The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-09-13

A Drummer's Lively Experience I'm South
west Georgia Town.

Drummer's Lively Experience In South
west Georgia Town.
did you ever see busy bees making
honey in q hotel2" Tho question was
put by a travelling man who had just
returned from q six weeks trip
through the southern portion of the
state.
II wouldn't have believed" he con-
tinued, that people and bees could
live together, but l have sean it with
my own eyes, and l am convinced that
they can. Last week, as l was max
ing my return trip to Savannah, /
stopped over at Oglethorpe, and Ispent
the night in that industrious little town
at the Drummers' Home, the only ho-
tel there. 1t is kept by Judge Willis,
the largest merchant and one of the
wealthiest men i'll southwest Georgia.
| was sitting out on the front porch
just after supper, smoking cigar,
and l kept hearing rumbling noise,
as If water were pouring off some
place. The sound came and went at
intervals, and sometimes l could hear
it distinct enough to almost tell, l
thought, what it was. From the ar
tesian we'll, situated in the center of
the town, runs small stream. IL runs
down a hill over rocks and pebbles,
making rumbling noise like that of
brook, and forms branch further
down the hill, and the ripping of the
little stream is heard at the business
houses.
II got up and walked down to the
south end of the porch, imagining
that could smell the sweet fragrance
of the violets and honeysuckles on the
branch, when bug, as l supposed,
whizzed by my head. l threw my
hand up to my head when something
lighted on it. l wasn't frightened,
but skittish of bugs. Imade desper-
ate brush at the insect with my left
hand and struck it. 1t did not fall
dead to the floor as expected. Its
sting was in my hand, and the poor
thing could not get loose. The sensa-
ton was unnerving, and with an en-
ergetic use of my cap got rid of it. 1t
was a bee. l smelled him and his
scent was abroad. I leaned up against
column to get breath after the expe-
rience and Jared the post consider
ably. l stopped down to pick up my
cap, and when l Strengthened up /
ran my head into bee nest. There
were more bees there than / ever felt
before. They pitched on my face
and head, and as fast as one would
sting he gave place to the next one,
who gave me q whack. l ran into the
room, and in some way they got the
bees off of me. | remained over in
Oglethorpe two days-that was longer
than 1 expected to stay, but l wanted
to stay until my fondncss for the
place 'swagged down to its natural
size.
Two days afterward, 2 few hours
before was going to leave, thought
l would take last look at the 'fated
spot / found the column against
which 1 leaned. and the first thing
that attracted my attention was the
rumbling noise that l heard two nights
before. Looking at the top of the post
saw a bunch of bees that would
have filed my hat. They were going
in and out of a crack in the post, just
as they go in and out of gum. They
were making honey. I had made a
discovery. made known what 1 had
seen TO the proprietor or the house.
He investigated it and found that the
column, which is about ten feet high
and eight inches in diameter, was full
of honey up to within two feet of the
top. After calculating awhile, we
found that the column contained over
200 pounds of honey. twas find of
between $50 and 500. Nobody had
ever seen the bees before, and, not
withstanding the rumbling noise had
attracted the attention of numbers of
people, they attributed the sound to
the branch just as l did. was told
that the bees would be robbed of their
honey the next day, if 1 would remain
over. but l was two days behind, and
had to pull out. The two families live
peaceably together now, am told, and
no hostility will be manifested until
the post gets full Of honey, then the
whites will begin pillaging and rob-
bing. "-Savannah News.