I am four and a half years old, and I can not read or write, but mamma is writing this for me. Papa has taken Harper's Weekly since 1865, and binds it himself, and now he takes Young People for me, and is going to bind that too. I love to look at the pictures and hear mamma read the stories in my paper as soon as it is sewed and cut.
I have many nice toys and playthings, and two pet kittens; their names are Dick and Spot.
Papa plays on the violin, and mamma plays the organ, and I play on my triangle with them. I have a little violin, too, that grandpa gave me, but I don't play on it much when papa and mamma play. I can sing a great many pieces. I like music.
We live in a pleasant farm-house south of Dansville. I do lots of chores for papa and mamma, and I ride our horse to water nearly every day. We have plenty of nice fruit and flowers.
I think the Post-office Box is nice.
Clyde H.
Hastings, Minnesota.
I take Young People, and I like it so much. I always read the letters the very first thing when I get my paper. Almost all the boys and girls write about their pets. I have no pets except my dolls. I have eight dolls. The largest is wax, and I call her Bessie.
As I was trying to paint, the other day, I saw a large ant run along. I touched it with my brush, and then it was a green ant instead of a black one.
I tried the recipe for cup-cake that Bessie L. S. sent, and it was just splendid.
I think the story of "The Moral Pirates" is very nice. When I get a whole volume of Young People, I am going to have it bound. I am ten years old.
Mabel I.
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
Our school closed on the last day of June, and the 1st of July we had a picnic, and we all enjoyed ourselves very much.
I like Young People, especially the Post-office Box. The story of "The Moral Pirates" is splendid, and I hope it will be a good long one.
I have no tame pets, but there are some chipping sparrows around our house. One pair built a nest in the honeysuckles by the kitchen door, and another pair built in the grape arbor.
Here is a recipe for cake for the Cooking Club: One and a half cups of sugar; one egg; two table-spoonfuls of butter; three cups of sifted flour; one cup of sweet milk; two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar; one of soda; a little essence of either lemon or almond—I like almond best. This will make a good big cake.
Ella B. R.
I found fifty-five new flowers in June. Among them was the Ceanothus americanus, or New Jersey tea, the leaves of which, mamma read to me, were used for tea during the American Revolution. It is a pretty shrub with white flowers.
I have two pet kittens, named Puck and Blossom.
I would like to send Carrie Harding some pressed arbutus, but it has done blooming for this year. I would be glad to exchange other kinds of pressed flowers with her, if she would like to do so.
Harry H. Moore,
Windsor, Connecticut.
Anacostia, D. C.
On the 10th of July I was nine years old. Although it is vacation now, I practice writing in my copy-book, for it is very important to be a good writer.
I have a butterfly net, and have caught some very pretty specimens. If Walter H. P. would use benzine to kill his butterflies, he would find it quite as good as cyanide of potassium, which is so poisonous. Benzine can be bought by the quart at the paint shops at a low price, and one or two drops on the head of a butterfly will kill it at once.
I have a bantam rooster so tame that he will allow me to pick him up and carry him in my arms. I have a kitchen-garden, too. In it there are potatoes, corn, tomatoes, water-melons, a pea-nut vine, and two fine tobacco plants. One of my tomato vines has fruit on it. There are no weeds in my garden.
I think Harper's Young People is the best paper published for children.
Willie C. S.
Harshmanville, Ohio.
Papa takes Harper's Young People for my brother. Mamma made him a pie from Helen's recipe. It was very nice. Mamma says some little girls are born cooks.
When my brother reads the fairy stories in Young People, he says he would like to wade the Atlantic Ocean, and put a few whales in his pocket for his minnow tank. Now he wants to go fishing in a boat. He is almost ten, and I am seven.
Mamma says, Tell Puss Hunter to set her bread to rise in a deep vessel, as the less surface exposed, the better it is, as the gas is kept confined in the dough. A flannel cloth to cover it with is best, for the same reason. Mamma says she is a friend to all little bakers.
Myrtie Belle E.
I would like to exchange dried grasses, Southern moss, birds' eggs and nests, for sea-shells, with any reader of Young People.
Horace L. Barlow,
Refugio, Refugio County, Texas.
I would be glad to exchange birds' eggs with any correspondent of Young People.
S. E. Strong,
1394 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.
I am eleven years old. I have a pony, some rabbits, guinea-pigs, and ferrets. Not long ago my pony went into the bantam-house, and ate up a whole boxful of oats which was standing there. Then he pulled down a bag of oats, and scattered them all over the floor. I have two canaries which have set twice this spring, but have not raised a bird.
I would like to exchange pressed flowers with some little girl in California.
Winnie Waldron,
Care of Mr. E. H. Waldron, Lafayette, Indiana.
Will Harry Starr Kealhofer, of Memphis, Tennessee, please send his full address, and a list of stamps he wishes to exchange, to M. C. Stryker, corner of Argyle Avenue and Biddle Street, Baltimore, Maryland?
Chicago, Illinois.
Will you please tell me the origin of the name of strawberries? I take Young People, and like it very much, and my little cousins in Louisiana take it too. I am eight years old.
Winnie S. G.
The word strawberry is from the Anglo-Saxon, and was formerly written streawberie. The reason for applying the name to the delicious little fruit is undecided. Some authorities hold that it should be written strayberry, and that it refers to the creeping or straying habit of the vines.
C. L. B.—Alwur, sometimes written Alwar or Alvar, is a town of India, eighty-five miles southwest of Delhi.
Bonanza, Idaho.
I have heard that there are a great many towns in the United States named Vicksburg. Can you tell me how many?
My sister tried Helen's recipe for lemon pie, in Young People No. 32, and it was very nice.
F. M. G.
There are five towns and cities named Vicksburg, one in each of the following States: Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Mississippi.
Willie M.—Directions for making an ordinary kite were given in Post-office Box No. 19. "Sim Vedder's Kite," in Young People No. 25, also contained some valuable suggestions.
Wave.—Common sunfish can not injure the gold-fish and other inhabitants of your aquarium.
Ottawa, Canada.
I am nine years old, and I have two sisters and one brother, Ruth, Alonzo, and baby Vera.
There was a boy who wrote to Young People and said he was very fond of history. So am I. I have read Peter Parley's History of the United States five times, and now I am reading Charles Dickens's Child's History of England. I don't know what to read next. I wish you would tell me the names of some child's histories, for I do not understand very well those written for older people.
Percy R.
All of Abbott's Illustrated Histories would interest you. Then there are some good histories for young readers by Miss Yonge; and child's histories of the United States, of Greece, and of Rome, by Bonner; an interesting child's history of the United States, by T. W. Higginson; and many other books referring to special periods, like Mr. Coffin's Story of Liberty and Boys of '76, where you will find much valuable information. The works by Abbott, Bonner, and Coffin are published by Harper & Brothers.
Ella W.—The date of the invention of gun-powder is unknown. Tradition says that it was used in China as early as a.d. 85, for fire-works and blasting, and that the Arabs employed it at the siege of Mecca in 690. Roger Bacon is supposed to allude to its explosive force, and it is said that Berthold Schwartz, a monk, about 1336, discovered the mode of manufacturing it. It is also said that the knowledge of it was conveyed to Europe by the returning Crusaders.
Tempt your parrot with English walnuts, bits of apple and pear, and canary and hemp seed, and also give it a red pepper to pick to pieces. Let it out of its cage to climb about an hour or more every morning. A parrot can not be healthy without some exercise.
George F.—Directions for "Model Yacht Building" were given in Young People No. 23.
F. H. L.—Any hardware merchant will send to New York city for a catalogue of toy steam-engines for you, which will give you full information in regard to styles, prices, and how and where the engine you require can be obtained.
Fred H. H.—You can purchase turtles at any store where gold-fish and materials for an aquarium are sold. They will cost you very little—ten or fifteen cents apiece, perhaps, for small ones. If you are going to the country, you can catch plenty of them yourself. By reading former numbers of Our Post-office Box you will find many directions for the care of turtles. A water turtle needs clean water, and also stones to climb up on.
Flavors are acknowledged from Anna Stuart, John Parr, Lulu A. Sacchi, Helen E. H., Ed. Walshe, Edith Haigh, Blanche C., H. Krause, Fannie L. D., Eddie A. Leet.
Correct answers to puzzles are received from Joseph Roome, Philip E. Ide, William I. Coleman, Harry Louis, May L. Davis, R. H. King, W. Fowler, J. H. Shaw, Otis L. How, John W., Harry E. Furber, George W. Raymond, W. Callaghan, Leon Munroe, Beryl Abbott, Willie Miner, Eddie Wheeler, H. M. P., Helen W. Dean, Howard Rathbone, Daisy Violet, Paul Sterling, F. and B. Haigh, M. C. Stryker, Winnie Waldron, George Francis, Carrie and Cora, Wilfred H. Warner, Lucie Ruprecht, H. H. Gottleben, Lillian Clark, Minnie Lewis, Eddie S. Hequembourg, G. Volckhausen, Alfred Jaquith, A. H. Ellard, Nannie S. S., Hallie S. Morgan, Jessie and Gertie Evans.
I am composed of 16 letters.
My 11, 8, 15, 5 is used in winter.
My 7, 12, 9, 2, 8 is found on the sea-shore.
My 1, 3, 14, 6, 10 is a flock of birds.
My 2, 3, 5, 15 is a vein of metal.
My 1, 16, 13, 4, 5 is floating vapor.
My whole was a noted British admiral.
"Tout ou Rien."
First, a division of time. Second, a girl's name. Third, disagreeable. Fourth, beams of light.
M. E. N.
1. I know the girls have nice new gloves. 2. Yes, I am going to start for Europe to-morrow. 3. The hero met his comrades. 4. At the sale many people were present. 5. The ox for David was brought home yesterday. 6. When you go to Ceylon, do not neglect to write often to mother. 7. Near the foxes' den marks of feet were seen. 8. When Johnny whispers, I always tell him to speak louder. 9. Being unjustly accused by our teachers, we deny having disobeyed the rules. 10. There were so many people, I thought the procession would never pass.
S. B.
My first is in float, but not in sink.
My second is in write, but not in ink.
My third is in barn, but not in store.
My fourth is in nickel, but not in ore.
My fifth is in garden, but not in walk.
My sixth is in stem, but not in stalk.
My whole is a delicious fruit.
W. H. L.
In soprano. A mineral. A musical instrument. A verb. In soprano.
Willie.
A period of time. A measurement. An animal. A river in the United States. To signify. Answer—Two of the United States.
Jupiter.
| 1. Black, block, brock, brick, trick, trice, trite, write, white. |
| 2. Rose, rise, rile, wile, wily, lily. |
| 3. Beef, reef, reel, real, veal. |
| 4. Lamb, lame, lane, land, band, bond, bold, wold, wolf. |
| 5. Sick, silk, sill, will, well. |
| 6. Moon, boon, boor, boar, soar, star. |
| 7. Town, torn, morn, more, mote, mite, cite, city. |
| 8. Hawk, hark, bark, bard, bird. |
| 9. Sew, set, sit, sip, rip. |
| 10. Page, rage, race, rack, rock, rook, book. |
Alabama.
| M | ||||
| S | E | T | ||
| M | E | L | O | N |
| T | O | P | ||
| N |
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
| P | E | A | L |
| E | N | V | Y |
| A | V | E | R |
| L | Y | R | E |
Pudding.
Harper's Young People will be issued every Tuesday, and may be had at the following rates—payable in advance, postage free:
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Address
HARPER & BROTHERS,
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Songs for the nursery, songs for childhood, for girlhood, boyhood, and sacred songs—the whole melody of childhood and youth bound in one cover. Full of lovely pictures; sweet mother and baby faces; charming bits of scenery, and the dear old Bible story-telling pictures.—Churchman, N. Y.
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With a pair of scissors cut the straight line from A to B in Fig. 1. Then join the two pieces as in Fig. 2, and you have a Diamond.
You have read accounts, no doubt, if you have not seen the actual performance, of men who do wonderful things in the way of swallowing fire. Some of these feats may be executed by amateurs, with very good effect, in parlor entertainments.
I will first describe the feat of swallowing fire. This is very simple. Take a small piece of jeweller's cotton about the size of a walnut, and pour on it a little alcohol; a few drops will do. Then, standing with your face to the audience, you light this with a match. You then take a long breath, and open your mouth wide, holding your breath, mind, all the time; then you put the blazing cotton into your mouth, but just as it passes your lips you blow all the air sharply from your lungs (this extinguishes the fire in the cotton); shut your mouth quickly on the cotton, and press it boldly to the roof of your mouth with your tongue. You then slip the wad of cotton into your cheek, and swallow a draught of water from a tumbler you have ready on the table. As you wipe your mouth with your handkerchief after drinking the water, you remove the bit of cotton, and then you can allow any one of the audience to examine your mouth in order to satisfy himself that you really swallowed the fire.
In these fire-eating tricks, if you wash your mouth out with alum and water, all the better.
The other feat of fire-eating is a very old one, and has been often published, but I have seen so very many people astonished by it that I venture to give it again for the new generation.
Procure a good, large apple or turnip, and cut from it a piece of the shape of Fig. 1, to resemble the butt-end of a tallow candle; then from a nut of some kind—an almond is the best—whittle out a small peg of about the size and shape of Fig. 2. Stick the peg in the apple as in Fig. 3, and you have a very fair representation of a candle. The wick you can light, and it will burn for at least a minute. In performing you should have your candle in a clean candlestick, show it plainly to the audience, and then put it into your mouth, taking care to blow it out in the same way as you would the cotton, and munch it up. If you think best, you can blow the candle out and allow the wick to cool, and it will look, with its burned wick, so natural that even the sharpest eyes can not distinguish it from the genuine article.
Once, at a summer resort in Massachusetts, I made use of this candle with considerable effect. While performing a few parlor tricks to amuse some friends, I pretended to need a light. A confederate left the room, and soon returned with a lantern containing one of these apple counterfeits.
"Do you call that a candle?" I said.
"Certainly," he replied.
"Why, there is scarcely a mouthful."
"A mouthful? Rather a disagreeable mouthful, I guess."
"You have never been in Russia, I presume?"
"Never."
"Then you don't know what is good."
"Good?"
"Yes, good. Why, candle ends, with the wick a little burned, to give them a flavor, are delicious. They always serve them up before dinner in Russia as a kind of relish. It is considered bad taste in good society there to ask a friend to sit down to dinner without offering him this appetizer."
"The bad taste would be in the relish, I think."
"Not at all. Try a bit."
I took the candle out of the lantern, and extended it toward my confederate, who shrank back with disgust.
"Well," I said, "if you won't have it, I'll eat it myself." And so saying, I put it into my mouth and munched it up, amid the cries of surprise and horror of the assembled party. Two old maids insisted on looking into my mouth to see whether it was not concealed there.
On one occasion, while at a dinner party, Dr. O. W. Holmes composed the following riddle:
"My initials show my date to be
The morning of the Christian year;
Though fatherless, as all agree,
I am a father, it is clear:
A mother too, beyond dispute;
And when my son comes,
He's a fruit.
Now, not to puzzle you too much,
'Twas I gave Holland to the Dutch."