672 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



her word for it. But her overtasked mental 

 powers were giving indications that they 

 were not sufficient for the increasing strain 

 upon them, even when neither she nor I was 

 expecting it. Later on, a certain transac- 

 tion had been neglected. We found it had 

 been dropped when partly finished, but, for 

 some reason unknown, carried no further. 

 She declared she had had nothing to do with 

 it. I insisted it could have been no one else 

 who started it. In a puzzled way I began 

 turning over the pages of what we called 

 then our computation-book.* 



I found some figures that represented the 

 exact transaction I have mentioned. When 

 I showed that sheet to her, she was obliged 

 to admit it was her writing; but she was as 

 much astonished and perplexed as I was 

 when she said she could not recall any thing 

 about having made said figures. There I 

 was, bearing down hard on the poor woman 

 when she was really as innocent of any 

 thing wrong as I was myself. It was na- 

 ture's protest against overwork, or work 

 that required so much mental strain. I do 

 not think it occurred to either of us at the 

 time that the growing business would pretty 

 soon have to be turned over to younger 

 brains and muscles; but as we were both 

 professing Christians, and praying for 

 strength and guidance day by day, it was 

 not so very hard for us to accept and 

 learn the lesson that many elderly people 

 are obliged to accept and learn. Later 

 on, my health began to fail; and although 

 my son and son-in-law had not yet fin- 

 ished the course they planned in college, 

 they came home and took charge of the 

 business. The boys, fresh from college 

 training, with the vigor of young manhood, 

 soon discovered, by comparing notes with 

 other business houses, that my methods 

 were not up with the times; and it was 

 quite, a hard task for me to let go the 

 reins of business and stand to one side. 

 God in his great mercy suggested "the cab- 

 in in the woods" at about this crisis. My 

 memory began to fail like that of the book- 

 keeper, perhaps because it was no longer 

 able to grasp the thousands and I might 

 almost say millions of things to be remem- 

 bered. After I had been a few months at 

 the cabin in the woods, with nothing to look 

 after outside of the forty acres, my memory 

 became just as good as it ever was. 



By the way, I forgot to say in the proper 

 place that Miss Mason had all her life a 

 most remarkable m.emory, and she was 

 exceedingly accurate. Whatever she did 



* One of my reg-ulations when I had charge of the 

 business was that every clerk in the office should keep 

 a blank book and put every figure or mark of a pencil in 

 that book, dating all such marking or figuring for each 

 day's work. Lots of the clerks scolded, because they 

 thought it was just a queer notion of mine. But some- 

 times in a big office it is exceedingly important to find a 

 small scrap of paper on which somebody has been mark- 

 ing or figuring. As an illustration: 



We shipped a lot of maple sugar to a firm, and 

 charged them only half the value. I tried to find out 

 who made such a blunder, but all the clerks disclaimed 

 . responsibility. Finally a scrap of paper with some pen- 

 cil-marks showed the blunder in multiplying. The new 

 ■clerk who made it had to acknowledge her own figures. 



was done thoroughly and well. She never 

 learned to use a typewriter— at least not 

 very much. It was not particularly needed 

 in her work; but her beautiful plain writing 

 in letters and figures I shall always remem- 

 ber. No matter how hurried she was her 

 writing was always plain. 



Like myself, she tried some other occupa- 

 tion, thinking it might be beneficial as a 

 change. A few months ago she came home 

 to Medina, giving up work. Recently her 

 health began failing very rapidly. The phy- 

 sician she consulted did not seem to be able 

 to tell just what the matter was. I urged 

 that she go to Cleveland and find some 

 expert who could locate the trouble. I shall 

 always remember the pleasant smile she 

 gave me as she suggested her work was 

 probably done, and that there was no par- 

 ticular reason why she should live much 

 longer. She probably knew death was near, 

 although I did not. 



I have already given you several whole- 

 some morals to my talk, but there is just 

 one more left. If this good woman who was 

 all her life a blessing and a help to human- 

 ity had worked fewer hours, especially when 

 she was past fifty, and had spent more time 

 outdoors, she might have been a blessing to 

 humanity even yet, and for many years to 

 come. God in his great mercy suggested to 

 me the cabin in the woods. She had means 

 enough to enable here to drop work ; but the 

 characteristic of her life for being busy was 

 so strong that she accepted a position to 

 take charge of a home for elderly women. 

 The pay was pretty good, I believe, and she 

 thought it would be a change for her, even 

 if it was still a burden with many cares. 



Miss Mason enjoyed excellent health 

 almost all of her life. I think she once told 

 me that ten dollars would probably cover all 

 of her expenses for doctors' bills. Well, 

 somebody told me that in this old ladies' 

 home she could not have the abundance of 

 fresh air we always have here in our office; 

 that the old people could not bear the least 

 bit of draft or breeze, so she was kept a 

 great part of the time in close warm rooms. 

 I feel like adding right here that I believe 

 old people should be fenced off by them- 

 selves, so that their poorly aired apartments 

 will not poison the children and younger 

 folks; but I think I will change it and say 

 old people who can not bear a little breeze 

 should be fenced off from other folks. 



Now, about growing old gracefully. I 

 hope I can persuade young people that God 

 has made ample provision for people who 

 are growing old. It is his will that they 

 should be as bright and joyous as the chil- 

 dren; but in order to be this it is often neces- 

 sary that they should stand out of the way, 

 and do it gracefully. Even if the young 

 people do run things into the ground at the 

 start, let them do it. The loss of a few dol- 

 lars or of a few cents is not the worst ca- 

 lamity that can happen by any means. I do 

 not mean that old people should be "chloro- 

 formed" or any thing of that sort— God for- 

 bid! and the younger people do not mean 



