sa- 

 loons at that time, and, as a matter of 

 course, there was quite a class in our jail 

 most of the time. The crowd I found there 

 started to make fun of me with their rude 

 jests and even blasphemous and filthy 

 stories. One day when they would hardly 

 listen to my talk I got hold of a piece of 

 paper and pinned against the wall, after I 

 had written on it, "Blessed are the pure in 

 heart, for they shall see God." It seemed to 

 have a good effect; and when I got them to 

 singing some of those beautiful Gospel 

 Hymns (for this was when Moody and San- 

 key first became known to the world at 

 large) they soon learned to enjoy the singing 

 if nothing else. One of them was a boy or a 

 man, perhaps 20 years of age, who had been 

 in the penitentiary for stealing chickens; but 

 as soon as his time was out he was caught 

 again for the same offense, and was on his 

 way to the penitentiary. He openly boasted 

 that they might carry his dead body back to 

 that "old pen," but they would never carry 

 him alive. It somehow happened that he was 

 kept in jail three or four months, and he 

 and I became pretty well acquainted. I 

 visited him not only every Sunday, but 

 often during the week, and it was finally my 

 privilege to get him to kneel down on the 

 stone floor and utter the prayer, "God, have 

 mercy on me a sinner." He had no money 

 to employ a Jawyer. I said to him, "Fred, 

 the great God above is worth more than all 

 the lawyers on the face of the earth. In- 

 stead of trying to screen yourself, you tell 

 the whole truth and God will take care of 

 you. ' ' 



"Fred did so, and the judge astonished 

 the court by saying, "Gentlemen, we send 

 our boys to the state prison to make them 

 better. I will personally guarantee that this 

 young man will be 'better' without any pen- 

 itentiary sentence." 



The next morning Fred surprised me by 

 coming into my store and saying, "Mr. 

 Root, it turned out just as you said, and I 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 

 God. — Matt. .5:8. 



Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of 

 his hand, and meted out heaven with the span? — - 

 Isaiah 40:12. 



What manner of man is this, that even the winds 

 and the sea obey him? — Matt. 8:27. 



Let him know that he which converteth the sinner 

 froin the error of his way shall save a soul from 

 death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. — Jame.s 

 5:20. 



am here a free 

 mail. You are the 

 only friend I 

 liave in this 

 town, and almost 

 the only one 1 

 h a V e i n the 

 world. Can you 

 set me at work 

 at something?' ' 



I started him 

 at setting type 

 for our little bee 

 journal, and a 

 considerable part 

 of Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture 

 away back when 

 it was young 

 bore the imprint 

 of the type he 



set. I was then in the jewelry business, 

 but was not yet able to buy a safe in which 

 to store my valuables at night, and so I had 

 an apprentice sleep in the store close up to 

 the showcase. This apprentice fell sick, and 

 so I asked Fred to take his place. He did 

 not say very much ; but just as I was going 

 home that night he leaned against the show- 

 case and said, "Mr. Root, how much are all 

 these watches and other things worth which 

 you leave here over night — a hundred dol- 

 lars or more?" 



"Yes, Fred, two or three hundred dol- 

 lars. ' ' 



"And you want me to sleep here and take 

 care of them?' ' 



I nodded assent, and then he said, with 

 trembling voice, ' ' Mr. Root, do you consider 

 that just a few weeks ago I would have 

 jumped at the chance of loading this up 

 and getting away off before morning?" 



I smilingly remarked, "Fred, are you at 

 all afraid that your old temptations will 

 come back?' ' 



Then he began to cry as he leaned over 

 the showcase. I do not know -that I ever 

 saw a man cry like that before; but he final- 

 ly stammered out, "Mr. Root, so long as 

 God lets me live I will defend everything 

 that belongs to you or yours, even if it 

 takes my last drop of blood." 



Fred afterAvard carried on successfully 

 one of our out-of-town Sunday schools. Let 

 me now digress a little: 



People thought me crazy away back in 

 those early days when I paid $20.00 for one 

 queen bee; and when I took a chicken thief 

 out of jail and installed him in my store to 

 look after the watches and jewelry by night, 

 they for the most part lost confidence in 

 me. The storj^ got to going around town, 

 and all at once I found I could not borrow 

 a cent of my friends right or left; and yet 

 that first brick factory had its walls up, 

 and was ready for the roof. The man who 

 furnished me the brick had agreed to give 

 iiie reasonable time; but he became alarmed, 



