The boys had returned a good deal sooner than had been expected, but
they made no more trouble. As Ford Foster remarked, they were all
"willing to go slow for a week" after being carried so very fast by Dab
Kinzer's ponies.
There was a great deal to be said about the runaway, and Mrs. Foster
longed to see Dab and thank him on Ford's account, but he himself had no
idea that he had done anything remarkable, and was very busily at work
decking Miranda's parlors with the "greens."
A very nice appearance they made, all those woven branches and clustered
sprays, when they were in place, and Samantha declared for them that,
"They had kept Dab out of mischief all the afternoon."
At an early hour after supper, the guests began to arrive, for Mrs.
Kinzer was a woman of too much sense to have night turned into day when
she could prevent it. As the stream of visitors steadily poured in, Dab
remarked to Jenny Walters:
"We shall have to enlarge the house after all."
"If it were only a dress, now?"
"What then?"
"Why, you could just let out the tucks. I've had to do that with mine."
"Jenny, shake hands with me."
"What for, Dabney?"
"I'm so glad to meet somebody else that's outgrowing something."
There was a tinge of color rising in Jenny's face, but, before she could
say anything, Dab added:
"There! Jenny, there's Mrs. Foster and Annie. Isn't she sweet?"
"One of the nicest old ladies I ever saw----"
"Oh, I didn't mean her mother."
"Never mind. You must introduce me to them."
"So I will. Take my arm."
[Illustration: "MAY I HAVE THE HONOR?"]
Jenny Walters had been unusually kindly and gracious in her manner that
evening, and her very voice had much less than its accustomed sharpness,
but her natural disposition broke out a little some minutes later, while
she was talking with Annie. Said she:
"I've wanted so much to get acquainted with you."
"With me?"
"Yes. I've seen you in church, and I've heard you talked about, and I
wanted to find out for myself."
"Find out what?" asked Annie a little soberly.
"Why, you see, I don't believe it's possible for any girl to be as sweet
as you look. I couldn't, I know. I've been trying these two days, and
I'm nearly worn out."
Annie's eyes opened wide with surprise, and she laughed merrily as she
answered:
"What can you mean? I'm glad enough if my face doesn't tell tales of
me."
"But mine does," said Jenny, "and then I'm so sure to tell all the rest
with my tongue. I wish I knew what were your faults."
"My faults? What for?"
"I don't know. Seems to me if I could think of your faults instead of
mine, it wouldn't be so hard to look sweet."
Annie saw that there was more earnestness than fun in the queer talk of
her new acquaintance. The truth was that Jenny had been having almost as
hard a struggle with her tongue as ever poor Dick Lee with his, though
not for not the same reason. Before many minutes she had frankly told
Annie all about it, and she could never have done that if she had not
somehow felt that Annie's "sweetness" was genuine. The two girls were
sure friends after that, much to the surprise of Mr. Dabney Kinzer.
He, indeed, had been too much occupied in caring for his guests to pay
special attention to one of them. His mother had looked after him again
and again with eyes brimful of pride and of commendation of the way he
was acquitting himself.
Even Mrs. Foster said to her husband, who had now arrived:
"Do you see that? Who would have expected as much from a raw, green
country boy?"
"But, my dear, don't you see? The secret of it is that he's not thinking
of himself at all. He's only anxious his friends should have a good
time."
"That's it; but then that too is a very rare thing in a boy of his age."
"Dabney!" exclaimed the lawyer in a louder tone of voice.
"Good-evening, Mr. Foster. I'm glad you've found room. The house isn't
half large enough."
"I understand your ponies ran away with you to-day?"
"They did come home in a hurry; but nobody was hurt."
"I fear there would have been, but for you. Do you start for Grantley
with the other boys to-morrow?"
"Of course. Dick Lee and I need some one to take care of us. We never
traveled so far before."
"On land, you mean. Is Dick here to-night?"
"Came and looked in, sir, but got scared by the crowd and went home."
"Poor fellow! Well, we will do all we can for him."
Poor Dick Lee!
And yet, if Mr. Dabney Kinzer had known his whereabouts at that very
moment he would half have envied him.
Dick's mother was in the kitchen helping about the supper, but she had
not left home until she had compelled Dick to dress himself in his
best,--white shirt, red neck-tie, shining shoes and all,--and she had
brought him with her almost by force.
"You's good nuff to go to de 'cad'my and leab yer pore mother, an' I
reckon you's good nuff for de party."
And Dick had actually ventured in from the kitchen through the
dining-room and as far as the door of the back parlor, where few would
look.
[Illustration: "PINNED!"]
How his heart did beat as he looked on the merry gathering, a large part
of whom he had known "all his born days!"
But there was a side door opening from that dining-room on the long
piazza which Mrs. Kinzer had added to the old Morris mansion, and Dick's
hand was on the knob of that door almost before he knew it.
Then he was out on the road to the landing, and in five minutes more he
was vigorously rowing the "Jenny" out through the inlet toward the bay.
His heart was not beating unpleasantly any longer, but as he shot out
from the narrow passage through the flags and saw the little waves
laughing in the cool, dim starlight, he suddenly stopped rowing, leaned
on his oars, gave a sigh of relief, and exclaimed:
"Dar! I's safe now. I aint got to say a word to nobody out yer. Wonder
'f I'll ebber git back from de 'cad'my an' kitch fish in dis yer bay?
Sho! Course I will. But goin' away's awful!"
Dab Kinzer thought he had never known Jenny Walters to appear so well as
she looked that evening; and he must have been right, for good Mrs.
Foster said to Annie:
"What a pleasant, kindly face your new friend has! You must ask her to
come and see us. She seems quite a favorite with the Kinzers."
"Have you known Dabney long?" Annie had asked of Jenny a little before
that.
"Ever since I was a little bit of a girl, and a big boy seven or eight
years old pushed me into the snow."
"Was it Dabney?"
"No, but Dabney was the boy that pushed him in for doing it, and then
helped me up. Dab rubbed his face for him with snow till he cried."
"Just like him!" exclaimed Annie with emphasis. "I should think his
friends here will miss him."
"Indeed they will," replied Jenny, and then she seemed disposed to be
quiet for a while.
The party could not last forever, pleasant as it was, and by the time
his duties as "host" were met, Dabney was tired enough to go to bed and
sleep soundly. His arms were lame and sore from the strain the ponies
had given them, and that may have been the reason why he dreamed half
the night that he was driving runaway teams and crashing over rickety
old bridges.
But why was it that every one of his dream-wagons, no matter who else
was in it, seemed to have Jenny Walters and Annie Foster smiling at him
from the back seat?
He rose later than usual next morning, and the house was all in its
customary order by the time he got down-stairs.
Breakfast was ready also, and, by the time that was over, Dab's great
new trunk was brought down-stairs by a couple of the farm-hands.
"It's an hour yet to train-time," said Ham Morris; "but we might as well
get ready. We must be on hand in time."
What a long hour that was, and not even a chance given for Dab to run
down and take a good-bye look at the "Swallow!"
His mother and Ham and Miranda and the girls seemed to be all made up of
"good-bye" that morning.
"Mother," said Dab.
"What is it, my dear boy?"
"That's it exactly. If you say 'dear boy' again, Ham Morris 'll have to
carry me to the cars. I'm all kind o' wilted now."
Then they all laughed, and before they got through laughing, they all
cried except Ham.
He put his hands in his pockets and drew a long whistle.
The ponies were at the door now. The light wagon had three seats in it,
but when Dab's trunk was in, there was only room left for the ladies;
Ham and Dab had to walk to the station.
It was a short walk, however, and a silent one, but as they came in
sight of the platform, Dab exclaimed:
"There they are, all of them!"
"The whole party?"
"Why, the platform's as crowded as our house was last night."
Mrs. Kinzer and her daughters were already the center of the crowd of
young people, and Ford Foster and Frank Harley, with Joe and Fuz Hart
were asking what had become of Dab, for the train was in sight.
A moment later, as the puffing locomotive drew up by the water-tank, the
conductor stepped out on the platform, exclaiming:
"Look a here, folks. This aint right. If there was going to be a picnic
you'd ought to have sent word, and I'd have tacked on an extra car.
You'll have to pack in, now, best you can."
He seemed much relieved when he found how small a part of the crowd were
to be his passengers.
"Dab," said Ford, "this is your send-off, not ours. You'll have to make
a speech."
Dab did want to say something, but he had just kissed his sisters and
his mother, and half a dozen of his school-girl friends had followed the
example of Jenny Walters, and then Mrs. Foster had kissed him, and Ham
Morris had shaken hands with him, and Dab could not have said a loud
word to have saved his life.
"Speech!" whispered Ford, mischievously, as Dab stepped upon the
platform; but Dick Lee, who had just escaped from the tremendous hug his
mother had given him, came to his friend's aid in the nick of time. Dick
felt that "he must shout, or he should go off," as he afterward told the
boys, and so at the top of his shrill voice he shouted:
"Hurrah for Cap'n Kinzer! Dar aint no better feller lef' along shore!"
And, amid a chorus of cheers and laughter, and a grand waving of white
handkerchiefs, the engine gave a deep, hysterical cough, and hurried the
train away.
The two homesteads by the Long Island shore were a little lonely for a
while, after the departure of all those noisy, merry young fellows. Mr.
Foster had enough to do in the city, and Ham Morris had his farm to
attend to, besides doing more than a little for Mrs. Kinzer. It was much
the better for both estates that he had that notable manager at his
elbow. The ladies, however, old and young, had plenty of time to come
together and wonder how the boys were getting along, even before the
arrival of the first batch of letters.
"They must be happy," remarked kind Mrs. Foster, after the long, boyish
epistles had been read, over and over; "and such good letters! Not one
word of complaint of anything."
Mrs. Kinzer assented somewhat thoughtfully. Dabney had not complained of
anything; but while he had praised the village, the scenery, the
academy, the boys, and had covered two full sheets of paper, he had not
said a word about the table of his boarding-house.
"He is such a growing boy," she said to herself. "I do hope they will
give him enough to eat."
It went on a good deal in that way, however, for weeks, even till the
Fosters broke up their summer residence and returned to the city. There
were plenty of letters, and all his sisters wondered where Dabney had
learned to write so capitally; but Mrs. Kinzer's doubts were by no means
removed until Ham Morris showed her a part of a curious epistle Dabney
had sent to him in a moment of confidence.
"I tell you what, Ham," he wrote, "mother doesn't know what can be done
with corn. Mrs. Myers does. She raised a pile of it last year, and the
things she makes with it would drive a cook-book crazy. I've been giving
them Latin names, and Frank, he turns them into Hindustanee. It's real
fun, but I sha'n't be the boy I was. I'm getting corned. My hair is
silkier and my voice is husky. My ears are growing. I'd like some fish
and clams for a change. A crab would taste wonderfully good. So would
some oysters. They don't have any up here; but we went fishing, last
Saturday, and got some perch and cat-fish and sun-fish. They call them
pumpkin-seeds up here, and they aint much bigger. Don't tell mother we
don't get enough to eat. There's plenty of it, and you ought to see Mrs.
Myers smile when she passes the johnny-cake. We are all trying to learn
that heavenly smile. Ford does it best. I think Dick Lee is getting a
little pale. Perhaps corn doesn't agree with him. He's learning fast,
though, and so am I; but we have to work harder than the rest. I guess
the Hart boys know more than they did when they came here, and they
didn't get it all out of their books, either. We keep up our French and
our boxing; but oh, wouldn't I like to go for some blue-fish, just now!
Has mother made any mince-pies yet? I've almost forgotten how they
taste. I was going by a house here the other day and I smelt some ham,
cooking. I was real glad I hadn't forgotten. I knew what it was right
away. Don't you be afraid about my studying, for I'm at it all the
while, except when we're playing ball or eating corn. They say they have
sleighing here earlier than we do, and plenty of skating. Well, now,
don't say anything to mother about the corn; but wont I eat when I get
home.--Yours all the while. DABNEY KINZER."
"Why, the poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Kinzer, and it was not very many
days after that before young Dabney received a couple of boxes by
express.
There was a boiled ham in the first one and a great many other things,
and Dab called in all the other boys to help him get them out.
"Mince-pies!" shouted Ford Foster. "How'd they ever travel so far?"
"They're not much mashed," said Dabney. "There's enough there to start a
small hotel. Now let's open the other."
"Ice. Sawdust. Fish, I declare. Clams. Oysters. Crabs. There's a
lobster. Ford, Frank, Dick, do you think we can eat those fellows?"
"After they're cooked," said Ford.
"Well, I s'pose we can; but I feel like shaking hands with 'em, all
round. They're old friends and neighbors of mine, you know."
"I guess we'd better eat 'em."
"Cap'n Dab," remarked Dick Lee, "dey jest knocks all de correck
pronounciation clean out of me."
Eaten they were, however, and Mrs Myers was glad enough to have her
boarders supply such a remarkable "variety" for her table, which, after
that "hint," began to improve a little.
And so we leave Dab Kinzer, still, in mind and body, as when first we
saw him, a growing boy.
WHERE?
BY MARY N. PRESCOTT.
Where does the Winter stay?
With the little Esquimaux,
Where the frost and snow-flake grow?
Or where the white bergs first come out,
Where icicles make haste to sprout,
Where the winds and storms begin,
Gathering the crops all in,
Among the ice-fields, far away?
Where does the Summer stay?
In distant sunny places,
'Midst palms and dusky faces,
Where they spin the cocoa thread,
Where the generous trees drop bread,
Where the lemon-groves give alms,
And Nature works her daily charms,
Among the rice-fields, far away?
[Illustration]
PARLOR MAGIC.
_(Pleasing, Harmless, and Inexpensive Experiments, chiefly Chemical, for
Young People.)_
BY LEO H. GRINDON.
This series of experiments is designed for the use of young people who
are interested in the wonders and the beautiful realities of nature, and
who delight to observe for themselves how curious are the phenomena
revealed by scientific knowledge. Simple instructions are given for the
performance of a number of pretty experiments, all of which are
perfectly safe, and cost very little money. For "evenings at home," it
is hoped that these experiments will be found indefinitely amusing and
recreative, at the same time that they will lead the minds of boys and
girls to inquiries into the entire fabric of the grand sciences which
explains the principles on which they are founded. All the materials
spoken of, and all the needful apparatus, which is of the simplest and
most inexpensive kind, can be obtained at a good chemist's. It is of the
highest importance that all the materials be pure and good.
PARLOR SUNSHINE.
Obtain a yard of "magnesium tape" or "magnesium wire," sold very cheap
by most druggists. Cut a length of six or eight inches; bend one
extremity so as to get a good hold of it with a pair of forceps, or even
a pair of ordinary scissors, or attach it to the end of a stick or wire.
Then hold the piece of magnesium vertically in a strong flame, such as
that of a candle, and in a few seconds it will ignite, burning with the
splendor of sunshine, and making night seem noonday. As the burning
proceeds, a quantity of white powder is formed. This is pure magnesia.
While performing this splendid experiment, the room should be darkened.
CADAVEROUS FACES.
This is an amusing contrast to the lighting-up by means of magnesium;
Again let the room be nearly darkened. Put about a tea-cupful of spirits
of wine in a strong common dish or saucer, and place the dish in the
middle of the table. Let every one approach to the distance of about a
yard. Then ignite the spirit with a match. It will burn with a peculiar
yellowish-blue flame, and in the light of this the human countenances,
and all objects of similar color, lose their natural tint, and look
spectral. The contrast of the wan and ghostly hue with the smiling lips
and white teeth of those who look on, is most amusing. The effect of
this experiment is heightened by dissolving some common table-salt in
the spirit, and still further by putting into it a small quantity of
saffron. Let the spirit burn itself away.
THE BREATH OF LIFE.
[Illustration: THE BREATH OF LIFE.]
Procure a tolerably large bell-glass, such as is used for covering
clocks and ornaments upon the mantel-piece. It should not be less than
eighteen inches high, and eight or nine inches in diameter. Provide also
a common dish, sufficiently large to allow the bell-glass to stand well
within its raised border. Then procure two little wax candles, three or
four inches in length, and stand each in a little bottle or other
temporary candlestick. Place them in the center of the dish and light
the wicks. Then pour water into the dish to the depth of nearly an inch,
and finish by placing the bell over the candles, which of course are
then closely shut in. For a few minutes all goes on properly. The flames
burn steadily, and seem to laugh at the idea of their being about to
die. But, presently, they become faint,--first one, then the other; the
luster and the size of the flames diminish rapidly, and then they go
out. This is because the burning candles consumed all the oxygen that
was contained within the volume of atmosphere that was in the bell, and
were unable, on account of the water, to get new supplies from outside.
It illustrates, in the most perfect manner, our own need of constant
supplies of good fresh air. The experiment may be improved, or at all
events varied, by using candles of different lengths.
ROSE-COLOR PRODUCED FROM GREEN.
Obtain a small quantity of roseine,--one of the wonderful products
obtained from gas-tar, and employed extensively in producing what are
called by manufacturers the "magenta colors." Roseine exists in the
shape of minute crystals, resembling those of sugar. They are hard and
dry, and of the most brilliant emerald green. Drop five or six of these
little crystals into a large glass of limpid water. They will dissolve;
but instead of giving a _green_ solution, the product is an exquisite
crimson-rose color, the color seeming to trickle from the surface of the
water downward. When the solution has proceeded for a short time, stir
the water with a glass rod, and the uncolored portion of it will become
carmine.
SOME ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS.
Take a piece of common brown paper, about a foot in length, and half as
wide. Hold it before the fire till it becomes quite hot. Then draw it
briskly under your left arm several times, so as to rub it on both
surfaces against the woolen cloth of your coat. It will now have become
so powerfully electrified, that if placed against the papered wall of
the parlor, it will hold on for some time, supported, as it were, by
nothing.
While the piece of brown paper is thus so strangely clinging to the
wall, place a small, light, and fleecy feather against it, and this, in
turn, will cling to the paper.
Now, again, make your piece of brown paper hot by the fire, and draw it,
as before, several times under the arm. Previously to this, attach a
string to one corner, so that it may be held up in the air. Several
feathers, of a fleecy kind, may now be placed against each side of the
paper, and they will cling to it for several minutes.
Another curious electrical experiment is to take a pane of common glass,
make it warm by the fire, then lay it upon two books, allowing only the
edges to touch the books, and rub the upper surface with a piece of
flannel, or a piece of black silk. Have some bran ready, strew it upon
the table under the piece of glass, and the particles will dance.
TO CUT A PHIAL IN HALF.
Wind round it two bands of paper, corresponding in position to the two
temperate zones of the earth, leaving a space between, corresponding to
the equatorial zone. Secure the two bands of paper with thread or fine
twine. Then wind a long piece of string once around the equatorial
space. Let an assistant hold one end of the string, and while holding
the other end yourself, move the phial rapidly to and fro, so that the
string shall work upon the glass between the two pieces of paper. When
the glass becomes hot in the equatorial space, pour some cold water upon
it, and the glass will break as evenly as if cut with a knife.
[Illustration: CUTTING THE PHIAL.]
The principle involved in this curious experiment may be applied to the
removal of a glass stopper, when too tight in the neck of the bottle for
the fingers to stir it. All that is necessary is to wind a piece of
thick string round the neck of the bottle, get an assistant to hold one
end, and then work the bottle to and fro. The glass of the neck will
become so warm as to expand, and the stopper will become loosened. It is
often necessary to continue this friction for some minutes before the
desired result is attained.
THE INVISIBLE RENDERED VISIBLE.
Place a coin in an empty basin, and let the basin be near the edge of
the table. Ask one of the company to stand beside it, and to retire
slowly backward until he or she can no longer see the coin. Then pour
cold, clear water into the basin, and the person, who the moment before
could not perceive the coin, now will see it quite plainly, though
without moving a hair's breadth nearer.
[Illustration: THE COIN INVISIBLE.]
[Illustration: THE COIN VISIBLE.]
LIGHT FROM SUGAR.
In a dark room, rub smartly one against the other, a couple of lumps of
white sugar, and light will be evolved. A similar effect is produced by
rubbing two lumps of borate of soda one against the other.
MINIATURE FIRE-SHIPS.
Procure a good-sized lump of camphor. Cut it up into pieces of the size
of a hazel-nut, and having a large dish filled with cold water in
readiness, lay the pieces on the surface, where they will float. Then
ignite each one of them with a match, and they will burn furiously,
swimming about all the time that the burning is in progress, until at
last nothing remains but a thin shell, too wet to be consumed.
PURPLE AIR.
Obtain an olive-oil flask, the glass of which must be colorless. In
default of an oil-flask, a large test-tube may be employed. Put into it
a small quantity of solid iodine (procurable at the chemist's and very
cheap), then lightly stop the mouth of the flask or test-tube with some
cotton-wool, but not hermetically, and hold it slantwise over the flame
of a spirit-lamp. The heat will soon dissolve the iodine, which will
next turn into a most beautiful violet-colored vapor, completely filling
the glass, and disappearing again as the glass gets cold.
THE TWO EGGS.
Dissolve as much common table-salt in a pint of water as it will take
up, so as to prepare a strong brine. With this brine half fill a tall
glass. Then pour in pure water, very carefully. Pour it down the side,
or put it in with the help of a spoon, so as to break the fall. The pure
water will then float upon the top of the brine, yet no difference will
be visible. Next, take another glass of exactly the same kind, and fill
it with pure water. Now take a common egg, and put it into the vessel of
pure water, when it will instantly sink to the bottom. Put another egg
into the first glass, and it will not descend below the surface of the
brine, seeming to be miraculously suspended in the middle. Of course the
two glass vessels should be considerably wider than the egg is long.
THE MAGIC APERTURE.
Put several lighted candles upon the table, in a straight row and near
together. Lay upon the table, in front of them, a large piece of smooth,
white paper. Have ready a piece of pasteboard, large enough to conceal
the candles, with a small hole cut in it above the middle. Place this so
as to stand upon its edge between the row of candles and the sheet of
paper in front, and there will be as many images of flames thrown
through the hole and upon the paper as there are burning candles.
[Illustration: THE MAGIC APERTURE.]
GREEN FIRE.
Obtain some boracic acid, mix it well with a small quantity of spirits
of wine, or alcohol, place the alcohol in a saucer upon a dish, and then
ignite it with a match. The flame will be a beautiful green. To see the
color to perfection, of course, the room should be somewhat darkened.
A green flame may also be produced by using chloride of copper instead
of boracic acid. And instead of mixing it with the alcohol, a small
quantity may be imbedded in the wick of a candle.
A BEAUTIFUL IMITATION OF HOAR FROST.
Obtain a large bell-glass, with a short neck and cork at the top, such
as may be seen in the chemists' shops. Then procure a small quantity of
benzoic acid, which exists in the shape of snowy crystals. Elevate the
bell-glass upon a little stage made of books or pieces of wood, so as to
allow a spirit-lamp to be introduced underneath, and a little
evaporating dish to be held above the flame by means of a ring of wire
with suitable handle. Place the benzoic acid in the evaporating dish,
over the flame, and presently the acid will ascend in vapor and fill the
bell, which must not be quite closed at the top. Before setting up the
apparatus, introduce into the bell a small branch of foliage, which may
be hung by a thread from the neck of the bell. The stiffer and more
delicate this branch, the better. In a short time, it will become
covered with a soft white deposit of the acid, very closely resembling
hoar-frost. This makes an extremely pretty ornament for the parlor.
[Illustration: IMITATING HOAR-FROST.]
TO BOIL WATER WITHOUT FIRE.
Half fill a common oil-flask with water, and boil it for a few minutes
over the flame of a spirit-lamp. While boiling, cork up the mouth of the
flask as quickly as you can, and tie a bit of wet bladder over the cork,
so as to exclude the air perfectly. The flask being now removed from the
lamp, the boiling ceases. Pour some cold water upon the upper portion of
the flask, and the ebullition recommences! Apply hot water, and it
stops! And thus you may go on as long as you please.
TO CONVERT A LIQUID INTO A SOLID.
Dissolve about half a pound of sulphate of soda in a pint of boiling
water, and after it has stood a few minutes to settle, pour it off into
a clean glass vessel. Pour a little sweet oil upon the surface, and put
it to stand where it can get cold, and where no one will touch it. When
cold, put in a stick, and the fluid, previously clear, will at once
become opaque, and begin to crystallize, until at length there is a
solid crystalline mass.
ICE ON FIRE.
Make a hole in a block of ice with a hot poker. Pour out the water, and
fill up the cavity with camphorated spirits of wine. Then ignite the
spirit with a match, and the lump of ice will seem to be in flames.
EXPERIMENTS REQUIRING CHEMICAL SOLUTIONS.
To prepare these solutions, purchase of a druggist a small quantity of
the solid crystals of the substance needed for the experiment you wish
to try. Dissolve the crystals in clear pure water, and keep the solution
in a little bottle, labeled with the name. It is seldom that the
solutions need be strong. When the crystal is a colored one, enough
should be used to give the water a light tint, blue, yellow, or what it
may be. None of these solutions will do any harm to the hands, unless
there is a cut or a wound of any kind upon the skin. It is well also,
not to let a drop of any of them fall upon the clothes, or upon
furniture, for some of them will stain. And none of them should ever be
tasted, or touched by the lips or tongue, many of them being acrid and
even poisonous.
With the acids still greater care is needed, the stronger acids being
corrosive and poisonous. The greater portion of these substances must
likewise not be smelled, as the fumes or vapors would affect the
nostrils painfully.
For the proper performance of these experiments with solutions,
etc.,--at all events for the neatest and most elegant performance of
them,--there should be obtained from the chemist's shop about a dozen
test-tubes. These are little glass vessels, manufactured on purpose, and
very cheap. Do not take glasses that may afterward be used for drinking
or household purposes. Be careful to have every one of your experiment
glasses perfectly clean.
_To produce a Beautiful Violet-Purple Color._
Take a nearly colorless solution of any salt of copper. The sulphate
is the cheapest and handiest. Fill the test-tube or other
experimenting-glass about two-thirds full. Then drop in, slowly, a
little liquid ammonia. It will cause a beautiful blue to appear, and
presently a most lovely violet-purple, which, by stirring with a glass
rod, extends all through the fluid.
If now you drop into this a very little nitric acid, the fluid will
again become as clear as pure water.
_To Make a Splendid Scarlet._
Again take some solution of sulphate of copper. Add to it a little
solution of bichromate of potash. Then add a little solution of nitrate
of silver, and there is produced a splendid scarlet color.
_To Make a Deep Blue._
Now, take a nearly colorless solution of sulphate of iron, and drop into
it, slowly, a small quantity of solution of yellow prussiate of potash.
This will induce a beautiful deep blue, quite different from the blues
that are produced from copper salts.
_To Make a Yellow Color._
Take a solution of acetate of lead, and add a few drops of solution of
iodide of potassium, and a most lovely canary-yellow color is produced.
_Invisible Inks._
Nearly all those experiments which result in the production of color may
be performed in another way, and be then applied to the purposes of
secret writing. Thus:
Write with dilute solution of sulphate of copper. The writing will be
quite invisible, but become blue when held over the vapor of liquid
ammonia.
Write with the same solution, and wash the paper with solution of yellow
prussiate of potash, and the writing, previously invisible, will become
brown. If you choose you may reverse this method, writing with solution
of the prussiate of potash, and washing the paper with solution of the
copper salt.
Write with solution of sulphate of iron, and the writing will again be
invisible. Wash it over with tincture of galls, and it becomes black.
Write with sulphate of iron, and use a wash of yellow prussiate of
potash, and the writing will come out blue. This experiment may likewise
be reversed, and with similar result.
_How to Copper a Knife-Blade._
Make a rather strong solution of sulphate of copper. Let a clean and
polished piece of steel or iron, such as the blade of a knife, stand in
it for a few minutes, and the iron will become covered or encrusted with
a deposit of pure copper.
_To Make Beautiful Crystals._
Dissolve, in different vessels, half an ounce each of the sulphates of
iron, zinc, copper, soda, alumina, magnesia, and potash. The solutions
can be made more rapidly by using warm water. When the salts are all
completely dissolved, pour the whole seven solutions into a large dish,
stir the mixture with a glass rod, then place it in a warm place, where
it will not be disturbed. By degrees, the water will evaporate, and then
the salts will re-crystallize, each kind preserving its own proper form
and color. Some occur in groups, some as single crystals. If carefully
protected from dust, these form extremely pretty ornaments for the
parlor.
_Alum Baskets._
These may be prepared by dissolving alum in water in such quantity that
at last the water can take up no more, and the undissolved alum lies at
the bottom of the vessel. The solution thus obtained is called a
saturated one. Then procure a common ornamental wire basket, and suspend
it in the solution, so as to be well covered in every part. There should
be twice as much solution as will cover the basket. The wires of the
basket should be wound with worsted, so that the surface may be rough.
Leave it undisturbed in the solution, and gradually the crystals will
form all over the surface. Before putting in the basket, it is best to
further strengthen the solution by boiling it down to one half, after
which it should be strained.
_The Lead-Tree._
Dissolve half an ounce of acetate of lead in six ounces of water. The
solution will be turbid, so clarify it with a few drops of acetic acid.
Now put the solution into a clean phial, nearly filling the phial.
Suspend in the solution, by means of a thread attached to the cork, a
piece of clean zinc wire. By degrees, the wire will become covered with
beautiful metallic spangles, like the foliage of a tree.
UN ALPHABET FRANCAIS.
PAR LAURA CAXTON.
[Illustration: A--ANNETTE A UN TRÈS JOLI PETIT AGNEAU]
[Illustration: B--BAPTISTE A UNE PAIRE DE GRANDES BOTTES]
[Illustration: C--CÉCILE EST CHARMÉE DE FAIRE ROULER SON CERCEAU.]
[Illustration: D--DENIS PLEURE PARCEQU'IL A MAL AUX DENTS.]
[Illustration: E--ÉDOUARD VA GAIEMENT À L'ÉCOLE, AVEC SES LIVRES.]
[Illustration: F--FANCHON FAIT UNE CRAVATE POUR SON FRÈRE.]
[Illustration: G--GABRIELLE A ÉTÉ GRONDÉE PAR SON GRAND-PÈRE.]
[Illustration: H--HENRI VA PATINER SUR LA GLACE PENDANT L'HIVER.]
[Illustration: I--ISABELLE EST UNE PAUVRE PETITE INVALIDE.]
[Illustration: J--JACQUES S'AMUSE TOUTE LA JOURNÉE AVEC SES JOUJOUX.]
[Illustration: K--K EST LA LETTRE QUE JEAN TIENT SOUS LA MAIN.]
[Illustration: L--LOUISE DONNE DES LÉGUMES A SES PETITS LAPINS.]
[Illustration: M--MARIE A DES MARGUERITES POUR SA CHÈRE MAMAN.]
[Illustration: N--NARCISSE A TROUVÉ DES OISEAUX DANS UN NID.]
[Illustration: O--OLIVIER, AVEC SON PARAPLUIE, N'A PAS PEUR DE L'ORAGE.]
[Illustration: P--PAULINE A BEAUCOUP DE PLAISIR AVEC SA PETITE POUPÉE.]
[Illustration: Q--QUENTIN AIME À JOUER AUX QUILLES DE BOIS.]
[Illustration: R--ROLAND REMPLIT UN POT POUR Y PLANTER SON ROSIER.]
[Illustration: S--SUSETTE A UN MORCEAU DE SUCRE POUR SON SERIN.]
[Illustration: T--THÉRESE EST TRISTE PARCEQUE SON TABLIER EST SALE.]
[Illustration: U--URBAIN A LE DRAPEAU DES ÉTATS-UNIS.]
[Illustration: V--VIRGINIE ARROSE SES VIOLETTES CHAQUE MATIN ET CHAQUE
SOIR.]
[Illustration: W--WINIFRED EST AMÉRICAINE, ELLE N'EST PAS UNE PETITE
FRANÇAISE.]
[Illustration: X--XÉNOPHON EST LE GÉNÉRAL RENOMMÉ À QUI PAUL CROIT
RESSEMBLER.]
[Illustration: Y--Y A-T-IL UNE AUTRE PETITE FILLE DE SI JOLIS YEUX?]
[Illustration: Z--ZÉNOBIE SAIT COMPTER D'UN JUSQU'À ZÉRO.]
A FAIR EXCHANGE.
BY MRS. M. F. BUTTS.
"Oh, Willow, where did you get your fringe,
In New York or in Paris?
Tell me, and I will get some too,
Because I am an heiress;
And I buy me everything I want;
I have a ring and a feather;
I promenade in my white kid boots
Each day in pleasant weather."
"Oh, little one, where did you get the pink,
In your pretty, round cheek glowing?
And where did you get the yellow curls,
Over your shoulders flowing?
Perhaps you can tell me how they are made;
If you think so, darling, try it;
And when you succeed, I'll tell you about
My fringe, and where to buy it."
HOW TEDDY CUT THE PIE.
(_A Geometrical Jingle._)
BY ROSSITER JOHNSON.
Teddy, Jimmy, Frank, and I
Fished all day for smallest fry,
And as evening shades drew nigh,
Stopped to see if we could buy,
At a road-side groce-ry,
Anything they called a pie.
There was one, and only one,
Deeply filled and brownly done,
Warm from standing in the sun,
Flanked on each side by a bun,
Since that summer day begun.
From the window it was brought,
With our pennies it was bought;
Then a knife was quickly sought--
Who would cut it as he ought?
"Leave it all," says Ted, "to me,"
As the knife he flourished free;
"I have cut a great ma-ny."
"But," says Frank, who feared our fate,
"Will you cut it fair and straight?"
"Straight?" says Ted. "I'll tell you what--
Straighter than a rifle-shot:
Straighter than the eagle's flight.
Straight as any ray of light."
"I will mark the place," says Jim--
Great exactness was his whim--
And he measured, on the rim,
Starting-points, as guides for him.
Ted put in the knife with glee;
First he cut from A to B!
Then he cut from C to D!!
Then he took the piece marked E!!!
Every cut was straight, he said,--
He would bet his curly head.
Such a perfect, born-and-bred
Geometric rogue was Ted.
[Illustration]
"CHAIRS TO MEND!"
BY ALEXANDER WAINWRIGHT.
The art of doing small things well has a good illustration in the humble
chair-mender of the London streets, who is also one of the most
interesting of out-door tradesmen.
He carries all his implements and materials with him. A very much worn
chair is thrown over one arm as an advertisement of his occupation, and
it is needed, for his cry, "Cha-ir-s to men-n-nd," is uttered in a
melancholy and indistinct, though penetrating, tone. Under the other arm
he usually has a bundle of cane, split into narrow ribbons.
His look is that of forlorn respectability; his hat is greasy, and
mapped with so many veins, caused by crushings, that it might have been
used as a chair or, at least, a foot-stool; around his neck he wears a
heavy cloth kerchief, and his long coat of by-gone fashion reaches
nearly to the ankles, which are covered by shabby gaiters. He walks
along at a very gentle pace and scans the windows of the houses for some
sign that his services are wanted.
[Illustration: "CHAIRS TO MEND!"]
Perhaps business is dull, but in the neighborhoods where there are
plenty of children he is pretty sure to find some work. Cane-seated
chairs are durable, but they will not stand the rough usage of those
little boys and girls who treat them as step-ladders and stamp upon
them. It often happens that a neat English house-maid appears at the
area railings with a chair that has a big, ragged hole in the seat,
through which Master Tommy has fallen, with his boots on, in an effort
to reach the gooseberry jam on the pantry shelf.
Master Tommy probably looks on while the repairs are being made, and is
much interested by the dexterity with which the mender does his work.
The old and broken canes are cut away, and the new strips are woven into
a firm fabric, with little eight-sided openings left in it. The
overlapping ends of the ribbons are trimmed with a sharp knife, and the
chair-seat is as good as new.
It seems so easy that Tommy thinks he could have done it himself; but
when he experiments with a slip of cane that the mender gives him, he
finds that chair-mending is really a trade that must be learned.
Some chair-menders are blind men, and it is still more interesting to
watch them at their work. The plaiting of the canes is done as
unerringly by their unseeing fingers as by the men who can see, and with
wonderful quickness. Occasionally the business is combined with that of
basket-making, and should we follow poor old "Chairs-to-mend" home, we
might discover his family busy weaving reeds and willowy branches with
the same cleverness the father shows in handling the canes.
TWO KITTIES.
BY JOY ALLISON.
[Illustration]
Two little kitties
Wandered away
Into the prairie
One summer day.
One on two feet,
Rosy and fair,
Almost a baby,--
"Golden Hair."
Four feet,--useless,
Eyes fast closed,
Borne in a basket
The other dozed.
Searching in terror
Far and wide,
"Golden Hair's" mother
Moaned and cried.
Mother Puss calmly
Following slow,
Listening,--calling
Meoh!--Meoh!--
Mother Puss found them,
A little heap,
Down in the deep grass
Fast asleep.
"HARE AND HOUNDS."
[Illustration]
"What shall we do?" the children said,
By the spirit of frolic and mischief led,
Frank and Lulu and Carrie, three
As full of nonsense as they could be;
Who never were known any fun to stop
Until they were just about ready to drop.
Frank, whose "knowledge-box" surely abounds
With games, spoke up for "Hare and Hounds."
"Down the cellar, or up the stair,
Here and there, and everywhere,
You must follow, for I'm the Hare!"
Lulu and Carrie gave quick consent,
And at cutting their papers and capers went,
For the stairs were steep, and they must not fail
To have enough for a good long trail.
Away went the Hare
Right up the stair,
And away went the Hounds, a laughing pair;
And Tony, who sat
Near Kitty, the cat,
And was really a dog worth looking at,
With a queer grimace
Soon joined the race,
And followed the game at a lively pace!
Then Puss, who knew
A thing or two,
Prepared to follow the noisy crew,
And never before or since, I ween,
Was ever beheld such a hunting scene!
The Hare was swift; and the papers went
This way and that, to confuse the scent;
But Tony, keeping his nose in air,
In a very few moments betrayed the Hare,
Which the children told him was hardly fair.
I cannot tell you how long they played,
Of the fun they had, or the noise they made;
For the best of things in this world, I think,
Can ne'er be written with pen and ink.
But Bridget, who went on her daily rounds,
Picking up after the "Hare and Hounds,"
Said she didn't mind hearing their lively capers,
But her back was broke with the scraps o' papers.
Carrie, next day, couldn't raise her head;
Frank and Lulu were sick in bed;
The dog and cat were a used-up pair,
And all of them needed the doctor's care.
The children themselves can hardly fail
To tack a moral upon this trail;
And I guess on rather more level grounds
They'll play their next game of "Hare and Hounds."
[Illustration]
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.
So, here's October come again. Another pleasant year gone by, another
lot of sermons done, and nobody the worse! Dear, dear, how time does fly
in cheerful company, to be sure!
Well, my dears, keep a bright lookout for the new volume, and, meantime,
don't open your eyes too wide while I bring to your notice
THE LARGEST MAN.
Albany, N.Y.
DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: Perhaps some of your other boys, who, like
myself, wish to grow big and strong, would like to hear about the
largest human being ever known,--Goliath of Gath,--a person almost
large enough to need introduction by installments, but he is so well
known that the ceremony is needless.
As nearly as I can make out, he was between ten and eleven feet
high. When he went to battle he wore a coat-of-mail weighing one
hundred and fifty-six pounds,--as heavy as a good-sized man; and the
rest of his armor amounted to at least one hundred and fifteen
pounds more. The head of his spear weighed eighteen pounds,--as
heavy as six three-pound cans of preserved fruit,--and this he
carried at the end of a long and heavy shaft!
Think what might happen if a man equally big and strong should live
among us now, and insist on taking part in our games and sports? If
he joined a boat-club, a curious six-oared crew could be made up,
with him at one side and five other men opposite. And just imagine
him "booming along" on a velocipede! If he joined the champion Nine,
and hit a ball, where would that ball go to? If he called for a
"shoulder-high" ball, wouldn't the catcher have to climb a
step-ladder to catch behind the giant? And if he threw a ball to a
base-man, wouldn't he be apt to throw it clean through him?
Probably no one can answer these questions, but they are interesting
all the same, to yours sincerely,
R.V.D.
CATCHING BIRDS ON THE WING.
As if a man could ever hope to do that, or even to do so much as fly!
And yet, word has already come to me of a man who has made a machine
with which he actually has flown, up, down, with the wind, against the
wind, and, in fact, any way he wished!
The particular machine he used looked, I'm told, rather like a big
bolster-case blown full of air, and with a light frame-work of hollow
brass tubes strapped to it underneath. In this frame-work was a seat for
the man, and near him were two circular fans, which he turned round very
fast indeed; one of the fans made the machine fly backward or forward,
and the other made it go up or down, as he liked.
Now, this certainly seems to be a step ahead, or, rather, a flap upward;
but you needn't expect to be chasing and catching eagles and albatrosses
on the wing by dropping salt on their tails; at least, not just yet, my
dears. The time for that sort of fun may come, perhaps; but it would be
well not to crow too loudly at present.
THE BEE AND THE ANEMONE.
Des Moines, Iowa.
DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: The bee you told us of in your August
sermon did not mistake the anemone for a flower. At least, _I_ think
not. No bee ever makes such a mistake as to settle on a poisonous
flower, and I believe that this bee went to the anemone for water
and not for honey. Bees will settle on pieces of straw afloat in the
water, when seeking for water, and I believe they know, even while
on the wing, where to find honey. Good-bye.--Your friend. N.E.H.
FRANGIPANI SCENT AND PUDDINGS.
"Let's begin with the puddings, and make sure of _them_," as a little
boy once remarked. Well, then, in former times, Frangipani puddings were
of broken bread, and their queer name is made from two words,--_frangi_,
meaning "to break," and _panus_, "bread"; but, after some time, these
puddings were made with pastry-crust and contained cream and almonds.
Frangipani scent, however, was named after a great marquis who first
made it, getting it from the jasmine plant. And the marquis got _his_
name from an ancestor whose duty it had been to break the holy bread or
wafer in one of the church services, and who on that account was called
"Frangipani," or "Breaker of Bread."
Now, this way of explaining how words come to be formed, sounds well
enough, no doubt. But how are we to know, in this case, that the marquis
didn't invent the pudding as well as the scent? However, I must leave
you to puzzle out the problem for yourselves, my dears, while I give you
some information about
A SEALED POSTMAN.
You've all heard of sealed letters, of course, and seen some, too, no
doubt; but did you ever hear of the letter-carrier, also, being sealed?
Well, a bit of news has come saying that, among the Himalaya Mountains,
the men who carry the mails on horseback are sealed to their saddles, in
such a way that while they can ride easily enough they cannot get down
from their seats; and, what is more, the mail-packages are sealed to the
men! Once started on the route, the seals are not allowed to be broken,
except by the postmaster at the next station, and, if they happen to get
broken otherwise than by accident, the carrier is severely punished.
The result of this sealing is that a mail-carrier who wishes to steal
the letters in his charge is obliged to steal also the saddle and
horse,--and himself as well, I suppose.
Nice places these carriers have to ride through, at times! Why, in some
parts, the road is so steep that, in going down, the rider is kept
upright by a rope passed under his arms and held in the hands of two men
who are above him on the mountain. If it were not for this, the rider
would fall over the head of his horse, or else cause the horse itself to
go over head first.
Altogether, the postmen of the Himalayas must have a hard time of it.
WIND-HARPS.
East Saginaw, Mich.
DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: Please will you or any of your "chicks"
tell me how to make a wind-harp, or Eolian harp?
Your friend, MINNIE WARNER.
Time and again have I heard tell of wind-harps and the sweet music the
wind coaxes out of them. The sighing and singing of the breezes through
the tree-tops must be something like it, no doubt. But I never heard a
wind-harp's song, and of course don't know how to make one. Perhaps,
some of you know, however, and if so I shall be obliged if you will send
me word, so that I can pass it on to Minnie and the rest of my chicks.
"THE JOY OF THE DESERT."
In Africa is a vast, dreary waste, called the Desert of Sahara. In
widely scattered spots of this desert there grows a tree that sends its
roots down to springs far beneath the parched ground. Sometimes these
springs are so far down that the trees are planted in deep holes,
something like wells, so that the roots may reach water. Hardly anything
except this tree can grow in that desert.
The fruit of the tree is delicious food; the long trunk makes poles for
tents; the leaf-stalks make many kinds of basket and wicker work,
walking-sticks and fans; the leaves themselves are made into bags and
mats; and the fibers at the base of the leaf-stalks are twisted into
cordage for tents and harness. The sap of the tree, drawn from a deep
cut in the trunk near the top, after standing a few days, becomes a
sweet and pleasant liquor. Cakes of the fruit pounded and kneaded
together "so solid as to be cut with a hatchet," are carried by
travelers going across the terrible desert.
[Illustration]
Besides all this, trees of this kind, planted in groups, cast a shade
which keeps the ground moist, so that other fruit-trees can live beneath
them.
When the tree is about one hundred years old, it ceases to bear fruit,
and is cut down for timber; but in its long life it has made its owner
rich and a great many people comfortable.
The paragram which told me all this said, further, that this tree is the
date-palm, and is called "The Joy of the Desert." Well may it be so
called, I should think; though once I heard some of the children of the
red school-house say they hated "dates." Perhaps they meant "dates" of
some other kind.
BABIES IN BOOTS.
Where do you suppose Tartar mothers carry their little children?
Not on their shoulders, nor on their hips, nor in their arms, nor at
their backs, nor on their heads.
Well, I'm told they carry them in their boots! These are made of cloth,
and each is large enough to hold a child five years old!
ROOK COURTS AND BLACKBIRD POWWOWS.
DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: In England, where I come from, I have seen
meetings of vast numbers of birds, though never as many of such
different kinds as those named by Z.R.B. in the letter which you
gave us in July. Sometimes, a great number of rooks gather in a
ring, and in the center of it is one lonely, dejected-looking rook,
who holds his head down in silence. The other rooks seem to hold a
consultation, chattering and cawing back and forth, sometimes one
alone and sometimes all together, until they seem to decide what to
do.
Then three or four old, solemn-looking rooks fly upon the lonely one
and put him to death, as if he had been found guilty of some
dreadful crime.
In this country, during spring, the blackbirds meet almost daily in
the tops of high trees, especially elms and locusts, and there they
chatter by the hour. Sometimes a few will fly off, angrily, with
quick, sharp notes, to some tree a little way off. After a while,
two or three more birds will join them from the large body. Then,
perhaps, some of them will go back as "peace commissioners," and
after a few more flights back and forth, and endless chatter, the
little party may return to the main body; or, increasing in number,
may form a second crowd as noisy as the first.
No doubt you have heard and seen many such powwows, dear Jack. Long
may you live to watch the birds and repeat to us their wisdom!
Truly your friend,
C.B.M.
AN INTERVAL NOT ON THE PROGRAMME.
I'm told that at Pompeii, Italy, in the year 79, a play was being acted
in one of the theaters, when a storm of cinders fell, buried the whole
city, and, of course, put a stop to the play, which has never been
completed. A few months ago, however, an operatic manager named Languri
made up his mind to have a new theater just where the old one stood; so,
he printed in the Italian newspapers a notice that ran something like
this:
"After a lapse of eighteen hundred years, the theater of Pompeii
will be re-opened, with the opera of 'La Figlia del Reggimento.' I
ask the continuation of the favor shown to my predecessor, Marcus
Quintus Martius, and beg to assure the public that I shall make
every effort to equal the rare qualities he displayed during his
management."
If only Marcus Quintus Martius and his actors, and musicians, and the
ancient audience, could have been at that re-opening of their
long-buried theater, how they would have stared!
THE LETTER-BOX.
Our older boys and girls will find in this number an excellent article
on "Parlor Magic," in which they are told, by Professor Leo Grindon, one
of the Faculty of the Royal School of Chemistry in Manchester, England,
how to perform some very interesting, and in some cases, quite
astonishing experiments in chemistry, optics, etc. Some of our readers
may be familiar with a few of these experiments, but the majority of
them will be found novel to nearly all young people. Occasionally, there
are materials or ingredients called for, which are somewhat expensive,
and some of the experiments require a good deal of time and patience.
But these are the exceptions, for nearly all the experiments described
in the article can be performed by any careful and intelligent boy or
girl of fourteen or fifteen, in a short time and at a very small cost.
Of course, in getting up a little "Parlor Magic Entertainment" it will
not be necessary to try all the experiments described. Choose such as
you think you can perform without fail, and which will be likely to
interest the company you expect. Be careful not to try to do too many
things in one evening, and, if possible, make each experiment in
private, before you attempt to show your friends how it is done. This
will not be necessary in every case, but if you make an experiment, for
the first time, before company, be sure that you know exactly what you
are going to do and how it ought to be done.
One more thing, the most important of all, we would impress on the mind
of every reader of ST. NICHOLAS who tries any of these experiments, and
that is the necessity for great care in handling and disposing of the
chemical ingredients which may be used. Some of these, although
perfectly harmless, when used as directed, are very injurious, if
tasted, or even smelt very closely; and although the performer may
himself be very prudent and careful with his materials and apparatus, he
must not give the slightest opportunity to young children, or indeed any
one who has not studied up the subject, to handle his chemicals.
With careful attention to the directions given in the article, a
pleasant evening entertainment may easily be had, and if an occasional
failure should take place, both the performer and the company should
remember that an _experiment_ is only a trial, and cannot be expected
always to succeed.
* * * * *
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I went over to my uncle's one Saturday lately, to
tea, and had baked beans. He never eats vinegar on them, excepting
some made in January, 1851, when 40 gallons were frozen in 53 quart
bottles. He told me there was no other such vinegar in the United
States, and if I could hear of any one who has some prepared like
it, and as old, he would give me as handsome a doll as I wanted. My
object is to ask you to please publish my letter, and I may receive
the doll, which I want very much, and oblige, with many thanks, one
of your subscribers.
L.D.H.
* * * * *
London, England.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: We are traveling in Europe for a short time, and
I thought, perhaps, you might like to hear a short account of our
journey. First, we went to Chester, one of the oldest cities in
England. It is inclosed by a wall two miles around, which was built
1800 years ago. The "Rows" of Chester are very strange and
interesting. They are rows of stores in the second stories of
houses--with a sidewalk in front, supported by pillars and covered
overhead. One may walk out on a rainy day and do a great variety of
shopping without being at all exposed to the weather. The sidewalks
below these rows, and on a level with the middle of the street are
dingy and shabby, lined with forlorn looking little places inhabited
by the poorer class.
There is an old house standing in an alley, in the garret of which
one of the earls of Derby was hidden for three months.
A small part of an old church, which was built 200 A. D., still
stands, and is one of the curiosities. There is also a tower where
King Charles II stood and saw his army defeated, only, that was
before he became king. Next we went to Stratford-on-Avon, where we
saw Shakespeare's house, and I sat in his chair.
We lunched at the Red Horse Inn, in the room which Washington Irving
had when he was there. I also sat in his chair. In the afternoon we
went to Shakespeare's other house and gardens. He had two homes, but
he only lived in one until he was seventeen years old.
We are now in London, and have been to see a few of the principal
places. Westminster Abbey is one of the great sights. We saw a
sitting figure of a duchess who died from the effects of lock-jaw,
caused by pricking her finger with a needle, while at needle work on
Sunday.
We also saw St. Paul's Cathedral, where there is a whispering
gallery, so called, because, if you whisper on one side of the
gallery, it may be heard on the other side as distinctly as if you
were over there.
The South Kensington Museum contains a great many curiosities, and
some of the things which Doctor Schliemann has dug up.
The National Art Gallery contains a great many beautiful pictures,
and one room is devoted to Turner's paintings.
We have also been to see the Tower, where the little princes were
murdered; they do not take you into the room where they stayed; but
ST. NICHOLAS gave us a fine picture of that in January of 1874. We
shall start for Paris soon.--From your little friend,
MAMIE CHARLES.
* * * * *
"MOTHER." Unpainted, strong and really amusing playthings, such as you
inquire for, are to be found, we think, in almost any large toy-store.
Animals, wagons, and various amusing things cut out of plain wood,
abound nowadays, and they can be sent you by express from your nearest
town. In our experience, however, we have found building blocks of most
lasting interest to the little folks. Crandall's are the best, for they
admit of an endless variety of combination.
* * * * *
Washington, D. C.
MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have a little sister, named Josie, who is
six years old. She can read only a little, and she does not like to
do it at all. She has plenty of toys, and a nice baby-house, but
often she gets tired of playing and then comes to me to know what to
do.
Now, I want to know if you cannot tell me something for her to do
that will keep her quiet? I have another sister who is nine years
old, but no brother.--Your loving reader,
ANITA R. NEWCOMB.
Anita may find a satisfactory hint in the answer to "Mother" given
above. Also, the Kinder Garten games that are now used in many schools
for very little folks may be of service to Josie.
* * * * *
London, Eng.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have just arrived in England. When we were
fairly out at sea, the first thing I did was to explore the great
ship. It was four hundred feet long, made entirely of iron, and sank
twenty feet deep in the water. The masts were of hollow iron, and
seventy feet high. It took nine furnaces and forty tons of coal a
day to keep the ship going. The crew numbered a hundred and
thirty-five. It seems very wonderful that a great heavy iron ship
should not sink; the reason it does not is that it is lighter than
the water it displaces.
When we were a few days out, a flock of land-birds rested on our
ship. We fed them with crumbs, and brought dishes of fresh water on
deck for them, but after a day or two they disappeared. A little
further on, a hawk alighted on the vessel, and one of the sailors
caught it when it was asleep.
To find out how fast we were going, the sailors threw the "log,"
which was no log at all, but a long thin rope with a small
three-cornered canvas bag at one end. They throw out the bag, and it
catches in the water and keeps the end of the rope steady. The rope
runs out as the ship goes. One sailor stands with a time-glass,
which holds as much sand as will fall in one minute from one half of
it into the other. The glass is turned just when a certain mark on
the rope passes over the rail, and, when all the sand has run, the
rope is stopped. As the rope has lengths marked on it by bits of
colored cloth, the sailors can tell how far the ship has gone in one
minute, and can roughly calculate from that its rate of speed by the
hour. Formerly a real log of wood was used instead of the bag.
The greatest event of the voyage was seeing a school of whales.
There were dozens of them spouting and showing their backs above
water. Another exciting thing was meeting a ship so near that we
could salute it, which is done by hoisting and then lowering the
flag once or twice. Ships have flags of different kinds, and each
has its own meaning. So by hoisting certain flags, the captains of
distant ships can exchange news.
When nearing the Irish coast, a dense fog settled upon us, so that
we could hardly see from one end of the ship to the other. All day
and all night the great fog-whistle was kept blowing to warn other
vessels that might be in our neighborhood. To see a light house or
landmark was impossible, but the captain found out where we were by
soundings. Every ship has a long piece of lead with a hole in one
end which is filled with tallow. The other end is fastened to a
rope, and the lead is thrown overboard and sinks to the bottom. When
hauled up, some of the sea-bottom is found stuck to the tallow, and
from this and the depth of the water, the captain knows where he is,
for the kinds of sand and mud at the bottom of the sea, and the
varying depths of water, are plainly marked on his charts.
I cannot describe to you what a welcome sight the land was, after
seeing nothing but water for so long. But when we had left the great
ship behind, it seemed almost as if we were leaving home, glad
though I was to get ashore.
Your loving reader,
F. D.
* * * * *
A correspondent sends us the series of "Beheaded Rhymes" which we print
below. Each of the stanzas contains two examples of this kind of
rhyming, and, in each example, the first blank is to be filled with a
word that suits both the sense and the measure. The next blank that
occurs is filled with all of the chosen word except its first letter;
and this process goes on until the word can no longer be beheaded and
yet leave another word. The making of such "Beheaded Rhymes" as these,
in company, to see who can succeed best, sometimes whiles away very
pleasantly a long evening of disagreeable weather.
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURES.
It made a most tremendous ----! (1.)
I gave my horse a sudden ----:
He threw me full against an ----,
And broke my collar-bone.
"What can I do in such a ----? (2.)
My horse is gone, I have no ----,"
I murmured with a groan.
I was as wet as any ----; (3.)
The wind and thunder made a ----,
And neither moon nor star was ----;
The night was black as sin.
The fall had given me such a ----! (4.)
And I was miles from any ----:
I floundered on through mud and ----
To reach the nearest inn.
But when I found the wished-for ----, (5.)
And saw through windows dim with ----
A fellow holding up an ----,
I would have cried with fear.
Each seat was filled by such a ----, (6.)
As might have fled from any ----
Of thief or buccaneer.
I strove to overcome my ----, (7.)
And ventured on a traveler's ----
To enter boldly there.
The porter waved aloft a ----, (8.)
But still I stepped within the ----
And took an empty chair.
The leader gave a fearful ----; (9.)
Sprang up, and overturned the ----.
Oh! I could cover half a ----
With what I felt that night.
He came, and gave me such a ----, (10.)
That I cried out amain, though ----
With anguish and affright.
"Come, will you join our game of ----? (11.)
Or do you choose that I should ----
The wretch, who wishes naught but ----
To honest men like us?"
With that he flung me from the ----, (12.)
And seizing on me by the ----,
He drew me forth into the ----
And made a dreadful fuss.
The night had now grown clear and ----. (13.)
I wandered to a distant ----,
And thought the cold ground not so ----,
As was that fearful spot.
But soon there passed a friendly ----, (14.)
Who placed me in his empty ----
And took me to his cot.
M. W.
The solutions are as follows: 1. Clash, lash, ash. 2. Plight, light. 3.
Trout, rout, out. 4. Strain, train, rain. 5. Place, lace, ace. 6. Scamp,
camp. 7. Fright, right. 8. Broom, room. 9. Scream, cream, ream. 10.
Tweak, weak. 11. Skill, kill, ill. 12. Chair, hair, air. 13. Chill,
hill, ill. 14. Swain, wain.
* * * * *
Pittsburg, Pa.
DEAR READERS OF "ST. NICHOLAS:" I live in a city of iron and steel
manufactories. I will do my best to tell you how an ax is made.
The works are a beautiful sight at night, with their huge, glowing
furnaces and the forms of the brawny workmen, passing between us and
the light. In one furnace they are heating pieces of cast-iron,
about twelve inches long, four inches wide, and one-half inch thick.
A workman takes a pair of long pincers, draws from the furnace one
of the red-hot pieces of iron, and passes it to another workman.
This workman is standing before two large wheels, which revolve
slowly, and which have several notches in them. The piece of hot
iron is placed between these wheels, with one end in a notch, and
the iron is bent double, bringing the two ends together, making it
look somewhat like a clothes-pin, except that the clothes-pin should
have a hole at the head, like in the piece of iron, for a handle.
The ends of the bent iron are next hammered together, after which
the coming ax is again heated. It is then taken to the steam
hammers. The first hammer joins the parts of the iron firmly
together, while the second, having on its face the mold of an ax,
gives the iron the same shape. The sides are then made straight and
even by a circular saw.
But an ax in this shape could never be used to much effect, for
cast-iron cannot be ground down to a fine enough edge. Steel can be
ground, however, and so a piece of steel must be added to our iron
ax. Two workmen take hold of the blade with pincers, and while one
holds a sharp tool on the broad edge, the other strikes with a
sledge. Into this split thus made, a piece of steel is slipped, and
a steam hammer joins them firmly.
After this, the ax is tempered, sharpened and polished; and, when
the blade is furnished with a handle, the ax is ready for
sale.--Yours truly,
"THE DOCTOR."
* * * * *
The following is sent to us as written, without help, by a little girl
nine years old.
THE HISTORY OF A CAT.
I am the family cat. I am not so very pretty, but they all like me
very much. I have a pretty baby-kitten, and I have a daughter named
Tortoise-shell. She is a pretty and good cat. She also has a
baby-kitten prettier than mine. Mine has such big eyes that its
little face does not look as cunning as my daughter's baby-kitten's
face. My mistress is very good to me sometimes, but sometimes she
pulls my tail and makes me mad, and I scratch her and then she slaps
me back; but when she is good to me, and pets me, and gives me cake,
then I purr to her.
Once my mistress' brother had a dog given to him. This dog's name
was "Captain." I did not like him one bit.
My mistress' brother's friend tried to set the dog on me, but he
would not come near me; so the boy let him alone.
When my mistress went to get my daughter's baby-kitten, Captain went
with her. My mistress did not know that Captain went into the room
with her. Tortoise-shell was tending her kitten, but, as soon as she
saw the dog, she jumped up and scratched his nose good for him. He
did not stay very long. He was given to my mistress' brother on
Saturday. The next day, which was Sunday, my mistress and the rest
of the family were at church; the dog got out, I don't know how, but
when my mistress came home from church she looked all about, but
could not find him anywhere. She was very sorry, but I was not sorry
one bit; I was glad. So now we've come to the end.
G.M.M.
* * * * *
Oswego, N. Y.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Please will you tell me where I can find
directions how to build a boat?--Yours respectfully,
HARRY MEAD.
Midland, 1878.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I wish that you would tell me how to make a yatch
I have a schooner but she gets beat bad and I should like to know
how to make a yatch that will beat them all I think one about 30
inches will be long enough.--I remain your constant Reader,
G.B.J.
In ST. NICHOLAS for July, 1875 (Vol. II.), Harry will find full
directions how to make a serviceable boat at a small cost; and G.B.J.,
whose letter we print _verbatim_, also may find hints that will enable
him to build an all-conquering "yatch."
* * * * *
Milwaukee, Wis.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am going to tell you about a game that we play
here a good deal. I do not know what it is called. It can be played
by any number, though the more the merrier. Each player must have a
sheet of paper and a pencil. When all are supplied, each one must
write across the top of the sheet a question, taking up as little
room on the page as possible, and turning the paper down so as to
cover up the writing, as in "Consequences." The paper is then passed
to the next neighbor, who is to write a common noun, of any kind,
under the question, and turn over in like manner. After the noun has
been written, the paper is passed on. Then everybody opens the paper
that last came to him, and must answer the question in rhyme,
inserting the noun. I will give you an illustration.
EXAMPLE:
Question,--"Do you like pigs?"
Common noun,--"Peas."
Answer, in rhyme,--
"I love the gentle animals
That sport about our home.
And all among the peas and corn
So happily do roam."
"Ah! little pigs I'll harm you not,
Nor e'en disturb your play,
But you shall have your own sweet will,
And feed upon the best of swill,
Through all the livelong day."
Will somebody answer thus this question, that was given to me:
"Which was the greatest battle of Alexander the Great?"
Noun: "Toes."
Yours truly,
D.J.
* * * * *
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I send you a puzzle, which I hope you will print:
My first is in your body,
Quite useful in its way.
My second flows in Italy,
And flows by night and day.
My third, a thing to cook with, is
In every kitchen found.
My fourth's a common article,
A very simple sound.
My fifth folks often get into,--
The careless ones, of course.
My whole, a clumsy animal,
Is partly named for horse.
R.N.P.
_Answer_: Hip-Po-pot-a-mus, hippopotamus.
* * * * *
Wilmette, Ills.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have been taking your book two years. I think
it is splendid. Some of the stories are so funny. I go to a private
school, and I am in the Fourth Reader. The girls play on one side of
the grounds and the boys on the other; the cherry-trees are on our
side, and I like it the best. We have lots of fun. I am nine years
old. I have two little sisters, Belle and Marion, and a little
brother, Bobo. When we get big we may write some stories for your
book. We are little now, but everybody was little once.--Your
friend,
KITTY GRIFFITHS.
* * * * *
Philadelphia, Pa.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I do like you so much, and I wish you would tell
me something. I see pictures and read books in which are the names
Penelope, Juno, Achilles, Hercules, and so on. The dictionary tells
but little about these names, and I want to know all about them. Can
you tell me how to find out?--Truly your friend,
CARRIE H.
You can learn a good deal about the personages you mention from
Bulfinch's "Age of Fable," from Alexander S. Murray's "Manual of
Mythology," and from Mrs. Clement's "Handbook of Legendary and
Mythological Art"; but the poems of Homer,--the "Iliad" and the
"Odyssey,"--of both of which there are good English translations,--are
the chief sources of the information.
* * * * *
Chicago, Ills.
MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I send you an Enigma to publish in your
magazine. The answer to the Enigma is "Washington."--Yours truly,
WILLIE M.
My 1, 9, 10, is the same as one.
My 8, 1, is two-thirds of two.
My 6, 5, 10, is three-fourths of nine.
My 10, 9, 8, 4, 5, 6, 9, is nothing.
My 3, 2, 1, is what my 5 did.
My 8, 9, 10, is very heavy; but
My 10, 9, 8, is not.
My 6, 5, 7, 4, 8, is always somewhere, but not here to-day.
* * * * *
THE BOY ENGINEERS: WHAT THEY DID, AND HOW THEY DID IT, is an illustrated
book published by Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons. It seems to have been
written for readers living in England, but young amateur machinists
anywhere would find it an entertaining book. It gives good practical
hints about the management of tools, and explains how to turn and carve
in wood and metal, how to make a clock, an organ, a small house, and how
to set up a steam-engine. The type is large, and the style easy and
pleasant.
THE RIDDLE-BOX.
VERY EASY SQUARE-WORD.
1. A pointed implement of brass or wood. 2. Wrath. 3. Not old.
A.W., AND F.E.D.
DECAPITATIONS.
1. Behead a bird's nest, and leave a lake in North America. 2. Behead a
marine map, and leave a wild animal. 3. Behead a sail vessel, and leave
a small narrow opening. 4. Behead a plant, and leave space. 5. Behead a
basket or hamper, and leave standard or proportion. 6. Behead a sharp
bargainer, and leave a company of people. 7. Behead a group of
individuals, and leave a country girl. 8. Behead an act of deception,
and leave high temperature.
ISOLA.
NUMERICAL ENIGMA.
The whole, composed of twelve letters, is a noted character of American
fiction.
The 1, 8, 4, 12 is to rend asunder. The 3, 2, 6, 10 is a flower. The 11,
5, 7, 9 is an open, grassy space.
C. O.
EASY MELANGE.
1. Behead a pavement, and find a planet. 2. Syncopate the pavement, and
give a shrub. 3. Transpose the planet, and leave the center. 4. Behead
and transpose the center, and find a weed. 5. Transpose the weed, and
give degree. 6. Syncopate the center, and leave an animal. 7. Behead the
animal, and find skill. 8. Curtail the shrub and give excitement. 9.
Behead and curtail the center, and leave a part of the body. 10. Behead
and transpose excitement, and find a plant. 11. Syncopate excitement,
and give an article of clothing. 12. Transpose skill, and leave an
animal. 13. Reverse the animal, and find a sailor.
CABIN PUZZLE.
. . .
. . .
. . . . . . .
. . .
. . .
. . . . . . . .
. . ... ... .
. ... . ... ... .
. ... . ... ... .
. ... . . . . . . .
The dots show where the letters are to be placed. The perpendicular and
sloping lines of the building are read downward, the horizontals from
left to right.
The letters that form the foundation, reading from extreme left to
extreme right, signify (1) a fireside; those of the lower edge of the
roof spell (2) liable to taxation; those of the ridge-pole mean (3)
calls for; those of the left-hand corner-post denote (4) the cry of a
domestic animal; those of the middle corner-post, (5) a free
entertainment; those of the right-hand corner-post, (6) a large bird of
prey; those of the left-hand sloping roof-edge, (7) an officer in an
English university; those of the middle sloping roof-edge, (8) a
regulated course of food; and those of the right-hand sloping roof-edge,
(9) withered.
The chimney is a double word-square, and reads, downward, (10) bleared,
(11) a man's name, (12) a farm-yard inclosure; across, (13) to plunge,
(14) anger, (15) a playing piece in the game of chess. The door, also,
is a double word-square: it reads, downward (16) a useful insect, (17) a
city of Burmah (Farther India), (18) a resinous substance; across, (19)
a wooden club, (20) a girl's name, (21) a part of the human body.
The left-hand window is a double word-square, and reads, downward (22)
to bend under weight, (23) a prefix, (24) hitherto; across, (25) a
secret agent, (26) exist, (27) to procure. The right-hand window, also,
is a double word-square: it reads, downward, (28) to make brown, (29) a
kind of poem, (30) angry; across, (31) a nickname for a boy, (32) a
girl's name, (33) another nickname for a boy.
H.H.D.
DROP-LETTER STAIR PUZZLE.
--E E--
E
E
--E E--
E
E
--E E--
E
E
--E E--
Going upstairs, find (reading from right to left): 1. A fish that lives
in English waters. 2. Full to overflowing. 3. Reward 4. An animal. 5. A
lively dance. 6. An edible plant. 7. To maintain hold upon.
Going down-stairs, find (reading from left to right): 1. To peep. 2. A
part of a boat. 3. To look obliquely. 4. An aquatic plant. 5. To esteem.
6. To gather. 7. The seed of an oriental plant.
H.H.D.
PROVERB ENIGMA.
The proverb is composed of twenty-nine letters.
The 5, 13, 26, 19, 2 is a wild animal. The 9, 14, 20, 16, 3, 11 is a
person employed in the building of houses. The 10, 23, 21, 1 is a common
reptile. The 13, 4, 21, 7, 29 is a bird of fine plumage. The 25, 17, 6,
27, 8 is a bird that is attached to the dwellings of men. The 18, 28,
12, 24 is a swimming and diving bird of the Arctic Regions.
I.T.
KNIGHT'S-MOVE PUZZLE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | |
| lay | tle | on | dom | braves | still | square | quered|
| | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | |
| ly | truth | press | day | the | board | ly | strike|
| | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | |
| bat- | this | Per- | a | free- | to | che- | from |
| | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | |
| and | fierce- | who | Greeks | down | Mar- | for | on. |
| | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | |
| reads | hard | than | sian | youth | the | square | this |
| | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | |
| as | right | each | poured | at | horde | ward | fight |
| | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | |
| long | so | knight | ly | thr'gh | the | on | leaps |
| | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | |
| As | on | life's | may | up | bold- | and | to |
| | | | | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The above puzzle consists of a verse of eight rhyming eight-syllable
lines; each syllable occupies a square and follows in succession
according to the knight's move on the chess board.
F.W.
EASY HIDDEN FISHES.
In each of the following sentences find, concealed, the name of a
well-known fish.
1. A Russian soldier, at Toms's, ate a salamander. 2. "Do you spell
'knob' as she does?" 3. "Where is my badge?" "Ella has it." 4. Francesco
drew a large prize yesterday. 5. "Have the girls and boys seen Fanny
Dunbar?" "Belle has." 6. My dolls had the measles last month. 7. Every
soldier leaves his tent. "Rout the enemy!" is the battle-cry. 8. I
heard, with regret, that she had lost her ring. 9. I composed a song of
which the first verse begins something like this: "Hark! 'tis a cricket
chirping." 10. Wax dolls melt when left too near the fire.
A.E.M.
POETICAL REBUS.
A two-line quotation from Cowper.
[Illustration]
RIDDLE.
Gleaming gayly, flashing light;
White as snow, and black as night;
Ladies, I'm your slave, your pride,
Though in ocean I abide.
Power have I o'er life and death,--
I, a creature without breath!
I, so small that you can draw
Fifty, like me, through a straw.
R.S.C.
SUGGESTED WORD-SQUARE.
In the following rhyme, the words of the Square are suggested by the
sense, and are to be inserted in the blanks, in order, as the blanks
occur,--the first word in the first blank, the second word in the second
blank, and so on.
To buy a ---- was foolish waste.
(I'd no ---- how it would taste!)
"I'll just have bread and ----," said Daisy.
"Who ---- a fruit like that, is crazy!"
B.
ANAGRAMS.
In the following sentence, the words printed in capitals are anagrams of
the words that should occupy the same places, so as to make sense. Thus:
BATTLE-SCREENS is a compound-word that takes the place of another to be
formed of the same letters arranged differently; the right word, in this
example, being "center-table;" but each of the other collections of
capitals is an anagram of but a single word.
I saw TENT SUDS by the BATTLE-SCREENS, puzzling over THE MICA MATS, and
perplexed about MANY ROOTS.
C.T.
REBUS.
A two line quotation from Shakspeare.
[Illustration]
COMPLETE DIAMOND.
The centrals of the diamond are each the same word, of five letters,
spelling the name of a Frenchman who became notorious during the great
French Revolution. The remainder of the diamond is made of words formed
from the letters of his name. The diamond incloses a hollow square,
either of whose perpendiculars or horizontals, read backward or forward,
will spell a word; and, reading from the middle letter to either end of
either of the centrals, a word will be spelled, which, when read
backward, will spell another word. Make the Diamond. TREBONIUS.
EASY AMPUTATED QUOTATION.
Two lines from Tennyson. Each word is beheaded and curtailed.
-RU- -EART- -R- -OR- -HA- -ORONET-
-N- -IMPL- -AIT- -HA- -ORMA- -LOO-
C. L. D.
EASY CROSS-WORD PUZZLE.
My first is in bee, but not in fly;
My second in moon, but not in sky;
My third is in scare, but not in fright;
My fourth is in top, and also in kite;
My fifth is in broad, but not in wide;
My sixth is in ocean, but not in tide;
My whole is all New England's pride.
H. A. S.
ANAGRAM WORD-SQUARES.
From the letters composing each of the following four sentences make a
word-square: 1. Doctor, do Irish histories err? 2. Let their hotel
gardener grin. 3. Post shall need man's sympathy. 4. Hurrah, Peg has the
gallant pup! The meaning of the words composing the four squares, in the
proper order of succession, are as follows:
I. 1. A band of singers. 2. A wandering troop of barbarians. 3. A plant
with a sweet-smelling root. 4. A simpleton. 5. Is quiet.
II. 1. A spelled number. 2. A lazy person. 3. A dazzling light. 4. A
marsh bird. 5. A river of England.
III. 1. Profundity. 2. To try. 3. A sacred song. 4. A claw. 5. Poems.
IV. 1. A noise that no animal but man can make. 2. The name of a letter
of the Greek alphabet. 3. Part of a shoe. 4. A town of Belgium. 5. Deer.
A. + B.
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN SEPTEMBER NUMBER.
CLASSICAL DOUBLE ACROSTIC.--Virgil--Horace. 1. VoucH. 2. IagO. 3. RoaR.
4. GeorgiA. 5. IoniC. 6. LittlE.
NAMES OF AUTHORS ENIGMATICALLY EXPRESSED.--1. Poe. 2. Defoe. 3.
Hawthorne. 4. Prescott. 5. Hay. 6. Cooper 7. Sparks. 8. Lever. 9. Lover.
10. Boswell.
ENIGMA.--Bridle.
WHAT IS IT.--A switch.
CHARADE.--Nightingale; night, in(n), gale.
CENTRAL SYNCOPATIONS.--1. Mouth, moth. 2. Carve, cave. 3. Maxim, maim.
4. Cabin, Cain. 5. Coronet, cornet.
THREE DIAMONDS.--
T C I
G I G A L I U N A
I. T I B E R II. C L O V E III. I N D I A
G E M I V Y A I M
R E A
PICTORIAL ANAGRAM.--"Procrastination is the thief of time."
INCOMPLETE SENTENCES.--1. Fair, fare. 2. Rite, right, write. 3. Maid,
made. 4. Reads, reeds. 5. Beats, beets. 6. Bawl, ball. 7. Mien, mean. 8.
Fain, feign, fane.
RIDDLE.--River.
POSITIVES AND COMPARATIVES.--1. Flat, flatter. 2. Ham, hammer. 3. Gross,
grocer. 4. Lad, ladder. 5. On, honor. 6. Eye, ire. 7. Poe, pore. 8. Pie,
pyre. 9. Mart, martyr.
DOUBLE WORD-SQUARE.--G O N E
A V E R
L E E R
E N D S
HIDDEN NAMES.--In each sentence, take the first letter of each word. 1.
Alma. 2. Helen. 3. Arthur. 4. Mabel. 5. Harry. 6. Ethel. 7. Ernest. 8.
Edith. 9. Fred. 10. Stella. 11. Edwin. 12. Grace. 13. Frank.
EASY CROSS-WORD ENIGMA.--Dictionary.
REBUS.--"Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?"
DOUBLE ACROSTIC.--Victoria-Disraeli. 1. ViviD. 2. I, I. 3. CorpS. 4.
ToweR. 5. OperA. 6. RarE. 7. IdyL. 8. AlighierI.
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE AUGUST NUMBER were received, before August 20,
from Eva D., "Patrolman Gillooley," John C. Robertson, "Three Sisters,"
"So So," Mary C. Warren, May Bleecker, Daisy Briggs, George P. Dravo,
"Doctor," Louisa F. Riedel, C.A.K., Bessie L. Barnes, Nessie E. Stevens,
Southwick C. Briggs, Mary Louise Hood, Olive Mecklem, Edwin E. Ganégues,
Anna Halliday, Edith McKeever, M.W.C., Lewis G. Davis, Bessie Hard,
Edith Herkimer, Nina Riker, Marnie Riker; Jerome Buck, Jr.; Nellie
Emerson, "Soft Soap," Jessie W. Cox, Fleta M. Holman, "Robbie, Irvie,
and Daisy," Hild Sterling; Edith and Marion W.; Mary H. Bradley, Alice
L. Booth, Willie Gray, Mamie, "Nantucket" Harry; F.M.J., Jr.; Jennie R.
Beach, Maud L. Smith, Alice Lanigan, Walter Stockdale, Rowen S. McClure,
Anita R. Newcomb, Bertie Jackson, M.G.A., Cora Rawson Ryder, "Apelles
and his Papa," "Fritters," George H. Williams, Richard Weld, Winsor
Weld, Georgine C. Schnitzspahn, "Rosalind," H.B. Ayers, "Oriole," Fred
S. Cowperthwait, Benj. W. Mannus, Lizzie Thurber, "The Raven"; Horace
White and Grant Squires; Neils E. Hansen, "Winnie," Chas. H. Stout,
Kitty P. Norton, Laurie T. Sanders; "Box 325, St. Thomas," Annie J.
Buzzard, Harry Bennett, Jennie Kimball, Dycie Warden, Margaret McF.
Lukens, "Ratie and Katie," "S.G., and P.M.," Ann Hulme Wilson, Eddie
Vultee, Dolly, Jessie Van Brunt, Willie R.C. Corson, Lincoln Cromwell,
T.J. De la Hunt, "Stock-broker," Bessie C. Barney, Bessie Taylor, Willie
F. Floyd, and Louise G. Hinsdale.
Grace Rosevelt, Amy Growly, Ellen Smith, "B.Y.G.H. Caroni and Wife," "V.
and A.," and O.C. Turner, answered correctly all the puzzles in the
August number.
Gladys H. Wilkinson, of Manchester, England answered several of the
puzzles in the July number, but his letter did not come in time for
adding his name to the July list. The delay was not his fault, so the
credit due is now given.