1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



811 



hands and faces, but our tired and some- 

 times sore feet. 



Now. lest I leave the impression that it 

 may not be so very bad to plan a Sunday 

 excursion, let me give you an incident. As 

 we wt'ie washing in the brook we saw two 

 men cutting wood to bring in to the hotel, 

 on mules. As we sat at dinner in the tent, 

 one of our party said: 



" I was never more astonished in my life 

 than when I saw^ those men cutting wood, 

 and drawing it in on Sunday." 



The remark was made so loud the two 

 men nt another table heard it. I saw the 

 face of one flush a little, and feared we 

 should have a jangle there on Sunday. 

 Soon his reply came, in an even and steady 

 tone: 



" And I was never more astonished in my 

 life than when I saw your crew coming 

 down here on a ' Sundaj' excursion.' And 

 after all the profession you fellows make, I 

 should like to know who is most guiltj'. 

 One of you has been kind enough to say 

 we have given you a good dinner; but this 

 dinner gave us a lot of work, and hard 

 work too. ' ' 



The man was right. I for one felt the 

 justice and fairness of his rebuke, and I re- 

 solved then and there to take slill more care 

 not to be again entrapped in a Sunday ex- 

 cursion. 



We did not take the long trip down to the 

 brink of the river, but followed a path to 

 the edge of a precipice where we could see 

 the yellow mudd3' waters of the Colorado 

 Kiver where it rushed between the rocks, 

 for four or five miles, but it was 1000 feet 

 or more below where we stood, and nearly 

 straight down. It looked almost as if one 

 could wade through it; but a man who had 

 been down to the water's edge said it was 

 too wide to throw a stone across it. We 

 started from the tents about 2 p. M. to walk 

 up the trail, and took it very leisureljs 

 stopping often to sit down and gaze at the 

 dizzy heights above us. The eye can take in 

 ther^a/distanceabovefar betterthan in look- 

 ing down. I do not know wh\' this is so. In 

 going up, a queer optical illusion confront- 

 ed us almost constantl}'. The wall of rock 

 in front seemed solid, without any possible 

 opening; but when we marched right up to 

 where it seemed the trail ^nitst enter a tun- 

 nel, an opening canyon gradually unfolded. 

 One of our party said his heart was beat- 

 ing so hard he feared palpitation that had 

 troubled him when a bo^'; and as he feared 

 to be alone he asked me to slow up with 

 him; and as I was pretty tired too we fell 

 behind the rest. Well, when the first ones 

 reached the hotel my friends were so anx- 

 ious about me, mainly on account of my 

 age, they sent a man with two saddle- 

 horses after me. This cost Si. 50, the usual 

 price for bringing up one who gives out on 

 the way. We planned in the morning to 

 go on foot, so as to avoid hiring any one to 

 work on Sunday. Some of the crowd car- 

 ried their dinner, for this reason. I knew 

 /should need a good square meal; and as 



the price was 75 cts. at either place, I rea- 

 soned it would be no worse to get it below. 

 You see how it turned out. In spite of my 

 planning, two men worked hard to get up 

 my dinner, and a man and two horses came 

 after me toward night. As it was, I ap- 

 preciated seeing the strength of a horse 

 take the place of my own; and I also keen- 

 ly enjoyed watching the horse as he skill- 

 fully planted his feet in making the diffi- 

 cult passages, climbing rocky stairs, etc. 

 I do not suppose a horse will ever fall if he 

 has the full rein, and is allowed to decide 

 for himself if it is possible for him to make 

 the passage. A thousand feet or more 

 straight down has no terrors for these 

 trained mountain horses. All horses are 

 shy of going where the footing is insecure; 

 but when they can see and feel the solid 

 rock under their feet, and when they can 

 also see where other horses have gone be- 

 fore them, they soon bring into play their 

 excellent judgment, or, perhaps I should 

 say, "horse sense. " Monday I felt so well 

 and strong I walked part way down the 

 trail again just for the fun of it; but Tues- 

 day my muscles were so sore I could' hardly 

 walk until I had got limbered up; and I 

 didn't get entirely over this soreness of the 

 muscles for three or four days. 



Before the train left, we took a carriage- 

 drive to Rowe's Point, where the river is 

 visible in three different places. At Senti- 

 nel Point the cliff is a full mile higher than 

 the water in the river. A glass is a great 

 aid in looking off these great elevations; 

 but even with the glass, the human eye re- 

 fuses, as it were, to recognize these vast 

 distances. At the hotel we were told Rowe's 

 Point was three miles distant. The books 

 say it is \^4 miles; and those of our party 

 who went on foot thought it even less. You 

 can make big wages going on foot. Quite 

 a few ladies make the whole canyon on 

 foot. We had a very pleasant talk with 

 two who had made Yosemite, and were then 

 making the eight-mile trail at Grand Can- 

 yon. These two women were alone and un- 

 attended. 



Our party all voted, I think, that the 

 Grand Canyon is worthy of all that has 

 been said about it; and I do not know that 

 I ever heard of anyone who felt disappoint- 

 ed when he came to see it. 



Now a concluding word in regard to our 

 text. If we acknowledge God in all our 

 wa3'S he will direct our paths; but we can 

 not, as a rule, lay out paths for others; 

 itnd oftentimes we can not even laj' out 

 paths fur ourselves. Furthermore, uod oft- 

 en ciills on us to tread U7iexpected paths. 



ALUMINUM INSTEAD OF TIN. 



Afr. Root: — Use an aluminum stew-pan 

 with which to heat water and do your cook- 

 ing, as related in Gleanings for June 15. 

 I think j'ou will find it quicker and better 

 than tinware. Wallace R. Moses. 



West Palm Beach, Fla., June 25. 



