1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1603 



ItOMLS 



byAJ.ROOT 



And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take 

 away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And 

 whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with 

 him twain.— Matt. 5 : 40. 41. 



And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and 

 the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man 

 hath not where to lay bis head.— Matt. 8 : 20. 



Despised and rejected of men.— IsA. 53 : 3. 

 DEMANDING " OUR RIGHTS." 



In order to be sure to have, on my travels, 

 a place to sleep, I usually order a berth 

 ahead. It is true one can usually get an up- 

 per berth, and on some accounts I prefer the 

 upper (better ventilation, for instance); but 

 as I grow older it is not so easy to climb 

 into the "loft," and so I wired ahead and 

 received a telegram telling me what berth 

 was assigned to me between Cincinnati and 

 Jacksonville — price $5.50. When I handed 

 in my telegram at Cincinnati, however, the 

 clerk said he could give me a berth only to 

 Nashville, where I changed sleepers, and I 

 could pay there the other $3.50 from there 

 on. I accepted, and never considered, until 

 just before starting, that I had nothing to 

 show to hold my berth, already engaged 

 when I got to Nashville. I then hurried 

 back to the ticket-office and explained. The 

 agent humbly begged pardon, saying he did 

 not read my telegram clear through; but he 

 said that if I would give back the $2.00 tick- 

 et he would give me one right through for 

 the $3 50 balance. "Now," said I to my- 

 self, "you are all right, sure.'" 



When I changed cars at Nashville, how- 

 ever, I found "Lower 3" occupied by a lady 

 with a baby, and a colored maid to take care 

 of the baby. If I claimed "my own," and 

 "my rights,'" the rollicking baby and (more 

 so still) maid must "get out;" but there was 

 not an empty seat in the whole four Pullman 

 sleepers. I decided not to complain, think- 

 ing the woman or some one else would prob- 

 ably get off soon; but, on the contrary, more 

 got on instead, at every station, until about 

 every "upper" was also engaged. 



Why didn't I go to the porter? I did 

 finally, but he only grunted, and said I 

 would have to see the Pullman conductor. 



"Where can I find himV " 



"I don't know. I haven't seen him at all 

 to-day," and it was already in the after- 

 noon. Another porter once told me the 

 above official drew all the pay and did noth- 

 ing, while he (the porter) did all the work 

 and got nothing. 1 hunted up the conduct- 

 or, and he was a good deal puzzled: Init 

 when I explained about paying the $2.00 

 first and the $3.50 afterward, he said the 

 Cincinnati agent took my money and forgot 

 or neglected to reserve my berth. 



" Mr. Root, we are in a bad fix; but if you 

 will just sit down in 'any old place' until 

 we get to Atlanta (these women get off at 

 that place) you can have your seat that you 

 engaged ahead and paid for." 



As the train was due there at 7 : 30 p.m. 

 I said " all right," and commenced, or, rath- 

 er, continued, "boarding round," for I had 

 been doing it all day. 



Now, please don't stop reading here, dear 

 friend, and do not imagine from the forego- 

 ing that I am making a " kick " at the rail- 

 roads and their management. If you will 

 be patient I think yovi will find I have some 

 glorious news to tell before I finish. Let me 

 digress a little first, however. 



On that trip through the Blac^k Hills of 

 South Dakota last fall a man had just set- 

 tled himself in his berth across the aisle from 

 me when a new comer ordered him out. He 

 said he ordered that berth by wire two days 

 ahead. They quarreled over it a good part 

 of the afternoon. Both declared they would 

 have that seat, and no other, even if "it cost a 

 farm. While they were both at supper (still 

 arguing) man No. 3 came aboard, piled their 

 traps somewhere else, and took possession. 

 I told him what was going on, and that he 

 would find trouble ahead. When the two 

 got back there was such a row that not only 

 two conductors but the passengers had to 

 interfere. Finally when I and others oft'ered 

 to give up our "lowers" and go up in the 

 loft, for the sake of peace, all three got to 

 laughing, fixed it up, and finally they shook 

 hands all round. "The event was a lesson to 

 me, for it brings out by wonderful contrast 

 the spirit and teachings of the gospel of 

 Christ Jesus. 



My trials were not over, but I was getting 

 glimpses of the glory beyond. A good kind 

 man to whom I explained the matter said he 

 was going into the smoking-car and that I 

 could have his seat; and I think that he, out 

 of real gentility of heart, stayed somewhere 

 nearly all day. When i left this seat for 

 dinner, however, the big lusty colored porter 

 plumped himself into it, went to sleep, leaning 

 and sitting on my overcoat, and slept thei'e 

 nearly all the afternoon. Should I wake 

 him and tell him it was my seat? But it 

 wouldn't be trtie, and he knew it. Should I 

 explain that the owner told me I could have 

 it, etc ''. I could not, and claim to be a fol- 

 lower of him who, while in this world, had 

 not "where to lay his head." Satan kept 

 busy, of course. He said, "That ungainly 

 fellow will surely make your overcoat smell 

 badly. You know Mrs. Root would prtjtest 

 if she knew it. What a hideous sight he is, 

 any way, with his great thick lips and wide- 

 open mouth, while he breathes like a croco- 

 dile!"* I felt guilty, and turned tolooksome 

 other way, when my eye fell on the colored 



* In regard to the heavy breathing, if we white peo- 

 ple could sleep and breathe lik'^ that it might save us 

 from many ills, and it is very likely true that even A. 

 I. Root is not part'cul'iiiy good-looking when he is 

 sleeping soundly after hard work. A porter's dutifs 

 keep him up nights; and to " hold out " he must steal 

 rest day times. 



