1256 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



colossal failures. Order is the first law of heaven 

 and earth. It has been said that one of the causes 

 of the civil war was that the South had no public 

 schools where the children were taught obedience. 

 Miss Sarah Smith, who for more than twenty years 

 poured her life into our schools, once said: "The 

 relations between parent and child have changed ir. 

 recent years; there is more freedom of intercourse, 

 more comradeship, a better understanding, which, 

 while an advantage in many ways enhances the 

 difficulty of securing obedience." It is so much 

 trouble for some parents to make their children 

 obey. They would rather let things go and trust 

 the Lord to bring all out right in due season. Faith 

 is so much easier than works. John Ruskin one 

 time told parents not to try to leave the child a 

 m.illion pounds, but to try unceasingly to teach the 

 child obedience ; that, if the boy did not obey nature, 

 nature would grind him to powder. Ruskin knew 

 her fires would burn him, her stones would crush 

 him, her acids would consume him. She would not 

 forgive one single act of disobedience. To give a 

 child the gift of obedience is worth more than a 

 million of pounds. 



And let the child be taught that character is the 

 aim of all life's schools and teachers. Life is not 

 speculative. Love, duty, service, are its great watch- 

 words. What better school could God have de- 

 vised for character-building than that in which we 

 live? — Nature with her lesson in variety, constant 

 surprises and marvelous beauty; the home, with its 

 joy, obligations, and affections; society proceeding 

 from the home, till it embraces humanity at large, 

 and makes men kin with it all, through sympathy, 

 fellowship, and appeals for servtce. What power 

 for Christian service in the uncertainty of life, in the 

 memory of father and mother and early home, in the 

 trust and love of one's children — in the devotion of 

 husband and wife! by such influences God brings 

 forth golden character from the material of ordinary 

 lives. Let it be the prayer of old and young, "So 

 teach us to number our days that we may get us a 

 heart of wisdom." 



Temperance. 



THE "whisky business " ALONG THE LINE 



OF P\TENT MEDICINES; PERIODICALS 



THAT ACCEPT SUCH ADVERTISING. 



Our readers are no doubt well aware that 

 the United States p-overnment has at sever- 

 al different times during the past year or 

 two undertaken a crusade against patent 

 medicines, especially those that are but little 

 else than intoxicating liquors with enough 

 drugs of some kind in them to call them 

 ' ' medicines. ' ' Well, many of you have been 

 a little perplexed and surprised to find that 

 nothing came of it. A recent number of 

 Collier's Weekly turns on a search-light 

 that explains these matters somewhat. The 

 patent-medicine men have formed a sort of 

 combine. The people of the United States 

 at this time pay something like $100,000,000 

 a year for these medicines. It is an expen- 

 sive way of getting whisky, it is true; but 

 it is an avenue through which respectable 

 people can get it and take it day after day. 

 The manufacturers admit that they get aw- 

 ful prices for their whisky tinctures; but 

 they excuse themselves by saying the ex- 

 pense of advertising is so great they can 

 not sell cheaper. Yes, the expense of ad- 

 vertising is great. Collier's Weekly says 

 that, of the $100,000,000 that our people give 

 for whisky alone in this shape, at least 



$40,000,000 of it goes to newspapers and 

 magazines that advertise the stuff. The 

 medicine men pay spot cash, and make big 

 contracts, as you may see, probably, by 

 looking into your family paper. Now, Col- 

 lier's expose is this: In consideration of get- 

 ting this good big fat advertising, the pub- 

 lisher of the paper signs a contract to see 

 that nothing gets into his paper in the read- 

 ing-columns, or anywhere else, derogatory 

 to the medicine business, or that might in- 

 jure the sales of peruna, swamp root, or 

 whatever name the stuff masquerades under; 

 then when an outraged public or even our 

 government undertakes to ventilate this mat- 

 ter it is suppressed. Collier's Weekly says 

 that one Cleveland daily lost $18,000 in 48 

 hours by forgetting or ignoring their con- 

 tract with the medicine men not to expose 

 their nefarious business. 



Now, then, friends, the periodicals of our 

 land are lining up. Those like Collier's 

 Weekly, McClure's, Gleanings, etc., that 

 refuse to accept medicine advertisements of 

 any kind, can speak out and warn the public, 

 without disastrous losses. All the others— 

 those that advertise these nostrums — are 

 mum. There is a padlock on their lips. But 

 this is not all. That contract, a copy of 

 which is given in Collier's Weekly, binds 

 these publishers by plain words to defend 

 the use of alcoholic medicines; and you will 

 see these periodicals coming out now and 

 objecting to the crusade that is being start- 

 ed. One periodical that comes into our 

 home, that I have always valued highly, not 

 only advertises patent medicines, but defends 

 their use. They say it is cheaper to buy the 

 medicine at the drugstores than to go to the 

 doctor. It says you are more apt to get 

 pure unadulterated medicine if you get it al- 

 ready put up with fancy wrappers, etc. 

 Peruna is made right near our home. The 

 testimonials for it read much like those for 

 Duffy's malt whisky, and yet the victims of 

 alcohol and morphine are all around us. 

 Some time ago one of the boys in 

 our establishment felt bad, and got his eye 

 on a peruna advertisement. It made him 

 feel better, of course: but pretty soon he 

 got to taking it, bottle after bottle. No- 

 body knew about it until he became unfit for 

 work, and had contracted a habit that it 

 may be hard to break away from. The 

 State of Ohio is shutting up the saloons at a 

 pretty good jog; but it is driving a certain 

 class to the use of patent medicines. These 

 medicines are also taken by educated and 

 intelligent people who ought to know better 

 —people who would be ashamed of having 

 it said they drank whisky, beer, or even wine; 

 and almost before they know it they find 

 themselves bound with iron chains to alcohol, 

 opium, cocaine, or some other vile drug. 

 What shall we do? Tell the publishers of 

 your home paper that you want a periodical 

 that does not advertise peruna, Duffy's malt 

 whisky, nor medicines of any kind. If they 

 pay no attention to your suggestion, you can 

 be pretty sure their hands are tied by the 

 patent-medicine syndicate. 



