SKrTKMBIOR, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



603 



In closing let nie urge upon you the im- 

 portance of going to your Bible wlieiiever 

 you arc worried or tronblod, or undecided 

 as to what is the proper thing for tlie fol- 

 lower of the Ijord Jesus Christ to do. And 

 you want a good reference Bible. When 

 \'0u find some passage that seems to hit the 

 point in question, by means of the refer- 

 euces hunt out everything in regard to the 

 matter. Again and again have I almost 

 shouted to find that God's holy word made 

 it so very plain as to what course a Chris- 

 tian ought to pursue. It has been verily a 

 "lamp to my feet and a light unto my 

 path." And one more thing: Before you 

 can expect the good Lord to answer your 

 jirayers, get rid of anything that God's 

 liol}^ word condemns. Sometimes in going 

 over the ten commandments we shall find 

 that some one of them hits the spot to a 

 dot. And remember this: "If I regard in- 

 iquity in my heart the Lord will not hear 

 me. ' ' 



Portland Cement^ — Where Does it Come 



From? Also Something about 



Alpena, Michigan. 



A few days ago Huber and I were called 

 to Alpena, Mich., to attend a beekeepers ' 

 convention; but just iww I am not going to 

 talk about bees. When I first reached the 

 city I was impressed with the lavish way 

 in which the good people of that northern 

 locality were using cement, not only for 

 broad walks clear away out in the country, 

 but for beautiful paved roads broad enough 

 to prevent collision, and just where good 

 hard roads were so much needed in the- 

 saud}^ regions of northern Michigan. By 

 the way, this beautiful city is built almost 

 entirely of fireproof structures, either ce- 

 ment or stone; and I do not think I ever 

 saw so many huge plate-glass windows (with 

 beautiful displays of merchandise) in any 

 other city of its size or even twice the size 

 of Alpena. 



After the convention the beekeepers were 

 carried in automobiles over the city and into 

 the surrounding country, and I am now going 

 to tell you of a siglit that took a mighty hold 

 on me. Alpena has one of the largest works 

 for making Portland cement that are to be 

 found in the United States, and maybe in 

 the world. The automobiles rounded up by 

 the side of what we might call an immense 

 stone quarry. This quarry was, perhaps, a 

 fiuarter of a mil* across. The stone that 

 makes the cement seems to be a sort of 

 shale. It had been scooped out until it is 

 now like a great wooden bowl; and down 

 somewhere near the lowest part was a big 

 shovel operated by steam; but instead of 

 its being a real shovel it was a sort of 

 scoop with sharp-tined blades or forks. This 

 machine was taking up huge forkfuls of 

 the broken sliale and dumping it into little 

 wooden cars. Now, there are a dozen or 

 more of these little cars, all moving on rail- 

 road tracks that circle about the quarry in 



dilTeieiit directiojis, fiiKillj/ coming to the 

 surface and running u[) an incline so steep, 

 it seemed to me like going upstairs. As fast 

 as each little car was loaded it started off 

 all alone by itself, circled about, gradually 

 reaching the surface, then ran up the in- 

 cline, dumped its load into a big freigiit 

 car, and then went back empty after an- 

 other load. The astonishing thing about 

 this whole industry was that there was not 

 a man in sight; and there was no evidence 

 of any boss or any human being anywhere 

 unless it was some one in that covered cab 

 to operate tiie big steam shovel. Tliese lit- 

 tle rough-looking wooden cars went to and 

 fro doing their work just as if they had 

 intelligence. When a loaded car running up 

 tlie incline saw an empty car coming toward 

 it — or at least it looked to me as if it ac- 

 tually saw the car coming down — it stopped 

 a minute until the empty one coming 

 switched off on a side track; then after it 

 got by, the empty one backed up and pro- 

 ceeded on its way, dodging other cars in a 

 like manner so there was no collision, no 

 dispute about the right of way, and no 

 hitch in the work anywhere. It looked to 

 me like a well-organized hive of bees. Of 

 course I suppose there must have been some- 

 body up near where the cars dumped, who 

 kept an eye on things, and "pressed the 

 button" in order to have everything move 

 on just right. A friend near me suggested 

 there was not even a man to "collect tlie 

 fare and take up the tickets." I said at 

 once, "Why can not our coal mines be 

 worked on that plan and thus get our coal 

 without any striking, as there is nobody to 

 strike?'' Somebody suggested that the op- 

 erator on the tower might strike; but then, 

 dear friends, we should have only one man 

 to deal with instead of a iiiiJUoii or more. 

 Pretty soon I asked, "Why can we not in 

 this way run our railways, trolley lines, and 

 vessels on the great ocean, and finalli/, our 

 flylng-macMnes ? " 



Just while I was considering the matter 

 today (Aug. 4), a circular was iDut into my 

 hand from a great radio factorj^ in Kansas 

 City, Mo., from which I make the following 

 extract: 



"Radio transmits music through the air. 

 It has guided warships without a soul on 

 board through countless maneuvers at sea. 

 It has brought pilotless airplanes from fly- 

 ing-fields safely through the clouds to other 

 landings. It has guided driverless automo- 

 biles through crowded traffic. ' ' 



While mentioning the above to a friend 

 he said there is a coal mine somewhere in 

 the South so near the surface that all they 

 have to do is to scratch off a little top soil; 

 and he said there is enough of it to keep 

 doing exactly as these good people dig the 

 rock for making cement. 



"How are these little cars moved?" you 

 may ask. Well, somebody said it is done 

 by electricity, and that these tracks have a 

 third rail to carry the current. Perhaps 

 some friend who sees this in the region of 



