WINGY WING FOO.
BY C. A. D. W.
Poor Wingy Wing Foo is a bright little fellow,
With complexion, indeed, most decidedly yellow,
And long almond eyes that take everything in;
But the way he is treated is really a sin.
For naughty Miss Polly will turn up her nose
At his quaint shaven head and his queer little clothes,
And bestow all her love and affectionate care
On rosy-cheeked Mabel, with bright golden hair.
In vain do I argue, in vain do I cry,
"Be kinder, my darling, I beg of you, try."
But Polly shakes harder her wise little head,
And kisses her golden-haired dolly instead.
"Remember he's far from his kindred and home;
'Mid strange little children he's destined to roam,
And how sad is his fate, as no kind little mother
Will take him right in, and make him a brother
"To the fair baby dollies that sit on her knee!
Just think, my own Polly, how hard it must be.
So give him a hug and a motherly kiss,
'Tis one your own babies, I'm sure, never'll miss."
She stooped quickly down, and raised from the floor
The poor little stranger, discarded before,
And said, with a tear in her bright little eye,
"I'm sure I shall love him, mamma, by-and-by."
I received a subscription to Young People for a present, and I like the paper better than any I ever had before. I like the Post-office Box and the puzzles especially, and the story of Paul Grayson I like very much.
I am collecting games and amusements, and I would be thankful to any readers of Young People who send me any nice charades or games. In return I will send some of my own collection, with full directions for playing each one.
James O'Connor,
287 Ontario Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Now that the season of long evenings has come again, pretty household games are a necessary recreation for our young friends. There have been directions in the columns of Young People for some entertaining winter evening amusements, and more are in preparation. Descriptions of games are generally too long for the Post-office Box, but if we receive any that are short enough, we will print them, unless they are of games already well known, or involve the pitching of knives or other dangerous actions.
There is a great deal of play-time by daylight, too, and it would be interesting if boys in Canada, on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the West and in the South, would now and then describe their out-of-door sports during the winter. There will be skating, and coasting, and sleigh-riding for some; orange-picking, rowing, and picnicking for others. There is one amusement our boys and girls will all enjoy together, and that is reading Young People; and if in the Post-office Box they learn what are the pastimes of children in all sections of the country, even those little people who live in solitary places where they have no playmates, and see nothing all winter but ice-bound rivers and snow-covered plains, will feel less lonely, and have imaginary companionship during play-time.
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Seeing a letter from Violet S. in the Post-office Box about a society, I thought I would write about a club we boys have here.
The club, which is called the G. G., is strictly a military organization, consisting of nine members, each having a gun. We drill every Saturday. Any member who speaks during the drill is confined to the "guard-house" for five minutes for each offense.
We have also a library of nearly a hundred books, which is a source of great pleasure to us. Every month we have an election for librarian and secretary.
Whenever an event of importance occurs concerning the club we have a meeting to settle the matter. We are now preparing a play for the Christmas holidays.
Bert C.
Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
Reba H. wished to know if any correspondent had seen peach-trees blooming in September. I never saw peach-trees in blossom at that season, but we once had two pear-trees that blossomed in October.
I take great pleasure in reading Young People. I am eleven years old.
Josie B. G.
Darlington Heights, Virginia.
I was very much interested in the account of sumac gathering in Young People No. 51, and I thought you would like to know how it is done here in Prince Edward County.
The work of gathering begins in June, and lasts until some time in August. It is gathered here before it turns red, and the berries are not gathered at all. If the berries are mixed with the leaves and twigs, it is worthless, and it is worth very little anyway, as the price is only fifty or seventy-five cents a hundred pounds. There are two kinds of sumac, the male and female; the former is what the merchants want, but the negroes often try to cheat, for it is very hard to tell the difference between the two kinds when the sumac is dry. They do not dry it in a house, but lay it on the ground in the sun for about two days, and then leave it in the shade of the trees for about a week longer.
Harry J.
Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania.
I live among the hills of Pennsylvania, where they get out great quantities of coal and sand. We have glass factories in our town, and it is so nice to see them make glass! We have a boat-yard here, too, and when the boats are launched we can get on them. It is a big slide when the boat goes into the river.
I am nine years old, and send greeting to Harper's Young People. I tuck it under my pillow every night.
Mabel M.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Have any of the readers of Young People ever seen the dove-plant, sometimes called the Espiritu Santo, or Holy Ghost flower? I saw one in a conservatory here. It is bell-shaped and pure white, and the petals form a perfect dove.
Paul de M.
You will find a description and a picture of this wonderful flower, which is a native of the Isthmus of Panama, in Harper's Monthly Magazine for November, 1879, page 863.
Short Hills, New Jersey.
Here is our recipe for johnny-cake, which may be useful to Mary G., or to some other little girl: One tea-cupful of sweet milk; one tea-cupful of buttermilk; one table-spoonful of melted butter; one tea-spoonful of salt; one tea-spoonful of soda; enough Indian meal to make it stiff enough to roll out into a sheet half an inch thick. Spread it on a buttered tin, and bake forty minutes. As soon as it begins to brown, baste it with melted butter, repeating the operation four or five times, until it is brown and crisp. Do not cut the sheet, but break it, and eat it for luncheon or tea.
Florence S.
Brooklyn, New York.
Here is my mother's recipe for johnny-cake for Mary G. One cup of white sugar, three eggs, half a cup of butter. Beat these together until they are light and creamy. Then add one cup of wheat flour, three cups of Indian meal (yellow is best), three tea-spoonfuls of Royal baking powder, one tea-spoonful of salt, sweet milk enough to make a cake batter. Beat until very light, and bake in a quick oven about thirty minutes. We like it best baked in little patty-pans, but you can bake it in a large sheet just as well.
Ethel W.
Recipes similar to the above have been sent by Louise H. A., Irma C. Terry, Lena Fox, Jane L. Wilson, Ada Philips, Alexina N., and other little housewives; and all unite in the wish that Mary G. may win the prize offered by her papa.
Derby, Connecticut.
I would like to tell you how I get Young People. We have a very nice teacher at the school where I attend, and every week each scholar who is perfect in deportment gets a copy of Young People. All the scholars like the paper very much, and they all try to be good. I have had a copy every week since the teacher began to give them, and so have several other scholars.
Ruth M. G.
Otsego Lake, Michigan.
I am eight years old. I live in Northern Michigan, between the two large lakes.
I have a pet fawn. I call it Beauty. It followed me to church last Sunday night; and although it behaved with perfect decorum, it attracted so much attention that papa had to put it out. I have every number of Young People.
Louis S. G.
I belong to the Boys' Exploring Association, and last summer we discovered the finest cave in the Rocky Mountains. It was filled with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. I have some of the stalactites in my collection. The only living things we saw in the cave were a bat and two old mountain rats, one of which had young ones.
A few days ago I visited a coal mine about six miles from Colorado Springs. The coal there is soft, and lies in a narrow vein. Above and below the coal are veins or strata of sandstone, which is well covered with impressions of leaves, large and small. As I entered the mine I looked up, and right over my head there was a perfect impression of a palm-leaf, just like a palm-leaf fan. I tried to take it out whole, but it would break in pieces. There were also many impressions of small leaves, and I found pieces of the tree itself. I brought a great many of these impressions home with me. They must be many thousand years old, like the fossil shells, baculites, and ammonites which I have in my collection. I would like to exchange some of the leaf impressions with the readers of Young People. I would like for them Florida beans, sea-shells, or moss, or minerals from California or New Mexico. I have also some new specimens of different minerals which I would exchange for others.
Herbert E. Peck,
P. O. Box 296, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Boys' Exploring Association alluded to in the above letter is a society largely composed of the members of a Sunday-school in Colorado Springs. Any boy in the school may become a member on the payment of a trifling sum, and any other boy whose name is proposed by a member is admitted by vote. The object of the society is to study the geology and natural history of the surrounding country, and at certain seasons to make exploring expeditions, under the leadership of the clergyman of the church. The members pledge themselves to abstain from the use of tobacco and intoxicating drinks, to use no vulgar or profane language, and to carry no fire-arms while on exploring trips.
During the past summer some important discoveries have been made, and the boys, while deriving much pleasure from these camping-out excursions, have also gained physically, mentally, and morally.
We would be glad to receive reports of the future actions of this society, which will undoubtedly be of interest to our young readers, and will perhaps incite other boys to follow the example of these young naturalists by forming societies to study the botanical, geological, and other natural characteristics of the region in which they live. All places may not contain so much that is new and wonderful as Colorado, but everywhere nature has a great deal to teach, if boys and girls will only open their eyes and hearts to learn.
I have a few patterns of lace, and would be very glad to exchange with Alice C. Little, or any other correspondent of Young People.
Anna E. Bruce,
Rimersburg, Clarion County, Pennsylvania.
I am a little boy ten years old. I live in Attleborough, where so much jewelry is made. I take Young People, and I think it is the best of all the papers for boys and girls.
I would like to exchange postage stamps with any correspondent.
James Arthur Harris,
Attleborough, Massachusetts.
I live in the Paper City, where they make seventy-five tons of paper in a day. I think some of the readers of Young People would like to go through the mills with me.
I would like to exchange postage stamps with any one. I am eleven years old.
Willie H. P. Seymour,
P. O. Box 210, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
I am seven years old. I am a subscriber to Young People, and I love to have my mamma read the letters from the dear little children in the Post-office Box. I go to school, but have to stay home on rainy days. I have neither brothers nor sisters. I am a New Mexican boy by birth, and travelled over three thousand miles with my dear papa and mamma, mostly in stage-coaches, when I was less than a year old.
I have a large number of Mexican garnets, gathered by Indians upon the plains and in the mountains and cañons, that I will gladly exchange for choice sea-shells.
Claude D. Millar,
Walnut Hills, near Cincinnati, Ohio.
I have begun to collect stamps, and I wish to procure as many rare ones as I can. I have two tiny shells which were picked up on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea by a lady missionary, and sent to America. I read letters from many shell collectors in the Post-office Box. I will send one of these shells to any boy or girl who will send me a reasonable number of foreign stamps in return.
Effie K. Price, Bellefontaine, Ohio.
I would like to exchange rare specimens, coins and stamps, with any readers of Young People. I would also exchange an arrow made by a great Indian chief near here for something of equal value.
Robert C. Manly, P. O. Box 66,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
I like Young People very much. I have taken it ever since it was published, and have learned a great deal from it.
In exchange for sea-shells, sea-weed, or curiosities or relics of any kind, I will send a piece of the marble of which they are now building the Washington Monument, or a piece of the granite of which the new State, War, and Navy departments are being built, or both if desired. I would like to exchange with some one on the Florida and California coast. I am eight years old.
T. Berton Ridenous,
1428 T Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
I will exchange stamps from Egypt, Cape of Good Hope, Western Australia, Tasmania, Cuba, Barbadoes, Mexico, and other foreign countries, for others from New Brunswick, St. Lucia, Ecuador, Lagos, and Dominica. I will also exchange birds' eggs.
Willie Ford, Austin, Texas.
Exchanges are also offered by the following correspondents:
Postmarks for specimens of red shale rock.
Sam Risien, Jun.,
Groesbeck, Limestone County, Texas.
Stamps and postmarks for curiosities, coins, Indian relics, or shells.
A. H. Spear,
167 Madison Street, Brooklyn, New York.
Shells for other curiosities.
J. Batzer,
Avenue O, between 18th and 19th Streets,
Galveston, Texas.
Fossil shells for Indian relics.
Sarah H. Wilson,
Clermont, Columbia County, New York.
Foreign postage stamps with correspondents residing in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, or Prince Edward Island.
B. Hoenig,
703 Fifth Street, New York City.
Postage stamps.
Warren S. Banks,
207 East Eighty-third Street, New York City.
Soil of Texas for that of any other State.
Jos. L. Paxton,
Taylor, Williamson County, Texas.
Twenty varieties of postmarks for five varieties of stamps from New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island.
A. Graham,
161 Somerset Street, Newark, New Jersey.
Postage stamps.
C. M. Hemstreet,
108 South Fourteenth Street, St. Louis, Missouri.
Birds' eggs, foreign postage stamps, and postmarks for eggs.
Harry H. Smith,
833 Logan Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
Foreign postage stamps for postmarks.
James Leonard,
35 Madison Avenue, New York City.
Pressed autumn leaves for foreign postage stamps.
Daniel H. Rogers,
Mooretown, Butte County, California.
Rare stamps of all kinds.
Morris Sternbach,
129 East Sixty-ninth Street, New York City.
Michigan postmarks and curiosities for postage stamps and minerals.
Teddy Smith,
641 Cass Avenue, Detroit, Michigan.
Postage stamps.
Bessie C. Smith,
Mapleton, Cass County, Dakota Territory.
Postage stamps from Japan, Egypt, Hungary, and other countries for stamps from China and South America.
Clarence Rowe Barton,
1996 Lexington Avenue, New York City.
Postage stamps for postmarks, stamps, Indian relics, and other curiosities.
H. Beyer,
576 Market Street, Newark, New Jersey.
Postmarks.
Anne H. Wilson,
Care of Harold Wilson, Esq., Clermont,
Columbia County, New York.
Postmarks for minerals or postmarks.
William H. Mason,
392 Sixth Avenue (near Tenth Street),
Brooklyn, New York.
Postage stamps.
Ben S. Darrow,
545 North Illinois Street, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Soil of Maryland and Virginia for soil of the Northern and Western States.
D. Fletcher,
Philopolis, Baltimore County, Maryland.
Five varieties of sharks' teeth for Indian arrowheads.
F. H. Waters,
Philopolis, Baltimore County, Maryland.
Stamps, postmarks, and birds' eggs.
Howard B. Moses,
Cheltenham Academy,
Shoemakertown, Pennsylvania.
Postmarks and curiosities.
G. N. Wilson,
Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.
Stamps, minerals, and eggs of the crow, flicker, spotted tattler, and kingfisher, for eggs of a loon, eagle, gull, or snipe.
W. A. Webster,
394 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
Foreign postage stamps, birds' nests, shells, and minerals for birds' eggs, shells, and foreign coins.
Laura Bingham,
Lansing, Michigan.
Chinese curiosities, agates, and postmarks for rare birds' eggs and postage stamps.
C. H. Gurnett,
Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada.
Postage stamps and postmarks for stamps.
Mary H. Kimball,
P. O. Box 493, Stamford, Connecticut.
Postage stamps.
T. N. Catrevas,
13 West Twentieth Street, New York City.
Postage stamps and coin.
Sammie P. Cranage, Bay City, Michigan.
Postage stamps, especially specimens from Japan and Hong-Kong, for others.
F. L. Macondray,
1916 Jackson Street, San Francisco, California.
Birds' eggs, stamps, and postmarks for the same, or for minerals, coins, or Indian relics.
Ralph J. Wood,
39 (old number) Wildwood Avenue,
Jackson, Michigan.
Five foreign postage stamps for an ounce of soil from any State, or thirty foreign stamps for an Indian arrow-head. No duplicate stamp in either exchange.
C. B. Fernald,
1123 Girard Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Foreign postage stamps or United States postmarks for shells or minerals.
George E. Wells,
40 Cottage Place, Hackensack, New Jersey.
Five rare foreign stamps for a good mineral specimen.
C. C. Shelley, Jun.,
93 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, New York.
Sea and fresh water shells and minerals for other minerals and Indian curiosities.
Royal Ferraud,
141 Front Street, West, Detroit, Michigan.
William Tell Archers, New Orleans.—Bows vary in price from three dollars to ninety and even one hundred dollars each. It would be well to write to Messrs. Peck & Snyder, Nassau Street, New York city, importers of English archery goods, for one of their catalogues. E. I. Horsman, of 80 William Street, New York city, would also send his catalogue on application, and his list comprises all archery goods manufactured in this country, which are sold at lower prices than the English importations. We never heard of a whalebone bow on an archery field.
Henry R. C., George E. B., and Others.—Messrs. Harper & Brothers will furnish the cover for Young People, Vol. I., at the price stated in the advertisement on this page, but in no case can they attend to the binding.
Louis H.—A stamp collection consists of stamps of different denominations from all countries. The special locality in the country from which the specimen is sent adds to the interest of a postmark, but not to that of a stamp. Different issues of the same denomination, when you can obtain them, should have a place in your stamp album. For example, there have been a good many issues, varying in design and color, of the United States three-cent stamp. Each one is a valuable specimen; but if you have two or more exactly alike, paste only one in your album, and reserve the duplicates for exchange.
B. B.—It is not often that we can make room in the Post-office Box for pictures, and we are constantly compelled to decline pretty and interesting drawings by our young friends. We can much more easily give space to a short description in writing of any curious phase of wild Indian life that you may notice than to a pictured representation.
W. E. L.—Your story shows imagination, but is not good enough to print.—Unless you have a natural gift for ventriloquism you will find it a difficult art to learn. Several books of instruction have been published, but they are not very satisfactory, and you would learn better by procuring a good teacher than by endeavoring to follow the directions of a hand-book.
E. A. De L.—A badge expressing the motto of your society is not very easy to invent. A gold shield bearing the letters F. S. arranged as a monogram, in blue, white, or black enamel would be very simple, and as appropriate, perhaps, as any more marked design.
Favors are acknowledged from Charles Werner, Ida L. G., Harry C. Earle, Pearl A. H., Isabella T. Niven, Will S. Norton, Mary K. Bidwell, George K. Diller, Anna Wierum, Mark Manly, Latham T. Souther, Maggie Behlendorff, Joey W. Dodson, Aaron W. King, Charlie, Hattie Wilcox, Clara Clark, Florence M. Donalds, Eddie L. S., Sarabelle, E. T. Rice, J. Fitzsimons, Cassie C. Fraleigh, Mary H. Lougee, Coleman E. A., Fred S. C., Eddie R. T., Edgar E. Helm, Emmer Edwards, Eunice Kate, Clarence D. C.
Correct answers to puzzles are received from Lena Fox, H. M. P., Stella Pratt, Mary L. Fobes, "Unle Ravaler," C. Gaylor, William A. Lewis, C. H. McB., Cal I. Forny, The Dawley Boys, Mary S. Twing.
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
RHOMBOID—(To Stella).
Across.—A portable dwelling; a kind of food; to inclose; a poem. Down.—A consonant; a printer's measure; novel; a genus of plants; to hit gently; one of a printer's trials; a consonant.
Mark Marcy.