OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.

Roma, on the Rio Grande, Texas,
December 31, 1880.

Early this morning, just as we were all dressed, a great noise was heard on the stairs; it was Morton, who was shouting, "Oh, papa, the ground is all over white, and the orange-tree has a great white cap on its head!"

We all knew at once that it was snow, which we children had heard and read so much about, but had never seen.

We all rushed out, and found the air full of little feathers, and everything dazzling white. We went wild over it. Papa chased our two little brothers, washed their faces with snow, and showed them how to make snow-balls, and after doing so, got pelted by his boys, and girls too, for that matter, for we all took part. Two inches of snow had fallen. The air was still and calm. And at last we thought of the snow crystals we had read about in Harper's Young People, and asked papa to show them to us. He got a piece of black cloth, and we spread it on the top of a box in the yard, and recognized nearly all of the forms we had seen in the illustration. Little Northern readers will say, "Why such a fuss about two inches of snow?" But they must remember we had never seen it before, and I do not believe they ever saw an orange-tree loaded with snow, and its golden fruit shining out from a setting of frosted silver and deep green leaves. I know they never saw anything so beautiful in their lives.

But I forgot—I must tell you who I am, or rather who we are. We are seven sisters and brothers. Our two elder sisters are married, and have homes of their own. I am the youngest of the girls, and the two boys are the youngest of the family. My mother is a Mexican lady, and father is an American from Ohio. He has lived in this country thirty years. One sister, one brother, and myself were born in Mexico, and Spanish is our mother-tongue, but we read and understand Young People.

Clotilde C.

Thyatira, Mississippi.

I have six goats. Two of them I work in a little wagon. When I can get some little boys to help me, it is royal fun to drive them.

I do not go to school, as we have none near by, and I have no one to go with me. I had three sweet little sisters and one little brother, but they all died. I would love to tell you a great deal about them, but this is my first letter to the Post-office Box, and I am afraid it will be too long, and go into that much-dreaded waste basket. I will be nine years old the 17th of February.

It is awfully cold here this winter.

Jack C.

Hoboken, New Jersey.

I thought I would write to say how much I like the stories of "Toby Tyler" and "Mildred's Bargain." They are so nice I can not help writing to tell you.

I am glad to hear from so many little girls who have seen blossoms and fruit as late in the season as I have.

Reba H.

Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

I want to tell the boys and girls what we do away out here in Sheboygan. This winter has been very cold, and it has been thirty degrees below zero part of the time. A good deal of snow has fallen, and yesterday the pupils of my school took a sleigh-ride. We were in a large sleigh drawn by four horses. We went to Sheboygan Falls, and on the way we saw farm-houses, forests, and fields all covered with deep snow.

Sheboygan is a nice place in summer. It is on the western shore of Lake Michigan, about sixty miles north of Milwaukee. I am eleven years old.

Erwin B.

Bridgewater, New York.

My brother takes Young People, and we like it ever so much.

We have the dearest little three-year-old colt. Papa broke him to the harness last fall, and he seems to enjoy taking us out to ride. Papa is going to have him trained to the saddle for my use.

I have to walk three-quarters of a mile to school. The snow has drifted nearly level with the fences, and now the crust has formed, so that we enjoy skimming over it.

May R.

Washington, D. C.

I think Young People is just splendid, and only wish it would come every day. I could never get tired of reading it. Toby Tyler's life with the circus is delightful. I would like to have such a friend as "Mr. Stubbs."

We are having the coldest winter known in this city for years. My little sister, my brother, and myself have elegant times coasting down the streets.

Emma H. T.

Gilroy, California.

I have received so many answers to my request for exchange, which was printed in Young People, that my stock of duplicate eggs is exhausted. I will keep the addresses, and in the spring, when I can get a new supply of eggs, will try to answer all letters which I can not answer now.

Fannie W. Rogers.

Owing to the severe weather, I have been unable to collect enough arrow-heads to supply all my correspondents, but I will send them as soon as possible. If those who have offered me coins and other things in exchange will wait until I can get some more arrow-heads, which will be before long, I will be very glad.

Isobel L. Jacobs,
Darlington Heights, Prince Edward County, Va.

I am very much interested in the Post-office Box. I like Young People very much.

I live beside the beautiful Geneva Lake, which is a great summer resort. In warm weather we have great sport fishing, but now it is all ice-boating and skating.

We raised five Bramah chickens last summer. They were very tame. One went to sleep with its head on my aunt's shoulder, and they were capital pickpockets. They were in such demand that we had to part with all but one. She is named Pulleta, and is so tame I can pick her up anywhere.

I would like to exchange postmarks, for foreign stamps, or shells from the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic coast.

Hubert C. Scofield,
P. O. Box 207, Geneva, Wis.

I would like to exchange pieces of bass-wood, red and white oak, bird's-eye and hard and soft maple, iron-wood, red and yellow birch, elm, ash, and butternut, for specimens of other kinds of woods. Correspondents will please mark specimens.

George Empey,
Hersey, St. Croix County, Wis.

I would like to exchange postmarks, for sea-shells. I am nine years old.

Reynolds White,
132 East Forty-fifth Street, New York City.

I will exchange postmarks, for stamps, with any little boy or girl. I am nine years old.

Percy G. Lapey,
62 Clinton Street, Buffalo, N. Y.

I would like to exchange postage stamps. I have a Swedish, a Canadian, and a New South Wales stamp, two Italian, some French, English, and old issues of United States stamps, which I will give for others.

A Subscriber to "Young People,"
141 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

I wish to notify correspondents that I do not wish to exchange for postage stamps any longer, but I will exchange stamps, curiosities, shells, and minerals, for curiosities, shells, and minerals.

V. L. Kellogg,
P. O. Box 411, Emporia, Kansas.

I would like to exchange shells and pressed sea-weeds, for other shells, Lake Superior agates, ore, or other small specimens of minerals. I would like everything sent me to be clearly marked, and I, in return, will name and classify the shells.

Miss May Hart,
Soquel, Santa Cruz County, Cal.

I live only eighteen miles from King's Mountain, where a great battle of the Revolutionary war was fought.

I have a little rat terrier I have named Rip Van Winkle, because he sleeps so much. I would like to exchange birds' eggs with readers of Harper's Young People. I am twelve years old.

Willie F. Robertson, Yorkville, S. C.

I have a collection of about fifteen hundred stamps, and I have about five hundred duplicates, which I would like to exchange for others. Correspondents will please send a list of those they desire.

Hiram H. Bice,
39 Second Street, Utica, N. Y.

The following exchanges are also offered by correspondents:

Coins or specimens of woods, for Indian relics, curiosities, fossils, or minerals.

Alfred S. Kellogg,
P. O. Box 103, Westport, Fairfield County, Conn.

Postage stamps.

J. Clarke Burrell,
307 East Eighty-sixth Street, New York City.

Postage stamps, for Indian relics, or anything suitable for a museum.

George Lunham,
147 Skillman Street, Brooklyn, L. I.

Foreign postage stamps.

Lionel W. Crompton,
Care of Mr. Clifton, 104 Sixth St., Hoboken, N. J.

Foreign postage stamps, for old issues of United States postage stamps, or for any Department stamps.

Frank Bang,
271 Avenue B, New York City.

Postmarks, for stamps.

Jay Hollis Gibson,
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

A silver Japanese coin and a piece of prehistoric pottery, for a genuine Indian bow and arrow.

David M. Gregg,
404 Penn Street, Reading, Penn.

Ocean curiosities, for a guinea-hen's egg or other eggs; or twenty-five postmarks, for a Chinese stamp and nine other foreign stamps.

Helen S. Lovejoy,
39 Munjoy Street, Portland, Maine.

Cotton and rice as they grow, Spanish moss, arrow-heads, Southern insects, or pressed flowers, for stamps.

John J. Hawkins,
Prosperity, S. C.

An ancient Spanish coin to exchange for some curiosity.

Thomas Ewing,
Osceola, Clark County, Iowa.

Persian, Japanese, and other stamps, for Turkish or South American stamps or minerals.

Theodore Morrison,
3262 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Penn.

Teasels, which are pretty for bouquets and decorating, for coins, curiosities, or minerals.

J. E. Garbutt,
Garbutt, Monroe County, N. Y.

A stone from Delaware or Pennsylvania, for one from any other State; or shells, postmarks, or June beetles, for ore of any kind, or for curiosities.

S. Stinson,
1705 Oxford Street, Philadelphia, Penn.

Sea-shells or minerals, for minerals.

John D. Brown,
P. O. Box 171, Newton Centre, Mass.

Pressed sea-weeds from Santa Cruz, on Monterey Bay, for ferns or sea-weeds from other localities.

Nellie Hyde,
162 Third Street, Oakland, Cal.

Postmarks.

Henry F. Steele,
63 East Fifty-fifth Street, New York City.

Soil from Illinois, for that of any other State.

Arthur Davenport,
34 Ogden Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

An Italian stamp, for one of any other foreign country.

Giorgino Chapman,
Everett House, Union Square, New York City.

A ten-cent United States stamp, War Department stamps, or a Cuban, Spanish, or Netherlands stamp, for a Brazilian ten-reis.

Fred McGahie,
78 Second Place, Brooklyn, L. I.

Twenty-five postmarks, for a Japanese, Chinese, or East Indian stamp, or twelve other foreign stamps.

Annie Dryden,
Care of John Dryden, Brooklin, Ontario, Canada.

Buttons, or California postmarks, for postage stamps.

Floy Moody,
Care of Charles Moody,
San José, Santa Clara County, Cal.

Postmarks and postage stamps, for Indian relics and ocean curiosities.

Charles B. Bartlett,
92 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Postage stamps, minerals, fossils, coins, ocean curiosities, and Indian relics.

S. G. Guerrier,
Emporia, Kansas.

Stamps from Peru, United States official stamps, and others, in exchange for rare stamps.

Allen R. Baker,
P. O. Box 1275, Bay City, Mich.

Copper ore from the Eli Copper Mines, New Hampshire, specimens of meteoric rock, and stone from the Hoosac Tunnel, for Indian relics, ocean curiosities, fossils, or minerals.

Fred W. Glasier,
P. O. Box 235, Adams, Berkshire County, Mass.

Ocean curiosities, for turtles not more than three inches long, newts, or lizards. Correspondents will please write before sending any of these creatures.

Daniel D. Lee, 14 Myrtle Street,
Jamaica Plains, Suffolk County, Mass.

Postmarks, for postmarks; or twice the number of postmarks, for any number of postage stamps.

Ralph D. Clearwater,
Care of A. T. Clearwater, Kingston, N. Y.

Edmund S. H., and R. D. Britton.—The disastrous war between Peru and Chili originated in a dispute about certain privileges to mine copper and nitrate of soda in the desert region of Atacama, the strip of sea-coast on the Pacific, belonging to Bolivia, which separates Peru from Chili. In 1875, the nitrate grounds were ceded by the Bolivian government to a Peruvian business house, which transferred a portion of its rights to some Chilian merchants. A heavy export duty was immediately laid on the nitrate by Bolivia, which step was considered by the Chilian government as a direct insult to its merchants, and also to be in contradiction to earlier concessions made by Bolivia to Chili. The Peruvians, fearing the ruin of their mining interest, took up the cause of Bolivia, and much secret diplomacy was going on, when suddenly, on April 6, 1879, Chili made a declaration of war against Peru, and prepared to support its claims by arms. The naval combat of Iquique took place in May of the same year, in which both Chili and Peru lost valuable war vessels. For several months Chili maintained the blockade of Iquique, and meanwhile the Peruvian iron-clad Huascar was harassing Chilian ports, until, in October, 1879, she was captured by two Chilian men-of-war. The Chilian army and the united forces of Peru and Bolivia met in numerous engagements, but since the capture of the Huascar the war has been one prolonged success for Chili. After the battle of Chorillos, on January 14, 1881, in which the Peruvian forces were completely overthrown, the Chilian armies marched triumphantly into Lima, on the 17th of the same month. An armistice is now asked for by the diplomatic body at Lima, and it is to be hoped that this foolish devastation of a beautiful country will soon come to an end.

Grace H.—You will find simple recipes for cream candy in the Post-office Boxes of Young People Nos. 35 and 38.

Willie F. W.—It is impossible to trace the superstition concerning Friday to its source. It exists among many different peoples, each assigning to it an origin in accordance with the belief of the country. The Friday superstition is met with even among the Brahmins of India, who hold it unlucky to begin any enterprise on that day. In ancient times, thirty-two days in the year were considered unlucky by the astrologers, and warnings were given against the performance of any work of importance on those days—an advice which was no doubt strictly followed by all lazy people.

Fred L. C.—Mount Everest is the highest mountain of the earth. It is situated in the northern part of Nepaul, which is an independent state of Hindostan, lying between Thibet and British India. Mount Everest is a part of the eastern range of the Himalayas, and, according to measurements taken in 1856, has an altitude of 29,002 feet, and thousands of cattle and sheep and mountain goats are herded on its broad slopes of pasture-lands.

J. N. H.—If your puzzles are suitable for our columns, they will be accepted.

M. I. S.—The double-page pictures in Harper's Young People are bound by being fastened to a narrow strip of paper, which is called a "guard." Any good book-binder will understand how this should be done.

A. J.—The line in question appeared in literature, and was often given as a quotation, long before the ballad which you mention was printed.

Lulu De L.—We can not make room to print your little story.

Karl C. W., and Others.—The answers to all puzzles given in our columns are printed in full three weeks after the publication of the puzzles.

H. D. F.—The directions for tracing a pattern on Russia crash were given in "Embroidery for Girls, No. 2," in Harper's Young People No. 57, November 30, 1880.

H. H. C.—Egypt and China are both supposed to be the oldest countries in the world, but it is impossible to tell to which the greatest age may be assigned, as the most learned historians differ upon this point. The earliest development of civilization was probably in Egypt. Damascus, if not the first city in the world, was certainly one of the earliest of consequence. The date of its foundation is unknown, but it was a flourishing place in the time of Abraham, and is mentioned in the book of Genesis.

Mamie Brooke.—If what appears to be sand and dirt will not wash off from your copper ore, we can not tell you how to clean it, without seeing the specimen. What you consider dirt may be a coating of oxide.—Your wiggles were received too late for insertion.

Constant Reader.—A very good mucilage, similar to that used on postage stamps, may be made as follows: acetic acid, one part; gum-dextrine, two parts; water, five parts. Dissolve in a water-bath, which consists of one vessel within another, like a double glue-pot, so that the mixture may be evenly heated. When the gum is well dissolved, add one part of alcohol.

Fall River.—Make your camera box of quarter-inch black-walnut; or pine of the same thickness will do equally well, and will be more easily worked, and cost less, and if neatly stained will make a pretty box. The expense of your camera, apart from the lenses (see answer to Fred B. and Fred W. in Post-office Box of No. 67), will be very small; and if you are handy with tools, you will have no trouble in the construction, if you follow the directions and drawings given in Harper's Young People No. 63. Perseverance and ingenuity will have a great deal to do with your success.

Charles A. G.—It is not easy to give you advice in a matter which may affect your whole life, but we venture to suggest the trade of a printer as one by which a boy of your age, if he be industrious, can earn his living in a very pleasant manner after he has conquered the difficulties which meet a beginner in whatever branch of apprenticeship he may select.

Willie Lloyd and M. D. Austin.—Send your full address, and we will gladly print your requests for exchange.

Favors are acknowledged from Addie B. McEwen, Annie H. Rundlett, Mamie E. S., Charlie Hopper, Charles F. Bailey, Lyman C. S., Ella A., Edward L. Haines, Albert H. F., J. A. M. and A. W. W., Milard B., M. B. W., Istalina B., Jamie Craig, Edith M., Eva D. Aldrich, Joseph T. H., Wilfred J. Wood, George W. Merritt, Howard Coleman, J. D. Pettigrew, E. G. Robinson, Arthur W. French, H. M. Redlein, E. A. Folsom, Percy T. Warner, Helena Pierce, Minnie L., George C. Williams, Ferdinand Travis, Ollie J. McKay, Louie Van A., Lena Burrows, Eudora Bishop, Belle Wallace, S. J. Coatsworth, E. B. G., Jacob S. Kinsely, Josie L. Stone, Frank A. Taylor, Gottfried Steenken.

Correct answers to puzzles have been sent by Willie F. Robertson, Edwin Nesmith, Bessie Comstock, Cora R. Price, "Lone Star," Dora Neville Taylor, J. M. Haydock, Willie Parkhurst, Willie F. Woolard, Percy L. McDermott, Nellie Brainard, W. I. Trotter, "Jupiter," M. Lila Baker, "Bolus," Ed I. T., Annie De Pfuhl, James W. Downing, Benno Myers, Karl C. Wells, Millie C. B., Blanche Jefferson, Frank Lomas, Andrew De Motte, Fred Wieland, "Starry Flag," Grace A. McE., Jennie and May Ridgway, Charlie Haight, Grace Montgomery, Fanny B. Squire, Willie M. Hargest.

OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

HALF-SQUARE.