68 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



thought of what lay before him in the life 

 God has g-iven him to live for good or evil. 

 Then came the thought, "For whom Christ 

 died." 



I took a ride on the electric cars, two or 

 three miles out into the suburbs. I wander- 

 ed around among the fine residences with 

 their beautiful tropical gardens adjoining. 

 Here we find all the rare and costly green- 

 house plants of the North in their wild and 

 untrameled beauty. Crotons grew like 

 trees, with a variety and brilliancy of col- 

 or far ahead of any thing produced in the 

 greenhouse. Hibiscus and camelias. with 

 blossoms larger and of greater variety, al- 

 most startled one as he suddenl}' comes up- 

 on them. To crown all, I came across a 

 Bougainvillea that covered a summer-house 

 with such a mass of bewitching and bewil- 

 dering color I burst out with an exclamatiDn 

 of delight. 



Bright colors seem to belong to Cuba. The 

 stone dwellings are painted or whitewashed 

 with various bright tints. You look 

 through the green foliage, and see what 

 appears to be a patch of blue sky, but find 

 out it is the wall of a house so near the col- 

 or of the sky you can't tell the difference. 

 The colored girls and women delight in 

 colors; and when they "slick up" in the 

 afternoon, and come out on the street in 

 their soft "summer drapery," rivaling in 

 color the bright tropical flowers, one may 

 smile at their efforts to follow their whiter 

 sisters and look attractive; but when he re- 

 flects that it is such as they "for whom 

 Christ died " I hope he breathes a prayer 

 that they too may be led in wisdom's ways. 



When I started on my trip Mr. Boyden 

 gave me a card telling me where to go in 

 Havana to find Mr. de Beche. He had it 

 "Obispo St. No. 15." When I started to 

 go over the city Mr. de Beche also gave me 

 a card. I stuck both in my pocket, think- 

 ing thej' were, of course, the same. When I 

 got lost (as I felt sure I would) I showed 

 my card and was told where to go, and 

 found my place very quickly. 



In the afternoon I had an appointment to 

 meet Mr. Fred Craj'craft at 5 o'clock, at the 

 same place. About half- past four I went to 

 the place, " Obispo 15," but the street was 

 changed — nothing familiar. It inade me 

 think of a bee when somebody has carried 

 his hive away. There I was, a stranger in 

 a strange citj'. with the only human being 

 I knew " spirited away," and, worst of all, 

 he had taken his business house and the 

 whole street. I thought of the Arabian 

 Nights. I applied to a policeman. He very 

 kind]}' found somebody who could talk Eng- 

 lish. I showed my card, and they said my 

 card was not right; but when I told them I 

 was there since noon at "Obispo 15," and 

 vny friend and his store were there, they 

 were greatly puzzled. Those who knew ihe 

 city were called in. They looked at me to 

 see if I was sane, and looked at my card. 

 While I was considerably worried, it made 

 my heart glad to see half a dozen men stop 

 their own business to bother with a stran- 



ger. Not one turned away until they got me 

 out of trouble. Finally one of them said: 



"Why, that place is C Reily St., not 

 Obispo." 



Then I found Mr. Boyden had made a 

 mistake in the street. 



On my former trips I had referred to the 

 printed card without noticing my written 

 address was not the same; but the accident 

 gave me an insight into and an acquaint- 

 ance with these people I should not have 

 gctten otherwise. They seemed worried 

 and troubled because they could not help 

 me out of my dilemma. 



While on the cars coming out to our api- 

 ar}^ a very pretty j'oung girl got on the 

 train and sat in front of me. Over her jet- 

 black hair was a head dress of some kind 

 of lace. Her soft dreamy ej'cs had an in- 

 nocent, pure, childlike look that made one 

 turn to her again and again. She made 

 me think of the tropical flowers I have been 

 trying to describe. "Surely," said I to 

 myself, "this rare picture of feminine love- 

 liness must be as pure and good as she 

 seems." A little later the fumes of a cigar- 

 ette came across my face. A hand as beau- 

 tiful as the face of the owner lay on the sill 

 of the open window, and, as sure as you 

 live, the cigarette that anno5'ed me rested 

 carelessly between those dainty fingers. 

 Again my little text rang out sharp and 

 clear, "For whom Christ died." 



I am writing on a little stand out in the 

 open air this 7th day of January. Our Cu- 

 ban neighbors are curious about our little 

 city of white bee-hives. A little girl of 

 eight has just been here. She and I are 

 friends already. She can read and write 

 Spanish, but not English. We are teach- 

 ing each other. A bright j'oung man comes 

 to see us nearlj' every day. He knows but 

 two words of English, "good by." We 

 all have a big time laughing when he 

 comes, shakes hands all around, and says, 

 clear and plain, "good by," when he 

 means "good morning," or "how do you 

 do?" I am sure I think I can not be mis- 

 taken in feeling that these people, these 

 "for whom Christ died," are read^', and 

 would gladlj' listen to the message the dear 

 Savior bade us carry to them. "Go ye 

 into all the world, and preach the gospel to 

 every creature. " You know, friends, some- 

 thing about how Bro. Reed and I labored 

 last summer in trying to build up that bro- 

 ken-down church. I am not done with it 

 j'et, but God seems to have called me to a 

 new field; and as I look it over, the word 

 of the Savio r comes into my mind. 



• Woe unto tliee. Chorazin! woe unto tliee. Bethsaidn! 

 for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had 

 l>een done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repent- 

 ed long ago in sackcloth and and ashes. ^Matt. 11:21. 



I do not know how much missionary work 

 has been done in Cuba; but I am impressed 

 that these people are ripe for a great har- 

 vest. I am told that there is a Baptist 

 church started at Pinar del Rio, 20 miles 

 west of here. The missionar}' will, of 

 course, have to learn Spanish. Almost 



