where

tween the jobs here was something to hold them up — a small platform, as it were, above the sweep of black water, for a moment they might pause and take a breath.

The period of waiting on this night of rain seemed endless to those silent, hungry men; but at length there was a stir. The line moved. The side door was opened. Ah, at last! They were going to hand out the bread.

But instead of the usual white-aproned cook with his crowded hampers there now appeared in the doorway a new man, a young fellow who looked like a bookkeeper's assistant. He bore in his hand a placard, which he tacked to the outside of the door. Then he disappeared within the bakery, locking the door after him.

A shudder of despair, an unformed sense of calamity, seemed to run from end to end of the line. What had happened? Those in the rear, unable to read the placard, surged forward, a sense of bitter disappointment at their hearts.

The line broke up, changed into a shapeless throng a throng that crowded forward and collected in front of the shut door whereon the placard was affixed. Lewiston, with the others, pushed forward. On the placard he read these words:

"Owing to the fact that the price of grain has been increased to two dollars a bushel, there will be no distribution of bread from this bakery until further notice."

Lewiston turned away, dumb, bewildered. Till morning he walked the streets, going on without purpose, without direction.

Then at last his luck turned. Over night the wheel of his fortune creaked and swung upon its axis, and before noon he found a job in the street-cleaning brigade. In time he rose to be first shift boss, then deputy inspector, then inspector; then he was promoted to the dignity of driving a red wagon with rubber tires and drawing a salary instead of mere wages. The wife was sent for and a new start made.

But Lewiston never forgot. Dimly he began to see the

meaning of things. Caught once in the cogs of a great and terrible engine, he had seen its workings. Of all the men who had stood in the "bread line" on that rainy night in early summer, he, perhaps, was the only one who had struggled up to the surface again. How many others had gone down in the great ebb? Grim question; he dared not think how many. He had seen the two ends of a great wheat operation a battle between Bear and Bull. The farmer - he who raised the wheat was ruined upon one hand; the working-man he who consumed it was ruined upon the other. But between the two, the great operators, who never saw the wheat they traded in, bought and sold the world's food, gambled in the nourishment of nations, practised their tricks and shifty "deals," and went on in life, cheerful, contented, and unassailable.

CLASS ACTIVITIES

1. How did Sam Lewiston lose his farm? So far as the story shows, was he in any way responsible for the loss?

2. Explain the cause which is given for the fall in the price of wheat. Why did Lewiston not hold on to his grain until the price went up?

3. Explain the author's purpose in each of the two parts of this story. 4. Read the passage in Lyon's "Wants as a Factor in Determining Values," p. 210, which refers to "bear raids." Does Lyon disagree with Norris? Explain.

5. Describe Lewiston's experiences in Chicago. Is there a "bread line" where you live? If so, who supplies the bread?

6. What happens when there are "hard times"? Name periods in American history when times have been hard. What seem to have been the causes? (See A. H. Sanford, Story of Agriculture in the United States, 224-234.)

7. Mention ways in which men must buy for future delivery if they wish to avoid failure in business. Do growers of fruit need to buy trees for future delivery? Do builders of skyscrapers or bridges? Do dealers in groceries or hardware? If possible, ask some business men how far in advance of delivery they order their goods.

8. Read the part of "Commerce," p. 222, which best shows the spirit of the "bears" and "bulls."

9. Which gives a more convincing explanation of the causes for changes in prices, this story or "Wants as a Factor in Determining Values," p. 210? Give reasons.

Unlike the commerce of ancient times, which was limited largely to spices, jewels, fine fabrics, and the precious metals, the commerce of our day consists of all sorts of commodities of grain, coal, iron,

even of bugs. Before reading this selection, write out two questions which you hope the author will answer.

The latest development in international trade is a commerce in insects in which the parties concerned are none other than the great and progressive nations themselves. It is growing to be an ordinary practice for the Khedive of Egypt to propose to the President of Chili to exchange a bottle of flies for a box of ticks, or for Uncle Sam to trade a nest of yellowjackets to France for an insect that is the enemy of the gypsy-moth.

This is good business. Upon the fact that "little fleas have other fleas to bite 'em," may be built a plan of defense against the insect hordes that from time to time invade communities and do great damage; for these instinctive enemies may be introduced to give battle to the destructive hordes which injure us. The manner of marshaling the insect armies is carefully studied by the bureaus of entomology of the various nations, and these are co-operating and have built up a considerable interchange in insects that have been enlisted in the fight for man's good.

The whole enterprise started in California, where the scale attacked the orange-trees. The orchard men found a beetle to eat the scale, and so saved the day. The scale was nothing

less than an accumulation of insects, and the peculiar beetle that attacked it is none other than the ladybug of the nursery rhyme that is urged to "fly away home."

Italy, Spain, the British West Indies, and other communities where oranges are grown, are calling upon Uncle Sam for great quantities of ladybugs or ladybirds, as they are often called to devour the scale in those sections. This country is responding freely, and the insects are going forth with their healthy appetites to do their share toward saving the orange crop in many parts of the world.

The gadfly is a pest, known the world around, whose pernicious habit of stinging animals in the heels while inserting its eggs under their skin has stampeded many a mild-faced ox, from Vicksburg to Calcutta. A bit of comedy that enlivens every pasture in America is the attack of the gadfly on the family cow and the peculiar manner in which she crimps her tail over her. back on these occasions and makes for the waterhole.

In a similar way the gadfly attacks the camel in Africa. The interest of the French Government in Algeria has led to the introduction of the digger-wasp, a native of Texas and an enemy of the gadfly, into that country. The wasps have been taken to Algeria and set free, and it is expected that they will reduce the number of gadflies, and consequently the disease that affects the camels through infection carried by them.

The handling of the digger-wasp in commerce is surrounded by some difficulties, as is the handling of the bumblebee.

The bumblebee is indispensable to the clover crop. It flits from blossom to blossom and carries the pollen from one to the other, thus fertilizing the flowers so that the seeds reproduce when planted. Where the bee does not exist, clover cannot be made to reproduce. In the Philippines, for instance, conditions were found favorable to the growing of clover; but the bee was absent, and the industry as a consequence was paralyzed. A similar condition in Australia,

when the English first planted clover there, was remedied by transplanting the bumblebee.

Knowing this, the scientists of the Department of Agriculture were anxious to establish the bumblebee in the Philippines; but the sting of the little insect complicated matters. The idea was hit upon of deluding the bumblebees into the belief that their trips to sunny climes were being taken in the dead of winter and that they were as a consequence hibernating. To carry out this idea successfully, the bumblebees were captured in the winter and their nests placed in refrigerator baskets. These were kept well replenished with ice during the trip, and, despite the crossing of equatorial latitudes, the insects were never aware that other conditions than those of ice and snow existed.

This may not be true of one consignment that was sent to the Philippines in charge of native students returning from the United States, over which still hovers an air of mystery. Two refrigerator baskets were to be carried in hand by the students, who were instructed to replenish the ice supply from time to time. When the students reached Manila, one of the baskets had disappeared, and a satisfactory explanation has never been secured. One can speculate as to possibilities in case the ice was neglected and the bees waked up in a heated car.

These

Even ticks are of inestimable value in commerce. insects are great bearers of disease in rabbits, dogs, and cattle. They are particularly damaging in the United States and Africa. In Texas a tick has been found that is suffering greatly from a small parasite that lives within it. This tick, carrying its microscopic enemy, is being scattered the world around so that the parasite may destroy ticks elsewhere. The Portuguese Government, particularly, is sending great numbers of Texas ticks to its African colonies.

Our government is active now in introducing parasites of the gypsy-moth and the browntailed-moth. These moths were brought into New England from abroad. They have