1878 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



.111 



liiiu his letter was worth the $2.(X) ; do yoii 

 ?iot agree with me? 



Now, hi regard to the hands wlio Diake 

 J)liuiders; many years ago, when mistakes 

 threatened to be the ruin of my business, I 

 talked with the boys and girls, in regard to 

 :stauding the consequences of their mistakes. 

 Some thought their wages were not enough 

 to do tliis, and to get at a fair and pleasant 

 manner of facing tiie ditiicuity, their wages 

 were advanced a little. For quite a little 

 time after, there were no mistakes or break- 

 iiges, worth mentioning. After a while, 

 ■\viien the matter got to be ratlier an old 

 story, they felt it pretty hard to hand over 

 the money to make good an error, and I too 

 felt it pretty hard, and so the matter was 

 <lropped. Sometimes, it would be pretty 

 hard to decide where the blame really be- 

 longed, and in pity for them all, I paid it 

 myself. Was this a mistaken kindness? 

 Perhaps it was. 



yuite a number of cases have come to 

 liand like this : 



''John, you omitted the screw driver in 

 Mr. P's order." 



''Oh, I am sure I did not, for I remember 

 very distinctly putting it in the box." 



" i ou must be mistaken, for he certainly 

 would know if it were there." 



You can imagine the look of pain that 

 comes over the boy's face when he is asked 

 to pay the trilling postage, to teach him to 

 remember in futiu"e. Two months after- 

 Avard, came the following: 



When I received the goods of you last May, the 

 screw driver was carelessly overlooked, but after- 

 wards found. I hereby remit the price, 1.5 cts. 



N. K Prentice. 



C«istalia, Ohio, July 25th, 18V8. 



Again; a customer writes that his sec- 

 tions were short so many sides. The cir- 

 cumstances were such that I wrote him I 

 felt sure he had made a mistake somewhere, 

 and asked if it was not ])ossible that they 

 had been left where children had got at 

 them, or something of that kind. I did 

 this, because another friend had taken of- 

 fense when I suggested, perhaps not quite 

 s(^ carefully, that he might be mistaken. 

 Here is the an'swer : 



The package of sides for sections came duly to 

 hand; I shall now come out even. In reg-ard to the 

 mistake, I guess we both made one. You certainly 

 sent me the odd tops and bottoms, as I did not take 

 them out of the box till they were put together and 

 they were out of the way of chiklrtn ; but since re- 

 ceiving your cai-d, I have made another count (with 

 pencil and paper this time), and find that I had mj' 

 mumber of boxes put together. I counted them 

 hurriedly before, and did not see them all. So I 

 ha\e 90 sections to pay you for and postage 5i cts. 



N. N. Shepard. 



Cochranton, Pa., June 24th, 1878. 



I might multiply these instances ; the two 

 letters I have given, turned up just as I 

 was writing. Do you see the moral here? 

 We all make mistakes ; the very 1 test man I 

 ever knew, will make mistakes and do care- 

 less things, now and then. Training will do 

 a great deal, and c<irefid watching will help 

 one to get over these failings, in some de- 

 jiiee, but still they cling to us. and convince 

 us we are but human. 



When a mistake turns up. and it is diffi- 

 cult to decide where the blame justly be- 

 longs, shall I rim the risk of letting it fall 



on an innocent person, or shall I bear it my- 

 self? I confess I feel better and sleep 

 somider when I bear it on my own should- 

 ers, even if I do have the blues at times, and 

 feel that my business must be wrecked, if 1 

 continue to bear the faults of both parties. 

 Perhaps this sounds a little like boasting of 

 my own liberality, for I presume, when we 

 get at the real truth of these things, it will 

 be foimd that others are just as liberal and 

 self sacrificing as we are ; but the point I 

 wish to inculcate is, that we need to make 

 up our minds to bear a little more than our 

 share of the burdens of this world, and then 

 we shall get just where God can bless us. 

 When we get right there, kind friends will 

 be seen coming forward, and saying, "Here ! 

 you are doing more than vour part; let me 

 foot this bill." In more than one instance, 

 have I known customers to do this, and my 

 employees have also insisted more than 

 once, upon standing between me and loss. 

 It is the same spirit which we see manifest- 

 ed wiiere one of a number of shop mates is 

 sick or gets hurt. A few months ago one of 

 ' our men had his hand taken off with a buzz 

 ! saAv. As soon as it was known, there were 

 I pale and sober faces all about, and, in a few 

 I days, without even a hint from me, a card 

 } was up over the time clerk's desk, Avith the 

 amounts marked down that each one woidd 

 ! give. The list grew, and finally it came 

 { down to the little errand boys, of 10 or V2 

 j years old. I will give Mr. O. S^c, and I, and 

 ! I, said they one after another ; and when 

 Saturday night came, although it took from 

 one-third to one-half of their whole earn- 

 ings, the amount was promptly handed over. 

 One little fellow en me to see him one morn- 

 ing, and asked if he would not like some 

 beets; back he sped, and a basket of beets 

 and lettuce from their own garden was his 

 offering. Could it be said of these hands, 

 that they were intent only on looking after 

 number one? and do you see how hard it is 

 to demand of those who are so generous and 

 liberal with each other, that they pay for er- 

 rors, when it is at least somewhat doubtful 

 whether they are at all to blame? Poor, 

 careless, heedless hiunanity I With all your 

 faults and weaknesses, there is, away down 

 deep, something noble and grand— some- 

 thing besides self, and selfish gi-atificatio'n. 

 By no means, would I encourage a spirit of 

 letting things go — a spirit of ILstlessness, or 

 lax indifference. 



On our honey farm, is a small stream, and 

 across it, at a convenient point, has been 

 built a dam, to be used in the summer 

 time for bathing and boating, and in the 

 winter for skating and ice. One afternoon, 

 the boys proposed to build this dam, on 

 their own time, if I would consent. Soon 

 40 or .50 of us were at work with axes, spades 

 and hoes; a huge elm tree was chopped 

 down and, by the united strength of many 

 hands, was rolled into place. All passed off 

 liappily, until some of us became tired, and 

 notue'ing under the restraint of the regular 

 working hoin-s, we turned the work into 

 sport. As is often the case, some of the 

 sport was a little rough; anger took the 

 place of merriment, and I was at once so- 

 bered and ] tallied by hearing my boys use 



