1883 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



593 



ing with a friend or two. This second 

 amendment, you know, must cutoff this lux- 

 ury, as many doubtless esteem it, from all such 

 places as this. Well, you know I usually 

 get up about 5 o'clock in the morning; but 

 in consequence of change in the time in 

 Buffalo, I arose aboat half-past 4 o'clock ; 

 and as no one seemed moving. I thought I 

 would take a look in there. What do you 

 think I saw ? A room full of ragged, dis- 

 solute, besotted - looking human beings, 

 stupefied with beer or something worse, 

 and a perfect jargon of low-lived and filthy 

 oaths and curses. One man, as he called 

 his comrades to drink, spoke of his wife and 

 children at home, and about his own blasted 

 and sin-cursed life ; with a sort of maudlin 

 leer he made light of it all, and condemned 

 himself and all present to the bottomless 

 pit, and so it went on. The man behind the 

 counter had lost his cheerful, kind look of 

 the day before, and acted and spoke as if he 

 were tired of life, and all that life could 

 furnish. I went out into the open air, and 

 drew a breath of relief, and declared to my- 

 self that I would never more be deceived by 

 the mirrois and silver-plate and cut-glass 

 furniture, even though accompanied with 

 gentlemanly manners and a thin outside 

 show. 



That day, a little before noon, by standing 

 on the platform of the car I caught a glimpse 

 of Niagara Falls. To tell the truth, I was a 

 little disappointed. It was a little strange, 

 it is true, to see that great swift river, a lit- 

 tle more than half a mile wide, tumbling 

 over a precipice ; but the feeling was a little 

 like that of the Irishman who replied, when 

 his attention was called to it, "• Well, but 

 what is to hinder its ' rowling '?" You see, 

 it looks so natural to see it tumble when it 

 comes to the tumbling-off place, that it was 

 not so very surprising. More of this anon. 

 When I next stepped off, at the steamboat- 

 landing, I saw waving in the breeze, for the 

 first time in my life, a strange flag, and I 

 realized that I was really and truly for once 

 outside of ihe fostering care of the stars and 

 stripes. I confess I felt a little bad and 

 homesick ; but when I expressed something 

 of my feeling to a bystander, he pointed 

 across the bay, where, sure enough, the old 

 flag waved. The two fl^gs were not very 

 far away. I wonder how it is with the two 

 peoples. What sort of friends are these 

 Canadians, anyhow V There is one good 

 thing about them, certainly. They raise 

 lots of peaches. The platform in front of 

 the steamboat was literally covered with 

 baskets of the most beautiful large yellow 

 fruit, with ruddy cheeks, that it was ever 

 my fortune to behold. Not even at our fairs 

 had I ever seen such a display of peaches. 

 It took the steamer an hour to load them on. 

 Somebody said there were 15,000 baskets, 

 unless I have made a big mistake. It may 

 be I have. But there were a great many 

 indeed. In a couple of hours more the great 

 city of Toronto was before us. In the fore- 

 ground we had Hanlan's Island, named aft- 

 er the great English oarsman, who, it is said, 

 has outstripped both England and America 

 in his especial calling. The island is a most 

 beautiful piece of verdure. The buildings 



and shrubbery are beautifully arranged; 

 and when a bystander explained to me that 

 it was the playground of the great city of 

 Toronto, I could readily understand why it 

 was so nicely kept. The finest building on 

 the island belongs to Ilanlan ; and although 

 it was originally intended for a large hotel 

 and beer-saloon, I was told that the Canadian 

 people had become so aroused up in the mat- 

 ter of temperance, that for two years pro- 

 hibition had been successfully maintained 

 on this island. The Canadians seem to be 

 proud of the fact ; and where heretofore had 

 been such a scene of drunkenness and de- 

 bauchery, now not even a glass of beer can 

 be had. Parents can let their children at- 

 tend a picnic over on the island, without 

 fear of any of the consequences that inevit- 

 ably follow beer-saloons and beer-gardens. 



Our good friend C. F. Muth was down at 

 the boat, looking for bee-friends ; but as he 

 is a very large man, and I am quite a small 

 one, he did not see me, and I did not see 

 him, and so I made my way to the exhibition 

 grounds. I very soon blundered on to the 

 apiarian building. It would hardly be prop- 

 er to call it a hall, for it is so large ; in fact, 

 it was about as large as the " Floral Hall " 

 building to many of our county fairs. I very 

 innocently stepped inside ; but the pyramids 

 upon pyramids, and tier upon tier of boxes 

 of both extracted and como honey, towering 

 clear to the lofty rafters, caused me to open 

 my eyes (and my mouth too, I fear) in mute 

 wonder. What did it mean ? I was not 

 prepared to believe that old Mother Earth 

 could produce such a spectacle as this. I 

 soon got my tongue, and began to talk ; and 

 wlien they found out that it was Novice in 

 veritable flesh and blood, I soon found a 

 warm welcome awaiting me. The associa- 

 tion in the city was telephoned ; and while I 

 waited orders, I had a lively chat with some 

 of the Canadian bee-keepers — strong, stur- 

 dy, vivacious, cheerful, funny fellows I 

 found them, and I very soon began wonder- 

 ing whether our stars and stripes would not 

 be largely benefited by having the Union 

 Jack still a little closer to her side. There 

 was one man in the hall, with a most mag- 

 nificent show of comb honey, whom I shall 

 long remember for his quaint mirth and wit, 

 and the provincial brogue that distinguishes 

 most Canadians from United States people, 

 that gave an added charm to his conversa- 

 tion. Although I spent only half an hour 

 with him, I felt almost lonesome when I left 

 him to go to the convention. My wife was 

 born on the shores of " Merry England," as 

 you may know; and how I did wish she 

 could have been with me, and heard my 

 good friend J. B. Hall talk, for that was his 

 name. 



When I made my appearance at the con- 

 vention, some meddlesome body called right 

 out, in the midst of proceedings, that A. I. 

 Root had got away from the " Home of the 

 Honey-Bees, " and was there in the conven- 

 tion. They made so much noise, that for a 

 while I felt a little foolish, and did not know 

 where to go, or what to do. I was very soon 

 warmly received among their number, and 

 at the first intermission I received such an 

 enthusiastic welcome that my poor right 



