1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



719 



like and what is going on; and I want to see 

 them develop as I saw those chickens and 

 studied their development. Is there not some 

 girl (may God help us if there is not), or, say, 

 a lot of girls, who are so much interested in 

 the coming humanity that they will just love 

 the job of taking care of the baby? There 

 may be some woman living who is helping to 

 take care of the future President of the Unit- 

 ed States while he is now a helpless infant. 

 Just think what a joy it must be to such a 

 one, if that woman is then alive, to see what 

 is being done to hold up and inculcate this 

 very sort of patriotism I have been trying to 

 descrilie. Of course, such girls are not to 

 work for nothing. The world is ready to 

 give them goodjxiy; and they ought to be glad 

 of the opportunity of giving (/ood aervicc, for 

 surely this is "the Lord's work." It I'ejoic- 

 es my heart to know that our good President 

 has again and again given us some grand 

 exhortations on this subject. 



Some of you may ask, "Well, Bro. Root, 

 what lesson is it that God is striving to teach 

 us by this scarcity of help in our homes?" 

 Well, one lesson is, I am sure, that we must 

 get over our craze for being in fashion. May 

 be you call it being up with the times. I 

 well remember the time when my two older 

 sisters used to get up early enough on Monday 

 morning so they had the family washing done 

 and" the clothes hung up a little after day- 

 light. They did this rather than be kept out 

 of school, and because mother had about all 

 she could do to get breakfast for a family of 

 seven without being bothered or troubled 

 with a washing. Did these girls suffer by it? 

 Were they behind in their lessons because 

 of getting up so early on Monday morning? 

 Not a bit of it. When I spoke about the 

 children in the home— that is, those that are 

 old enough — taking the place of the hired 

 girls, I met something like this: "Mr. Root, 

 things are different now from what they used 

 to be in those old days. The girls are not 

 only expected to dress better, but they have 

 to be on hand at ever so many gatherings 

 that they did not use to know any thing about. 

 Even girls who would have nothing to do 

 with dancing and card-parties have to go to 

 clubs, church sociables, prayer-meetings, etc. 

 It takes time to get ready for all these vari- 

 ous things, besides being away from home. 

 Would j^ou like to see your children worked 

 as hard as your brothers and sisters were 

 worked?" 



My reply is, if there is no other way of 

 making valuable citizens, both men and 

 women, than by working as my brothers and 

 sisters worked in the good old times, then 

 let us get Ixick a little with all our getting 

 forward. Why, we thank God for all these 

 short cuts that have lately come up to make 

 necessary housework easy. Let us be care- 

 ful we do not undo the results of these great 

 benefits by mixing in too many other things. 

 I do not believe in having so many things 

 going on — say something almost every even- 

 ing in the week to take people away from 

 their homes beyond the bounds of reason. 



After mv Uilk with that miuiater's wife Ru- 



ber ventured a suggestion something like 

 this: "Father, are you sure there is such a 

 great calamity in having things as the man ex- 

 pressed it — sixteen children a minute among 

 the laboring classes, and only sixteen in a 

 whole year among the millionaires?" 



Well, if you take care of the sixteen that 

 are born a minute in the way our Unit- 

 ed States can and ought to take care of 

 them, perhaps Huber is right. President 

 King, of Obei'lin College, said some years 

 ago that our large cities are absolutely de- 

 pendent on our country villages for the raw 

 material for oi;r great men as a nation. A 

 good many of our great men, especially 

 wealthy men, have few or no sons; and when 

 they do have they are brought up in suc^h 

 luxury that there is no good material for 

 them to build on. The good oak timber that 

 is so much sought for. and which brings high 

 prices, comes from oaks that are twisted and 

 wrenched by the storms of centuries. No 

 such timber can be grown under glass in hot- 

 beds; but notwithstanding this, God the fa- 

 ther certainly lays the responsibility on our 

 shoulders (especially we who are not only 

 educated but patriotic) of doing our part to 

 prevent "race suicide," as our good Presi- 

 dent has expressed it and held up as a warn- 

 ing. 



Do the words of our text, "Be fi'uitful and 

 multiply," refer only to the poor and labor- 

 ing classes? Are the educated men and wom- 

 en — those who have means to graduate with 

 honor in our great institutions of learning — 

 did God mean that these should be exempt? 

 God forbid. Further back I referred to 

 that prominent minister and the probable 

 necessity, in the absence of help, of being 

 obliged to assist with the children and per- 

 haps the housework. Some of you may sug- 

 gest that it is rather expensive business for 

 an educated divine to take the place of the 

 average household help. But, dear friends, 

 here is a fact that has a tremendous bearing 

 on the question. With such hired help as I 

 have described — say with the average hired 

 help— the children in the home are going to 

 be more or less biased as their little minds 

 are molded by daily contact with these ig- 

 norant and sometimes vicious people. I told 

 you how my incubator chickens watched 

 every movement of mine, and caught on to 

 something new every day. Their little intel- 

 lect seemed to be like wax to take impres- 

 sions and keep them. Is not this true with 

 the baby in the home? We lament because 

 the children of millionaires (when they have 

 children) turn out so badly, and are of so 

 little use in this world. Is it not owing to 

 the environment? Now, suppose this tal- 

 ented and eloquent divine spends some of 

 his time, or, if you choose, a lot of his time, 

 in teaching and training the baby he loves. 

 Even if he could sway hundreds by his elo- 

 quence, is it time wasted to spend a good 

 many hours each day with that baby? Farm- 

 ers are exceedingly careful to keep their 

 young domestic animals away from vicious 

 older ones lest they learn undesirable tricks. 

 Shall we not be equally careful with the lit- 



