148 



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PEKSECtJTED AN» IW JTAII.. 



Mr. Z. A. Clark, who has had daily trials 

 and fines at Arkadelphia, is now in prison, 

 for keeping bees in the corporate limits of 

 that city. The following is a letter from 

 one of his neighbors, with a donation of $5 

 sent to tlie National Bee-Keepers' Union, 

 to aid in his defense. The letter will be 

 read with interest. It is dated Feb. 24, 1888 : 



1 am not a member of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, but please find enclosed S5 for the 

 fund for defraying tlie expenses of one who 

 is now languishing in the city jail for vio- 

 lating a city ordinance of keeping bees in 

 Arkadelphia, Ark. Mr. Z. A. Clark, whom 

 I have known for about eight years, is an 

 upright, civil, quiet, honest, hard-working 

 man. No one stands higher here. He has 

 been working hard to try and rise above 

 poverty. He nas a small home here, which 

 IS mortgaged. He has a wife, four little 

 gurls ana a mother-in-law to care for. 



I have been a resident here since 1858, and 

 keep a few colonies of bees for pleasure and 

 family use. 1 can atford to quit keeping 

 bees, but Mr. Clark cannot without making 

 a great sacrifice. The ordinance is an ouP- 

 rage, and is so considered here. Mr. Clark 

 has several prominent attorneys, but is pay- 

 ing very dearly for the defense of his prop- 

 erty and rights. I do not need any protec- 

 tion from the Bee - Keepers' Union, but 

 some brother may fall by tlie wayside. 



Send certificates of membership to the 

 Union to five bee-keepers whom you may 

 know to be worthy. 



Mr. Clark has taken two appeals, and the 

 third day when fined, refused to pay the 

 fine and cost. He went to jail on the 23rd by 

 the advice of his counsel. 



S. A. RuDisrLL. 



We had just made out certificates for five 

 bee-men who were not able to join the 

 Union, but wanted to become members, 

 when we received another letter in the same 

 mail from England, signed "Apis," with 

 another $5 for the Union. This we treated 

 in the same way, and made out five more 

 certificates of membership, and sent to 

 would-be members who could not afford to 

 join the Union. 



We also received the following from Mr. 

 Clark, written in prison on Feb. 24, 1888 : 



I am in trouble, and in jail also. I have 

 had three trials in three days, in succession. 

 1 appealed the two first trials, and came to 

 jail yesterday, lam to be arraigned again 

 to-day at 2 o'clock. My attorneys have 

 claimed trial bv jury each day, but it has 

 been refused by the Mayor each day. I am 

 somewhat unwell to-day. „ c, nr 



I received a letter from the Hon. bam W. 

 Williams, our attorney in Little Rook, Ark., 

 yesterday. He sa^s that we are bound to 

 win. 1 should be greatly relieved if I knew 

 that he could be secured to come here and 

 defend this case at the Circuit Court in 

 July. It will cost $A50.00, but if I Jfnew for 

 certain that he would be here, I should be 

 quite satisfied. , ^ ^ . , 



P. S.— 3 p.m.— Just had another farce trial, 

 and was denied right of trial by jury. Plead 

 not guilty, and was fined by his Honor. 1 

 appealed it, and will have another to- 

 morrow. Z. A. Clakk. 



The Manager of the Union had already 

 sent Mr. Clark $25 to assist in the local de- 

 fense, and ?25 to Hon. Sam. W.Williams, the 

 most noted attorney in the State of Arkan- 



sas, as a retaining fee. He will now take 

 hold of the case, and by the aid of the 

 Union will win it— at least we confidently 

 hope so. His fees are $250.00. 



On the second day in prison Mr. Clark 

 wrote us as follows : 



Akkadelphia, Ark., Feb. 25, 1888. 



Friend Newman :— Yours of the 23rd 

 with $25 from the Union for local defense, 

 is received. I also had the Bee Journal 

 poked through a crack to me ou the eve of 

 my first incarceration. The first thing I 

 read was the letter of the Virginia friend, 

 Mr. J. Few Brown, accompanying his en- 

 closure to the Union defense tund. It 

 cheered me, and made my heart rebound 

 with joy. 



1 was arraigned again yesterday at 2 p.m., 

 claimed right of trial by jury, was refused, 

 plead not guilty, and a tine of $8 was im- 

 posed upon me. Z. A. Clark. 



Knowing that this senseless opposition to 

 bee-keeping will spread like wild-fire if not 

 successfully resisted, the Union has decided 

 to make a lively fight in this case, and meas- 

 ure swords with the enemy, fully realizing 

 that it would be very detrimental to the 

 pursuit to allow a decision against bee- 

 keeping to be put upon record on the plea 

 of its being a " nuisance." 



Mr. William Anderson, of Sherman, Mo., 

 writes thus concerning this case and its im- 

 portance to the bee-fraternity : 



The day seems fast approaching when the 

 bee-keepers will have to get a license. If 

 we let the case go undefended, we shall 

 hasten that day. Let us fight it, and if the 

 Union has not funds enough, let it call for 

 an extra dollar from each member. 1 was 

 in favor of reducing the fees to join the 

 Union, but I am now in favor of assessing 

 its members to carry out its designs. We 

 should fight this case, for every such suit 

 we lose we are, as an organized body, that 

 much weakened. Brother bee-keepers, let 

 us defend a brother in trouble. The idea of 

 bees eating up ducks and peaches ! I be- 

 lieve that bee-men should try to hold up our 

 banner, and support our order. Do not let 

 us lose this suit. Now is the time for us all 

 to prove our devotion to our pursuit. 



The Little Rock, Ark., Press of Feb. 24, 

 thus discusses the topic under consideration : 



The town council lately passed an ordi- 

 nance making it unlawful to keep bees 

 within the corporate limits of Arkadelphia. 

 Mr. Clark, who is said to be a good citizen, 

 an active prohibitionist, and an earnest 

 member of the Presbyterian church, con- 

 tinued to encourage the producing of honey, 

 and was arrested, brouglit before the Mayor 

 and fined $5. He refused to pay the fine, 

 and the Marshal took him to the calaboose. 

 Further legal proceedings are expected ; but 

 at the present time the bees are still doing 

 husiness at the old stand. Mr. Clark is one 

 of the most respected citizens of Arkadel- 

 phia, and will make a stubborn defense of 

 his business. 



Mr. Clark wrote thus from jail on Feb. 38, 



1888: 



We are having a trial every day, claiming 

 trial by jury, etc. Yesterday we tiled an affi- 

 davit signed bv invselt and two of our best 

 and foremost citizens, setting forth that the 

 Mayor was prejudiced and would not give us 

 a fair and impartial trial, etc. ; all of wliich 

 has been overruled by the Mayor. We must 

 gain this case, and not go upon record as up- 

 lioUling and keeping a nuisance within city 

 limits, etc. My nearest neighbors— some of 

 whom have lived by me for 7 and 8 years- 

 will swear positively that my bees are not a 

 nuisance, and that bee-keeping in Arkadel- 

 phia is not a nuisance. 



A XEVr IMVEJ^TIO:*. 



The Rev. T. H. Dahl, of Stoughton, Wis., 

 writes tlius concerning a new invention : 



In the last number of Tidsskrift for Bisk- 

 jotsel, the editor, Mr. Ivar S. Young, of 

 Christiania, Norway, mentions a new in- 

 vention by a German teacher, Mr. Koerbs. 

 It is nothing less than the manufacturing of 

 honey combs. What ? Honey combs ? 

 Are we not rid of that "Wiley lie" yet. 

 Does it even come from Europe ? Oh ! 

 Let us take it easy ! That new kind of 

 wax-comb is not intended at all for table 

 use. It can only be used for extracting 

 purposes, but in that respect, it is claimed 

 to be excellent. The bees deposit honey 

 in its cells with the same willingness as in 

 their natural comb ; but they do not use it 

 for pollen, and the queen never puts an egg 

 in its cells. If this new kind of comb is 

 what they claim it to be, a new era is at 

 hand in the extracting business. We ex- 

 pect to hear something more about it, and 

 when we do, the readers of the American 

 Bee Journal will be kept posted. 



We fear there is something about it not 

 exactly reliable. Mr. Koerbs will not 

 divulge the secret of its manufacture and 

 use at present. He simply wants apiarists 

 to " Look out for the engine when the bell 

 rings," we suppose. 



He intends to issue a pamphlet describing 

 the process of manufacture, and the uses to 

 which it may be put. To take orders for 

 the pamphlet at 40 cents each, and when he 

 has several thousands of such subcribers, 

 then he will mail a copy to each, on the 

 same day. In this we think Mr. Koerbs 

 will be s«dly disappointed. Americans will 

 not nibble at that bait ! As we understand 

 it, the peculiarity of this invention lies in 

 the fact as stated, that the comb mid-rib 

 (not finished cells) will not be used by the 

 queen for breeding, even if it is inserted in 

 the brood-nest. 



These combs are made of pure beeswax, 

 by means of the Rietsche press, and are for 

 use only for extracting purposes, which it 

 is claimed is done in one-halt the time now 

 required to extract the honey from a comb. 



Our friend, C. J. H. Gravenhorst, editor 

 of the Bienen Zeitung, has seen the Inven- 

 tion, and the combs "completed by the 

 bees," and predicts a "revolution" in the 

 matter of bee-comb, even if the invention 

 accomplishes but one-half of what is 

 claimed by Mr. Koerbs. 



Bee-keepers will be apt to " look with 

 suspicion upon the method employed to 

 make the invention known," as remarked 

 by the British Bee Journal, whose editor 

 asks : " Why does not Mr. Koerbs sell his 

 invention to some foundation manufacturer, 

 and introduce it in that way ? or, take out a 

 patent and charge a small royalty ?" 



We shall watch this matter closely, and 

 keep our readers posted concerning its ad- 

 vent and revelation— and ring the bell just 

 intimeforall to witness the arrival of the 

 locomotive ! 



It is possible that this " invention " may 

 turn out to be the construction of comb 

 foundation having the base of larger cells 

 than even drone-cells, which would be 

 avoided by the queen, and used by the 

 workers for store comb. 



