Franklin Square Song Collection.

GOOD MUSIC arouses a spirit of good-will, creates a harmonious atmosphere, and where harmony and good-will prevail, the disobedient, turbulent unruly spirit finds no resting-place. Herbert Spencer puts his final test of any plan of culture in the form of a question, "Does it create a pleasurable excitement in the pupils?" Judged by this criterion, Music deserves the first rank, for no work done in the school room is so surely creative of pleasure as singing. Do we not all agree, then, that Vocal Music has power to benefit every side of the child nature? And in these days, when we seek to make our schools the arenas where children may grow into symmetrical, substantial, noble characters, can we afford to neglect so powerful an aid as Music? Let us as rather encourage it in every way possible.

Nowhere can you find for Home or School a better Selection of Songs and Hymns than in the Franklin Square Song Collection.

Sold Everywhere. Price, 50 cents; Cloth, $1.00. Full contents of the Several Numbers, with Specimen Pages of favorite Songs and Hymns, sent by Harper & Brothers, New York, to any address.

This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.

We have now finally to turn to the eastward of New York, and take up the route from New York to Boston. The trip from New York to Stamford (see map in No. 811) has already been given in the Round Table, and for an ordinary rider who is taking the trip easily this might serve as the first day's trip, being a distance of about twenty-eight miles. On leaving Stamford the next morning, proceed by the Post Road and turnpike direct to Darien. The road itself from Stamford to New Haven is along the shore, which, at the same time that it necessitates the crossing of several bridges during a day, also offers many beautiful views of the Sound, and, as a usual thing, is one of the coolest rides in summer. The road-bed, as a rule, is in reasonably good condition; but, where available between villages, the side path may be taken to advantage, except in one or two instances, which are especially mentioned. From Darien to South Norwalk, a distance of four miles, is one of these, where the rider should avoid side paths. Crossing the railroad at Darien, the road runs direct to South Norwalk. At South Norwalk again cross the railroad on the east of the station, and the road turning northward, to avoid an inlet, should be followed along the shore to Saugatuck Church, which is close by the railroad. Here the rider should take Riverside Avenue, and, following the horse-car tracks, proceed to Westport to the drawbridge, which he should cross, and thence, proceeding straight ahead, run into Southport, passing by Green's Farm, and always following the main road as laid down on the map.

By referring to this map, moreover, the rider will see that it is possible to turn to the left about one and a half miles out of Westport after crossing the drawbridge, and run up a more direct road to Southport. The road, however, is not as good, and the rider will do well to follow the bicycle route exactly as marked on the map. At Southport the railroad is again crossed at the station and the direct road for Fairfield taken, which continues without many turnings to Bridgeport. At Bridgeport more than half the journey to New Haven is done, a distance of twenty-two or twenty-three miles, and you can put up for dinner. After finishing dinner, cross the river at Bridgeport near the depot, and take the turnpike to Stratford, thence to Naugatuck to Milford, a distance of nine miles. Running out of Milford turn to the right and keep to the shore road always. About two and a half miles out of Woodmont you pass into the turnpike road direct to West Haven, and from here the run into New Haven is easily found and but a short distance, and here you may put up very comfortably at the New Haven House, and take the opportunity that afternoon, if you arrive in town early enough, or the next morning before you start on the next stage, to go over the grounds and through the buildings of Yale University.

This trip from New York to Boston is a capital one for any one to take during the fall, and we shall therefore follow it out by the following stages: 1. From New York to Stamford; 2. From Stamford to New Haven; 3. From New Haven to New London; 4. From New London to Shannuck; 5. From Shannuck to Providence; 6. From Providence to Boston.

Note.—Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No. 818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in 820. Trenton to Philadelphia in 821. Philadelphia in No. 822. Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City—First Stage in No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland—First Stage in No. 827; Second Stage in No. 828.

This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor.

I am going to have a little chat with you, girls, on the obligations of good breeding, and first I will begin by relating an incident.

A friend of mine was in a Broadway cable-car the other day. You girls who live in New York know just how the big cable-cars swing along, how fast they go, and how many people they can accommodate. Most of you have taken rides in electric cars which to-day are to be found all over our country, scurrying along like mail in some of the rural places, where, once out of sight of the village, and on a level stretch of road, they fairly fly. I could tell you of one line where the cars rush along over a down grade at a furious rate of speed, while the smiling passengers cling to the seats or frantically hold on to their hats and parasols, and once safely out, everybody takes a long breath of relief. But this is diverging. I was going to tell you of my friend's adventure in the New York car, a sober-moving thing in comparison with its country cousin. And my tale has nothing in the world to do with the speed or slowness of the car, anyway.

My friend took his seat, and presently began to be very uncomfortable. For everybody seemed amused at him, glances were levelled in his direction, girls giggled, elderly ladies drew their faces into a pucker, and the atmosphere of the place was as electric as the fluid which sent the car through space. After a short interval the puzzled gentleman discovered that it was not he who was the object of mirth to his comrades on the road, but a poor, shy, blushing, tearful, trembling, frightened girl who was sitting by his side. She, poor child, was dressed in an outre fashion, which did not please the set of people in that conveyance, and, evidently, she had met with an accident, for her clothing was tumbled and torn, her face was bruised and cut, and one hand had been wrenched and seemed to be paining her very much. I can imagine nothing more brutally ill-bred and rudely ignorant and unfeeling than the behavior of those silly girls and boys, and still more silly grown-up people in that car. Can you? They were laughing at a child who had met with an accident on her wheel!

Now, for an opposite picture. One afternoon lately, at the terminus of a great railroad, in a crowded waiting-room, a foreign lady with her attendants attracted some observation, but was neither stared nor laughed at. Yet her costume was really extraordinary. Around her neck she wore a dozen chains of gold, linked together and sparkling with rare gems. The chains hung to her waist, and gleamed like a gorgeous breast-plate. Pendants of diamonds hung from her small brown ears. Her small dark hands were loaded with jewelled rings; her head was enveloped in many folds of white silken gauze. Open-worked silk stockings covered her little feet, and she wore high-heeled slippers with painted toes. Her travelling-gown was a rich shimmering brocade, ill fitting and with a long train. Her maids, one fair and white, the other black as ebony, were loaded with baskets and bundles, and her servitor held in leash two magnificent collies, while a green and yellow parrot chattered from his perch on the man's arm.

All this was a sight to arouse attention and excite curiosity, but this was a well-bred throng of people gathered in the waiting-room, and the lady, probably a princess from some tropic island, was annoyed by no looks, laughter, or remarks.

One of the first rules to be adopted by a thoroughly polite person is this: Never show surprise, except of the genuinely gracious kind, the kind that expresses cordial interest and pleasure. Never laugh at an awkward predicament, at, for example, a fall, or a mistake made by another. Be careful never to pain any one, friend or stranger, by ridicule, or by thoughtlessly plain speaking.