1903 



f, LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



643 



tea and coflee, nut products to take the 

 place of meat, and other things of that kind. 

 We are in position to know somethinj^' about 

 the g'rowth and mrif^^nitude of their busi- 

 ness, for we have been forbears furnishing 

 them carload after carlo id of boxes in 

 which to ship their health foods. Well, 

 just as soon as this company began to 

 build up a trade in things of their own in- 

 vention and suggestion, other people, being 

 jealous of their success, started in to make 

 similar products. Now, this is not so very 

 bad, because it is going on all over the 

 world ; and there is a good deal of truth in 

 the remark that competition is the life of 

 business. The thing that looks to me not 

 only unfair but sliaincful is that these rival 

 companies went and planted themselves in 

 Battle Creek. You see Battle Creek has be- 

 come a sort of household word for whole- 

 some health foods; it is something like the 

 firm in St. Louis that put up glucosed 

 honey and represented it as coming from 

 Medina, Ohio. Our place had gained a 

 world-wide reputation for fairness and 

 honest3' because of the wonderful growth 

 and good character of The A. I. Root Co. 

 I do not saj' this to boast, but because it 

 gives a fair illustration. These new com- 

 panies, it seems, under the stimulus of 

 their "Battle Creek"' trademark, soon like- 

 wise did a thriving business. Then others 

 came in; and, if I am correct, there are 

 now between thirty ayid forty different in- 

 stitutions all around the old original sani- 

 tarium, scattering broadcast circulars by 

 the ton concerning their Battle Creek health 

 foods. If they keep on doing business with 

 that sort of principle back of them' I believe 

 they will in time come to grief like the re- 

 pair-outfit fellows. But meanwhile I wish 

 this great nation of ours would frown down 

 every attempt of this kind to steal some 

 other man's thunder. In the first place, it 

 indicates a shameful lack of brains where 

 one starts out in this way to try to steal 

 the ideas of some other person. He is ex- 

 hibiting to the world the fact that he has 

 not brains enough to get up something of 

 his own; and if we were all a little more 

 ready to talk up to him, and give him the 

 go-by, I think there would be less of such 

 copying. 



The Battle Creek folks will send to any- 

 bod}', on receipt of a postal card, some 

 beautiful pamphlets and illustrations of 

 their new "temple of health," perhaps the 

 largest institution of the kind on the face 

 of the earth. The chief reason why I like 

 to give these folks an encouraging notice 

 now and then is that, with all their great 

 army of helpers, they have decided against 

 the use of tobacco, alcoholic stimulants, 

 and every thing of that kind, just as your 

 old friend A. I. Root has. 



I have just been very much pleased to see 

 the picture on page 8 of their "outdoor 

 gymnasium." This gymnasium is a big 

 yard with a high fence around it The 

 " apparatus " consists of bucksaws and 

 good sharp axes. Here the students and 



patients of the institution go in their g3^m- 

 nasium suits, bareheaded, barefooted, and 

 ha.relej,\^ed, and chop wood. It makes me 

 think of where I worked last summer up in 

 my home in Michigan. I was barefooted 

 and bareheaded, and my clothing was so 

 scant that I came pretty near being bare- 

 legged. I notice the farmers in the Trav- 

 erse region, when out in the field with 

 light work to do, have a fashion of rolling 

 up their sleeves almost to the elbow. Now, 

 I honestly believe that, if we were in the 

 habit of arranging our attire during the 

 hot months of the year so the sun and air 

 could strike our limbs and muscles, and 

 make them tanned and brown, it would 

 add largelj' to our health. I went bare- 

 footed because I had troublesome corns; 

 and if my feet became soiled there was 

 that running stream of water where I took 

 my daily baths. One can do ever so much 

 more work, at least in many occupations, by 

 dispensing with coatsleeves and shirt- 

 sleeves, underwearsleeves, and every thing 

 else. Of course, you are liable to be smil- 

 ed at if company comes around; but which 

 is worth more — robust health and the 

 bright exuberance of spirits that comes 

 with it, or to be fixed up for "company" 

 every hour in the day? I suppose the two 

 may be combined to a considerable degree; 

 but I am sure that one of the great aids to 

 better health is not only pure water to 

 drink and pure air to breathe, but to dress 

 in such a way that the air, water, and 

 sunshine can strike you all oi'er as much as 

 possible. The Battle Creek folks are on 

 the right track. 





'^wm^^^^s^^^m 



THAT AUTOMOBILE TRIP THROUGH MICHI- 

 GAN. 



This trip is going to take place about a 

 month later than I expected at first, for 

 reasons I will proceed to give. When I 

 bought the machine, an Olds-Mobile, I told 

 the agent, Mr. Andy Auble, that, if he 

 could teach me so I could run the 30 miles 

 from Cleveland to Medina that day, I would 

 take the machine. You see I wanted it put 

 to the severest test; and just then our clay 

 roads had been badly cut up by repeated 

 rains, and the mud had iried so part of the 

 way that the machine would have to climb 

 over great chunks of dried mud and clay, 

 and at other places the wheels would sink. 

 I told Mr. Auble if the machine would go 

 over such roads a? that without injury, I 

 would be satisfied with it. I had had a 

 little experience in running over good roads 

 around the parks in Cleveland. We started 

 off about 6 o'clock. The first ten miles over 

 the brick pavement was all right. For the 

 first time in my life I enjoyed having unlim- 



