six, nine, and ten. My sister and I each have a pony, and we have
fine horse-back rides over the prairies. My little brother is just
learning to ride. My sister is very fond of pets, and has four
cats, and says she is going to have a hospital for sick animals
when she grows up. We send three dollars for the Young People's
Cot--one dollar for each of us.
SUSIE MORRILL.
* * * * *
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.
I am a little boy seven years old. My uncle has brought me HARPER'S
YOUNG PEOPLE for a long time. I like the stories and letters so
much! I send you twenty-five cents I earned myself for the Young
People's Cot.
HARRY W. B.
* * * * *
BLUEHILL, MAINE.
_Miss E. A. Fanshawe_:
Inclosed please find a Post-office order for $2.10 for Young
People's Cot, St. Mary's Hospital for Children, and accept it as
Maud's gift (in memoriam). My little sister was an invalid for
several years before she died, and I send this money belonging to
her because I know if she had lived she would have been glad to
have aided in the work; and I send it too in the hope that it may
do some little one good, and it may perhaps help some one
afflicted as she was. She enjoyed reading HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE,
and always read the letters in the Post-office Box first.
ALICE A. HOLT.
* * * * *
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
We want to send some money to the Cot. We each send twenty-five
cents. At first we wanted to buy a book, but afterward thought we
had better send it to the Cot now, and wait to buy the book. Emma
was sick for six weeks, and she knows what it is to suffer. We will
send some more as soon as we can save some. We take HARPER'S YOUNG
PEOPLE, and like it very much.
FANNIE and EMMA PEARSON
(aged 9 and 7 years).
* * * * *
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
A great many puzzlers entered into competition for _The History of a
Mountain_, by Elisee Reclus, offered in No. 105 as a prize for the best
puzzle which should be sent in before December 7, 1881. After careful
consideration, the book has been awarded to Miss Ethel J. Stokes, of
Richmond, Virginia, for her arithmetical puzzles, which follow this
announcement:
No. 1.
ADDITION.
1. Add a poet to a hint, and make to blind.
2. Add an exploit to a personal pronoun, and make a plume.
3. Add a covering for the head, a vowel, and a part of the body, and
make a monk of the Order of St. Francis.
4. Add a man's name to a tree, and make islands.
5. Add a grain to congealed water, and make an ornament to a window.
SUBTRACTION.
1. Subtract to perform duties from cautious, and leave a color.
2. Subtract a contest between two states from a timid person, and leave
a fish.
3. Subtract to petition from a useful article, and leave a wager.
4. Subtract the first boat ever launched from an emporium, and leave the
past participle of meet.
5. Subtract a name for rail-bird from an island in the Arabian Sea, and
leave a small bed.
MULTIPLICATION.
1. Multiply an abbreviation by two, and make a near relation.
2. Multiply an adverb by two, and make a doubtful expression.
DIVISION.
1. Divide a farewell by two, and obtain a French pronoun.
2. Divide a monotonous sound by two, and obtain an insect.
3. Divide a table relish by two, and obtain a Chinese name.
4. Divide the rustling of silken robes by two, and obtain three-fourths
of a preposition and a vowel.
ETHEL J. STOKES.
* * * * *
No. 2.
CHARADE.
My first is an action common to all,
'Tis done by the great, and done by the small.
My second a measure will proclaim
Known by the world, if not to fame.
My third is a weed that grows in the marsh;
It's sometimes smooth, and sometimes harsh.
But what is my whole, I hear you cry,
The name of a hero, is my reply.
CENT A. PIECE.
* * * * *
No. 3.
ENIGMA.
My first in youth, not in age, you will find.
My second in gather, but not in bind.
My third is in world; though not in sphere.
My fourth is in danger, and also in fear.
My fifth is in grass, but not in fern.
My sixth is in scorch, but not in burn.
My seventh is in wind, but not in blow.
My eighth is in learn, but not in know.
I spread my roots o'er time's great well.
Among gods, among giants, among demons fell.
Mysterious Hinndall 'neath my branches sings
Of the terrible woe Skuld the mist-robed brings.
The tree of the world am I.
Can you my name descry?
NITA.
* * * * *
No. 4.
DIAMOND.
1. A letter. 2. A bar. 3. Relating to a celebrated ancient city. 4.
Existing in name. 5. A fop. 6. A negative. 7. A letter.
BOB.
* * * * *
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 111.
No. 1.
S P O R T
T U B E R
A R E N A
R E S T S
T R E S S
No. 2.
Eugene.
No. 3.
M
H O P S
H U R R A S I N
M O R N I N G S I N E W
P R I N T N E W
A N T W
G
No. 4.
Tortoise
Irma's Puzzle--Splinter.
* * * * *
Correct answers to puzzles have been received from Ella Chirney, Elbert
E. Hurd, Belle Smith, Grace Fletcher, Arthur P. Grimshaw.
* * * * *
[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._]
ENIGMA.
Read forward, I'm a color
Of rather sombre hue;
At least I'm not as brilliant
As scarlet, pink, or blue.
Read backward, I am sometimes used
As synonym for poet;
Now tell me, puzzle-loving girls,
Do any of you know it?
AN EVENING WITH CHARLEY SPARKS.
BY FRANK BELLEW.
The other evening I went to call on my friend Browser. Browser is one of
those people who, somehow or another, makes his house exceedingly
attractive to young folks. He does not say much nor do much, but seems
to enjoy their society in a quiet, comfortable kind of way. Perhaps the
attraction to them is that he lets them do as they like. If a lamp shade
is broken, or something spilled on the carpet, or a hole burned in the
table-cloth, he does not care; he has it repaired, and there's an end
on't. The young people run all over the house, capturing materials from
the bedrooms to make tableaux, invading the kitchen, pestering the cook,
and taking possession of the cold meats in the larder to make little
suppers. Even when little Robby Rounder brought some Indian arrows, and
fired them into his parlor door, he did not even so much as scold him,
but only laughed, and said that if the red men could be made to suffer
as much as his doors from the effects of Robby's arrows, they would soon
be put an end to. I don't think there is another such house in New York.
He holds the opinion that the house was made for his comfort and
pleasure, and that he will not make himself a slave to his house.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
Well, when I called there the other evening I met a whole bevy of
youngsters, including Browser's only daughter, and with them was Charley
Sparks, with, as usual, a whole museum of tricks and contraptions. As I
entered he was attempting to imitate the song of the canary--at least he
said so. I never should have guessed it myself. The sound was more like
the song of a conscience-stricken bull-frog than anything else. But he
explained that he was only a beginner, and that it required much
practice to master the higher branches of this art. When, however, he
tried his hand at the pig and the horse, nothing could have been more
perfect. There was an oily depth of expression about the grunt which was
absolutely perfect. After the pig, he took a little instrument from his
mouth (see Fig. 1), and showed it to us. It was simply a piece of the
leaf of the leek, from which he had scraped away a semicircle of the
soft part, leaving the thin membrane which covers one side intact. This
he held against the roof of his mouth with his tongue, and by blowing in
the proper way, produced all kinds of sounds. Practice is of course
required, but with one of these little things I have heard an expert
imitate most exquisitely every bird of the woods.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
"Now, ladies and gentlemen," said Charley Sparks, "I will give you an
imitation of Mr. Punch, of the great English _Punch and Judy_ troupe,"
and he produced from his pocket a little instrument like this (see Fig.
2). It was made of two pieces of pine-wood, with a piece of tape
stretched between them, the whole being bound together with thread wound
round and round. This he placed in the back part of the mouth, near the
opening of the throat, at a very great risk of choking himself, and
forthwith issued from his mouth the funny "Root-a-toot-a-too" of Mr.
Punch.
He gave us several of the most stirring passages from the tragedy of
_Punch and Judy_, rendering the death-scene of Jack Ketch with such
effect as to bring tears (of laughter) to the eyes of every one of the
audience.
[Illustration]
THE DANCING LESSON.
Keep time, little folks--
One, two, three;
Turn about, twist about,
Whirligee!
Right foot, left foot,
Carefully now;
Turn about, twist about--
Make your bow.
Hark to the music,
Look at me;
Left foot, right foot--
One, two, three;
Turn about, twist about,
You see how;
Keep time, little folks--
Make your bow.
End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, January 3 1882, by Various