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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Au<r. 17, 189 



farming' communities and pretty cities and towns in the 

 Hoosier and Buckeye States. On nearing Pittsburgh it 

 skirts the banks of the Ohio River before entering' Union 

 Station in the center of that citj-. From Pittsburgh the 

 route passes scenes of industrial activity which have been 

 likened unto the lieart-tlirobs of America's manufacturing. 

 Vast iron and coke interests spread out in pleasing pano- 

 rama as the trains glide onward toward the romantic Alle- 

 gheny Mountains. The tragic scenes of the flood-swept 

 Conemaugh Valley liave left their imprint in that historic 

 vale. Traces of the memorable deluge are noticeable at 

 and near the rebuilt city of Johnstown. At Cresson the 

 AUeghenies are crost in the highest point above sea level. 

 Horseshoe Curve, a marvel of mechanical engineering, is 

 rounded on the eastern slope of the AUeghenies. The 

 " Blue Juniata " River is followed through regions of en- 

 chanting grandeur. Just west of Harrisburg the Susque- 

 hanna River is crost on one of the longest and most sub- 

 stantial railroad bridges in the world. The country be- 

 tween that city and Philadelpliia embraces some of the 

 finest agricultural sections of America. 



The best trains over the Pennsylvania Lines leave Clii- 

 •cago daily at 3:00 p.m. and at 11:30 p.m. Grand Army rates 

 going are in effect Sept. 1, 2, 3 and 4. We expect to leave 

 on the 3:00 p.m. train Monday, Sept. 4, which arrives in 

 Philadelphia the evening of the next day at about 6:00 

 o'clock. We should be pleased to have any bee-keepers or 

 ■others west of Chicago go with us on that train. If you 

 desire it, we will be glad to make any advance arrange- 

 ments for you that you may wish, so that you can be sure to 

 make connections with the train that leaves Chicago at 3:00 

 p.m.. Sept. 4, or on the one starting at 11:30 p.m. 



Rev. E. T. Abbott, of Missouri, expects to be at the 

 Philadelpliia convention. 



* * * * * 



Mr. Elvert W. Haag, of Stark Co., Ohio, wrote us 

 Aug. S : "Bees did very well here this season." 



* » * * ♦ 



Mr. R. B. Leahy, of the Leahy Mfg. Co., called on us 

 last week, when on his way on a business trip thru Wiscon- 

 sin. Mr. Leahy reports a most satisfactorv season's bee- 

 supph' business. He looks as if he had been overworking 

 in order to take care of the trade that came his way this 

 year. But a man can stand a good deal of a strain for quite 

 awhile if business is rolling in his direction. 

 « # ♦ » * 



Mr. a. I. Root expects to spend a week or ten days in 

 and around Boston, about the 15th to the 25th of this month. 

 It is during the time of the meeting of the League of 

 Amercan Wheelmen ir that city. It's just wonderful ho%v 

 that " 60-years-old boy " gets all over this country. One 

 time he is in Yellowstone Park, and the next time you hear 

 from him he is in the city noted for its " larniu' " and 

 baked beans ! A root is generally supposed to be grounded 

 pretty well, but this Root seems to thrive just as well, or 

 better, when moving around on top of the ground or water. 

 ZJ * * * * * 



Mr. G. M. DoolittlE and his work are referred to as 

 follows bv " Stenog " in Gleanings in Bee-Culture for July 

 15: 



" Writing to Mr. York, Mr. Doolittle says : ' I am fear- 

 fully driven with work now, and I have sore eyes and a 

 lame back to make work as uncomfortable as possible.' I 

 have always felt it was a pity that Mr. Doolittle should 

 spend his useful life in doing his own wofk instead of hir- 

 ing help. If he had secured help during the last 20 years. 



and had merely supervised his work. I am confident tha at 

 cipher would now be standing on the right side of everj' 

 "$l " he can show. I do not see how any man can write as 

 much for the press as he does without a stenographer, to 

 saj' nothing of the great amount of work he does in his 

 apiary and on his farm. I am speaking in general terras, 

 of course, for perhaps Mr. D. knows his own business bet- 

 ter than I do." 



* * ♦ ♦ * 



Mr. G. W. Bkodbeck is one of California's best known 

 bee-keepers. In Gleanings in Bee-Culture for Aug. 1, J. H. 

 Martin had this to say about Mr. Brodbeck and one of his 

 dogs : 



"Mr. Brodbeck and I have been sort o' neighborly and 

 sociable this season. He moved his bees into an adjoining 

 canyon, within easj- visiting distance, with some hopes of 

 securing a little honey. But his hopes are blasted along 

 with the rest of us. and I think they are a little blasteder. 

 for he is not only minus a honey-yield, but minus one of 

 those bull-terrors. The poor dog fell into a reservoir and 

 was drowned. It is supposed that the dog, being old and 

 feeble, and his tail becoming so animated at the sight of 

 water, it wagged the body into the reservoir." 



* * * * * 



PkES. E. Whitcomb, of Saline Co., Nebr., in a letter 

 dated Aug. 5, says he is going to the Exposition now in 

 operation at Omaha, " in order to procure Indian dancers 

 for the Philadelphia meeting." But we should think that 

 unless Mr. Whitcomb has stiffened up a good deal in his 

 joints the past year /if could do all the Indian dancing that 

 the program will call for at Philadelphia. Still, he may 

 need the presence of a few Indian partners to help get up 

 his enthusiasm. 



Referring to local apiarian matters, Mr. Whitcomb says: 



" The honey crop is very light, and with poor prospects 

 for the future. During the early spring we had to hustle 

 against foul brood, but found no case that did not succumb 

 quickly to the starvation treatment, and have done pretty 

 well since." 



* * ♦ » ♦ 



Mr. E. W. Brown, of Erie Co.. N. Y., has been giving 

 in Gleanings in Bee-Culture something of his experience 

 with bees. In one issue he also told " how to put energj- 

 into a slow poke of ahorse," which he used for peddling 

 honey. Mr. Brown, being an electrical expert, and elec- 

 tricity being such a wonderful power these days, it is not 

 surprising' that he discovered a way in which to apply the cur- 

 rent so as to sort of revivify a run-down horse. He ex- 

 plains it thus : 



" The season last year was a poor one here as well as 

 in most parts of the country ; but with my 40 colonies, and 

 10 not mine, I produced three tons of honey, mostly comb, 

 in plain sections, and increast to 60 full colonies and 5 weak 

 ones. Of cour.se, I had a fair fall flow. When I saw all 

 this honej' coming in I began to wonder how I could dispose 

 of it. Dr. Miller says there are two things that bee-keepers 

 are most interested in : 1. How to get a crop of honey ; 2. 

 How to get rid of it. I soon decided how I would get rid of 

 my crop. I lookt around till I found the best ten-dollar 

 horse in the county. It had but a single fault — it wouldn't 

 go. It would " whoa " better than any other horse lever 

 saw. After I bought the horse the former owner said that 

 it was just a little inclined to be lazy. Perhaps electricity 

 would be indicated in this case, I thought ; and .so one day 

 I proceeded to attach concealed wires to the harness in such 

 a way that I could, by pressing a button in the wagon, give 

 the horse a mild electro-stimulus under its tail from a medi- 

 cal induction-coil run by dry batteries. This arrangement 

 proved to be a great success, and it increast the value of 

 the hor.se 175 percent. I can now overtake and pass any- 

 thing on the road, to the great astonishment of the people 

 who know the past record of the horse. One touch of the 

 button furnishes sufficient ambition for a mile journey. I 

 now seldom have occasion to touch the button, for the horse 

 is nearly cured of its loss of ambition. When I speak it 

 gives two switches of its tail, and away it goes. I have 

 made g-ood use of this horse in disposing of my crop ; and 

 as I now have an out-apiary four miles away, it will be a 

 valuable help to me this coming season." 



Mr. Brown should get a patent on his method of apply- 

 ing electricity in such a way as to overcome lost ambition 

 in a horse. Wonder how it would affect a lazy man, if 

 properly applied. Try it on — well, some other man besides 

 Hasty, for if he is as quick as his name he doesn't need 

 electricitv around him. 



