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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1922 



M 



r 



Y good 

 friends, I 

 am once 

 more back in 

 my Ohio home — 

 or at least, a 

 part of me is 

 here. But more 

 of this later on. 

 Now if you wish 

 to get the most 

 good out of this 

 Home paper, and 

 at the same time 

 save me repeti- 

 tion, please turn 

 back to page 42, 

 last January, 

 and read it over. 

 I told you there, 



that when I came home with an armful of 

 groceries I found Mrs. Root lying on the floor 

 of the kitchen. I think her head rested on 

 one arm, or at least she looked perfectly 

 natural. Her face was peaceful, just as if 

 she were asleep, and no mark or trace of 

 any suffering could be seen. I took hold of 

 her hand, and it seemed as warm as usual, 

 and then T laid my hand on her face, think- 

 ing slie was only in a faint. I called my 

 nearest neighbors; and as a doctor happened 

 to be in the neighborhood we had him in a. 

 very few minutes. Then I hastened back, 

 and called her by name; and finally with 

 quivering voice, I said, "0 Sue! Can you 

 not answer me?" It was the first time in 

 the sixty-five years of our acquaintance 

 that she had failed to answer. I might 

 also say it was the first time she had failed 

 to give me her bright smile of love, and 

 faithfulness to our marriage vow. There 

 are Avomen, and I am afraid there are 

 wives, who have their spells of pouting or 

 refusing to talk. Mrs. Root never had such 

 a spell for even an instant in all of our mar- 

 ried life. Of course we had our difficul- 

 ties. I mentioned one of them in our De- 

 cember issue. At another time one of our 

 boys was disobedient, and flatly declared 

 that he would not obey his father, and it 

 was in regard to quite a vital matter. Mrs. 

 Root was present, and she begged to be al- 

 lowed to take the young man in hand. Tn 

 fact, it was about the first time in his life 

 that he had begun to feel the manly impulse, 

 and along with it he had got the boyish 

 idea in his head that he was just as good a 

 judge of Avhat was proper and right as his 

 father, or maybe a little better. I was 

 brought up in the old Connecticut style — 

 "spare the rod and spoil the child," and I 

 do not know but I was thinking about the 

 "rod" for "desperate circumstances." 

 Mrs. Root and I, for almost the first time, 

 did not agree; but I remembered my re- 

 ligion sufficiently, to think it was time for 

 jne to stop, and I shut my mouth and re- 

 fused to say anything further. But Ave two. 

 for almost the first time, did not feel pleas- 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 





x\nd the Lord God said, It is not good that the 

 man should be alone. I will make him a help meet 

 for him. — Gen. 2:18. 



Wliosover liveth and believeth in me shall never 

 die. — John 11:26. 



Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 

 entered into the heart of man, the things which 

 God hath prepared for them that love him. — I. 

 Cor. 2:9. 



antly toward 

 each other. Be- 

 fore going t 

 bed, however, 

 there was to be 

 a prayer by the 

 bedside, and I, 

 at least, was not 

 in a praying 

 frame of mind to 

 kneel down. 

 After consider- 

 ing a moment I 

 smilingly put out 

 my hand to her; 

 and, oh how 

 quickly she took 

 it in both of her 

 hands and then 

 put her arm 

 around my neck and cried! Instead of 

 discussing the matter further in the morn- 

 ing with the boy, I said nothing. I let 

 the good mother manage the affair. My 

 good friends, you who have faith, will be- 

 lieve me when I say, a mother's love is a 

 stronger power, a stronger force, than all 

 the "rods," and I do not know but I might 

 say than all priftons and penitentiaries on 

 the face of the earth. O dear mothers 

 whose eyes rest on this page, do you realize 

 the power that the loving Father has placed 

 in pour hands and hearts? Once more let 

 me quote: 



The hand that rocks the cradle 

 Is the hand that rules the world. 



or at least is uoav ruling the world. Let us 

 now go back. 



When the doctor arrived he took a tiny 

 flashlight from his pocket and turned up 

 one of her evelids and then shook his head. 

 Said I: 



"Doctor, do you mean to say that there 

 is no chance?" 



He shook his head again, and said the 

 test he had made had never been known to 

 fail. Then I sloAvly began to realize what 

 it meant to me — never more in this loorkl 

 could I again see my greatest friend, in- 

 structor and adviser. The only hope of ever 

 seeing her again, and being once more 

 united to the dear wife, was in the Avorld to 

 come, after death. And then I began con- 

 sidering and going over what good proof 

 poor humanity has of a future meeting. Of 

 course it all comes from the Bible, and, I 

 might almost say, from the dear Savior's 

 words; for he alone passed through death 

 and came back to life. With all the prog- 

 ress that is being made in the sciences, in 

 scanning the heavens, in making new dis- 

 coveries pertaining to health, electricity, 

 wireless, etc., nothing has ever touched that 

 great unknown life beyond this. I hope 

 you all agree with me when I say the spirit 

 rappings of years ago, and everything that 

 has come along that line amount to just 

 nothing. I feel like saying that no person 

 having good sound sense will listen for a 



