of the ghosts spoke to him or molested him in any way. "Now,
honey," he would say, "you can jest have your jokes wid de old
niggah, but sure as you're born, dem was sure enough ghostzes wot
I seed--ghostzes of people, ghostzes of animals, and varmints, and
elephants, and all sich."
The next night quite a lot of us went to the glen to see if the
show was still on exhibition, or, like other affairs of the kind,
had flitted in the night. But sure enough we could make out some
resemblance to various animals, but not quite so plain as Uncle
Joe made them out. Papa went with us, and he made a sketch of the
old man travelling through the dark hollow.
ERNEST C. P.
* * * * *
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.
DEAR MR. HARPER,--I'm in an awful fix. I don't believe Jimmy Brown
felt any worse or any more discouraged with life after his father
laid him across that old chair than I do now.
I hear grown-up people talk about writing to the papers when
things go wrong, so I'm going to try it, though that's the way I
got into trouble.
First of all, we children had scarlet fever. It didn't hurt much;
but mamma kept us shut up in two rooms for five weeks, and of
course we had to do something.
After fixing my stamp-book all up, I had about twenty duplicates,
so I wrote to YOUNG PEOPLE requesting exchanges. A day or two
after, I was greatly delighted when a dozen letters were handed
me, all containing stamps. I went over them, selected what I
wanted, and returned the rest, with those asked for. In about four
days all my duplicates were gone; still the letters and stamps
kept coming from far and near. Hardly anybody sent anything I
wanted, so I had to send dozens upon dozens of replies, containing
stamps.
Now my income is just twenty-five cents a week; and when it came
to paying postage on from five to ten letters a day, at three
cents each, I couldn't find any rule in my arithmetic to make it
come out right.
Now that I am going to school, and haven't much time to write,
there has a fresh lot started in from Omaha, San Francisco,
Denver, and a lot more of those places with uncivilized names.
I'm an awful slow writer--the perspiration just rolls off me doing
this--and it will take me a month to answer them all, as I have
only Saturday; and papa shakes his head, and says things will be
twice as bad when the mails begin to arrive from Europe, Asia, and
Africa, not to mention all the islands of the Pacific and Indian
oceans; and mamma sighs, and says if I keep the stamps so long,
people will think I am dishonest, and when I am nominated for
President of the United States, all these things will be brought
against me.
Now I want to say, Mr. Harper, that I think all this is a good
deal your fault. If you hadn't sent your paper all over creation,
I'd never have had all this trouble, and I wish you'd please stop
printing so many copies, for with no Saturdays and no
pocket-money, a boy might 'most as well be dead; and if the
Hottentots and all the rest begin sending stamps, I shall be ready
to go with Jimmy Brown and his dog and monkey.
Sorrowfully yours,
PERCY L. MCDERMOTT.
* * * * *
NEW YORK CITY.
I contribute to the Young Chemists' Club a very pretty experiment,
called the Alaska Landscape: Dissolve one pound of nitrate of lead
in one gallon of water; filter; then drop in four ounces of muriate
of ammonia. Stand it in a place where it will not be disturbed, as
it can not be moved without injury.
C. R.
* * * * *
MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.
My brother takes YOUNG PEOPLE, and I think it is the best paper I
ever read.
I wish the Young Chemists' Club would send a recipe of their ink.
This is a specimen of mine, but I have had very poor success. It
is very pale, and does not flow well from the pen.
FRANK M. P.
* * * * *
SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK.
I am a little girl eight years old, but I am not strong enough to
run about as much as other children, so I pass many hours with my
YOUNG PEOPLE. I have been busy the whole morning making a puzzle to
send, and I think it is quite as much fun as guessing those sent by
the other children. I had to use my geography, and the big
dictionary with pictures in it, and I learned how to spell some new
words. I have never been well enough to go to school, but mamma
says I learned as much making the puzzle as I should if I had spent
the morning in a school-room.
EDITH M. W.
* * * * *
WEST WASHINGTON, D. C.
I wish to tell the Post-office Box about my little sister. She is
not quite two years old. The other day she asked mamma for some
cake. Mamma told her it was all gone; but on looking in the closet
she found some small pieces, which the little rogue ate, and
pulling mamma's dress, said, "I want some more _all gone_ cake."
She is always applying quotations from little verses and songs, of
which she can sing more than a dozen. Yesterday she threw her
little china kitten on the floor, saying, "Jack fell down and
broke his crown"; then she fell down herself, and said, "Jill came
tumbling after."
I hope every reader of YOUNG PEOPLE has such a darling little
sister.
JOSIE BELLE A.
* * * * *
EASTON, MARYLAND.
My brothers and myself enjoy reading YOUNG PEOPLE. We think Toby
Tyler's "Mr. Stubbs" is a most remarkable monkey.
Papa tried some pretty experiments for us this winter. He took
some glasses and partly filled them with water. Then he covered
the water with raw cotton, over which he sprinkled grains of
wheat. In a short time the wheat came up very tall and beautiful,
falling over the sides of the glasses.
Then he put a sweet-potato in a glass jar half filled with water.
Very soon it put out a great many slender sprouts, which we
trained up on strings. The vine is flourishing now, and we say we
have potatoes growing in this cold winter weather.
EMMA E. J.
* * * * *
The Young Chemists' Club still continues to be a success. At a
recent meeting, Professor S---- was present, and gave us a very
instructive lecture upon the products of coal-tar, of which I give
a brief abstract to the readers of Our Post-office Box: The most
wonderful product, from the manufacture of coal-gas is coal-tar--a
most unpromising-looking substance, but containing much of interest
and value. By distilling coal-tar we get many more new products.
By continuing the process of distillation, a dead oil is obtained,
which is very valuable, as it yields carbolic acid, a great
disinfectant, and creosote, which is used extensively to protect
wood-work exposed to the weather.
We thank YOUNG PEOPLE for its kindness toward us, and we are
trying to pay it back by taking an active interest in it.
We would like more experiments from the readers, and would also
like to know of some good books on chemistry.
I would be pleased to correspond on scientific subjects with those
young chemical students who have requested my address.
CHARLES H. WILLIAMSON,
President of Young Chemists' Club,
293 Eckford Street, Brooklyn, E. D., N. Y.
* * * * *
LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.
I have a little brother Carl, who was two years old this month.
Mamma has been reading "Toby Tyler" to sister and me, and Carl must
have been listening more sharply than we thought, for last night,
just as supper was over, he laid his head against the back of his
high chair, and said, "Little Toby Tyler sleepy; little Toby Tyler
wants to go up stairs."
We think both Carl and YOUNG PEOPLE are splendid.
C. O. M.
* * * * *
CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND.
I have just read the paragraph concerning birds' eggs in the
Post-office Box of YOUNG PEOPLE No. 70, and I think it is by far
the best thing that has appeared for a good while. If the poor
little birds could only speak, I know they would thank YOUNG PEOPLE
from morning until evening. Boys and girls, let us all protect the
little birds, and agree not to kill them or rob their nests.
"STARRY FLAG."
* * * * *
EVANS MILLS, NEW YORK.
I entirely agree with YOUNG PEOPLE on the question of birds' eggs.
I think it is a heartless, cruel thing to rob a bird's nest, and if
all the correspondents of YOUNG PEOPLE will think it over quietly,
I am sure they will all feel as I do.
M. F. C.
* * * * *
WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT, _February_ 27, 1881.
I wish to notify correspondents that my stock of coins is
exhausted.
ALFRED S. KELLOGG.
* * * * *
ALBANY, NEW YORK, _February_ 26, 1881.
I have disposed of all my copper cents of 1802. Exchangers will
please take notice.
FRANK P. HUESTED.
* * * * *
Since my request for exchange was published, I have sent away all
my moss. I hope those correspondents who wrote last will excuse me
for not answering their letters. I have some crests and monograms,
which I will give for minerals or ocean curiosities.
VAUX CHADWICK,
44 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
* * * * *
I like YOUNG PEOPLE better every day, especially the Post-office
and exchange department. Since I requested exchange, I have
increased my collection from ninety to nine hundred. I will now
exchange postmarks, for foreign and United States postage and
revenue stamps.
C. H. MCBRIDE,
Rexford Flats, Saratoga County, N. Y.
* * * * *
I live on Chautauqua Lake, about five miles from Fair Point. We
have a very fine view of the lake here, which I would appreciate
more if I did not see it all the time.
This spring I shall collect shells and stones from the lake, and
curiosities, different kinds of woods, flints, arrow-heads, and
other things, which I would like to exchange for curiosities from
other States, or for stamps.
P. A. BUTTS,
Bemus Point, Chautauqua County, N. Y.
* * * * *
I have heard that autumn leaves, especially maple, are very
beautiful in the United States, and if any little girls will send
some to me, I will send them some postage stamps in return.
GERTIE ROLIN,
Redmyre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
* * * * *
Is there room in the Post-office Box for another little boy? If
there is, I want to come and say that I think YOUNG PEOPLE is just
splendid.
My papa has a fish-pond here, and raises brook trout. The young
trout are nearly all hatched now, and there are some funny ones
among them. Some have two heads and one tail, but these do not
live after they lose their sac. How many of the little readers of
YOUNG PEOPLE ever saw a trout that still had its sac on?
I would like to exchange some flints from old-fashioned guns, and
Mississippi carnelians, for Florida moss, sea-beans, or ocean
shells or curiosities of any kind.
CARL MOLL, Tunnel City, Wis.
* * * * *
The boys around here are collecting everything. A boy and myself
are collecting ores, minerals, stamps, and other curiosities.
I will exchange a stone from Michigan for one from any other
State.
GEORGIE P. CODD,
26 Adelaide Street, Detroit, Mich.
* * * * *
The following exchanges are also offered by correspondents:
Canadian coins, for foreign or United States coins. Or flower
seeds, for the same, or for postage stamps, postmarks, or anything
suitable for a collection of curiosities.
WILLIE B. and EMILY CLARK,
P. O. Box 79, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.
* * * * *
Foreign coins, Austrian, Turkish, and Russian especially desired.
A. F. HUNSBERGER,
Inland, Summit County, Ohio.
* * * * *
Sixty postmarks, for twenty foreign stamps.
H. C. JAMISON,
735 First Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
* * * * *
Postmarks and stamps, for Indian relics or other genuine
curiosities.
WALTER J. LEE,
357 East Fifty-third Street, New York City.
* * * * *
New York and Pennsylvania postmarks, and postage stamps, for Indian
arrow-heads.
CLARE WILLARD,
Alleghany, Cattaraugus County, N. Y.
* * * * *
Minerals and curiosities, for coins bearing date before 1816.
RALPH T. PICKETT,
744 West Congress Street, Chicago, Ill.
* * * * *
Postage stamps. A Mexican stamp, for one from Denmark, Iceland,
Japan, or China.
PERCY CHRYSTIE, High Bridge, N. J.
* * * * *
Persimmon seeds, for minerals, shells, or curiosities of any kind.
FRANK BRYAN,
Papinsville, Bates County, Mo.
* * * * *
A stone from Indiana, for one from any other State.
EUGENE HUTHSTEINER,
Tell City, Perry County, Ind.
* * * * *
An ounce of soil from New York or New Jersey, for five foreign
postage stamps (no duplicates).
WILL ODELL,
221 East Eighty-sixth Street, New York City.
* * * * *
Curiosities of all kinds.
LLOYD WARREN,
520 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
* * * * *
Pebbles and shells from Lake Michigan, and soil from Illinois, for
any other curiosities.
A. J. O'CONNOR, 363 Rush Street, Chicago, Ill.
* * * * *
CARRIE B. H.--A verse is, properly, one line of poetry; a stanza is a
set of verses. The former term is frequently but incorrectly used in
place of the latter. Thus,
"Tell me not in mournful numbers"
is a verse, and the following is a stanza,
"Tell me not in mournful numbers
Life is but an empty dream;
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem."
* * * * *
W. PRENTISS D. AND OTHERS.--A mistake was made in the scale of the plans
for making a sail-boat in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 66, owing to the failure of
the artist to allow for the reduction of his drawing. As it stands,
instead of one inch equalling one foot, the general scale is a scant
nine-sixteenths of an inch to one foot. That for figures 3, 6, 7 is
one-eighth of an inch to one foot, and that for the completed drawing is
nine-thirty-secondths of an inch to the foot. This would give a boat
twelve feet long.
* * * * *
If Frank R., of Oxford, Ohio, and Fred W. A., of Delaware, Ohio, will
add the county to the addresses they have given, their requests for
exchange will be printed.
* * * * *
J. E. B. B.--No such advertisement ever appeared in any paper, for no
such offer was ever made by the United States government.
* * * * *
WILLIE F. W. AND ROSA M. B.--Some numbers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, Vol.
I., can be obtained of the publishers, but not a complete set.
* * * * *
STARRY FLAG.--United States twenty-cent pieces were coined in 1875, and
also during the three following years. The largest coinage was in 1876,
and the smallest in 1878.
* * * * *
[The names of those sending a complete list of answers to puzzles in one
number of YOUNG PEOPLE will in future be printed in italics.]
Correct answers to puzzles have been received from Bessie B. Anderson,
Maggie Berry, Cortlandt F. Bishop, "Car. O. Liny," R. O. Chester, Maud
M. Chambers, H. M. C., Willie Curtis, E. A. Cushing, Jun., George Pierre
C., R. H. Davidson, "Dollars and Cents," George P. Deacon, Daniel
Dowdney, E., C. Gaylor, E. W. Halsey, Frank Haines, Albert H. Hopkins,
Alice C. Hammond, _Isobel L. Jacob_, Clara L. Kellogg, Howard B. Lent,
"_L. U. Stral_," G. W. Needham, "North Star," Hattie A. P., John
Phillips, Mattie P., "_Pepper_," Howard C. Rouzer, Willie F. Robertson,
Harry R. Romer, Alice M. Sheppard, "Starry Flag," G. A. Sahlin, Alice E.
Thorp, W. I. Trotter, Louis Treadwell, Dora N. Taylor, Charles Westcott,
Lucile W., Willie F. Woolard, George E. Wells, "Young Solver," Henry
M. R.
* * * * *
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
DOUBLE ENIGMA.
In grumble, not in smile.
In roofing, not in tile.
In blockade, not in siege.
In sovereign, not in liege.
In trouble, not in sorrow.
In give, but not in borrow.
In evasion, not in shift.
In keepsake, not in gift.
Two pretty birds are we;
We love our liberty.
Please leave our nests in peace,
Or our merry songs will cease.
SARAH ANN.
* * * * *
No. 2.
GEOGRAPHICAL HOUR-GLASS.
A bay on the Gulf of Mexico. The capital of one of the United States. A
city in Russia. A mountain in Morocco. A lake in Brazil. A river in
Scotland. In the Thames. A cape on the north coast of Africa. A river in
France. A city in Illinois. A lake in Switzerland. A city in Austria. A
town on the St. Lawrence River. Centrals read downward--A river in the
Southern portion of the United States.
LADY BETTY.
* * * * *
No. 3.
WORD SQUARES.
1. First, crimes. Second, fanciful. Third, to stop. Fourth, quieted.
Fifth, certain things possessed by many readers of YOUNG PEOPLE.
STARRY FLAG.
2. First, a beginning. Second, one who makes harmony. Third, a plant.
Fourth, a substance exuded from trees. Fifth, an English river.
DOUBLE U. CAYENNE.
3. First, a girl's name. Second, sour. Third, a strong current. Fourth,
a garden.
CARRIE M. P.
4. First, also. Second, alway passing. Third, a Turkish prince. Fourth,
a lake.
L. A. D.
* * * * *
No. 4.
NUMERICAL CHARADES.
1. I am a modern invention composed of 13 letters.
My 8, 10, 6, 4, 9, 3 is not square, but round.
My 2, 7, 11, 12, 5 is of no use to the blind.
My 13, 7, 1 is to fasten.
OSWALD.
2. I am a useful domestic utensil composed of 11 letters.
My 1, 3, 9, 8, 10, 11 is a number of animals.
My 2, 3, 8, 5 is a kind of grain.
My 6, 7, 4, 10 is to select.
GEORGE H.
3. I am a celebrated character of ancient romance composed of 10 letters.
My 6, 5, 7 is very troublesome.
My 8, 9, 4 is what a little girl gives her dolly.
My 8, 5, 10, 1 is to listen.
My 1, 3, 2, 4, 8, 7 was a follower of my whole.
LITTLE GOOSEY.
* * * * *
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 70.
No. 1.
Eagle.
No. 2.
F lorid A
R ando M
E ri E
E ndeavo R
D elh I
O lympi C
M arth A
Freedom, America.
No. 3.
1. Iowa. 2. Vermont. 3. Colorado. 4. Delaware. 5. Nile. 6. Tagus. 7.
Don. 8. Denver. 9. Washington. 10. Halifax. 11. Leeds.
No. 4.
M
M O P
H E N R Y
M A R T I A L
P L A N K
E N T
A
No. 5.
Massachusetts.
HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
SINGLE COPIES, 4 cents; ONE SUBSCRIPTION, one year, $1.50; FIVE
SUBSCRIPTIONS, one year, $7.00--_payable in advance, postage free_.
The Volumes of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE commence with the first Number in
November of each year.
Subscriptions may begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it
will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the
Number issued after the receipt of the order.
Remittances should be made by POST-OFFICE MONEY-ORDER OR DRAFT, to avoid
risk of loss.
HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, N. Y.
THE OWL.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
Get a pea-nut with as large a top to it as possible, like Fig. 1. Paint
or mark with your pen a round spot as you see it represented, and make
little marks on the shell to indicate feathers. To represent the wings,
all you need is a small piece of common tissue-paper, which you must cut
the shape of Fig. 2, and spatter with ink; this is pasted on the back of
your pea-nut.
[Illustration]
The eyes are made with a little round piece of silver or white paper and
a black bead, through which you stick a pin (Fig. 3), and then stick
into the pea-nut at the black spot. You must now get a little twig, and
fasten the pea-nut to it by running two pins through the branch; thus
you will be able to make a very fair specimen of the owl tribe.
THROWING A LIGHT.
BY E. M.
I am considered rather a dark feature in the landscape, yet I am a
cheerful little flower, always yellow and gay, and there is a proverb
about me in England which says, "When ---- is out of bloom, then kissing
is out of season"; so you see I must be in bloom nearly all the time,
yet I have no blossom, only stiff dark branches. I have neither branches
nor bloom; I am thick and hairy. I grow on every way-side, yet am an
ornament in a garden; would be singularly out of place in a garden; am
found only after much toil; have no value, and can be had for the
picking, yet some varieties of me are so valuable that only the very
rich can own me. I am dark green, bright yellow, yet to see me either
yellow or dark green would amaze all who trade in me, for I am white,
brown, black, and gray, yet to see me any of these colors would equally
astound other owners of me, and certainly the way-side pickers, though I
do not vary in color according to clime. I am tall and stiff; I am
lowly-minded, and cling to the ground. I stay where I am put, but as to
staying, why, to find me, there must be a lively chase, and often danger
encountered. I am solely for ornament; I am for ornament, use, and
protection. An article of clothing, yet death must come before I can be
appropriated; when dead, I am utterly valueless save to be burned; it
would be a waste to burn me, yet I am only valuable after death. I am as
Nature made me; she takes care of me in a natural state; but in a
natural state, ere men have cared for me, I am serviceable only to
animals. How they can use me I can't imagine, as I am not eatable, and
they do not need fires, yet without me they can not live. I am prickly,
I am soft, I am warm. I have no temperature; I am of use as a shade; I
am used to protect from cold; I cost nothing; I am a luxury; but in all
my shapes and uses I am attractive to the eye.
THE ANGRY ALPHABET.
Lazy Mary Ann Dees
Never dotted her _i_'s nor crossed her _t_'s:
So the letters resolved they would give her no _e_'s,
And they fed her on pods without any _p_'s,
And frightened her well with a swarm of _b_'s,
And at last they banished her over the _c_'s
To the kingdom of fogs that is known as Queen _V_'s.
* * * * *
=Japanese Kite-Flying=.--In her interesting book on Japan, Miss Bird
writes as follows about kite-flying: "This afternoon has been fine and
windy, and the boys have been flying kites, made of tough paper on a
bamboo frame, all of a rectangular shape, some of them five feet square,
and nearly all decorated with huge faces of historical heroes. Some of
them have a humming arrangement made of whalebone. There was a very
interesting contest between two great kites, and it brought out the
whole population. The string of each kite, for thirty feet or more below
the frame, was covered with pounded glass, made to adhere very closely
by means of tenacious glue, and for two hours the kite-fighters tried to
get their kites into a proper position for sawing the adversary's string
in two. At last one was successful, and the severed kite became his
property, upon which victor and vanquished exchanged three low bows. The
boys also flew their kites while walking on stilts--a most dexterous
performance, in which few were able to take part."
[Illustration]
An elegant person named Small
Once went on some ladies to call;
He took off his hat, and sat down on the cat--
This awkward young person named Small.
[Illustration]
There was a small boy they called Ned,
Who found a great cow in his bed;
Then he shouted, "Oh! how, did this horrid old cow
Get into poor Teddy Zoo's bed?"
End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, March 22, 1881, by Various