1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



umbrellas and water-proofs in going- to 

 school. Between one and twp, however, I no- 

 ticed the wind was rising- rapidly (it blew 

 fearfully at noon), and swinging to the 

 north, with but little change in tempera- 

 ture. A little before two o'clock rain set 

 in, and it grew colder rapidly; and in less 

 than twelve hours the rain had changed to 

 snow, and the mercurj^ dropped from 80 to 

 30, or something over 50 degrees in twelve 

 hours. Fridaj"^ morning. May 1st, icicles 

 were hanging to the hydrants; but as it 

 was a freeze instead of a frost, fruit suffer- 

 ed but little or none. All day, May 1, the 

 temperature was but little above 40, and 

 everj'body predicted the ruin of the fruit. 

 We market-gardeners have a sort of rule 

 that, when the temperature is 50° or lower 

 at sundown, a killing frost may be expect- 

 ed. On the morning of Friday, May 1st, 

 however, the Weather Bureau was at hand 

 telling us that Saturday would be warmer, 

 and that there would be only a light frost 

 Friday night. I confess that, at eight or 

 nine o'clock, it looked to me as though we 

 were bound to have a killing frost; but I 

 was agreeablj' surprised Saturday morn- 

 ing. Ma}' 2d, to find only a little frost in 

 spots, and but little if any damage done. 

 Now, the point I wish to emphasize is this: 

 The average man, woman, and child will 

 persist in confusing the predictions of the 

 Weather Bureau with the sill}' talk of Hicks 

 and others of his stripe who pretend to be 

 able to predict what the weather will be 

 a whole j-ear ahead. In the above case the 

 Weather Bureau did not attempt to give 

 warning until the storm was only two days 

 or a little more distant. They were right 

 in every particular except that it did not 

 reach Medina quite as soon as they said it 

 probably would. 



Now, this one single prediction of the 

 Weather Bureau probably saved the people 

 of the United States thousands of dollars — 

 that is, if they gave heed to the timely no- 

 tice; and the predictions, also, that there 

 would be no killing frost that Friday night 

 probably saved other thousands by letting 

 fruit-men and gardeners know that warm- 

 er weather was just at hand, and would 

 modif}' the threatened frost. 



Temperance. 



GIVING THE WHISKY BUSINESS " FAIR 

 TREATMENT." 



We take pleasure in clipping the follow- 

 ing from the Moderri Farmer and Busy Bee 

 for May: 



Some few people have ordered their papers stopped 

 (which is their privilege, of cour.se) because of the po- 

 sition we have taken with regard to whisky adverti.'c- 

 ments. They say that we are not treating the whisky 

 business fairly. We would like to know what whisky 

 has ever done for humanity to entitle it to any consid- 

 eration. It has filled our prisons and almshouses; it 

 has dwarfed the intellect and stunted the moral 

 nature of multitudes of people; it has brought pov- 

 erty, want, and wretchedness to many families; it has 

 spread crime, disease, sickness, and death in its path- 



wr)y; It has ruined the life and prospects of many a 

 true and noble young man; it has brought disappoiiit- 

 menl and heartaches to many a beautiful, loving and 

 true woman; it has filled the world with crime 'mi.s- 

 ery, >orrow, and disappointment; it has always car- 

 ried m its wake .sqiialidiiess, imbecility, inefficiency 

 and vacillation of character; it carries on its face the 

 brand of illegitimacy; it is .sold in the darkness and 

 on the .sly behind curtained windows and closed 

 doors, and no respectable citizen thinks of frequent- 

 ing the saloon in the same open, bold, and above- 

 board way he does a bank, a drygoods store, or a bak- 

 ery. On Sunday he goes in at the front door of the 

 church or lecture-hall boldly and openly but he 

 sneaks around to the "side door" of the saloon, and 

 behind clo.sed doors and closely drawn curtains takes 

 his drink, and hurries out almost ashamed to be seen 

 by those who have come on the same errand and in 

 tne .same sneaking way which he has himself Will 

 some one tell why this is so? Why is it thafit is not 

 thought necessary to put screens before the doors, and 

 curtains at the windows of other places of business? 

 If the saloon has any excuse for e.xistence, if whi.sky 

 has any good in the world to its credit, we are free to 

 confess that we do not know what it is. It is reported 

 to have saved the lives of some people who have been 

 bitten by rattlesnakes, but we are inclined to doubt if 

 11 It can rightly lay claim to even this much good If 

 it can, it is on the doctrine of " Similia similibus cu- 

 lantur," cure poison with a more deadly poison, 



I should like to give the above such a 

 hearty amen that every reader of Glean- 

 . INGS could hear it. Not many years ago 

 there was a warm discussion in regard to 

 being too severe on the dram-sellei - Some- 

 body said I was not treating tho iloon- 

 keepers fairly, to which I rep^i , "My 

 good friend, if a mad dog should get loose 

 in your streets, and was biting men, women, 

 and children right and left, would you stop 

 those who were hot in its pursuit to remind 

 them that, whatever they did, they must 

 treat the mad dog fairly?" Somebody said 

 that my comparison was not " fair." I re- 

 plied the only thing unfair about it was the 

 mad dog was destructive to human life only, 

 while the saloon-keeper destroys body, soul, 

 and spirit. I was well aware that friend 

 Abbott is a born orator, but in the above 

 extract he has more than sustained his rep- 

 utation as a vigorous speaker and writer. 



WHISKY ADVERTISEMENTS. 



In going in and out of Cleveland on the 

 new electric railwaj'^ one sees out in the 

 fields, and in a good many places, big 

 flaming whisky advertisements. One of the 

 most glaring (and "galling") is one that 

 reads, "Wilson Whisky," in letters a foot 

 long or more. Right under it, in smaller 

 type, is, " That's all." Yes, they have the 

 same thing on garbage-boxes all through 

 the city. There has already been a protest 

 sent in to the mayor, about having whisky 

 advertisements on the neatly painted boxes 

 for rubbish that are scattered all around, 

 even in front of handsome homes. But the 

 signs are there still, so I suppose the city 

 fathers decide the revenue from the whisky 

 men, for this advertising, more than coun- 

 terbalances the protests from Christian peo- 

 ple whose feeUngs have been outraged. I 

 said to myself several times, and pretty em- 

 phatically, it is not "a//," or else I am 

 greatly mistaken in the temper of our peo- 

 ple. I for one would like to see ivar on this 

 matter, right here in our own land, if nothing 

 but war will remedy such a state of affairs. 



