letters. His last one was from Paris, and he told me what people
did when they wanted to take a bath in their room at the hotel.
You touch an electric bell, and the man in the office telegraphs
to a station, and a cart carrying a round boiler with hot and cold
water, and drawn by a horse, comes dashing up to the hotel just
like a fire engine; a man rushes up to your room with a tub and
towels, and before you know it you are taking a nice warm bath.
Papa said one day, just for fun, he rang for two baths at the same
time, and it was very comical to see the two Frenchmen fight to
see which bath should be used first. Papa makes little sketches
all through his letters, so I know just how things look. I guess
we shall all go to Europe another year, and then I will write you
a letter from London or Paris.
PAUL S.
* * * * *
DANSVILLE, NEW YORK.
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.
* * * * *
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
NUMERICAL CHARADE.
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."
* * * * *
No. 2.
WORD SQUARE.
First, a division of time. Second, a girl's name. Third, disagreeable.
Fourth, beams of light.
M. E. N.
* * * * *
No. 3.
HIDDEN CITIES AND COUNTRIES.
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.
* * * * *
No. 4.
ENIGMA.
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.
* * * * *
No. 5.
DIAMOND PUZZLE.
In soprano. A mineral. A musical instrument. A verb. In soprano.
WILLIE.
* * * * *
No. 6.
DOUBLE ACROSTIC.
A period of time. A measurement. An animal. A river in the United
States. To signify. Answer--Two of the United States.
JUPITER.
* * * * *
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN NO. 36.
No. 1.
1. Black, bl_o_ck, b_r_ock, br_i_ck, _t_rick, tric_e_, tri_t_e,
_w_rite, w_h_ite.
2. Rose, r_i_se, ri_l_e, _w_ile, wil_y_, _l_ily.
3. Beef, _r_eef, ree_l_, re_a_l, _v_eal.
4. Lamb, lam_e_, la_n_e, lan_d_, _b_and, b_o_nd, bo_l_d, _w_old,
wol_f_.
5. Sick, si_l_k, sil_l_, _w_ill, w_e_ll.
6. Moon, _b_oon, boo_r_, bo_a_r, _s_oar, s_t_ar.
7. Town, to_r_n, _m_orn, mor_e_, mo_t_e, m_i_te, _c_ite, cit_y_.
8. Hawk, ha_r_k, _b_ark, bar_d_, b_i_rd.
9. Sew, se_t_, s_i_t, si_p_, _r_ip.
10. Page, _r_age, ra_c_e, rac_k_, r_o_ck, ro_o_k, _b_ook.
No. 2.
Alabama.
No. 3.
M
S E T
M E L O N
T O P
N
No. 4.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
No. 5.
P E A L
E N V Y
A V E R
L Y R E
No. 6.
Pudding.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
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OUR CHILDREN'S SONGS.
* * * * *
Our Children's Songs. Illustrated. 8vo, Ornamental Cover, $1.00.
* * * * *
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.
* * * * *
Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.
HARPER & BROTHERS _will send the above work by mail, postage prepaid, to
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ELEMENTARY EDUCATION.
Books for the School and Family.
* * * * *
ARITHMETIC.
FRENCH'S FIRST LESSONS IN NUMBERS. First Lessons in Numbers, in their
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FRENCH'S ELEMENTARY ARITHMETIC FOR THE SLATE. Elementary Arithmetic for
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FRENCH'S MENTAL ARITHMETIC. Mental Arithmetic, in which Combinations of
Numbers, Solutions of Problems, and Principles of Arithmetical Analysis
are based upon the Laws of Mental Development. By JOHN H. FRENCH, LL.D.
Illustrated. 16mo, Half Leather, 36 cents.
NATURAL SCIENCE.
FIRST LESSONS IN NATURAL HISTORY AND LANGUAGE. Entertaining and
Instructive Lessons in Natural History and Language for Primary and
Grammar Schools. 12mo, Cloth, 35 cents.
THE CHILD'S BOOK OF NATURE. The Child's Book of Nature, for the Use of
Families and Schools: intended to aid Mothers and Teachers in Training
Children in the Observation of Nature. In Three Parts. Part I. Plants.
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HOOKER, M.D. Illustrated. The Three Parts complete in One Volume, Small
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HOOKER'S FIRST BOOK IN CHEMISTRY. A First Book in Chemistry. By
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FARADAY'S CHEMISTRY OF A CANDLE. Chemistry of a Candle. A Course of Six
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Lecture on Platinum. By M. FARADAY. Edited by W. CROOKES. Illustrated.
16mo, Cloth, $1.00.
FARADAY'S PHYSICAL FORCES. Physical Forces. A Course of Six Lectures on
the Various Forces of Matter, and their Relations to Each Other. By M.
FARADAY. Edited by W. CROOKES. Illustrated. l6mo, Cloth, $1.00.
FRENCH AND GERMAN.
FRENCH PRINCIPIA, PART I. A First French Course: containing Grammar,
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FRENCH PRINCIPIA, PART II. A First French Reading-Book. Containing
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COMFORT'S GERMAN PRIMER. A German Primer. By GEORGE F. COMFORT, A.M.
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COMFORT'S FIRST BOOK IN GERMAN. A First Book in German. By GEORGE F.
COMFORT, A.M. 12mo, Half Leather, 60 cents.
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OBJECT LESSONS.
WILLSON'S MANUAL OF OBJECT LESSONS. A Manual of Information and
Suggestions for Object Lessons, in a Course of Elementary Instruction.
By MARCIUS WILLSON. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00.
CALKINS'S PRIMARY OBJECT LESSONS. Primary Object Lessons, for Training
the Senses and Developing the Faculties of Children. A Manual of
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Fifteenth Edition. Rewritten and Enlarged. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00.
* * * * *
Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.
_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on
receipt of the price._
SOLUTION TO MONDDIA PUZZLE.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
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.
FIRE-EATING.
BY F. BELLEW.
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.
THE CANDLE TRICK.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
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.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
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.
A RIDDLE IN RHYME.
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."
[Illustration: A WARM DAY IN THE COUNTRY--SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF VILLAGE
SCHOOL-MISTRESS, AND EQUALLY SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE OF SCHOLARS.]
End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, July 27, 1880, by Various