1905 



GLEANINGS IN EEE CULTURE. 



555 



OUR 

 HOMES, 



BY A. I. R OOT. 



Quench not the Spirit.— II. Thess. 5 : 19. 



Again and again through life I am remind- 

 ed of the fact that the human family, like 

 the bees in a hive, are to work together. 

 Not only are neighbors to be neighborly, 

 just as the bees in the same hive are neigh- 

 borly, but God's plan was that all ages 

 should be neighborly. The very best work 

 can be done where the old and young work 

 together. Dr. Olsen's joke has pretty well 

 gone by, and I think we are all, perhaps, a 

 little better satisfied with things as they are, 

 since he has made this stir. To banish from 

 the busy traffic of life all men over 40, or, 

 if you choose, over 60, would be almost as 

 bad as to talk about banishing those under 

 40, or, if you choose, under 20. Huber is 21, 

 and Ernest is 42; and to keep it up arithmet- 

 ically I ought to be 63 instead of 65. Well, 

 when we three tackle some business propo- 

 sition we usually handle it; and if it is a 

 tough one we call in the two sons-in-law; 

 and for some purposes we often find it a 

 pretty good plan to call in the women folks 

 for counsel. Now, that is not all. There 

 are several grandchildren who are beginning 

 to have quite an eye (and head too) for the 

 problems of this life. 



Well, what I started out to say was not 

 exactly that we are all needed of all ages, 

 but also that there is great need of perfect 

 harmony. This is all true; but there is still 

 another thing true. The grandmothers and 

 grandfathers should all through life recog- 

 nize they are constantly setting examples; 

 and in even a model family there is a great 

 likelihood that the younger ones will be 

 " chips of the old block." The children and 

 grandchildren with all present advantages 

 and improvements should be expected, as a 

 rule, to outstrip the older ones. But even if 

 this be true they are very likely to copy not 

 only their good qualities but bad ones as well. 



A few days ago Huber was cleaning up 

 our automobile. It is getting to be spring- 

 time, and it is rather difficult to keep the 

 machine looking as neat and tidy as Mrs. 

 Root would have it. Besides, I expected to 

 take it in the afternoon to a Congregational 

 conference in another part of the county. 

 Huber had the machine out under one of the 

 apple-trees where he could work on the 

 grass ; and Leland, our fourteen-year-old 

 grandson, was helping. When I looked at 

 my watch I remarked it was after school- 

 time; but he said, byway of explanation, he 

 was not feeling very well that morning and 

 his mother said he need not go to school. I 

 did not say any thing, for I recognized how 

 exceedingly boylike it was to feel well 

 enough to work out under an apple-tree in 

 May, especially at a nice piece of machinery, 

 while he did not feel well enough to eo to 

 school. I guess one reason why I did not 



say any thing was because I remembered it 

 was very much like my own self, especially 

 during my early years. Of course, when 

 one gets to be 65, and is deacon of a church 

 besides, he is not expected to let his feelings 

 influence his conduct exactly as a boy's do. 

 The machine was all in nice trim, and for 

 the first time this season I started out for a 

 "gallop" across the country. The barom- 

 eter said rain, and the Weather Bureau said 

 rain, and Mrs. Root worried about my start- 

 ing out, especially as the country roads were 

 very hubby, with bad mudholes now and 

 then which I knew would be found. When I 

 got out in the country amid the green fields, 

 budding orchards, and occasionally a cherry- 

 tree in full bloom, I began to fell the inspi- 

 ration. It almost seemed as if the machine 

 also felt glad to get out into the country 

 once more. Although this is the third sum- 

 mer I have had it, it seemed as if it never 

 worked so well before. When I had made 

 about half the trip of ten miles it began to 

 rain; but the roads were so rough, and there 

 were so many deep mudholes (so deep, in 

 fact, that if I got into one of them the 

 machinery would strike the ground) I found 

 it difficult to make very much speed in the 

 rain unless I pushed ahead a little recklessly. 

 As I had on my rain-proof overcoat and my 

 usual fur cap I reasoned that the rain would 

 not do much harm until the roads got so wet 

 as to be slippery. This would make it dan- 

 gerous; so I put on the power, hoping to 

 reach town before the roads became so wet 

 as to slip. The little machine just bounded 

 over the rough places. Some of the time it 

 made me feel as if I were in very truth 

 aboard of that flying-machine. We jumped 

 and bounded until I could scarcely keep my 

 seat, and it seemed as if the wheels touched 

 the ground only now and then.* I have be- 

 come so accustomed to the guiding-lever 

 that I found I could keep the wheels on a 

 very narrow ridge between two deep ruts 

 without getting into either of them. 

 I came into the little town of Chatham all 



* Some of you may say, " Yes, that is all very well so 

 far as you are concerned, putting- that machine up to 

 high speed and making it jump so that the wheels hit 

 the rough roads only a part of the time. But how about 

 the unlucky people who might happen to be driving 

 horses on the same road ? No doubt you enjoyed the 

 spring air in the month of May that gave you inspira- 

 tion, etc.; but was it really the kind of inspiration a 

 Christian should indulge in ? " 



My reply is, while driving so fast I did not meet any 

 vehicle of any kind. Had any come in sight, of course 

 I would have slowed up. Once just before the rain, 

 whtn I was on a bad piece of road I caught sight of a 

 farmer and his wife coming toward me. When quite a 

 piece off they stopped and the woman began to get out. 

 I at once ran my machine off the beaten track, went 

 forward to meet them, and told them I was very sorry 

 indeed to cause them the least bit of trouble. Then I 

 took one of the horses by the head and led them past 

 the auto. They scarcely noticed it, and then the woman 

 began to apologize for having made me trouble. Then 

 her husband said, ''Mr. Root, if I had known that it was 

 you I would not have worried; and if the fellows who 

 run these machines were as careful and as anxious to 

 avoid giving anybody trouble we should have nothing to 

 complain of. IBut I supposed you would smash right 

 ahead just as they usually do; and with these deep 

 ditches on each side of the road I thought it was safest 

 to have my wife get out. We are very much obliged to 

 you for the trouble you have taken not to hinder or 

 annoy us." 



