December, 1909. 



397 



American Hqq Journal 



and took us over all the extensive plant 

 of the Company, which is one of the 

 largest in the world making wooden 

 school and advertising novelties, toys, 

 etc. Not a bit of wood is wasted there 

 — not even the knots or sawdust, for 

 they are used for fuel under the great 

 boilers that help to furnish the power 

 necessary to run the immense factory 

 of the W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 



Saturday being a short day, and Mr. 

 Falconer himself being very busy, and 

 also having a previous engagement, we 

 left immediately after lunch, which we 

 had with Mr. and Mrs. Martin. 



Referring to Mrs. Martin, reminds us 

 of a good story. It seems that Mrs. M. 

 (who until a few months ago was Miss 

 Carrie Boehme, of Cincinnati), was 

 chief clerk in the office ot The Fred 

 W. Muth Co. We had met her there 

 four years ago, and in the absence of 

 Mr. Muth, she was very gracious and 

 kind to us. We remember that Mr. 

 Muth, on several occasions, referred to 

 "Miss Carrie" as being practically in- 

 dispensable to the firm. 



Well, a year or so ago Mr. Leslie 

 Martin came to Cincinnati. Being a 

 practical bee-keeper, and for some time 

 in the employ of the apiarian depart- 

 ment of the United States Government, 

 he and Mr. Muth were soon good 

 friends. He was invited to make Mr. 



Mr. and Mks. Leslie Martin. 



Muth's office his headquarters while in 

 Cincinnati, which he gratefully did. 



A little later Mr. Muth was'asked by 

 the Falconer Mfg. Co. if he knew of 

 some wide-awake young man who 

 could take charge of their bee-supply 

 department. Of course he did. He 

 knew just the right man. And so he 

 recommended Leslie Martin. 



But here is where the "good story" 

 comes in. What did " Leslie " do but 

 take "Miss Carrie" with him as his 

 wife! And now she helps him in his 

 office work. 



Talk about enterprise! Do you know 

 of anything to beat that? And poor 

 Mr. Muth — well, his " Miss Carrie " 

 was gone. And yet no one could blame 

 Mr. Martin, for he simply took advan- 

 tage of his opportunity. He was wise. 

 He knew what he wanted — and got her. 



But Mr. Muth took it good naturedly, 

 and is getting along all right with his 

 office work, for he was fortunate in 

 having a very capable sister who could 

 come and take the place that " Miss 

 Carrie" filled so acceptably for so 

 many years. 



The A. I. Root Co. 



We next called on the A. I. Root Co., 

 at Medina, Ohio. They were in the 

 midst of a general tear-up, incident to 



re-building. A 3-story concrete-and- 

 brick building for warehouse purposes 

 was the biggest thing under way just 

 then. They were also changing their 

 water-sprinkler system, which cost 

 enormously. But, when completed, it 



bile to Lodi, Ohio, some 10 miles away, 

 after first running out to one of the 

 queen-rearing yards a couple of miles 

 from Medina. Of course the bees were 

 already prepared for winter, and as the 

 dav was cool none were flying. 



Main Factory of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. 



will reduce their fire insurance rate 

 greatly. 



The whole plant of the Root Com- 

 pany covers something like 1.5 acres of 

 ground. It is a tremendous thing, and 

 practically all built up as a result of the 

 work of the busy little honey-bee. The 

 wholly-concrete building in which are 

 located all the business offices of the 

 firm, besides printing office, etc., is a 

 magnificently appointed one-story 

 building. The private office of each 

 member of the firm is delightful. 



When we were at Medina all the em- 

 ployees that could possibly help out- 

 doors were used in constructing the 

 new building, and in making the gen- 

 eral changes. During the busiest sea- 

 son they employ something like .350 

 hands. 



Mr. A. I. Root, the "father" of prac- 

 tically everything at Rootville, was at 

 home, but expected in a few days to go 



The Griggs Bros. Co. 



Our last call was made on The Griggs 

 Bros. Co., 24 N. Erie St., Toledo, Ohio. 

 We had never been there before. To- 

 ledo is a beautiful city, located at the 

 mouth of the Maumee River, on Lake 

 Erie. The Griggs brothers are two 

 enterprising young men who surely are 

 doing a great business in bee-supplies 

 and honey. Their large bottling de- 

 partment is in charge of Mr. Kimball, 

 father-in-law of Mr. S. J. Griggs. They 

 have a fine, large, 3-story store build- 

 ing, splendidly arranged for their grow- 

 ing business. And they are succeeding, 

 too, as every firm will succeed that is 

 determined to deal squarely and hon- 

 orably every time. It was a great pleas- 

 ure to us to spend several hours with 

 these brothers who, though having had 

 their struggles, are rapidly getting to 

 the top in both honey and bee-supplies 



Office and Factory of The Kretchmkr Mfg. Co.. Council Bluffs. Iowa. 



to his Florida camp for the winter. We 

 found him dictating to "Stenog." (Mr. 

 W. P. Root) his semi-monthly sermon- 

 ette, clad in an overcoat and fur cap, 

 as usual ! 



In order to get to our next and last 

 stop in time. Editor E. R. Root very 

 kindly took us in his speedy automo- 



The Kretchmer Mfg. Co. 



Nov. 18th we were at the factory of 

 the Kretchmer Mfg. Co., Council Bluffs, 

 Iowa. In 190.5 it was moved from Red 

 Oak, Iowa, where it had been located for 

 many years. Mr. Edward Kretchmer, 

 the head of the concern, began the 



