1878. 



GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTUKE. 



53 



them, just as there is in my own heart, as I 

 have been telling you ; but, my friends, 

 kindness and gentleness, is so much the bet- 

 ter M'ay, even if we have been wronged. I 

 have had much business to do with them, 

 and I know something of the overworked 

 condition of many of their employes ; I also 

 know how ready we all are, to accuse them 

 of willful dishonesty, when the wrong has 

 only been a mistake. You do not know 

 what a pleasant thrill it gives one, to find 

 tliat thei'e are soft and tender hearts amid 

 the din and bustle of these great avenues of 

 trade and travel. 



The first two barrels of grape sugar I got 

 from Davenport Iowa, came by the way of 

 Columbus O., by some awkward manage- 

 ment, and the freight was nearly 1 cent per 

 lb. I got our agent to look the matter up, 

 and had the next lot shipped for only 40c. a 

 h,undred. The freight bill on the 3d lot, was 

 only about 20c. per hundred, and after it 

 was all paid and settled up, I took another 

 look at the bill, and found they had carried 

 out the weight of the 2 barrels, as 400 lbs, 

 instead of 400 for each baiTel, or 800 in all. 

 As a matter of course, I kept very quiet 

 about it, saying iuAv^rdly, "There ! that will 

 help to make up for the amount I paid you 

 for bungling the first lot away off around by 

 Columbus,'' iind I, with much satisfaction, 

 tucked the bill away in its proper pigeon- 

 hole. During the day, and for many days 

 afterward, my eye kept wandering toward 

 that pigeon-hole. 



"Create in me a clean heart." 



David did not say a tolerably clean heart, 

 but he said. -'Create in me a dean heart, O 

 God." Well, I made up my mind that my 

 heiirt would at least be cleaner, if I told the 

 E. K. Co. that they had made a mistake of 

 400 lbs. in tlsat freight bill of sugar, no mat- 

 ter how much they had overcharged me on 

 similar bills. I sliovred it first to our friend 

 Charlie, the draynipn. 



"Chsu'lie v.ill you please take this freight 

 bill dov.ii to the agent, and tell him the 

 sugar weighs 800 lbs.'' 



"Why Mr. Koot, you are foolish to say one 

 word about it. I tell you, all you can get 

 out of the E. E. Co"s, you are safe in tak- 

 ing." 



I talked with him some about it. and he 

 took the pa]>er. He soon returned it. saying 

 the jigent told me to keep it; it was all right. 

 A few days afterward I was at the >, depot, 

 and stated the case to the agent. He looked 

 at me in some svu'prise. 



"The Co. does not owe you anything V. 



"No; tliey have not had enough pay for 

 Ininging the sugar." 



"Well let it go ; I will stand responsible, 

 and take all the blame." 



"Will you tell them of the mistake V" 



"No, it is not our duty to do so ; they have 

 had all the money their bill called for.'' 



Just about here, I begtm wondering if the 

 agent was— well, I wondered if he was one 

 that loved the Bible, for I feared if he were 

 not. he might think I was wasting time 

 foolishly. His clerk, 1 knew was in the 

 habit of coming to our Tliursday evening 

 prayer meetings, and I turned appealinglv 

 to him. 8aid he. 



"Mr. Eoot, if they ever find it out, and 

 send in a bill for the balance, we will pay it. 

 That will make it all right will it not V" 



I explained as well as I could, that such a 

 course would not give me a clear conscience, 

 and at my request, they promised to sencl a 

 tracer after the mistake. A few weeks af- 

 ter, I enquired and learned no tracer had 

 been sent. Said the agent, good naturedly, 



"Mr. E., I think it is all foolishness." 



But I prevailed, and the bill was returned 

 for correction. A few days afterward, Char- 

 lie came in looking very pleasant and know- 

 ing, as he handed me some papers. The 

 agent liad written simply, 



"Is there any mistake in this bill ?" 



The answer came, 



"None at all ; it all foots tip correctly." 



When I saw the agent I asked, 



"Did you explain on the tracer that the 

 sugar weighed 800 lbs. instead of 400 V" 



"No; that was none of my business. I 

 asked them if there was any mistake, and 

 they said no." 



They had a good natured laugh at the 

 trick they hnd played on me, and I began to 

 think I should have to give up. A brother- 

 inlaw, is a railroad man, and I appealed to 

 him. Said he, 



"Yes, you can write to the Co., but the 

 man who made the mistake will deny it, be- 

 cause if found out, he will lose his place at 

 once. You had better let it alone, and keep 

 the $1.60." 



"Then the E. E. Co"s, do ivy to avoid mis- 

 takes and inaccuracies V" 



"You had better try making mistakes 

 while in their employ, if you have any doubt 

 in the matter." 



Everybody seems to be down on railroads, 

 and if they are wronged, too often, we do 

 not stop to think it may be unintentional, 

 but pitch into them in a way that will be al- 

 most svu^e to make them feel they have to 

 fight for every copper or they will be robbed 

 en every hand. No wonder they looked as- 

 tonished and thought I had lost my senses 

 when I told them they had charged me too 

 little for brinpjng my sugar. I presume 

 nearly all of us 1 ave at one time or another 

 been passed by the conductor, he forgetting 

 to take our ticket. Is it right to give him 

 the ticket to ride over the same route at 

 some future time V From nearly all to whom 

 I have propounded the question the answer 

 has been, "Why of course it is ; the ticket is 

 good until he takes it up V" Sometimes the 

 conductor misses you entii-ely ; is it your 

 business to tell him you have paid nothing 

 for your ride before you get off V "Why no, 

 certainly not, it is a rail road Co., and they 

 always swindle you every chance they can 

 get." 



My friends, I am afraid they will always 

 keep on swindling us, if we treat them in 

 that way. Our business with them and the 

 express Co's is, as you know, of a nature 

 and extent, that gives us a pretty good idea 

 of affairs, but I do not think their mistakes 

 are at all intentional. When we send two 

 frame nuclei by express, the agent, instead 

 of keeping the combs upright, will clap the 

 hive down on its side, on the counter, with 

 force enouch to break the combs out. it is 



