her carriage every pleasant afternoon. Sometimes Daisy, who is
almost as large, rides in the front seat. If it is too warm for
Blossom to go out, Daisy will ride in the back seat, and Charity in
front. Charity is indestructible and good, but not beautiful.
Cisily I took with me to Vermont and Boston and Maine, because she
had never been anywhere. She ought to have a new dress Christmas,
if Santa Claus only knew it. Joe is just as tall as Cisily. I
measure them often with my foot-rule. They are once and a half
tall. They have the same furry hair. They have a very nice
carriage, and always ride out together. I shall take Joe next. He
has never been anywhere yet, but Cisily wore his overcoat and
rubbers East, and took his little knife I in her pocket. He thought
she might want it to whittle in Vermont or Boston. Uncle Ebb often
helps me play, and speaks for the dolls. I am all there is here of
children.
I have a good many more dolls. There is a small doll house full,
and Mother Goose with her shoe full of them, and some of the
children in the doll houses have dolls for themselves. The
"log-cabin" has a family in that. The "Swiss cottage" has only
wooden people. The frame house has twelve children. I like large
families. They are more convenient for the children. Mamma reads
your letters to me. I could read them, but they are printed so fine
it is hard to read. I am in the Second Reader, and the same words
are easy to read in that. I read a lesson every day in the
connecting class, after Kindergarten is over at noon. I read,
spell, write, and draw about fifteen minutes each, and am home to
dinner at one. Then come the kitties and dolls.
NELLIE B.
* * * * *
SAYBROOK, CONNECTICUT.
I see you want to know whether dolls have gone out of style. No, I
think not. I am eleven years old. I was very sick when I was six
years old, and have not been able to walk since except in braces. I
have a rolling-chair that I am wheeled in when out-doors, and I
have many nice times with my dolls. I have eight of them. I think
YOUNG PEOPLE is very nice. I hope this is not too long to be
printed, as it is my first letter to any paper. I have eight pets.
BELLE M. I.
* * * * *
I want to tell you about my little dog. He is a black and tan, and
is so cute. He will speak, sit on his hind-legs and beg, and catch
anything thrown to him. His name is Bijon.
I will send twenty-five rare foreign stamps for ten gilt picture
advertising cards, and give twelve internal revenue stamps for five
gilt picture cards. One $2 stamp; nine $1; a 30 cent, 50, 25, 20,
15; two 10, two 5, and one 2 cent stamp. Please give your full
address when you send cards. My name is
NELLIE MASON, P. O. Box 636,
Madison, Wisconsin.
* * * * *
HILL VIEW, KENTUCKY.
My teacher gave me YOUNG PEOPLE as a prize for being a good
scholar. Ma raised about one hundred turkeys this year, and I
raised twelve guinea-fowl with them. I like the paper very much. I
am always glad when Saturday comes.
CARRIE MCK.
* * * * *
SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.
I am sorry the girl in South Glastenbury does not like cats. If she
knew my cat, I think she would like him. My brother caught fifty
little fish for him, each about as long as my little finger. After
he had eaten twenty-five, he could scarcely eat any more, but would
not let us take them away, as he wanted to play with them.
Sometimes he goes to the door, and asks us to let him come up
stairs, when he gets into my doll's bed, pulls the sheet off her,
and gets close to her. When she sits up in a chair, he gets in her
lap. He does not like to hear the noise made by dishes, so, when
they are washed, he mews till they are done. My brother plagued him
once, and Kit ran to the door, and stopped a minute to consider,
then ran back, and struck him with his paws. He is lazy, but you
need not put that in YOUNG PEOPLE.
JESSIE B.
A puss that has fifty fish offered him at once is quite excusable for
being lazy. We think he is a very interesting cat.
* * * * *
OAKDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.
Papa gave me a male canary about two years ago, and last spring my
uncle gave my sister a female, and we thought we would try to raise
some little birds. The mother bird laid five eggs, and they all
hatched and grew to be big birds, were very tame, and we used to
carry them around the room, and let them ride in our dolls'
coaches. She laid five eggs again, but we only raised three more
birds. They are all singers. We have seven cats--Polly, Beauty,
Tom, Milly, Pussy, Harry, and Lottie. Polly is a Maltese. Our dog
is named Friskie. I am ten years old.
MARY E. D.
* * * * *
PINE BEND, MINNESOTA.
I thought I would tell you about some hens we had when I was four
or five years old. One would come in the pantry, if the window was
left open, and lay her egg in a pan of eggs on the shelf. Another
was determined to make her nest up stairs, and we did not dare
leave the front-door open. Another hen laid three times in the
wood-box in the kitchen, in spite of being driven out many times.
MARY M.
* * * * *
DENVER, COLORADO.
I like the paper real well, and the little letters too. My mamma
reads 'em to us, 'cause we can't read ourselves. Grandpapa sent it
to brother and me last New-Year's. My dolly I like so much! She has
nice clothes, and the dearest little button boots and stockings
what come off; and I have lovely dishes. Grandpapa sent 'em to me.
I have lots of nice times with my things, but there are too many to
tell about. We had a nice time at a birthday party Saturday. I just
started to school this fall. I will be seven years old to-morrow.
Mamma "finks" my letter pretty nearly too long now, so I won't
write any more. I'll try and not be "'spointed" if you can't print
it, 'cause you have so many letters. Mamma's writing for me.
Good-by.
NELLIE D.
I am Charlie, Nellie's brother. I like all the stories so well, I
can't tell which I like best. We can see the mountains from our
doors and windows just as plain all the time, only when it's
stormy. My kitty got up in mamma's lap at table the other day, and
wanted to eat out of her plate. I had a live frog in a pail. One
morning I went to school, and forgot to fill up the pail, and just
as I came from school kitty had him. He killed him, and was going
to eat him. I took him away, and gave him to the chickens, and
_spanked_ Sam--that's my kitty's name; I named him for grandpapa. I
will be nine years old April 3, but it's so hard to write. Good-by.
CHARLES FRED D.
* * * * *
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.
I am eleven years old, and I save the pennies I get for doing
errands to buy HARPER'S. I earned four dollars this season to help
papa buy me a winter suit. I have been to Boston, and would like to
live there all the time. I have only one sister, and she is my pet.
She has a little white bantam hen for her pet. I have nine aunts,
and I am going to write to them all some day, and send them one of
my _Harper's Magazines_. Mamma wrote this letter, but I told her
what to say. Good-by, from
DANIEL A.
* * * * *
C. Y. P. R. U.
The Postmistress is very happy to give the readers of Our Post-office
Box the pleasure of reading a description of the little yacht _Toby
Tyler_, now cruising in Southern waters:
DEAR "YOUNG PEOPLE,"--The _Toby Tyler_, named after the hero of
Mr. Otis's most successful story, is a very small steamer, being
only about forty-five feet in length, and drawing but three feet of
water. She was built so small and of such light draught because it
is intended that she shall explore most of the rivers on the west
coast of Florida, some of which are very shallow. Perhaps she will
go farther than Florida, and explore a country that abounds in
material for interesting adventures and thrilling stories.
As the _Toby_ is so small, she can not go away out to sea and
around Cape Hatteras, like the great steam-ships that carry
passengers to Florida. She has to take what is known as the "inland
passage."
After leaving her dock at the foot of West Twenty-ninth Street, in
New York, the _Toby_ steamed down the North or Hudson River until
she passed the Battery. Then she was in the Upper Bay. Crossing
this, and turning to the westward, she steamed along the north
shore of Staten Island, through the broad river-like body of water
called the Kill Von Kull. Passing New Brighton and the Sailors'
Sung Harbor and Elizabethport, through the Arthur Kill and Staten
Island Sound, both continuations of the Kill Von Kull, the _Toby_
reached Perth Amboy, and turned into the Raritan River, which here
empties into Raritan Bay.
The Raritan River is so shallow and so crooked that the yacht
proceeded very slowly and carefully for seventeen miles, until she
reached New Brunswick. Here she entered the Delaware and Raritan
Canal, and found herself in company with great numbers of heavy
canal-boats drawn by mules or horses. The canal in which the little
_Toby_ now sailed runs through a very beautiful portion of New
Jersey, and her passengers enjoyed travelling on it very much. They
especially enjoyed going through the locks, always in company with
some other craft, which was sometimes a canal-boat, sometimes
another steamer, with sometimes a big schooner, whose tall masts
and white sails looked very funny among the trees on the canal
banks.
The principal places that the _Toby_ passed while in the canal were
Bound Brook, Princeton, Trenton, and Bordentown. At the last-named
place she passed through the last of the twelve locks, and having
had forty-three miles of canal sailing, steamed gladly out into the
broad Delaware River.
A run of twenty-nine miles down this beautiful river brought her to
Philadelphia, where she rested for a few days, and gave her
passengers time to get acquainted with this dear old city, in which
so many of the readers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE live.
On leaving Philadelphia the _Toby_ steamed merrily down the
Delaware for forty miles to Delaware City, in the State of
Delaware, where she entered the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal,
which connects the Delaware River with Chesapeake Bay. This canal
is only fourteen miles long, and has but two locks, one at each
end, so that the little yacht, soon found herself at Chesapeake
City, in the State of Maryland, and at the southern end of the
canal.
After an all day's run down the upper end of Chesapeake Bay, the
_Toby_ entered the Patapsco River, and steamed up to Baltimore,
where she landed her passengers in time to witness the great Oriole
Celebration.
Then she went back down the Patapsco and again into Chesapeake Bay.
This bay is so wide that it is almost as rough and stormy at times
as the sea itself, and the poor little _Toby_ had a very hard time,
and was roughly handled by the great waves before the pleasant
Wednesday morning when she turned into the broad mouth of the York
River, and dropped anchor amongst the big ships in front of
Yorktown. As the little boat ran in between two of the great war
ships, they began firing guns and banging away at such a furious
rate that in a few moments not only the poor little _Toby_ but they
themselves were completely enveloped in a dense cloud of smoke. In
a few minutes those on board the _Toby_ learned that the government
steamer _Dispatch_, with President Arthur on board, had just
arrived, and that all this firing of guns was only a salute to him,
as though the big ships had said, "How do you do, Mr. President? We
are very glad to welcome you to Yorktown."
After leaving this place the _Toby_ went back down the York River
into Chesapeake Bay again, and for a short distance out into the
ocean, before steaming past the grim walls of Fortress Monroe and
into Hampton Roads.
Without stopping to see the fort or the Indian schools at Hampton,
the _Toby_ hurried on, and an hour later sailed into the quiet
harbor of Norfolk, at the mouth of the Elizabeth River.
The upper deck or cabin roof of the _Toby Tyler_ extends nearly
over her entire length, so that, though small, she can be made very
comfortable in any weather. Her cabin, which is also dining-room
and sleeping-room for four, is back of the engine-room, and
occupies the whole of the after-part of the yacht. Her engine is in
the middle, right under the smoke-stack, and forward of this is the
cockpit, of which the sides are open except when inclosed by heavy
canvas storm curtains. Here, in very warm weather, hammocks can be
slung at night, in which the passengers may sleep.
On the upper deck is a light cedar canoe--the _Psyche_--with
paddles, masts, and sails, intended for exploring rivers and lakes
that are too shallow for the _Toby_, and beside the canoe is lashed
a good-sized tent with its poles, so that when Mr. Otis and his
friends tire of living on board the yacht, they can, if they
choose, establish a camp on shore.
In various lockers on the yacht, besides the baggage of her
passengers and crew, and the coal, are stored four hundred pounds
of canned provisions and fruits, a tool chest, medicine chest,
ammunition chest, blankets, writing and sketching materials, books,
charts, etc.
CAPTAIN C. K. M.
* * * * *
THE POET COWPER.
William Cowper was born November 26, 1731, in Hertfordshire.
England. His mother died before he was six years old. He was sent
to a school where he suffered a great deal from the teasing of the
other boys. He had an affection of the eyes, and so he was placed
at an oculist's house, where he had smallpox, and that cured his
eyes. After that he became a clerk in a lawyer's office, and
studied for admission to the bar. The strain on his mind was too
great, and he sought relief by trying to commit suicide by hanging.
In this he did not succeed. A friend placed him in the country,
where, after skillful treatment, he recovered from the fits of
mental depression that he was subject to. He was fickle and
inconstant to friends, but loving and kind to his pets. He had
three leverets, or hares, given to him, and in these he found much
amusement, for he was sick, and wanted something to occupy his
mind. The hares were males, and their names were Puss, Tiney, and
Bess. He built them a house, and each had his own bedroom to sleep
in. Puss lived to be eleven years old, Tiney to be nine, and Bess
died soon after Cowper received him. The poetry about the chair is
found in the "Task," and is called "The Sofa." Cowper died in the
town of East Durham, on Friday, the 25th of April, 1800, and was
buried in St. Edmund's Chapel, in the church of East Durham.
EDNA L. MAYNARD.
This little description of the poet Cowper is very creditable to its
writer, who is only eleven years old. But the Postmistress must disagree
with her in the opinion that he was inconstant and fickle as a friend.
* * * * *
In this number we begin the publication of a series of articles
calculated to be of especial interest to the members of the
C. Y. P. R. U. They are from the pen of the popular English novelist Mr.
James Payn, and, under the head of "Perils and Privations," deal with
stories of fact relating to shipwreck more thrilling than any tales of
fictitious adventure.
* * * * *
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
HISTORICAL ENIGMA.
I am a celebrated document, and am composed of eleven letters.
My first was one of the decisive battles of the world, and was fought
between the Greeks and Persians.
My second was a very great warrior, who could not govern himself,
though he conquered the world.
My third was a humane physician who invented an instrument of cruelty.
My fourth was a great philosopher and mathematician.
My fifth came over in the _Mayflower_.
My sixth was a young hero celebrated by an English poetess.
My seventh was a blind poet whom seven cities claimed for their own.
My eighth was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
My ninth was a great artist.
My tenth is a distinguished living poet.
My eleventh met a disgraceful death in the Revolutionary war.
SUSAN NIPPER.
* * * * *
No. 2.
TWO EASY DIAMONDS.
1.--Centrals.--A famous battle in the Revolution.
1. A letter. 2. A weapon. 3. A sort of knife. 4. Spectral. 5. The
conclusion. 6. A letter.
W. D. M.
2.--1. A letter. 2. Devoured. 3. Orbs of light. 4. A period. 5. A
letter.
E. W.
* * * * *
No. 3.
NUMERICAL ENIGMA.
The whole, of 14 letters, is a city in Europe.
My 8, 2, 7 is a weight.
My 14, 6, 8, 11, 10 is an American city.
My 1, 6, 3, 5, 2, 3 is a Chinese city.
My 12, 9, 4, 5, 2, 13 is a small fire-arm.
DAMON AND PYTHIAS.
* * * * *
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 105.
No. 1.
P I L O T D
I V A N N E D
L A C D E B A R
O N D A M
T R
No. 2.
F
S A D
S I R E D
S T R I P E S
S I R E N I C A L
F A R I N A C E O U S
D E P I C T I N G
D E C E I V E
S A O N E
L U G
S
No. 3.
Valhalla.
No. 4.
"John Burns of Gettysburg."
No. 5.
D
S E R
D A T E S
D E L E T E S
S A L E R A T U S
D E T E R M I N E R S
R E T A I N E R S
S E T N E S S
S U E R S
S R S
S
* * * * *
Correct answers to puzzles have been received from M. E. S., Willie
Volckhausen, "North Star," Frank S. Davis, Nannie Francis, Charles Beck,
Emma Rose A., Lucy Cox, John D. Smith, Kittie E. Gill, Henry E.
Johnston, Jun., James R. Magoffin, Clara H. Tower, Annetta D. Jackson,
and Calvin Rufus Morgan.
* * * * *
[_For Exchanges, see second and third pages of cover._]
[Illustration: THE REAL WAY TO CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING, ACCORDING TO THE
VIEWS OF OUR ESTEEMED FELLOW-CITIZENS G. OBBLER, ESQ., MESSRS. T. URKEY,
C. APON, D. UCK, R. OOSTER, AND MANY OTHERS.]
LETTER PUZZLES.
1.
Two S's, two N's, four E's, and a T,
Put together, and pray spell the word unto me.
2.
One R and two S's, three A's and one U,
Three N's and four T's and two I's, add unto
One O and one B, and tell me, I pray,
What word they will make if put in the right way.
3.
Four S's, four I's, two P's and an M,
What word can you easily make out of them?
4.
Three E's and two M's, two R's and one B,
Put down in right order, what word shall you see?
ANSWER TO YORKTOWN PUZZLE.
BELOW will be found the answer to the Yorktown Puzzle, given in No. 103,
page 816:
NAMES OF ARTICLES (19).
N egro.
I mp.
N uts.
E nsigns.
T eeth.
E lm.
E wers.
N est.
T rays.
H andle.
O tter.
F lags.
O ats.
C hairs.
T ail.
O ak.
B ats.
E ave.
R amrod.
MILITARY MEN (16).
Steuben.
Lee.
Ward.
Marion.
Stark.
Gates.
Smith.
Greene.
St. Clair.
Stevens.
Gist.
Thomas.
Poor.
Arnold.
Nash.
Lafayette.
[Illustration: UNHAPPY THOUGHT.
TOMMY. "I mean to be an Astronomer when I grow up!"
EFFIE. "What on earth will you do with yourself all Day long?"]