1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



45 



ing how much one would have to pay a man 

 who could take care ot things thus. Why 

 don't they have one in the station at Elk- 

 hart V It is because the money isn't forth- 

 coming. That elegant car cost money too, 

 and I presume they received a hundred dol- 

 lars or more for the use of it that very night. 

 Was it worth it V J\Iy i)art of it was worth 

 the $2.00 I paid, under the circumstances. 



I know we are dust, and that to dust these 

 bodies must return, and that is one reason 

 why I believe in shaking off the dust that is 

 so prone to accumulate, that the image of 

 God that is in us may shine out for a light to 

 the world. 



A few years ago the dust in our saw-room 

 became so oppressive to the hands working 

 there that we purchased, at considerable ex- 

 pense, a blower to draw all the dust from 

 the buzz-saw tables, and throw it in a room 

 below, near to the grate under the engine- 

 boiler. The man who furnished it happened 

 to be present at our noon service. I ex- 

 plained to the hands what it was for, and its 

 object, something in this way : — 



"I would say, especially to the boys of 

 our establishment, that Mr. Gray and my- 

 self have for some time been trying to de- 

 vise a plan for getting rid of the dust in the 

 saw-room, because we fear it will prove in- 

 jurious to your health. The gentleman whom 

 you see with us to-day understands how to 

 do it, and I am glad to be able to tell you 

 that a machine is to be sent lis in a few days 

 that will do the work effectually. Now," I 

 want to say to the boys that there is some- 

 thing else that troubles me, even more than 

 the sawdust. It is something I am more 

 anxious about than I am of your health 

 even. It is a kiad of dust that will bring 

 ruin, devastation, and death, not only to the 

 body, but it will bring ruin and eternal 

 death to the soul as well. What I allude to 

 is markings of obscene words and pictures 

 on the walls of our out-buildings. Now, if 

 I go to the pains of having it all sandpapered 

 off, and painted over, we shall surely have 

 no more of it, shall we ? " 



The Bible says, " Blessed are the pure in 

 heart, for they shall see God." Would any 

 one ever want to see God, while such foiil 

 thoughts were in his mind V 



The examination of that new sleeping-car 

 has, as I think, been a good lesson to me. I 

 often think of it in planning the arrange- 

 ment of our new home. While thinking of 

 It just now, I went and washed my face, 

 combed my hair, what there is of it, and 

 " adjusted my necktie." Do you not like to 

 see old people neat and tidy V Well, if God 

 is willing, you and I will soon be old people, 

 at least some of us. If we can't all have ex- 

 pensive homes, we can at least look clean, 

 and, as a general thing, have the dust all 

 brushed from most of us. I have sometimes 

 thought cleanly dressed children are more 

 apt to be quiet in manners, andi)ure in their 

 talk. I wonder if it isn't so with older ones. 



I heard of an old miser who died a few 

 days ago. On going over his premises, 

 things were found just as they had accumu- 

 lated for years back. Dust lay inches in 

 thickness, and grain was found, bushels and 

 bushels of it. that had been stored away for 



years past. Though living, he was dead to 

 business and dead to industry. It worries 

 and frets me to see dust collecting anywhere. 

 It is to me an emblem of death and decay. 

 It indicates carelessness and neglect. Once 

 in a while I And goods stowed away where 

 they ought not to be, overlooked and passed 

 by, nobody knowing they were there when 

 wanted, and of course covered with dust. 

 We found a lot of cans of honey in that 

 shape this morning, covered with dust, and 

 the labels faded, stained, and about as for- 

 bidding in appearance as they well could be; 

 Have you any thing of that kind about your 

 house that might have been turned into 

 money just as well as not, months ago? Is 

 that the way large business houses are car- 

 ried cny To be sure, it isn't. Dust is a foe. 



Saturday is usually a busy day with us. 

 If it is during a muddy time, more or less 

 Medina mud is tracked over the building by 

 busy clerks. Sometimes I have occasion to 

 pass through the building on Sunday. The 

 deserted rooms look sad and lonely in their 

 unusual stillness. They are cold, too, and 

 chilly ; and when one lays his Angers on a 

 desk or counter it leaves a mark, for dust 

 has accumulated in one short night. In the 

 morning the room is warm, and a busy clat- 

 ter is heard. There isn't any thing on the 

 desks now that will leave a mark, for the 

 women folks (they have been at swords' 

 points with dust since the time of Eve, I be- 

 lieve) have been swinging their dusters 

 around. Sometimes when I get weary I tell 

 Sue I should like to go off in some great 

 w^oods, and keep bees all by myself; but 

 she quickly replies, "Now, you know you 

 wouldn't like to do any such thing, for you 

 couldn't live one day without a whole lot of 

 boys and girls around you," and I guess she 

 is right, after all. With them I have lived, 

 and with them I shall tight against dust and 

 decay, so long as God shall give brain and 

 muscle. 



A dusty store is an abomination ; and 

 dusty goods, shelves, and counters, will 

 drive customers away, in spite of the in- 

 ducements other things can offer. Honey in 

 the most enticing cans, or packages of comb, 

 won't sell, if you let dust cover it over. In 

 the counter store we have some large stamp- 

 ed dish-pans, made without joint or solder, 

 and retinned so they look almost as bright 

 as silver. At the time the honey ran 

 through that car I took one of the largest 

 size, and used it to catch the honey. Before 

 it was emptied and washed it got scratched, 

 and its luster dimmed, somewhat ; but It 

 was hung up with the rest in hopes it would 

 soon sell, so we could then hang up a new 

 bright one. After several months had 

 passed, and it didn't sell, although other 

 sizes side by side were going off rapidly, I 

 told Sue about it, and she said she would 

 have that one, for it was just exactly as 

 good to use. A new one was hung up, and 

 they bought them so fast the whole stock 

 was gone before I could get on more. Then, 

 rather than have the place vacant, I hung 

 up the dimmed one again. 



Is the world to blame, because they insist 

 on having bright clean shining goods? In 

 one sense they are not, and I rejoice to feel 



