190(5 



(iLEANlNCiS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1259 



my seat-niiites. They all said/'J^et well 

 enough alone." Some one suggested I could 

 teal' out 200 miles and throw it away if 1 was 

 so exceedingly conscientious: but I replied: 



"No, friends, that wt)uld lie like burning 

 uj) good money. I will use the extra uiilage, 

 and it will come in handy. I assure you: Imt 

 I will write at once and tell the railroad 

 company to charge it up to our advertising 

 account." 



I did so. but 1 did not feel really satistietl 

 alKjut it until the following letter came to 

 hand : 



.)//'. A. I. yi'(«y/.-— This will acknowledge receipt ot 

 yours of the 1st inst.. and I thank you for calling: my 

 attention to the fact that conductor pulled short 

 milage from your advertising milage ticket on your 

 recent trip. I have charged your account with $4.80, 

 the value of milage ( 192 miles at SHc per mile). 



A. A. Mii-LER, G. P. A. 

 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. 

 Chicago. 111., Sept. 3. 



There is still another point to be consider- 

 ed in this matter, and I am sorry so many 

 Christian people are liable to make a mistake 

 about it. It has been urged that this conduc- 

 tor may lose his place just l)ecause 1 have in- 

 sisted on having the amount charged to me. 

 Now, even if this be true, and 1 feel sure it 

 is not, it is surely not right to atlvise and 

 teach any one to profit Uy the mistakes of 

 others. Whenever any man or woman un- 

 dertakes to transact important business, it is 

 right that the employer should know how 

 many and how grievous these mistakes are. 

 If the mistake I have reported is only one of 

 a good many, it may result in dismissal. If, 

 however, it is one a very good man lidjijttn- 

 ed to make in the rush of the excursion sea- 

 son, I am sure it will be overlooked.* 



('an a professing ('hristian consistently 

 profit by scnue mistake or blunder of one of 

 his fellow-men'.' In other words, does it not 

 behoove us to "let the world see it im'((iis 

 sornethiu;/ to lie a Christian"? 



* Not only do railroad managers, but the proi)rie- 

 tors of large manufacturing and mercantile estab- 

 lishments, etc., go to great pains to locate and check 

 (not only mistakes, but) fru-ij thina irregular. Floor- 

 walkers are employed, and detectives or something 

 in that line to keep careful watch that they may nip 

 in the bud any disposition to pass by or cover up 

 mistakes and delinciuencies. A man or woman who 

 succeeds in covering up blunders is not likely to 

 amend her ways as would the one who is found out 

 and promptly reproved or made to stand the conse- 

 quences. In fact, the grafting business, bank fail- 

 ures, the defalcations, etc., are largely the outgrowth 

 of neglect along this very line. When a bank is 

 wrecked, or we have a railroad accident resulting in 

 a loss of life, etc., investigation often shows that in- 

 competent or unscrupulous men have been kept when 

 they ought to have been "spotted" long ago, and 

 either reformed or dismissed; and yet good Christian 

 people recommend covering up a bad blunder for fear 

 the blunderer may lose his place if promptly report- 

 ed and corrected. A very bright Christian young 

 lady said to me a few days ago concerning this mat- 

 ter, " Why, Mr. Root, I never report mistakes or er- 

 rors of my fellow-clerks. I should get them into a 

 great deal of trouble if I did so.' Of course.no one 

 would recommend making a fuss about trifles. But 

 where a loss of property is involved, and the culprit 

 seems disinclined to own up and make up any loss, it 

 is unquestionably a duty, even though it be an ex- 

 ceedingly unpleasant one, to report irregularities. 

 Where the blunder is going to put money into our 

 own pockets if we keep still, it seems to me such 

 practice is a pretty big stepping-stone to downright 

 fraud and graft . 



Just one more incident before closing this 

 Home Paper. At the Minnesota State Fair I 

 met a Mr. Radcliffe. I regret I can not give 

 his full name and address. While we sat 

 down on a bench in the shade, Mr. R. told 

 the following, as nearly as I can remember: 



About thirty years ago he was keeping 

 l>ees in California, and he wanted one of the 

 best imported Italian queens. He sent $7.50 

 for a select tested imported queen, which 

 came in good ox"der: but as she failed to do 

 well, examination with a magnifier showed 

 a parasitic insect clinging to her body. With 

 the help of his wife and a needle the insect 

 was removed, but she was soon missing. 

 Nobody knows whether this insect came with 

 her from Italy, or came from his own hive. 

 As we guarantee only safe arrival he decided 

 it was his loss, and ordered a second one at 

 a lower price, $4.50. He says, however, 

 that when I received the $4.50 and statement 

 as above, I insisted on bearing half the loss 

 and sending another $7.50 queen. In some 

 way there remained $1.50 to his credit, which 

 he told me to keep, as he w^as quite satisfied. 

 The next January he received a postal card, 

 partly printed, reading something as fol- 

 lows: 



"Friend Radcliffe. We find on our books 

 a credit to you of $1.50. Shall we remit this, 

 or do you wish it still to stand to your cred- 

 it?" 



He said he showed it to his wife, and 

 laughed aljout it, and let the matter drop: 

 but each year came a credit-card like the 

 above, until he told us to apply it to Glean- 

 ings, and then said to his wife that he would 

 take Gleanings the rest of his life, just to 

 encottrage a man who took as much pains to 

 hunt up a man and notify him of a credit as 

 he did to hunt up a man and collect a debt. 

 Said I: "Mr. Radcliffe, are yoti a professing 

 Christian?" 



"I am. Bro. Root." 



"Well, then, Bro. R., you know I did this, 

 not to recommend our firm, Init to exalt and 

 hold up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." 



"I know it, Mr. Root, I know it: and that 

 is why I love you and your teachings." 



Dear friend, this little incident resttlted in 

 getting a subscriber who has stood by us 

 for thirty years. It was a profitable invest- 

 ment from a money point of view. You may 

 lose a little money for the time being in do- 

 ing right in God's sight: but in the end it 

 will be "treastire laid up in heaven, where 

 moth and rust doth not corrupt, and where 

 thieves do not break through nor steal." 



Once more: Peter once said to the Mas- 

 ter. "We have left all and followed thee." 

 Peter implied, although he did not say so, 

 "What shall we have as a reward for re- 

 linquishing all these things that the world 

 is clamoring for?" Jesus told him that 

 he and every one else w^ho make a sacrifice 

 for Christ's sake should receive "now in 

 this time." meaning in this present life, 

 houses, brethren, sisters, lands, etc., a 

 hundredfold, "and in the world to come, 

 eternal life." 



