lt)07 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



was to get some third-floor rooms in a flat. 

 But these rooms are most beautifully ar- 

 I'anged for the housekeeper. There is hot 

 water, both in the kitchen and in the bath- 

 room. There are hot-water radiators, nice 

 large windows so you can have sunshine as 

 well as outdoor air; and there is a dumb 

 waiter to bring up every commodity close to 

 or into the kitchen. Men come around reg- 

 ularly to take away your waste in the kitch- 

 en, and other men deliver ice, bread, gro- 

 ceries, etc. All the appliances are so handy 

 that every thing may be kept scrupulously 

 clean with the least amount of labor, and 

 the whole thing seems to be ideal for a young 

 couple — ivith no children. The people who 

 own the apartment houses do not want fam- 

 ilies, and, if I am correct about it, they do 

 not seem to want any babies around. It is 

 out of the fashion. May be I am wrong 

 about this. I hope so. This same lecturer 

 on the automobile informed us that in many 

 parts of the city the occupants owned the 

 apartments where they lived; and many of 

 these apartment houses go up many stories. 

 You see it does not make very much differ- 

 ence whether you are high or low. The ele- 

 vators and appliances furnish almost every 

 convenience to those up in the upper stories 

 that they have in the lower ones. 



Our last and most serious obstacle in the 

 way of raising families seems to be a grow- 

 ing fashion among hired help to And places 

 where there are no children. Our agricultu- 

 ral papers are now discussing, and have been 

 for several years past, not only the difficulty 

 but the impossibility of getting competent 

 help on the farm, for any thing near such 

 prices as the average farmer can afford to 

 pay. Now, of late the trouble in getting 

 competent help for the mother of the home 

 seems to be still more difficult. I am told 

 that, while wages are constantly increasing, 

 the quality of the help in the market is con- 

 stantly decreasing. If the mother of the 

 home is sick you can probably get a hired 

 nurse by paying her three or four dollars a 

 day and her board. But this hired nurse 

 gives you to understand very quickly that 

 she is not to do housework, cooking, wash- 

 ing, nor any thing of the kind. When you 

 get a hired ni;rse you must also get a hired 

 girl to cook for this nurse and the rest of 

 the family. Then this hired girl will give 

 you to understand very soon that she is not 

 to do the washing. When washday comes 

 vou must hire a wash- woman; and when 

 housecleaning time comes you must hire 

 still another woman to clean house; and in 

 some places they not only hire a woman to 

 clean house, but they get two women, for it 

 is too hard work for one woman to do the 

 necessary lifting, etc. And to be right up to 

 date you must also get a man to come and 

 whip the carpet — a professional carpet- 

 whipper. When I talk about the revolt or 

 rebellion against these modern innovations 

 they tell me, "Oh I you have got to do it. 

 Things are different now from what they 

 used to be." Do they need to be so differ- 

 ent? Do we need so much house? By the 



way, there is a little hymn that commences 

 something like this: 



Oh to be nothing, nothing, 

 Only to lie at his feet! 



A few days ago it was my good fortune to 

 have a chance to talk this over with the wife 

 of a prominent minister. They have several 

 beautiful children in their home. A minis- 

 ter's wife has no end of demand on her time 

 that most other women know little about, 

 especially if her husband is pastor over a 

 congregation of several hundred. The lady 

 knew all about — I was going to say the hired- 

 girl problem; but I do not like to say "hired 

 girl." Why not say help for the mother? 

 The minister''s wife, especially such a sweet- 

 tempered devoted Christian woman as this 

 one of whom I am speaking, would be ex- 

 pected to get along with any help that is half 

 way decent; but just at the time of our talk 

 the "help for the mother" was on the eve 

 of going away. Said I, have you somebody 

 else in view?" 



She shook her head. 



"Well, now, "I continued, "may I ask what 

 you propose to do if you do not succeed in 

 getting somebody?" 



She gave me a bright pleasant smile — yes, 

 it was a happy smile full of faith and hope 

 and energy — and said she was going to do 

 the woi'k herself. Of course her bright, en- 

 ergetic, and talented husband will stand by 

 her side and relieve her of a great lot of hard 

 work. (One may wonder if this is exactly the 

 thing for a high-priced minister to do.) i 

 said right here (in fact, I have said it before 

 to Mrs. Root and her grown-up daughters) 

 that we must be careful about worrying or 

 borrowing too much trouble over this matter 

 of hired help. Said I, "I am sure, dear 

 friends, that in all this difficulty God is striv- 

 ing to teach us wholesome lessons — lessons 

 that we need. We want to remember the 

 first and second lines of that little hymn that 

 we all know so well, or ought to know: 



Have you trials and temptations, 

 Is there trouble anywhere? 



Take all these troubles about hired help 

 and every thing else — no matter whether on 

 the farm or in the home — "take it to the Lord 

 in prayer." And, O dear friends, when you 

 do take it to the Lord in prayer, have the 

 men who are at work on the farm, and the 



firl or woman who is helping the mother — 

 ave them present. Be sure they hear the 

 morning Bible-reading that you have select- 

 ed. Have them kneel with you and the rest 

 of the family if they will. If not, persuade 

 them to be present, even if they do not kneel. 

 If circumstances are such that you find it 

 difficult to have Bible-reading and prayer in 

 the morning, by all means ask a blessing of 

 some kind. And that reminds me of a letter 

 on my desk asking if I will be so kind as to 

 give a pattern or a suggestion for a blessing 

 to be asked at the table. I can not give you 

 a pattern, friends. I am sui-e the great Fa- 

 ther would not be pleased to have me do so; 

 but I can give you some suggestions. I 

 would have the blessing at the table include 

 the thing you are anxious alxjut— the things 



