Edith Baxter, of New York City. One bright afternoon in August, as the
children at the Avon Beach Hotel, Bath, Long Island, were playing on the
shore and in the surf, a little fellow named Harry Lee, five years old,
followed his companions to a float, on which he stepped without thought
of danger. Seeing them dive from it, he did the same. Presently a cry
was heard that Harry was drowning. Edith Baxter, a fearless little
swimmer, plunged in to the rescue, and as Harry came to the surface for
the third time, she caught and held him by his golden hair, and boldly
struck out for the shore. Help came, and the boy was saved. His grateful
parents and the other guests of the hotel presented Edith with a
beautiful gold watch and chain as a token of their admiration of her
bravery.
* * * * *
STAPLETON, NEW YORK.
DEAR POSTMISTRESS,--Will you kindly suggest some nice game or games
for a party of "grown-ups" on a summer's evening? If possible, I
should like something which can be played outside on the piazza of
a country house. If you will kindly help me, I shall be very much
indebted to you.
PUZZLED INQUIRER.
The season for sitting out-doors in the evening is almost over, but
there are many pleasant games which are equally suitable for the veranda
or the parlor. What do you think of this one? A group of friends are
seated together, and one begins by asking the company, "If you had your
choice, which would you be, a dragon-fly or an eel?" The word to be
brought into your answer is _Roses_.
A bright answer would be this:
"The dragon-fly at eve reposes
Upon a couch of fragrant roses,
The eel in mud must hide away;
A dragon-fly I'd be to-day."
Another: Bring in the word _Cobweb_ in reply to the question, "How would
you like to travel in the air?"
Answer:
"I confess I should not greatly care
To float like a cobweb in the air."
The game of Twenty Questions is very entertaining. One of the company
leaves the room, and during his absence the others fix upon a word to be
guessed by him. We will suppose Charley to have gone out. The Electric
Telegraph is chosen as the subject for him to find, and he is recalled.
They then proceed in this way:
HONORA. We have fixed on a word. Can you guess it?
CHARLEY. Is it animal, vegetable, or mineral?
MARY (_who is asked_). Mineral.
CHARLEY. Can it buy anything?
ANNA. I think it can; at least I could buy things by means of it.
CHARLEY. Oh, I guess! I suppose banks can't do without it, Ned, can
they?
EDWARD. I dare say they find it useful.
CHARLEY. Anthony, do you ever keep it in your pocket?
ANTHONY (_laughing_). No; that I don't.
CHARLEY. Is it ever put in a purse, Fanny?
FANNY. No indeed; it is _so_ big.
CHARLEY (_catching at a new idea_). Then I was wrong; it is not
money. Does it cross the sea?
MARY. Yes. I think it does--that is, I believe it does sometimes.
CHARLEY. Does it go very quickly?
HONORA. It _works very, very_ quickly.
CHARLEY. It works? It does not go, then, of itself? Is it used on
railways?
HONORA (_laughing_). Yes.
CHARLEY. Does it pull you along sometimes, Mabel?
MABEL. No, it does not; but sometimes it causes people to travel.
CHARLEY. Is it very large?
ANNA. No; very thin.
CHARLEY. How long is it?
FANNY. Sometimes miles long, sometimes very short. I have seen it
not as long as my finger.
CHARLEY. What can it be?
ANTHONY. It is a very wonderful thing; it speaks without a voice.
CHARLEY. Ah! and you can tell the hours by it, can't you? But no,
it _can't_ be a clock, for the face of that is round, and it is not
very thin. I know! I guess! It is the "Electric Telegraph."
Anthony, _you_ have helped me to guess; _you_ must go out. But,
Anna, how could you buy things with it?
ANNA. I could send an order by it to a shop.
CHARLEY. And when did Fanny see it not longer than her finger?
ANNA. She saw a tiny piece of the Atlantic telegraph cable, the
first one which was laid beneath the ocean. Aunt Maria had it set a
charm for her watch.
Anthony goes out.
* * * * *
The attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. is called to an exceedingly
interesting article by Mrs. Sophie B. Herrick, entitled "Plants and
Animals--Their Difference." Both girls and boys will be interested in
the game of "Badminton," described by Sherwood Ryse, as also in Miss
Barr's poem, "The Burial of the Old Flag."
* * * * *
Correct answers to puzzles have been received from Christina Limburger,
Annie South, Eddie S. Hequembourg, Samuel H. Molleson, A. Bloomingdale,
Walter P. Knight, Daniel Lindo, Frank Acheson, "Gazetta," Louis Frost,
Lena Van Bosch, Ella E. A., Harry Johnston, Fannie E. Burt, Florence P.
Jones, "Lodestar," Benjamin Lowenthal, Phebe D., A. W. Starboard, Beck
Pierce, Puss Lester, John Tabb, "Count No Account," Olive A. McAdams,
Louisa Mix, Thomas Brown, "Gretchen," Elsie Fisher, Jimmy Towers, and
Eugene Davison.
* * * * *
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
CHARADE.
My first is needed both for man and beast
If they their destined end would best pursue.
My second may describe a kingly feast,
Or tell about a heart both brave and true.
My whole a star-and-spur-stamped coin of gold,
Which, if we learn aright, is now four centuries old.
J. P. B.
* * * * *
No. 2.
TWO WORDS WITHIN A WORD.
1.-- -- seemed to hang heavily, they devised various -- to shorten it.
2. It is -- -- mean province that I am appointed --.
3. I see no -- -- such -- society.
4. I will be ready -- -- as our -- are taken apart and packed.
5. They were -- -- before the -- of the curtain.
6. Either -- -- I must give up our --.
7. It was for abstracting a -- -- rose diamond that he was about to --
the man.
J. P. B.
* * * * *
No. 3.
THREE ENIGMAS.
1.
First in sight, not in eye.
Second in yam, not in pie.
Third in four, not in one.
Fourth in laugh, not in pun.
Fifth in catch, not in throw.
Sixth in run, not in grow.
Seventh in short, not in long.
Eighth in glee, not in song.
Whole is a place, whatever its fault,
Where the people who live need never lack salt.
LOUIS FROST.
2.
First in Ida, not in May.
Second in trip, not in play.
Third in wave, not in shore.
Fourth in less, not in more.
Fifth in young, not in old.
My whole is a land of which stories are told.
IDA P.
3.
First in gossip, not in talk.
Second in crayon, not in chalk.
Third in empty, not in full.
Fourth in linen, not in wool.
Fifth in naughty, not in bad.
Sixth in multiply, not in add.
Seventh in pastry, not in pie.
Eighth in weeping, not in sigh.
Ninth in horrid, not in nice.
Whole a land of snow and ice.
RUSSEL B. B.
* * * * *
No. 4.
THREE DIAMONDS--(_To Empire City_).
1.--1. A letter. 2. A vessel. 3. Something good to eat. 4. An animal
which hunts by night. 5. A letter.
2.--1. In apple. 2. A tree. 3. A book. 4. Something we expect in spring.
5. In cream.
3.--1. A letter. 2. A droll animal. 3. Part of a girl's dress. 4. A
virtue. 5. A letter.
GRETCHEN.
* * * * *
No. 5.
BEHEADINGS.
1. I am a fiction; behead me, and I am capable.
2. I am a reality; behead me, and I am a deed.
3. I am a passage; behead me, and I am the whole.
4. I am a receptacle; behead me, and I am to entreat.
5. I am a rind; behead me, and I am a fish.
6. I mean to squeeze; behead me, and I am a measure.
ELLA E. A.
* * * * *
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 146.
No. 1.
Vacation Over, Reward of Merit.
No. 2.
Suez.
No. 3.
E ssen E
L ear N
E ar-rin G
A nabe L
N or A
O me N
R ea D
No. 4.
Ned. Done. Bard. I. Elect.
Benedict Arnold.
La Plata. Mocha. Ethel. Pence. Ned.
Cocoa. Pet.
Health, peace, and competence.
No. 5.
R R S
T O E R O W A T E
R O U N D R O B I N S T E A M
E N D B I N E A T
D N M
* * * * *
[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._]
THE MENAGERIE.
[Illustration: MUSIC]
[Illustration: SOMETHING LIKE A BITE.]
* * * * *
FISHING WITH A LANTERN TRAP.
A veteran trapper recommends a curious device for fishing at night,
known as the lantern trap. A pine torch or a bull's-eye lantern in the
bow of a boat has long been in use as a means of attracting fish, but an
illuminated bait under water is as novel a mode of fishing as it is
successful.
The bait is easily made. A piece of stick phosphorus the size of a
hazel-nut is cut into small pieces, and placed in a three-ounce glass
vial half filled with sweet-oil. Care must be taken to cut and handle
the phosphorus under water, as it is a dangerous substance to deal with.
After several hours the phosphorus dissolves in the oil and forms a
thick fluid, which in the dark will give forth a bright glow.
Having corked the bottle tightly, attach it to a string and drop it
overboard, as in ordinary fishing. The water around it becomes lighted
up, and many fish will be attracted by the unusual brightness.
Beneath the lantern an ordinary circular net should be let down, and
when the fish are swarming around the light, draw the net up quickly,
and it will go hard with you if you do not bring to the surface a good
haul of fish.
This is a novel and most ingenious mode of fishing, and though there is
very little sport in it compared with that of angling with a rod and
line, it may be useful when, as frequently happens, fish will not bite,
and the night's supper or the morrow's breakfast must be provided for,
lest the young woods-man go hungry to bed, or awake with a keen appetite
to realize that some hours must elapse before he can have breakfast.
* * * * *
NATURAL HISTORY JINGLES.[2]
[2] From _New Games for Parlor and Lawn_. By GEORGE B. BARTLETT. New
York: Harper & Brothers. (_In Press._)
This very funny game was first suggested by the metre of the little
nursery rhyme intended to teach children to read. Each of the players is
given one letter of the alphabet in order, and has ten minutes allowed
him in which to choose an animal the name of which begins with the
letter that has been given to him, and to write a verse about it in the
style of the well-known jingle, "A was an archer," etc. When the time
has expired each recites his verse. A few specimen jingles are given
below to show that the verses must be made as grotesque and humorous as
possible, much more attention being given to rhyme than to reason:
A was a curious old ant-eater,
A very strange and remarkable creetur;
And if of a sudden he wanted to dine,
I should not much care if he took one of mine.
B is a bison, whose rough, shaggy hide
Is a comfortable thing when you take a sleigh-ride;
But when he is in it, not pleasant to meet
When he tramples the plain with his swift little feet.
C is a scaly old crocodile,
Who lazily sleeps in the mud of the Nile;
But you never can trust in the strength of his nap,
For if you go near him his great jaws may snap.
* * * * *
SOLUTION OF MOON PUZZLE IN No. 147.
Cut the moon out of the sky, and place it over the end of the fan. Then
you will see inscribed on the fan the word "Taffy," which the little
girl is supposed to be giving to her cousin Gus.
* * * * *
[Illustration: "DOES POLLY WANT A CRACKER?"]
[Illustration: "YES; AND POLL'S GOT IT TOO, HASN'T SHE?"]