and help to an extent that is beyond expression in making them
intelligent and in educating the moral nature, while furnishing
them delightful entertainment."--_Herald and News._
BABYLAND
ENLARGED TO 16 PAGES.
50 CTS. A YEAR.
Sample Copy Free.
Every =MOTHER=, =KINDERGARTNER=, and =PRIMARY TEACHER= should have
BABYLAND.
SOME OF THE FEATURES FOR '97:
=BUZ-BUZ.= A tiny Serial Story. By CHAS. STUART PRATT. The "twelve
adventures of a housefly." Something really new in nursery literature;
as simple as it is novel.
=GUESSING STORIES.= By MARGARET JOHNSON. Small pictures take the place of
words. =Very easy=, =entertaining=, and =educational=.
=A PINT OF PEAS.= Work for Little Fingers. The construction of various
objects, using soaked peas and wood toothpicks. =Endless amusement.=
JINGLES, LITTLE STORIES, PICTURES.
* * * * *
LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN
The only Magazine
edited especially for
CHILDREN from 7 to 11
$1.00 A YEAR. Specimen Free.
THREE SPLENDID SERIALS:
=JOHNNY, JACK, AND JOHN.= By MARGARET COMPTON.
=JO AND BETTY; or, Out in the World.= By SOPHIE SWETT.
=GOING WITH THE BIG BOYS.= By KATE UPSON CLARK.
* * * * *
=BOY HEROES OF THE WAR.= By Mrs. A. R. WATSON. Pathetic, humorous,
thrilling. A dozen stories of young heroes of our Civil War--six of the
South, six of the North.
=THE TALKING BIRDS.= By M. C. CROWLEY. A series of amusing and marvellous
parrot stories--_true_ stories.
Notable Articles,
Short Stories, Poems,
Beautiful Pictures,
Children's Songs.
* * * * *
ALPHA PUBLISHING CO., Boston.
THE CREAM OF
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
* * * * *
MARCHING PLAYS
By GREY BURLESON
This is the one new book which should be in every home where there are
children; it is the one book no mother, primary teacher, or
kindergartner can afford to do without. No other book affords such
varied and lasting pleasures to little children; no other affords such
helps and suggestions to mothers and teachers, in entertaining children,
and in making entertainment educational.
[Illustration: A FRAGMENT FROM THE "OWL" PLAY]
Familiar animals, birds, and insects are the natural motif of these
gay and graceful Marching Plays, which develop the ready
friendliness of children toward the animal creation. The twelve
plays are elaborately illustrated by L. J. Bridgman for the
pleasure of children and the guidance of mothers and teachers. They
are also set to music by Kate L. Brown and F. E. Saville.
Each play has a page of suggestions showing how it can be varied and
adapted in many ways, both for amusement and instruction.
Price, quarto, fine cloth binding, $1.25.
* * * * *
LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN
The New Bound Volume.--Annual for 1896.
The most popular volume issued for boys and girls from seven to twelve.
It contains the _most_ of the _best reading and pictures_ at the _right
price_. _Four Complete Serials. 400 quarto pages._
Price, quarto, extra cloth, $1.50.
* * * * *
BABYLAND
The New Bound Volume.--Annual for 1896.
"Babyland" is designed to meet the needs of the little children, from
baby up to the seven-year-old. Many short stories, poems, jingles.
Price, quarto, extra cloth, $1.00.
* * * * *
BOCKERS, AND HIS CHUM PEGGY
By MARGARET COMPTON
A lively story of two city school-boys.
Price, $1.25.
* * * * *
AN AMERICAN DOG ABROAD
By FRANK POPE HUMPHREY
Dog Tony's experiences are very amusing. The accounts of their own life
and ways given to Tony by his foreign dog friends add much to this
unique tale of travel. 34 full-page illustrations.
Price, 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
* * * * *
GREAT CATS I HAVE MET
By W. THOMSON
A dozen hunting adventures, _every one true_, with the "great
cats"--pumas, lions, tigers, leopards, etc. About seventy very striking
and educating pictures.
Price, 8vo, cloth, $1.25.
* * * * *
LITTLE PETERKIN VANDIKE
The Story of his Famous Poetry Party
By CHAS. STUART PRATT
An amusing story. It includes a series of poems for recitation in
character; describes a series of tableaux which may be given singly or
as a whole. 12 full-page and many smaller pictures by L. J. Bridgman.
Price, 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
* * * * *
Illustrated Catalogue of New Books for Children, Free.
_At booksellers; or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
publishers,_
ALPHA PUBLISHING COMPANY,
212 Boylston Street, BOSTON, MASS.
A Stranger in New Orleans.
Changing one's home from Staten Island to New Orleans in the fall
of the year means a good deal of a change in climate and weather,
not to mention the change in one's surroundings noticeable at any
season. We like our new home much. Canal, the principal street, is
very wide, and there are seven trolley lines upon it. Yesterday we
took one of them and went six miles out to Jackson Barracks, where
the United States troops are.
The barracks face the Mississippi River, and are not casemates or
stone walls, as are barracks in most of the forts around New York.
They are houses, large and roomy. The soldiers seemed to know the
place little better than we did, for they said they had only
recently come here. They belong to the First United States
Artillery, batteries of which are now scattered along the Gulf
coast, some being at Pensacola, and others at St. Augustine. The
Mississippi River is here higher than the city, hence the
foundations for buildings are none of the best. So one of the
peculiarities one notices, in contrast with the tall buildings I
was long familiar with in New York, is the low structures.
Everything seems so flat. Since coming here we have had much
rain--tropical rain, it seems to me to be, for the water simply
tumbles down for hours at a time. The days are warm, but the nights
are not. I hope we shall like New Orleans, as we must live here for
some years, but just now I am seeing new and strange things, and
sometimes I long for a sight of Brooklyn Bridge, the Liberty
Statue, and the White Squadron lying off Tompkinsville.
F. W.
NEW ORLEANS.
* * * * *
The Convent Puzzle.
This puzzle is a translation from the French, and is over two
hundred years old.
In a certain convent were nine cells, of which all but the central
one were occupied by nuns. An abbess resided in the middle room,
and visited the eight cells at regular intervals, to make sure that
the sisters were keeping their vows, and each time found three nuns
in each cell, which made nine in every row. Four nuns went out,
however, but the abbess on her second round still found nine in a
row. The four nuns now came back, each bringing a friend, and the
good abbess still had no misgivings when she found the same number
in each row as before. Four more friends were introduced, and still
the correct number was found in the cells. How was all this
possible? The answer to this puzzle will be published later on.
VINCENT V. M. BEEDE.
* * * * *
A Day on an Island of the Sea.
I will try to tell the Table something about one of the islands of
our coast, namely, St. Helena. It is a large island, and on it is
grown that famous sea-island cotton valuable on account of its long
fibre. St. Helena is now almost wholly peopled by colored folk, not
a few of whom were once slaves. They are not equal to the raising
of island cotton of so long fibre as are the white growers; but in
almost every other respect they do exceedingly well at imitating
the successful methods of their former masters.
They have divided the island into small farms. These the more
prosperous have purchased, and, what is equally important, they are
paying for them. A few years ago they thought they had reached a
wonderful degree of progress because they were able to begin
putting glass into their house windows. Since then they have
adopted other improvements, such as lamps, and even modern ploughs
and other field implements. These negroes chiefly raise vegetables
for the Northern markets, and I doubt not that not a few vegetables
which you have bought early in the season, and paid a high price
for, were grown on this island of the sea.
The negroes of St. Helena have one quaint superstition, which some,
but not all cling to yet. It is that if a child be carried from a
house while asleep, its spirit remains behind beckoning the child
back. The negroes here, as in many other parts of the South, will
not work on Saturdays, and cannot by any inducement be made to do
so. This comes from an old custom of slavery times, when Saturdays
were devoted to clearing up the negro cabins, and then a holiday.
LUCY H. EMORY.
BEAUFORT, S. C.
* * * * *
At Church in Wesley's Chapel.
A few days after our trip up the Thames and our visit to Teddington
and Hampton Court, we--there was nearly the same party--went into
East London to see what may be called "the Cradle of Methodism." It
is City Road Chapel, which both John and Charles Wesley preached
in. It has been several times restored, but is now almost exactly
as it was when the Wesleys lived. We went on a tram-car, which had
a double deck to it, and which went as slowly as do the few
remaining horse-cars in our own land. Our route lay out behind the
Bank of England, into a poor part of the city, but a part that
makes an attempt to brush itself up along the line of broad City
Road.
The chapel is still the centre of Wesleyan activity, and we got to
it in time to hear a part of the morning service--a service which
was, by-the-way, an odd mixture of Church of England forms and
Methodist simplicity. After service we met the pastor, a charming
man of sixty, who, knowing us at once as Americans, showed us every
part of the chapel. I even read a verse from Wesley's Bible while
standing in the pulpit in which he preached. The grave of John
Wesley is a few feet without the rear chancel window of the chapel,
and within thirty or forty feet of the pulpit. It is a common grave
in the sense that it is in the ground and not in a building, and a
fence surrounds it. Charles Wesley is buried at the right of the
path, fifty feet farther back, and Susannah Wesley, the mother of
both men, is interred in Bunhill Fields, which is across the street
from City Road Chapel; and not very far from her, in the very
centre of the "Field," lies John Bunyan, author of _Pilgrim's
Progress_.
We enjoyed our Sunday exceedingly--so well that two of us went back
on Monday to see more of this old "Cradle of Methodism."
ANNA BURTON.
NEW YORK.
* * * * *
Questions and Answers.
John B. Henry: Most emphatically does the Table approve the reading of
daily newspapers by boys and young men. They should carefully select
what newspapers they read, of course. A choice can be made by asking
some man in whom you have confidence what newspaper of your city has the
most character, stands for the best in civic and social life, is the
best edited. When you get the answer, buy the newspaper named, and read
it. Young men--you say you are fifteen--who do not rush through
high-school and college, but who take their time for it, who do five or
six years' studying in eight years, and read good literature and the
newspapers meanwhile, will be farther along at twenty-five, other traits
being equal, than those who do four years' studying in three, and
confine themselves to classics and cloisters. Don't be in a hurry.
Remember the saying, "The heavens are full of days, and all are coming
this way."--"Royalty": We do not know the purpose the Czar of Russia has
in view in visiting the other capitals of Europe, but it is often said
that those whom royalties visit wish they had not them as guests, and
often make grimaces over the cost.--"Sport": "Tom Tiddler's Ground" is
one of those games with an "it" in it, similar to "wood-tag." Tom has a
preserve--that is, a staked-off space. Others in play run on this space
and shout. Tom tries to catch one while on his ground. If successful,
the person caught becomes Tom.
"Does Mrs. Sangster approve of girls reading the daily newspapers?" asks
a Pennsylvania reader. She does, because she thinks girls should make
themselves informed on the topics of the day.--Frank H. King wants
sample copies of amateur newspapers. He lives at 53 Convent Avenue, New
York.--Beverly S. King, 1625 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., wants
original jokes for the _Jester_.--"Science" asks if there is a real man
by the name of "Keeley," or "is the Keeley motor a joke?" Mr. Keeley is
the name of a real person. His full name is John W. Keeley, and he lives
in Philadelphia. His workshop, where the famous "motor" is, is at Eighth
and Master streets in that city. Mr. Keeley has been experimenting since
1872, seeking to invent or perfect a machine that will run itself
practically without cost. He is not a searcher after perpetual motion,
but claims to be working on scientific principles. Opinions differ
whether the Keeley motor is or is not a joke.
"Ambitious" asks how he can obtain a position in a bank or trust
company's counting-room. He is willing to begin at the bottom, of
course. Go to the president or cashier of said institution and formally
apply. Take with you, of course, a letter of introduction if you can do
so. If you cannot, have some references ready. Apply at all the places
you know of, so as to have the largest number of chances at a vacancy.
Apply in person. Letters written to banks in distant places will do you
little good. If you chance to have a relative or friend in a distant
city, and can ask a favor of him, request him to apply for you if
convenient for him to do so. Such positions pay little at first, and
generally are to be had only by good endorsements and patient
waiting.--C. Arnold Kruckman says it is desired to form, in St. Louis,
an Amateur Press Club, to include amateur journalists of not only the
city, but adjacent towns of Missouri and Illinois. He will be at Jones
College, Fifth Street, between Locust and Olive streets, on Saturdays,
and mail may be sent to him there. He hopes to hear from you.--Edgar
Hill, 3612 Columbia Avenue, Cincinnati, wants to receive copies of
amateur papers, and to join a literary Chapter or society desiring
corresponding members.--"Inquirer": The pretty Year Book of the
Kearsarge Round Table Chapter, recently described, may be had for
twenty-nine cents. Address L. G. Price, 547 Union Street, Hudson,
N. Y.--H. Lang: There is no binder for the ROUND TABLE such as you
describe. The publishers sell the board covers at fifty cents. They are
intended to be taken to a bookbinder, with the fifty-two numbers for the
year, who makes a perfect library book.
Henry Jones: The Quarantine Station, New York Harbor, is maintained and
supervised by the State of New York, and not by the United States
Government. The United States leads in number of Sunday-school scholars.
In 1893, the latest report at hand, there were about ten million young
persons in the schools of all denominations. The country coming next
this is, of course, England, which had, in the same year, six millions
in round numbers.--John B. Condon: Silver is not mined wholly from
silver-mines so-called. Indeed, the last report of the Director of the
United States Mint shows that more than one-half of the annual silver
product of this country is mined in copper and lead mines, as a
by-product.
Satchell asks where a complete United States sailor's uniform can be
had. Inquiry at the navy-yard in Brooklyn brings the information that
none will be sold there, and the only way to obtain a uniform made by
the government tailor is to buy it from some sailor at private purchase.
Tailors near the yard say they cannot furnish uniforms. But a leading
New York furnisher tells the Table, upon inquiry, that costumers have
these uniforms, or that any tailor of your city can make them. The cost
in summer-weight goods will be about $16; in winter-weight, $24. The
shirt may be bought ready made; the trousers should be short-waisted,
close-fitting, and lace in the back. The size at the knee for an average
man of, say, five feet nine inches tall, should be seventeen inches; at
bottom twenty-one inches.--_The Advocate_, an amateur paper published by
M. J. Bowen, Station B, Boston, Mass., wants sketches, verses, and fun
to fill its columns.--Fred B. Ely should apply to his member of Congress
for information about entering the Naval Academy. Entrance cannot now be
had till next year at best, and not then unless there be a vacancy from
his district. The examinations are on the common branches only, but are
very rigid on them. The physical test is also severe.
[Illustration: STAMPS]
This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin
collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question
on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address
Editor Stamp Department.
The Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing reports that the
sale of stamps during the past year was as follows:
Postage-stamps 3,025,481,467
Special-delivery stamps 4,666,270
Postage-due stamps 19,348,714
Newspaper stamps 5,505,672
In addition, the bureau made the following stamps for internal-revenue
purposes: 36,044,732 sheets of Tobacco, Liquor, and Playing-card stamps;
214,000 sheets Custom-house stamps, besides a vast quantity of United
States bonds, bank-notes, certificates, etc.
Crime and philately were formerly strangers to each other, but the
growing value of stamps is reflected by the criminal statistics of
to-day. In one number of the _Stamp-Collectors' Fortnightly_, published
in England, I find the following items (I omit details): 1. The trial of
Aubert and Margaret Dubois for the murder of Delahaef, committed to
obtain possession of Delahaef's stamp collection. The man was condemned
to penal servitude for life, the woman to three years' imprisonment. 2.
The trial of two young men in Liverpool for stealing stamps from
dealers. 3. A similar case in Aberdeen. 4. A similar case at
Bournemouth. 5. Two other cases at London.
In addition, a large part of the paper is taken up with the Sydney
_Bulletin_'s article on the "unauthorised and scandalous" trading in
postage-stamps by post-office officials; the sale of 5-peseta stamps at
Gibraltar, which could not be obtained at the post-office, as
practically the whole stock had been sold to one man; and to a review of
the Nova Scotia remainder mystery. The author comes to the conclusion
that the Nova Scotia stamps (cents issue) had best be left alone by all
collectors. Then there is a review of the silly article which appeared
in a New York paper a short time ago, in which the failure of a large
mercantile house was ascribed to the neglect of business by the head of
the house while he pottered over his collection of postage-stamps.
A. C. TARR.--Dealers ask $1.50 for early gold dollars, and $2 to
$2.50 for the later dates; half-dollars, silver, 1828, 75c.; 3c.
silver pieces, 10c. for early dates, 50c. to $1 for late dates; but
coins must be in "Fine" condition. Ordinary circulated U.S. coins
are worth face only.
W. T. HOWELL.--The 50c. blue and black U.S. Revenue are very
common, and can be bought at 2c.
G. G. MORSE.--The prices quoted were for unperforated stamps only.
Those with perforations are, as a rule, of little value. As there
are hundreds of varieties, it is impossible to give a list, but
would advise your purchasing a stamp-catalogue, which prices U.S.
Revenues of all descriptions. No idea as to value can be formed
without examination.
J. D. DUFF.--As the button fad is rapidly dying out, this
Department can not advise regarding them.
W. E. SHREVE, Ridley Park, Pa., wishes to exchange stamps.
B. B. MEGGS.--The 1897 catalogues will probably all be published
during the month of December or early in January. The prices vary
from 10c. to $1.50; but 50c. will be the price of probably the best
one.
AMATEUR.--Addresses can not be given in this column, with the
exception of readers of the ROUND TABLE who wish to exchange
stamps.
PHILATUS.
[Illustration: IVORY SOAP]
At all grocery stores east of the Rocky Mountains two sizes of Ivory
Soap are sold; one that costs five cents a cake, and a larger size. The
larger cake is the more convenient and economical for laundry and
general household use. If your Grocer is out of it, insist on his
getting it for you.
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., CIN'TI.
JOSEPH GILLOTT'S
STEEL PENS
Nos. 303, 404, 170, 604 E.F., 601 E.F.
And other styles to suit all hands.
THE MOST PERFECT OF PENS.
[Illustration]
EARN A GOLD WATCH!
We wish to introduce our =Teas and Baking Powder=. Sell 50 lbs. to earn a
=Waltham Gold Watch and Chain=; 25 lbs. for a =Silver Watch and Chain=; 10
lbs. for a =Gold Ring=; 50 lbs. for a =Decorated Dinner Set=; 75 lbs.
for a =Bicycle=. Write for a Catalog and Order Blank to Dept. I
W. G. BAKER,
Springfield, Mass.
[Illustration]
_X-RAY CAMERA._
Roentgen and Edison out-done. The great up to date Sensation! Penetrates
any object inserted between its lenses, no matter how thick or dense.
You can see through a solid piece of iron or a part of your body, as
through a crystal; of all optical marvels ever discovered this is the
most wonderful. Two sets of compound lenses in handsome telescope case
3-1/2 in. long. Sells for 25c. Sample complete and mailed postpaid with
catalogue of 1000 Bargains for 15c. 2 for 25c. $1.25 Doz. AGENTS WANTED.
DON'T WAIT--DO IT NOW.
Robt. H. Ingersoll & Bro., Dept. No. 62, 65 Cortlandt St., N. Y.
HOME STUDY.
A thorough and practical Business Education in Book-keeping, Short-hand,
etc., given by =MAIL= at student's home. Low rates. Catalogue free. Trial
lesson, 10c. Write to
BRYANT & STRATTON, 85 College Bldg., Buffalo, N. Y.
YOU CAN GET
BABYLAND
Six Months For 10 Cents
by sending two other 6-months' subscribers on the same terms. Write for
the necessary _special subscription blanks_.
Alpha Publishing Co., Boston.
* * * * *
Boys! Girls! earn
$5 to $25 before Christmas.
Particulars free.
Alpha Publishing Co., Boston.
HOOPING
COUGH
CROUP
Can be cured
by using
ROCHE'S HERBAL
EMBROCATION
The celebrated and effectual English cure, without internal medicine. W.
EDWARD & SON, Props., London, Eng. =All Druggists.=
E. FOUGERA & CO., New York.
PLAYS
--SPEAKERS--
For Home and School.
New Catalogues FREE.
DE WITT, Rose St., N.Y.
--DIALOGUES--
PLAYS
Dialogues, Speakers for School, Club and Parlor. Catalogue free.
=T. S. DENISON=, Publisher, Chicago, Ill.
CARDS
FOR 1897. 50 Sample Styles
AND LIST OF 400 PREMIUM ARTICLES
FREE. HAVERFIELD PUB CO., CADIZ, OHIO
TWO HANDSOME NEW BOOKS
* * * * *
NAVAL ACTIONS OF THE WAR OF 1812
By JAMES BARNES. With 21 Full-page Illustrations by CARLTON T. CHAPMAN.
Printed in color or tint. 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, Deckel Edges and Gilt
Top, $4.50.
THE DWARFS' TAILOR
And Other Fairy Tales. Collected by ZOE DANA UNDERHILL. Illustrated.
Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.75.
* * * * *
HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York
[Illustration]
THE MOON-FAY PORTRAIT-GALLERY.
Upon a giant lily-pad the Bull-frog sits at night
To have his portrait painted by a cunning little sprite;
The artist begs him take a pose that gives him greatest ease,
And every now and then he says, "Look pleasant, if you please."
* * * * *
Some years ago there lived in England a certain bishop who was extremely
pompous, and very fond of impressing upon the minds of the poorer people
the evil of doing wrong. As they never seemed to do aught but wrong in
the worthy man's opinion, it sometimes became irksome to these people to
hear him constantly admonishing them to do right. One of the bishop's
habits was to visit the miners a short distance from his city, and his
presence grew familiar to these toilers. During one of his calls he
found a group of them talking together, and after a few preliminary
words on his customary subject of doing right, he asked them what they
were talking of.
"You see," said one of the men, "we found a kettle, and us has been
er-trying who can tell the biggest loi to own the kettle."
The bishop was duly surprised, and read the men a lecture in which he
spoke of how strongly the offence of lying had been impressed upon him
when he was young, and how he had never told a lie in the whole course
of his life. He had hardly finished when one of the men cried out,
"Gi'e him the kettle, Jim! Gi'e him the kettle."
* * * * *
TIT FOR TAT.
A British sailor being a witness in a murder case, was called to the
stand, and was asked by the counsel for the Crown whether he was for the
plaintiff or defendant.