collection of stamps by fire, and will be unable to carry out the
exchange I proposed in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 53.
W. H. PIKE,
20 Edinboro' Street, Boston, Massachusetts.
* * * * *
I would like to exchange postage stamps, both United States and
foreign, with any of the readers of YOUNG PEOPLE.
HERMANN BOEGE,
Care of Millard & Collingwood,
No. 7 Murray Street, New York City.
* * * * *
I have a large quantity of rare stamps and United States postmarks
to exchange. I am very anxious to get good United States postmarks,
but will exchange in any way to accommodate.
SUSIE C. BENEDICT, Little Falls,
Herkimer County, New York.
* * * * *
I am collecting birds' eggs, and would like to exchange with any of
the correspondents of YOUNG PEOPLE. I have eggs of the cat-bird,
bobolink, goldfinch, Savannah bunting, and others. I am anxious to
obtain eggs of the scarlet tanager, cardinal-grosbeak, brown
thrush, fish-hawk, and woodcock. Correspondents, when answering,
will please send a list of eggs they wish to exchange.
JAMES R. BENTON, P. O. Box 338,
Clinton, Oneida Co., New York.
* * * * *
I am making a collection of stamps, and would like to exchange with
the readers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE in Canada, British Columbia,
Newfoundland, or in any part of the United States.
WILLARD CHURCH, Topeka, Kansas.
* * * * *
I am a Brooklyn boy ten years old. I take HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. I
liked the story of "The Moral Pirates" very much indeed, and I like
"Old Times in the Colonies" next.
I would like very much to exchange postage stamps with any boy
reader of YOUNG PEOPLE.
ALFRED W. HASKELL,
33 Troy Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
* * * * *
I would like to exchange postage stamps with any correspondents of
YOUNG PEOPLE. I have now about three hundred and sixty. I am twelve
years old.
W. D. JUDD,
P. O. Box 56, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
* * * * *
I would like to exchange foreign and United States postage stamps
with any collector. I have about six hundred and fifty.
WILLIAM T. BERRIDGE,
P. O. Box 243, Boston, Massachusetts.
* * * * *
I live in the country, and am very fond of trapping, at which I am
very successful.
I have a young dog named Rover, and I think a great deal of him.
He can hunt very well, for he is a hound. He was given to me, and
he ran away twice, but I got him again, and kept him tied several
days. Now he is used to staying with me, and does not try to run
away.
I like the letters in YOUNG PEOPLE very much. I am going to take
it another year, for I do not know how to get along without it.
We had several snow-storms here in October.
I have written to some of the boys who offered to exchange stamps,
and would like to exchange stamps and postmarks with any one. To
whoever will send me four old coins, or fifteen stamps, I will
send in return twenty-eight postmarks.
FRANK A. HARMONY,
P. O. Box 1235, Lockport, New York.
* * * * *
I should like to exchange foreign postage stamps with any reader of
YOUNG PEOPLE. Or I will give twenty-five foreign stamps, or ten
foreign stamps and a piece of satin spar from Iceland, in exchange
for two Indian arrow-heads or five birds' eggs.
W. B. WYMAN,
108 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
* * * * *
I would like to exchange postage stamps for minerals. I also have
about twenty varieties of eggs which I would like to exchange in
the same way.
LEWIS B. HILLIARD,
P. O. Box 208, Clinton, Connecticut.
* * * * *
I like YOUNG PEOPLE very much, and enjoy reading the stories and
letters. Sometimes I take it to school, and my teacher reads it to
the scholars.
I will be happy to exchange mosses, ferns, or shells of California
and the Pacific coast with any correspondent for those of the
East.
EDITH DRENNER,
Santa Cruz, California.
* * * * *
I have a fine collection of sea-shells, and petrifactions of fish
scales and other things, all gathered on the Pacific coast at Port
Macon, Alaska, which I will exchange for foreign postage stamps.
W. H. EMMERT, New Oxford,
Adams County, Pennsylvania.
* * * * *
I live in the oil regions of West Virginia, and I have a lot of oil
sand that came from eight hundred and seventy-five feet below the
surface of the earth. It was taken from an oil-well. I will
exchange one ounce of this sand for five foreign postage stamps, or
I will give some of it in exchange for minerals, ocean curiosities,
coins, or Indian relics.
WILLIE B. PRICKITT,
Volcano, Wood County, West Virginia.
* * * * *
I would like to exchange minerals with any reader of YOUNG PEOPLE.
"COMMERCIAL,"
P. O. Box 625, Penn Yan, Yates Co., New York.
* * * * *
I am a little boy seven years old. I have a small black pony with
four white feet and a white nose, and two yellow Cochin China
chickens, for my pets. I have some postage stamps that I would like
very much to exchange.
G. C. WIGGINS,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
* * * * *
I have some leaves which I would like to exchange for leaves from
the South.
ANNIE DRYDEN, care of Mr. John Dryden,
Brooklin, Ontario, Canada.
* * * * *
I am twelve years old. I live near the Wissahickon.
I have a few English birds' eggs, and would like to exchange with
some correspondent of YOUNG PEOPLE for Western or foreign eggs.
CHARLES HOPPER, West Walnut Lane,
Germantown, Pennsylvania.
* * * * *
I should like to exchange minerals with the readers of YOUNG
PEOPLE. My brother and I have a cabinet. It is not large, but we
hope to increase it. We have only about thirty specimens, but some
are rare, such as lava from Mount Vesuvius. We have also some
pressed flowers. We are making a scrap-book of natural history
pictures. I am thirteen years old.
HARRY F. JONES,
St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
* * * * *
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.
I have two little eight-year-old sisters, named Lucy and Eleanor,
but we call them Dove and Bly. And I have a little brother of six
years. When YOUNG PEOPLE comes, it is given first to the one who
has behaved the best during the past week.
Can you tell me how the Black Prince died? I have looked in
several histories, but none of them state the manner of his death.
C. C. B. H.
There was nothing remarkable about the death of the Black Prince. He
died in England in 1376, after a long and lingering illness, which is
said to have been the result of exposure and overexertion during the
campaign against the French. After the battle of Navarete in 1367, in
which the Black Prince won a victory which restored Pedro the Cruel to
the throne of Spain, he returned to his home in Bordeaux sick of an
incurable disease, and four years later he resigned the government of
Gascony to his brother, and returned to England, where he declared
himself on the side of popular reforms, but his health allowed him to
take but little part in public affairs. He was a very popular prince,
and was sincerely mourned by the whole English nation.
* * * * *
ELSIE M. K.--Needles were undoubtedly the invention of prehistoric man,
as they have been discovered among the oldest remains of human life.
Some rude specimens, made of horse's bone, and evidently intended for
sewing skins, were found not long since in a cave in France, together
with other traces of primitive life. Needles have also been discovered
in the oldest Egyptian tombs, and among the remains of the
lake-dwellings of Switzerland. The date of the invention of steel
needles is unknown, but judging from the rich embroidered garments
described in ancient record, it would appear that fine needles, of steel
or some other material, were in use at a very early period.
* * * * *
JOHN R. G.--An etching is an engraving on a hard metal plate, usually on
copper. The plate is first covered with a thin coating of wax and
asphaltum, which is allowed to dry. The etcher then makes his drawing
with a fine point, called an etching needle, cutting all the lines
through the wax coating to the copper. A weak solution of nitric acid is
then poured over the drawing, which eats into the lines where the copper
has been laid bare by the etching needle. The plate is then cleaned, and
the wax coating melted off, when impressions may be taken, as from any
other engraving. If the action of the acid has been imperfect, the plate
may be finished by using what is termed the "dry point," a sharp-pointed
steel instrument capable of making the most delicate lines on the
surface of the plate. Pen-and-ink drawings are sometimes called
etchings, simply because they resemble that peculiar style of engraving.
* * * * *
GEORGIE V. R.--See answer to Mark M. in Post-office Box of YOUNG PEOPLE
No. 53.
* * * * *
CORA E.--We fear you could not exchange living birds, especially in the
winter season, as these delicate household pets are very sensitive to
changes of temperature. If you can propose any safe way of effecting the
exchange, we will gladly publish your request, provided you send us your
full address, which this time you neglected to do.
* * * * *
ANNA and THOMAS.--By great patience and persistency you may succeed in
teaching your pet crow to speak a few words, but the experiment is not
often successful with the common American bird. The English raven is
more easily taught to imitate the human voice.
* * * * *
BOB WHITE.--Gray's _Lessons in Botany_ is much used in elementary
classes.--The educational works on art by J. D. Harding, the English
artist, are excellent drawing-books, and will also give you some idea of
handling colors. There are several volumes in this series, but each can
be bought separately.
* * * * *
A CONSTANT READER.--The recipe you require involves the handling of so
many dangerous and explosive chemicals that we are unwilling to place it
before our young readers.
* * * * *
BESSIE H. S.--Your first letter arrived too late for acknowledgment
among others of its class, but your name was in the list of favors in
YOUNG PEOPLE No. 26.
* * * * *
"MAB."--It is immaterial what kind of paper you use when preparing copy
for printing, but it should be written only on one side.
* * * * *
FLORA D.--Transparent tracing-paper may be made by saturating any kind
of paper with boiled oil, or oil and varnish mixed, or with a solution
of colorless dammar resin in benzole. It may also be made so as to
receive washes of India ink by varnishing ordinary writing-paper with
Canada balsam dissolved in oil of turpentine. The sheets should be hung
on a line to dry, and if not sufficiently transparent, a second coat of
varnish may be applied.
* * * * *
MATTIE P., GRACIE S., LLOYD E., and OTHERS.--The puzzles with which you
favor us are excellent, but unfortunately the answers are the same as
those of puzzles which have already appeared in YOUNG PEOPLE, and it
will therefore be impossible to print them.
* * * * *
J. T. MORGAN and ARTHUR L. V.--We regret that we can not print your
communications. If you will read the introductory note to the
Post-office Box of YOUNG PEOPLE No. 45, you will see that it is contrary
to our rules to print letters offering stamps or other things for sale.
* * * * *
Favors are acknowledged from Lizzie Frenzel, G. Fuller, G. W., L.
Waechter, Lizzie Burt, Lula M. Jay, William P. Anderson, Clara M.
Greene, Henry Van Dusen, Allie Hughes, Fred Huntoon, C. H. T.
* * * * *
Correct answers to puzzles are received from Isabel L. Jacob, W. H.
Wolford, "Lamar, Mississippi," G. Volckhausen, G. Dudley Kyte.
* * * * *
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
RHOMBOID.
Across.--An admirer. Pertaining to the government of the seas.
Pleasanter. A mechanical help. What every street has.
Down.--A letter from Gil Blas. A preposition. A wagon. Calamity. Breeds.
A man's name. A color. A prefix. Another letter from Gil Blas.
BOLUS.
* * * * *
No. 2.
DIAMONDS.
1. In HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. A useful plant. A river in France. An
insect. In HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
ARISTOTLE.
2. In table. A fluid. A bird. Cunning. In table.
CASS (10 years).
* * * * *
No. 3.
DOUBLE ACROSTIC.
A flowering shrub. A voracious bird. A color. Unvaried. Something often
heard in a fortress. Harmony. Ferocious. Primals and finals spell the
names of two spring flowers.
LUCY.
* * * * *
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN NO. 52.
No. 1.
B A B Y S L A T
A R E A L I F E
B E A R A F A R
Y A R D T E R M
No. 2.
C A U L I F L O W E R
H E D I T O R I A L M
O D F A L S I T Y N U
R E P C O S E Y B E L
S C R M T I N A I C T
E R O U D L B C V R I
R E C R I M I N A T I O N
A M T A N F N O O L O
D E O L K E G R U O M
I N R L A R C H S G I
S T J A C O B I N Y A
H O B S C U R E L Y L
I M P E R S O N A T E
No. 3.
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
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Subscriptions may begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it
will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the
Number issued after the receipt of the order.
Remittances should be made by POST-OFFICE MONEY-ORDER OR DRAFT, to avoid
risk of loss.
Volume I., containing the first 52 Numbers, handsomely bound in
illuminated cloth, $3.00, postage prepaid: Cover for Volume I., 35
cents; postage, 13 cents additional.
HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, N. Y.
A PLEASANT EVENING.
BY FRANK BELLEW.
I have been spending a portion of this autumn at the house of some old
friends in the country. They are not exactly farmers, but they own a
farm, so there were lots of cream and new milk, and fresh eggs and
poultry, and red apples and nuts, and such country luxuries. I was
paying them a long-promised visit with my wife, my two daughters, and my
son. My friend's family consisted of himself, his wife, their son aged
twenty, their daughter and her two children. Well, you see this made a
pretty good party to start with. There were five of us and six of
them--five and six are eleven.
Well, one evening we were seated round the table trying to amuse
ourselves with dominoes, wiggles, and such things, when in came the
young minister--a nice, amiable gentleman, whose cravat was generally
twisted round to the back of his neck, but who reminded you somehow of a
host of gentle characters in Dickens and Thackeray: Traddles, Dobbin,
Toots, Mr. Dick, the Pale Young Gentleman (in _Great Expectations_), Tom
Pinch, and several others. Not that he was precisely like either of
them, but there was an air about him which reminded you of some pleasant
book. Well, he came in and chatted a little while, when another ring was
heard at the door, and a party of neighbors announced themselves, all
fresh and frosty, viz., two Misses Larkin, two boy cousins, and two
young gentlemen visitors from the city. Now, indeed, we _had_ a
party--eighteen in all.
First we talked, then we asked some riddles, then we played games--the
Bachelor's Kitchen and such like. Then there was a pause; perceiving
which, one of the young men from the city whispered to one of the boy
cousins, he whispered to the daughter, and they all slipped out of the
room. Conversation was resumed. Presently the door was thrown open, and
in hopped the queerest-looking bird that any one ever saw out of a
nightmare.
"This," said the young man from the city, "is the celebrated adjutant
bird of the East Indies. This bird is to be seen familiarly walking
about the streets of Calcutta, where he is, in fact, the Street-cleaning
Bureau, Board of Health, and Captain Williams all combined. There are no
ash barrels there, no garbage carts, no nothing; he gobbles up
everything himself. He will swallow a leg of mutton at one gulp, and as
for tomato cans, they are like strawberries to him. He can impale a man
on his strong bill, and has done it before now--"
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
So went on the young man from the city, acting as showman, all the
company roaring with laughter meantime, for the bird was irresistibly
ludicrous, as you may partly judge by his portrait above (Fig. 3).
When they retired I went too, and saw how the bird was built, and this
was the way they did it. First of all they procured a sheet of stiff
brown paper, which they rolled into a cornucopia; then with a paper
spill dipped in ink they marked on it a saw-like line to represent the
mouth. Then they made a hole in the mouth, and passed through it a piece
of picture cord; this was supposed to represent a worm or a snake (see
Fig. 1). Then they fastened this cornucopia on the face of the boy
cousin, as represented in Fig. 2. Then they procured a pair of yellow
slippers, on which they pinned some slips of brown paper; these they put
on the feet of the boy. Then they twisted a sheet around him, so as to
hump his back and fill him out generally, and over this they fitted a
rough gray shawl, which completed the bird, all except the eyes, which
were made out of two round pieces of paper, with inked eyeballs, and
fastened into their proper places with pins.
[Illustration]
We had lots of fun that night. I can not pretend to tell you all we did;
but one or two things I must describe, because they are worth doing
again. A sheet was procured from the daughter, and spread on the floor.
Each of the two boy cousins was blindfolded, and had an apron tied
around his neck like a bib; then each was provided with a long wooden
spoon and a bowl of bran, and they were placed opposite each other, as
represented in our picture, and told to feed each other with the bran,
encouraged by the promise that if they each succeeded in getting a
mouthful of the bran, they should receive a very large piece of cake by
way of reward. The struggles of these two boys were funny to the last
degree. We all laughed and laughed till our sides ached again.
[Illustration]
Another performance of the evening, though less funny, was quite
entertaining. One of the gentlemen from the city arranged a kind of
proscenium in one of the doorways, as represented in our engraving,
where he performed many simple tricks of sleight of hand and illusion.
Among others he took two walking canes, and played on them as you would
on a fiddle, producing all the notes of the musical instrument. He took
a common lead-pencil, and whistled on it most perfectly; and a bell
without a clapper, and rang it distinctly. This astonished the audience
very much, but the secret was very simple: he had a confederate in the
other young man from the city, who, concealed behind the scenes, with a
real fiddle, a real whistle, and a perfect bell produced the sounds,
whilst his friend went through the motions in presence of the audience.
The illusion was perfect, and the trick is well worth trying at any
little social gathering when you want amusement.