1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



505 



value to him in the enterprise which has made him known to 

 bee-keepers, and which entitles him to honorable mention 

 among those interested in the advancement of scientific api- 

 culture. , 



In the fall of 1884 he returned to Watertown and re- 

 sumed his relations with the firm of Lewis & Parks, which 

 now entered extensively into the business of manufactuiiug 

 apiarian supplies. The business steadily grew under his man- 

 agement until it became one among the largest in the world, 

 engaged in the exclusive manufacture of a special line of im- 

 plements used in the apiary, namely, hives and sections. They 

 have manufactured other lines of goods, but have made these 

 a specialty. I presume I will be safe in saying that there is no 

 country in the habitable globe where modern apiculture is 

 prosperous in which their goods are not known. 



In 1890, through the work of some reckless boys, the en- 

 tire plant was destroyed by fire. The business was now incor- 

 porated under the name of G. B. Lewis Co., and Mr. Parks 

 was made secretary, treasurer and general manager, he own- 

 ing one-half of the stock of the company. They rebuilt their 

 factory on a much larger scale, and put in new and improved 

 machinery, since which time, under the management of Mr. 

 Parks, the business has pushed steadily forward and kept 

 abreast of the times. 



Mr. Parks had a robust and vigorous constitution, but 

 about a year ago his health began to fail. He was forced to 

 quit business and devote his entire time and energies in an ef- 

 fort to regain, if possible, what he had lost. Tliis, however, 

 was not the first time that he realized that he did not have that 



I doubt if he ever opened a hive which contained bees, but he 

 had inventive genius and keen perceptive faculties, saw quick- 

 ly what was needed, and what the people wanted. However, 

 there is no question but what certain imperfections may be 

 found in some of his apiarian inventions, growing out of the 

 simple fact that there are some things about a bee-hive which 

 can be learned only by actual work in the apiary, 



Mr. Parks had traveled extensively, having made two trips 

 to Europe and many to different parts of the United States in 

 the interest of the various enterprises in which he was inter- 

 ested. While he has been successful in the manufacture of 

 aiparian supplies, yet the bulk of the fortune which he left be- 

 hind hiih was made out of his numerous inventions of machinery, 

 etc. I do not know what he realized out of it, but from an 

 intimate knowledge of its great value in many ways, I con- 

 sider his patents on his basket box, and the machinery by 

 which it is manufactured, worth nearly half a million dollars, 

 as it was patented in Europe and Canada as well as in the 

 United States. 



It may be inferred from this that he was successful in 

 business, and he deserved to be, as all that he left behind him 

 was made by honest toil, push and energy. He was not only 

 successful in business, but he had found a place in the hearts 

 of those who knew him best, of which any man might be 

 proud. The following extract from a letter from one of the 

 employes of the factory will tell the story better than I can: 



"Mr. Parks had the esteem and good-will of any and al' 

 who have ever been in his employ. He was plain and demo' 



Establishment of the G. B. Lewis Co., Watertown, Wis. 



vigor of constitution which he had once possessed; for he said 

 to the writer in a confidential conversation about three years 

 ago that he felt that he must soon give up business and devote 

 more time to recreation, or he should break down. Perhaps, 

 if he had carried out his plans at that time, he might yet be 

 with us, but of course we cannot tell. His malady was one, 

 Bright's disease, so called to conceal our ignorance, which un- 

 der medical treatment generally proves fatal. 



He left his business last fall, went to Florida, had the best 

 of care, and the benefit of skilled medical attendance, but he 

 gradually grew weaker, and in the spring his friends, with 

 great care and attention, succeeded in bringing him back to 

 his home. On the morning of July 1 he quietly closed his 

 eyes to this life; only, I trust, to open them on a richer and 

 better life, untrammelled by the limitations of purely material 

 surroundings. 



Mr. Parks was in many respects a remarkable man. He 

 was quiet in his manner; modest in his demeanor; and was a 

 man of few words, as I knew him in a business experience of 

 ten or twelve years. He was open-hearted and plain spoken; 

 detesting every form of sham and pretense. He believed in 

 God and immortality; but religion to him was a personal mat- 

 ter, which he never paraded before the public, and of which he 

 never spoke to the writer but once during all of his intimate 

 acquaintance with him. He was a Mason in good standing, 

 and was laid to rest according to the forms of that body, by 

 the lodge to which he belonged. He was full of dry wit and 

 enjoyed a joke; was true to his friends, and was as tender as a 

 child. The last time I ever saw him was as he stood beside 

 Mr. Newman, bathing his head, when, after his long talk in 

 the meeting of the North American, Mr. Newman was taken 

 sick in the hall of the hotel where the World's Fair meeting of 

 the convention was held. 



If I am correct, Mr. Parks never owned a colony of bees, and 



cratic in his manner, and always had a word for everyone. As 

 to his genial good humor and wit, I need hardly say anything 

 about that, in as much as you have had opportunity to judge 

 for yourself. All of his employes were truly sorry to learn 

 that the strong, and apparently well man, who left them last 

 fall had come home to die, and it was with true sympathy that 

 they attended the last services that could be rendered to him. At 

 his request his remains were borne 40 their last resting place 

 by six of the oldest employes — or 'boys,' as he was wont to call 

 them." 



It seems hard to be cut down in the prime of life when 

 there is such great need of loyal, energetic men and women, 

 but I am sure that I am safe in saying that his life has not 

 been in vain. The business with which he was connected has 

 lost a pushing and successful manager; the community has 

 lost a valuable citizen; those who knew him well have lost a 

 true and faithful friend; his three children have lost a kind 

 and indulgent father; and the faithful wife has lost more than 

 anyone can know, who has not passed through the same trials 

 and had the same experience. Yet all of these may find con- 

 solation in the fact that he did all he could to make for him- 

 self a name and an honorable place among those who are 

 faithful to the duties which the experiences of life laid upon 

 them. Emerson T. Abbott. 



Xbe McEvoy Foul Brood Treatment is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on "Foul Brood; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



