"Well, well, what a great thing for the children of America, and of
other countries too, is HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE!" Such was the
exclamation uppermost in my mind after spending two or three days
in reading back numbers of this gem of a paper. Yes, two or three
days, and up some nights till twelve o'clock, reading YOUNG PEOPLE,
and here I will soon be a quarter of a century old! I dropped
Carlyle, Dickens, Macaulay, and Goethe, to read this juvenile
paper, and read it not only with pleasure but _profit_. I enjoy
Jimmy Brown's letters, which are the most mirth-provoking articles
I have ever read. And here I want to give my thanks to "Jimmy" for
the many hearty laughs he has afforded me. The "Autocrat of the
Breakfast-Table" says that he "purrs very loud over a good honest
letter that says pretty things" to him; so Jimmy may "purr very
loud" now. Then, too, I like the war stories of Dr. Lossing, and
the scientific articles of Mrs. Herrick, whom I remember in
_Southern Review_ times, and the good advice of Aunt Marjorie, who
gives it so wisely and kindly. And the pictures--my! Every number
is just full of good things, like a shop window. How blest are the
boys and girls of to-day! Are we grateful, boys? are you thankful,
girls? I can hear you all say, "Yes, yes."
I am going to get up a collection of rare curiosities from this
Western country, and when they are ready, I will mention them among
the Exchanges. I have a little friend here, Josie B., who takes
YOUNG PEOPLE, and I will invite her to help me. Mason is away out
in Western Texas, and is a little frontier town. It has a
delightful climate, and the weather Christmas week was as beautiful
as any that ever graced summer. On this January day I have had the
door open and window up, while the day without has been full of
spring. Just to show you what a charming country this is for health
and climate, I will quote from the Meteorological Report of the
United States Signal Officer of this place for the past year: "The
highest temperature during the year was on June 22, July 1, and
August 10--100° each day; the lowest temperature was on January 9,
1881--9°; yearly range of temperature, 91°. The highest wind
occurred on September 6, blowing thirty-four miles per hour from
the southeast. The total rain-fall of the year was 22.08 inches;
the greatest monthly rain-fall was during May--5.29 inches; the
least monthly rain-fall was during June--none. The prevailing wind
was from the south. There were 195 clear days, 77 fair, and 90
cloudy. There were only twenty days when the temperature was below
freezing, and no days when it remained below all day. There were
ninety days when the temperature was above 90°. Only one bad storm
occurred during the year, on September 30, when rain fell in
torrents for thirty minutes, flooding the town." I doubt whether
any other portion of the whole country can make a better showing in
the weather record than that.