[to be continued.]

[EMBROIDERY FOR GIRLS.]

BY SUSAN HAYES WARD.

ne of the most exquisite pieces of embroidery I ever saw was brought from the Royal School of Art Needle-Work at South Kensington by a gentleman who imports the most beautiful art embroideries for sale in this country. This was a sofa pillow of soft yellow India silk, with the design outlined, and the rest of the surface darned back and forth in a rich old-gold-color. A few lines of pale pink veined the petals, and there was a narrow border of dull greenish-blue that inclosed the whole. The only stitch used was simply an irregular darning stitch. The work was so charming and so easy that any young girl would enjoy doing it. It would be a very pretty way of embroidering work-bags or squares for the backs of wall-brackets. The soft India silks are hard to find, but you may find a dull yellow Surah silk, and there is a soft cream-colored pongee that would do. Something near the color of a light yellow nasturtium would be best. Get a piece eight inches square, trace on it the design of Fig. 17, and back the silk with a piece of soft, very thin unbleached muslin, and overcast the edges. Fig. 17 is just the size of a tile such as is usually set in square wall-brackets. Buy a skein or two of old gold filoselle of a somewhat darker shade than your silk, or a good bronze-color that harmonizes well with it. First run the outline of your flowers in the dark yellow or bronze, and the shading lines, taking up but few threads of the silk with your needle, so that the outline will show strong and plain on the surface. Outline the leaves and stems in a dull, not too dark, green. Take two or three threads from a strand of filoselle in your needle at once, and do not take too long a needleful. Then darn the background back and forth, making the threads run parallel to each other, but with constant variation as to the length of stitch and the closeness of the lines—in this way:

The background could be darned in dull blue if you prefer, or with slightly varying shades of yellow. The irregularity in stitch, in closeness of the lines, and in shade, all help to give the work a very antique look. A narrow border can be darned all around of another color that will not contrast too sharply with the flowers or the background.

Fig. 17.

Villa Piscione, Posilippo, Naples, Italy.

In the month of January a party of Americans had the honor of a special excavation at Pompeii. There were nine in the party. We had a room given us to be excavated. They found some table legs of bronze ornamented with ivory rings, and a bronze vase which had stood on the same table; also some nails and pieces of terra-cotta vases. After the workmen had finished excavating, some of us went to digging. My sister found two nails, auntie and another lady found some nails too, and I found one handle of the bronze vase, which had been broken off. We also went to where the workmen were making the regular excavations, and saw a little bit of a fountain, which the manager said was the finest which had been found yet. It was of mosaic. Then we went to the Stabian Baths, and had our luncheon, which was spread on an old marble fountain—a dry one, of course. The Stabian Baths was the largest bathing establishment in Pompeii. It was called Thermæ.

We went upon an embankment, and took a bird's-eye view of Pompeii. It is a great mass of houses without roofs, and is a very odd sight. I have seen it several times, and it does not look very strange to me now.

I do not remember my first visit there, but I am told that I danced on one of the mosaic floors in the house of Sallust, and the guide said that children always wanted to dance in Pompeii. I would like to write more about this old buried city, but I must go to school.

I am nine years old, and my sister is eight. We are delighted with Young People, especially with the story of "Toby Tyler," and are impatient for the mail that brings it.

Odell H. D.

West Union, Ohio.

There is a very interesting Indian mound near this place, on the banks of Brush Creek. It is called the Serpent Mound, because it is in the form of a serpent. It is nearly one thousand feet in length, extending in graceful curves, and ending in a triple coil at the tail. Its neck is stretched out and slightly curved, and its mouth is opened wide, as if in the act of swallowing an oval figure, like a huge egg. Some think it was built to represent the Oriental idea of the serpent and the egg. It is said to have been the work of a race of men called the Mound-Builders, very many years ago. There are other mounds here, but none so interesting as this one.

Ettie C. I.

THE GREAT SERPENT MOUND.

The mound described by our young correspondent is in Adams County, Ohio, and is one of a number called "animal mounds," because they represent the forms of animals, or birds, or men, instead of the usual type of the pyramid or circle. The Serpent Mound is described in Short's work on The North Americans of Antiquity, published by Harper & Brothers, from which we take the accompanying illustration. It lies "with its head conforming to the crest of hill, and its body winding back for seven hundred feet in graceful undulations." Another remarkable work by the ancient race of men is a large elephant mound, found a few miles below the mouth of the Wisconsin River. It is so perfect in its proportions that its builders must have been well acquainted with all the physical characteristics of the elephant; so that the mound-builders may have been of Asiatic origin, or lived when the great mastodon of North America roamed over the continent. Another mound, in Licking County, Ohio, represents an alligator. It is about two hundred feet in length, twenty feet broad, and each of the paws is twenty feet long.

Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.

I live near where the celebrated David Crockett once lived. His old house is still standing on our place. The logs are full of auger-holes, where I suppose he had wooden pins to support shelves, or to hang clothes and household things on. When my grandpa was a little boy he knew David Crockett very well.

Ella B.

David Crockett was a famous hunter, who was born in Tennessee in 1786. He was a political friend of General Jackson, and was several times elected to Congress. He was a great humorist, and very eccentric in his habits. When the people of Texas revolted against the government of Mexico, he enlisted in the Texan army, and lost his life in the terrible massacre at Fort Alamo, in 1836, when the Mexicans, in violation of the rules of war, slaughtered all their prisoners.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I am a little boy five years old. I take Harper's Young People, and mamma and auntie read me all the pretty stories and all the little letters in the Post-office Box.

I have a little brother three years old. We each have a bank in which we keep our pennies. George's bank is a great big cross-looking bull-dog. He has a flat place on his nose. If we put a penny on it, and then pull his tail, he will open his mouth and swallow the penny. My bank is a soldier who is standing in front of the trunk of a tree. He has a gun in his hand, with which he points at a hole in the tree. When I put a penny on the end of the gun, and touch the soldier's foot, he fires off the gun, and the penny goes into the hole. Papa gives us each a penny every day we are good; but every day we are naughty we have to give him one. I have fifty-one pennies in my bank. George has not quite so many, but I am the oldest, and I ought to be the best boy.

I would like to write about some of our playthings, but I am afraid my letter would be too long.

John I. McK.

New York City.

I would like to tell Young People what kind friends I have. I am a poor little girl, and my mamma has to go out to work. I go to the public school, but I am not very strong, and the noise and close air sometimes make me sick. Once I had to stay from school a long time; and there was a little girl who had a private teacher come every day, and she let me go and study with her. She used to pay my car fare out of her own spending money. It cost her sixty cents a week. And she made me a present of all my school-books, and a great many other handsome books. I do not think there are many little girls so kind.

There is another little girl who made me a Christmas present of Young People, and I will have it all the year. She, too, is very kind to me. I like Young People very much. I think "Mildred's Bargain," "Phil's 'Fairies," and especially poor "Toby Tyler," are splendid stories.

May H.

South Kirtland, Ohio.

I thought I would tell Young People about my pet sheep. My grandpa gave me a sheep and a lamb when I was a baby, and now I have seven. They are all very tame, and almost run over me when I feed them. I am seven years old.

I read in the Third Reader, and I study arithmetic and geography, but I have never been to school.

Frank T. C.

Berea, Ohio.

I live on a beautiful farm. My papa raises lots of onions, and sends them to Cincinnati by car-loads. There are a great many stone quarries in this place, where they make grindstones. They are sent all over the world from here. They also get big blocks of stone from the quarries for building railroad bridges, houses, and sidewalks.

Last summer I went up the lakes with papa and mamma as far as Marquette. We saw lots of Indians sailing down the rivers in their canoes, and a great many other pretty and interesting sights.

Mamie W.

St. Louis, Missouri.

When we lived in the country my sister had a pet deer. Its name was Nellie. It was a very pretty creature. When we were in the garden, and were hungry, we used to send Nellie to get us some bread, and the darling little thing would go and get a loaf of bread from grandma and bring it out to us. One day Nellie was running in the woods, and some one shot her. My sister cried very much, and we buried poor Nellie, and put flowers on her grave.

L. F.

Red Oak, Iowa.

I have been in bed for two months with rheumatism, and I look forward to the coming of Young People with very great pleasure.

I think the picture of "Harry and Dan" is very pretty indeed. I have not been able to walk any distance for more than a year, and I think it would be real nice to have such a pretty goat and sleigh.

I am very glad Young People disapproves of disturbing birds' nests. I always thought it was very cruel.

Gracie M.

Batavia, Iowa.

We think the Post-office Box, and everything in Young People, are interesting. My brother Ernest likes "Toby Tyler" the best.

My little sister Mabel, two years old, can sing every tune she hears once. She likes "Kissing through the Chair," in Young People No. 57. She calls it "Peep Ho." She gets in the rocking-chair every day, and rocks, and sings the first verse over and over for a long time.

Minnie H.

Warthen, Georgia.

I am thirteen years old. I take Young People, and like it very much. I go to school nine miles from this place, and come home every Friday evening. I call for my paper on my way, and I read it to my little brother and sister. They are much pleased and interested with the stories and pictures.

I have two pet lambs, named Annie Bell and Ellinore, that follow me everywhere I go. They are about a year old.

I hope Young People will be in the hands of all the boys and girls.

Bessie W.

I have no more postmarks, but I will exchange stamps, for curiosities or foreign stamps.

George N. Prentiss, Watertown, Wis.

All my silver ore is exchanged, but I will exchange a few foreign stamps, a piece of coral, some Florida shells, and some other curiosities, for a genuine Indian bow and arrow in good order for shooting.

Fred Pfans, Jun.,
11 Beaver Street, Newark, N. J.

I am a little girl thirteen years old. I take Young People, and like it very much. I like Bessie Maynard's "Sea-Breezes."

I would like to exchange sea-shells and other small curiosities for old coins or odd bits of money.

Virgie McLain, care of U. S. Consul,
Nassau, N. P., Bahamas.

M. D. Austin, Buffalo, N. Y., wishes to inform correspondents that his stock of Sandwich Island and Canadian stamps is exhausted, and he accordingly withdraws his name from our exchange List.

The following exchanges are desired by correspondents:

Postmarks and beetles, for butterflies and moths.

George A. Hough,
95 Elm Street, New Bedford, Mass.

Foreign stamps, for a 5-cent, 30-cent, or 90-cent United States stamp, issue of 1851 to 1860; a 90-cent, issue of 1861, envelope or newspaper stamps, except 1-cent, 2-cent, and 3-cent, or any Department stamps except Interior and Treasury.

R. L. Brackett, P. O. Box 4494, New York City.

Postage stamps, crests, and monograms.

F. P. Caroll,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Foreign and United States postage stamps, for minerals and coins.

Daniel T. Jay,
P. O. Box 611, Emporia, Kan.

Canadian, East Indian, English, and old issues of United States stamps, for stamps from Russia, Persia, China, and other foreign countries.

Subscriber to "Young People,"
31 Thorp Block, Indianapolis, Ind.

Pressed autumn leaves, postmarks, and stamps, for minerals, Florida moss, or any curiosity.

Belle de Lamater,
125 Fourth Street, Jackson, Mich.

Danish, German, Italian, East Indian, or British stamps, for other foreign stamps, or for Indian curiosities.

L. B. Brickenstein,
Lititz, Lancaster County, Penn.

United States postage and Department stamps, for other stamps.

Chancy Whitney,
P. O. Box 1552, Muskegon, Ottawa County, Mich.

English and German stamps, for stamps of any other foreign country.

Anna J. Davison,
St. Edward, Boone County, Neb.

Quartz, Indian arrow-heads, rocks from the Mammoth Cave, some shells from the Dead Sea, and sea-oates, for amethysts or other curiosities.

Willis G. White, Yorkville, S. C.

Six different War Department stamps, for a stamp from India, China, Egypt, or any South American country.

Clem Flagler,
Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill.

Twenty-five postmarks, for five foreign stamps.

George H. Ashley,
20 North Washington Street, Rochester, N. Y.

Fourteen Ohio postmarks, for two rare foreign stamps.

Fred W. Adams,
Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio.

Virginia and Lake Superior iron ores, for insects, minerals, or Indian arrow-heads. Stones and soil from Ohio, for sea-shells.

Alex. C. and Lulu A. Bates,
1115 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

English and Cuban stamps, for other foreign stamps.

J. D. J. B.,
129 Broadway, South Boston, Mass.

United States stamps, for foreign stamps.

Jessie R. Bentley,
Marshall, Calhoun County, Mich.

Foreign stamps, specimens of wood, foreign and United States postmarks, slate showing formation of coal, or soil of Illinois, for rare foreign or United States Department stamps, or ocean curiosities.

Edward T. Rea,
P. O. Box 531, Urbana, Champaign County, Ill.

Petrified coral, zinc ore, or a piece of volcanic rock from Italy, for a specimen of lead or copper ore.

Allen R. Benson,
51 Seventh Street, Hoboken, Hudson Co., N. J.

Indian arrow-heads and rattlesnake rattles, for ocean curiosities.

J. P. Crozier,
Carlyle, Allen County, Kansas.

Twenty foreign postage stamps (no duplicates), for twenty others.

George L. Rusby,
Franklin, Essex County, N. J.

Stamps, for minerals.

W. Miller,
1743 North Seventh Street, Philadelphia, Penn.

Rare postage stamps.

Clarence G. White,
1581 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

A piece of Quincy granite, for ten stamps of any foreign country except England, France, and Germany.

W., P. O. Box 208, Milton, Mass.

Fifty postmarks or twenty-five stamps, for ocean shells.

Louis C. Grime,
Mohrsville, Berks County, Penn.

Postage stamps, for Indian relics.

Bennie Stockwell,
850 National Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis.

Rare postage stamps.

Edward A. De Lima,
36 East Fifty-seventh Street, New York City.

Henry M. R.—There is some uncertainty in regard to the origin of the name of the city of Toronto. Chambers's Cyclopædia says that it is of Indian origin, and that the meaning of it seems to be lost. On the other hand, the National Cyclopædia says that the district, as it was gradually cleared by the British, was called Toronto, after the fort Tareno; but the name given by Governor Simcoe, in 1774, to the town, which he laid out on a regular plan, was York. This name it retained until 1834, when Sir John Colborne raised it to the rank of a city, and changed the name to that of the district, Toronto.

It is also surmised that the name of the fort may have been derived from that of the ancient city of Tarentum, in Calabria, also called Tarentus, and in modern times Tarento. The war which the inhabitants of Tarentum maintained against the Romans, with the assistance of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, and which has been called the Tarentine war, is greatly celebrated in history. This may account for the name being given to the fort.

"Inquisitive."—The kinds of matches now in common use are of comparatively recent origin. The earlier kinds consisted of thin pine splinters, about six inches long, tipped with sulphur. They were lighted by applying the end to tinder ignited by the old-fashioned flint and steel. After the discovery of phosphorus, in 1677, a readier means of lighting them was invented. The interior of a small bottle or vial was coated with oxide of phosphorus, and kept tightly corked, except when a light was wanted, when a match tipped with sulphur was dipped in, and immediately took fire. Other methods, equally clumsy, were also employed to obtain a light.

The first friction matches, called lucifers, were invented in 1829. They were tipped with an inflammable paste, and ignited by being drawn between folds of sand-paper. They were made in the shape of a comb (a form still in use), and broken off when required. When these matches were introduced into this country, they were called locofoco, perhaps from the Italian word fuoco, meaning fire. It was not until 1834 that phosphorus was employed in the composition of the substance with which matches are tipped.

The number of matches consumed every year is enormous. Ninety-five per cent. of all the phosphorus made is employed in their manufacture. More than three hundred tons of this substance are fabricated every year in Europe, and as one pound of phosphorus will make one million of matches, an estimate of the number manufactured may easily be made by those of our little readers who have a fondness for calculation.

Many people are still living who can remember when every night, winter and summer, the coals were carefully raked together and covered up, so that they would keep alive until morning. If by chance they died out, fire could only be obtained by means of flint, steel, and tinder, unless live coals could be borrowed from a near neighbor.

To Chrisie Burdick B.—Last Tuesday morning the mail brought to me a little gift to aid Toby Tyler in reaching his uncle. God bless the generous little heart that prompted the deed, and may some kind hand ever smooth the rough places in her journey through life!

I would like to have her full name and address. Will she kindly send it to me through Young People?

With many thanks, in the name of Toby Tyler, I remain, sincerely,

James Otis.

Osborne Y.—The distinguished person who refused to stand on the Bible was Edward the Sixth of England. The following account of his reverence for the sacred volume is from a work entitled England in the Sixteenth Century: "An interesting anecdote of Edward's childhood shows how deeply he was imbued with reverence for the Bible. One day, when very young, he wished while at play to get something that was above his reach. A companion, observing this, brought a large book for him to stand upon; but Edward, perceiving that it was the Bible, rebuked his associate for want of respect to the Scriptures, and lifting the book reverently from the ground, he kissed it, and replaced it on the shelf."

Florence E. M.—The Column of Luxor, which stands in the Place de la Concorde, in Paris, is an obelisk similar in appearance to the one now erected in the New York Central Park. It is a syenite monolith, and is covered with hieroglyphics recording the glories of the great King Sesostris, who reigned about 1500 b.c. This obelisk was a present from Mehemet Ali to Louis Philippe. It arrived in Paris in 1833, but was not erected in its present position until two years later.

Two Little Indians.—The word "pariah" signifies mountaineer. It is applied to the lowest and most degraded classes in India, these formerly having been wandering people from the hill tribes. But now all outcasts and vagabonds are known as pariahs, and have become a caste. Their presence is supposed to be contaminating, and they are not allowed to approach within many feet of any member of the higher classes. Missionaries have made great efforts to better the condition and character of these wretched people.

M. E. C.—A very good miniature water-wheel was described in a story entitled "Setting the Brook to Work," which appeared on page 430 of Young People, Vol. I.

Subscriber, San Francisco.—See answer to Willie F. W. in the Post-office Box of No. 73.

Edward A. S.—Messrs. Harper & Brothers can not attend to the binding of your volume of Young People.

Correct answers to puzzles have been received from Jessie B. Brown, Charles Beyers, Hugh Burns, "Bolus," C. F. Bishop, Sadie Beebe, Bessie Bolton, Arthur C., John L. Collins, Nellie Cromwell, Maud Chambers, De F. W. Chase, C. H. Cole, A. E. Cunningham, R. O. C., Maggie Dutro, "Dick Deadeye," G. M. Fisher, L. M. Fobes, W. E. Gulick, Jun., Ashbel G., Alice C. H., George Hewson, Curtis Hillyer, Rita Harris, Alice H., Edward L. H., "Indian," L. A. Jones, Isobel Jacob, Willie M. K., Jemima Latimer, Frank Lomas, Thomas Lunham, "L. U. Stral," Nelson C. Metcalf, John McClintock, C. H. Nichols, W. Olfenbüttel, Frances Patterson, Henry Rochester, Emma Schaffer, Bennie Stockwell, Gilbert S., "Starry Flag," Gilbert P. Salters, W. S. and E. I. Sheppard, Alice M. Southworth, James W. Thompson, "The Lawrence Girls," "The Dawley Boys," W. I. Trotter, Karl Wells, "Wild Oats," Tillie Winter, Robert S. Winn.

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

ZIGZAGS.

1***
*2**
**3*
***4
**5*
*6**
7***
*8**
**9*
***10

Cross Words.—1. Two and a quarter inches. 2. A cozy home. 3. To gape. 4. Fondness. 5. Solitary. 6. A chill. 7. A narrow road. 8. To satisfy. 9. A multitude. 10. To domineer.

Zigzags.—A division of the United States.

Damon and Pythias.