[to be continued.]

[PINAFORE RHYMES.]

Here is a chorus
Of boys and girls,
Wee little darlings,
Dear little pearls.
Hear their sweet voices,
Like tinkling chimes,
Merrily singing
Pinafore rhymes.
Mothers and sisters,
Cousins and aunts,
Listen delighted
To their little chants.
Here they are printed,
So you may see
What they are singing
So merrily.

Annie, Mary, and Kate,
Each busy with pencil and slate,
Three pretty pictures are making;
Just see the pains they are taking,
So eager, and still, and sedate!
But now it is growing quite late,
They put away pencil and slate;
And because they've been good in their classes,
They get some nice bread and molasses,
And swing on the garden gate.

Your servant, madam! I must say
The bathing's very bad to-day;
The water never was so wet,
And colder, too, than ever yet;
I'm sure 'tis down to five degrees,
And I'm afraid you'd surely freeze.
A shark and sword-fish, too, have come,
And made themselves too much at home;
And just now, on the bath-house stair,
A water-witch sat combing her hair.
You can try it, madam, if you please,
But if they don't eat you up, you'll freeze.

Cuckoo!
Where are you?
I've been hunting all about,
And I wish you would come out!
Have you hid in the big fire-place,
Or the clock, or the porcelain vase,
Or flown to the top of the house,
Or crawled into his hole with the mouse?
It's awful mean to hide away,
When I want you to go out and play!
Boo! here I am, my little sis;
Now give me the sweetest, nicest kiss!

Oh, such a funny dream I had when I was fast asleep;
I saw a lot of baby tots out of their cradles leap;
They threw away their rattles and their little ivory rings,
And joined their little hands to dance, the darling little things!
"Hurrah! hurrah!" they gayly sang; "we're on a jolly strike;
The nurse's rule is over now, and we do what we like;
We'll go to bed just when we please, and sit up at the table,
And eat whatever old folks do, as long as we are able.
"And if the nurses fret and scold, we'll put them all to bed,
And tell them not to make a noise, as they have often said;
They'll be afraid of getting whipped, and will not dare to peep."
And that's the funny dream I had when I was fast asleep.

Eureka, Nevada.

There are lots of silver mines near here. One day we went into the tunnel in Uncle Dick's mine. We all had candles—oh, it was so dark!—and I got some pretty specimens my own self. We rode almost fifty miles that same day, and had our dinner on the grass, near some springs. I thought it was ever so nice.

There are furnaces here where the silver, gold, and lead are "cooked" out of the ore. Papa sometimes takes us there, and I always want to stay longer, although the noise of the machinery almost makes my head crazy.

We used to have some periwinkles and some bugs in a glass jar, and lovely water-cresses growing, too. Mamma put the jar under the faucet every morning, and let the water run slowly to freshen it without disturbing "the family." The periwinkles ate the cress, and the bugs ate each other, until there was only one left; then he began to dine on the periwinkles; so we planted them all out in the ditch.

I am a little boy five years old, and my mamma wrote this for me. Brother and I take Young People. We save them all, and we think everything of them.

Georgie B. C.

Cross Village, Michigan.

I love Young People very much. We live near old Fort Mackinac, where the Indians once played a game of ball to mislead the white men, and then surprised and took the fort, killing nearly all the troops.

There are many Indians living here now. They are mostly of the Ottawa tribe. We live in an old Indian "garden." I have found an ancient tomahawk, a hoe, and a ladle.

I am seven years old, and I can read in the Fourth Reader.

E. Clair S.

Douglas City, California.

I live up in the mountains of Northern California, in Trinity County. Although this place is called a city, it is only a small town. There are a great many Portuguese families living here, but only a few Americans.

I go to school eight months in the year. Last year I attended school at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands. I enjoyed my stay there very much. I lived with my uncle. I was introduced to King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani, and I had a good opportunity of seeing the manners and customs of the people.

Sadie T.

Portland, Oregon.

We think there is no paper that can excel Young People. There are seven of us children. We have a few curiosities. We have two vases made of lava from Herculaneum.

There were two British barks lost on the coast here.

I am nine years old, and am a constant reader of Young People.

Henry Bismarck. T.

Baltimore, Maryland.

We boys are having splendid coasting here. In the park near my home great numbers of boys and girls coast on the hills, and in many of the streets the boys coast four or five blocks without stopping.

I am going to have two very small alligators, which I can handle and play with, and I have a pet lizard, which I have kept in a glass globe for a year.

Coleman C. A.

Nacoochee, Georgia.

I have read every story, letter, and advertisement in Young People ever since it was published. I think it is the best paper printed for young folks. The exchange department is the grandest of all. I commenced with a few Indian arrow-heads, and now I have a good collection of minerals, shells, and curiosities of various kinds, and am constantly receiving letters from new exchanges. The "wiggles," too, are very interesting. There is nothing that gives me so much pleasure as making "wiggles" or packing boxes of curiosities to send off.

Many good wishes to Young People, and may it ever be as bright and beautiful as now!

John R. G.

Factory Point, Vermont.

I wrote a letter to Young People a little while ago, when I was at grandpa's. My papa came after me, but I am very lonely now, for my little playmate, my dear little sister Annie, died of diphtheria while I was gone. I used to read the stories in Young People to her. I have a little dog, and I used to play lots with him, but I do not feel like playing any more.

Charlie C.

Carroll, Ohio.

I read all the letters in the Post-office Box every week with so much pleasure that I can hardly wait till my paper comes. Mamma gave it to me for a Christmas present.

My papa is agent at Crow Agency, Montana, and mamma and my brother and sister are there with him. I live with my uncle, and I go to school every day. Last spring papa was here, and he brought six Indians with him. They were very large Indians. One of them weighed two hundred and sixty-five pounds, and was over six feet tall.

Daniel M. K.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

We have had sleighing here for a long time, and first-rate coasting. All the hills around the town are crowded every night, and we coast by torch-light. I have two good sleds of my own.

Davie B.

Nyack-on-the-Hudson, New York.

I live in the country, and I have very nice times. There has been skating on the Hudson River almost all winter. We have very fine hills here. I have a pair of bobs. As many as seven boys can get on it, and it goes very fast indeed. I hope it will snow more, and make the coasting better.

Willie G.

I have been taking Young People for a year, and I think it is the best paper ever published.

I have a pet monkey named Jacko. He is up to all sorts of tricks. He will put wood on the fire, and put on the tea-kettle.

I would like to exchange minerals, for ocean curiosities.

The snow here is six feet deep.

E. G. Kelly,
816 East Eighth Street, Leadville, Colorado.

Fort Wayne, Indiana, January 30, 1881.

I wish to inform my correspondents that I have no more curiosities to exchange at present. I have sent for some more, but it will be some time before I get them.

William C. McConnell.

I was born on the Island of Curaçao, in the Dutch West Indies, and I can get many stamps from there and from the United States of Colombia, which I would like to exchange for others with readers of Young People in the United States or Canada.

J. Desola,
1051 Lexington Avenue, New York City.

Washington Court-House, Ohio.

I have had over twenty applications for my arrow-head, and could only answer one. If I can get any more arrow-heads, I will send word to my correspondents.

Emmer Edwards.

I have just begun a collection of stones, and have only a very few. I have three white flints, which I thought were petrified birds' eggs at first, which I would like to exchange for ocean curiosities. I expect to receive some better flints in a few weeks. I am nine years old.

Bertha Booth,
Anamosa, Jones County, Iowa.

I want to tell Young People what a pleasant winter we are having in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, three thousand feet above the sea. We have no snow. I found willow "pussies" on the 18th of January, and sister Bell found some spring flowers two days later.

Our dog Rover went hunting, and came home with his nose full of porcupine quills. Papa had a hard time pulling them out, it hurt Rover so badly.

I do not go to school in the winter. I study at home. I study language lessons, arithmetic, botany, spelling, and geography. I am eight years old. I want to take Young People always.

I will exchange minerals from the mines, for shells or any other curiosities, with any readers of the Post-office Box.

Lou R. Keep, Smiths Hill,
East Branch of Feather River, California.

I would like to exchange stamps of the United States Treasury and State Departments, postmarks, and Canadian and foreign postage stamps, for rare stamps and postmarks, or for specimens of ores, minerals, or shells. Correspondents will please label specimens.

I am ten years old.

Willie M. Bloss,
U. S. Consulate-General, Montreal, Canada.

I would like to exchange a pair of new nickle-plated club skates, which I do not need, as I have another pair, for any other similar article.

W. J. H.,
343 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Lucknow, November 30, 1880.

My dear Young People,—When I last wrote to you, it was in the midst of the hot season; now it is a little cooler, but not much, and we have been through dreadful times since then. Though I don't often write to the Post-office Box, I love dearly to read all the letters the children send to it.

Our baby wasn't very well in the dreadful hot weather, and so mamma and I had to take him to the hills, where it is cool and nice. Of course we took his nurse and the khansaman (housekeeper) too; the rest of the help we get there, because we keep house just the same as here. Papa couldn't go, because the paper has to be printed, if it is hot, and they can't get it ready without him, so we went alone to Naina Tal. Mamma says Tal means lake, and Naina is the name of a goddess that people thought (in the old days, you know, when they had goddesses) presided over the lake.

All through the rainy season, which begins the last of July, it had rained much more than usual; and one night the men around were up all night, turning the course of a stream that had swollen so they were afraid it would carry away some of the houses. So mamma was a little afraid to stay, and we were going home, and had engaged our dandies (a little like a kind of chair) and men to carry them, and were going to start the next Tuesday. It began to rain Thursday afternoon. It was the 16th of September, I remember, because baby was a year old that very day, and he had a new dress and lots of toys, and was just as cunning as he could be. But it rained hard all night, and the next day it was so dark mamma had to sit close to the window to see to write to papa. I never saw it rain so hard right straight along in my life, and I asked mamma if she didn't think it must look like the flood, and she said, Perhaps. After a while I went to bed and to sleep; but some time in the night mamma came and woke us all up, and said the room was filling with water. She dressed me, and nurse dressed baby; then the other people in the house came in, and mamma was so scared she didn't know what she was doing, and rolled up all her clothes and shoes and stockings in the bedding. The windows and doors were burst in, and we had to try to get somewhere, but even mamma didn't know where to go. But one of the men carried me, and nurse took baby; and the stones hurt poor mamma's bare feet so that two of the jhampanis carried her, and in the pouring rain we went to find Mr. Buck's house. We finally reached there, and had hardly dried ourselves before it was light, and the men thought that house would go too; so we all made another trip, this time to the chapel, and still it rained as hard as it could pour. I told mother I really thought it was another flood, and we'd better try to get up higher. But she said the higher we went, the worse it would be; if we could only get off this dreadful hill, we might be safe. Then I said again something about the flood, for I couldn't get it out of my head, it all looked so like the picture in the big Bible—people going about wringing their hands, and trying to get somewhere safe, men carrying children, half-dressed women, and all the while the rain pouring down as if it never would stop. Mamma stood stock-still, and took hold of me. "I tell you, child," she said, "God has promised—promised, do you hear?—never to drown the world again." So I said no more, and really felt better; for if everybody was not drowned, there might be a chance for us. We stood on the chapel veranda watching Mr. Cheney and Mr. Fleming trying to turn the course of one stream away from Mr. Cheney's house, when a great mass of stones, sand, and water took them off their feet quick as a flash. Mr. Cheney caught hold of the low roof of his house, and Mr. Fleming caught him, and they were saved from being carried over the side of the hill. We had hardly time to catch our breath, and not time to say a word, when the trees began to tremble, and loose rocks to shake, and in another minute the whole hill-side rushed past us, and the hotel, assembly-rooms, shops, and stores were carried right into Naina Tal. More than one hundred and fifty people were carried with them—some that we knew, and had laughed and talked with only yesterday—without time for one word to anybody, rushed straight to death. Oh, it was terrible! Our fence was taken, too, and we could not stop to think, for we had to plan to go somewhere. I never cried one word. I only opened my eyes wider, and looked at mamma. She was just as pale as anything, and I heard her say, "I can't—I can't die this way!" I never thought; I only kept saying to myself, "God won't let there be a flood. He won't let it." Then Mr. Cheney came and said we must go. So we started down the Mall. Mamma took hold of my hand, but finally one of the men snatched me up and carried me; and when we came to a broad stream, I heard mamma say, "Jat Ram" (he is one of our jhampanis that carry us about the hill), "give me your hand." "Get on my back, Mem Sahib," he said; and mamma was in too much of a hurry to think, and hung on to him any way. I wanted to laugh, she looked so funny; but somehow there wasn't any laugh in me. Finally we came to a house, and went in; it was a Mr. Kelley's. We were dreadful tired—nothing to eat, and up all night. The men thought we were as safe there as anywhere we could get, so we dried ourselves. Pretty soon—about eight—we had dinner. We were so faint we would have eaten, I think, if the rain had carried us away the next minute.

It did not stop raining till Sunday night, and the next Thursday we started for home. Some of the bridges were gone, but we crossed over in boats, and Saturday morning got to Lucknow.

Wasn't papa glad to see us! The Lal Bagh mission girls had been in and trimmed the house to welcome us, and we went over to the boarding-school to breakfast. Papa said "that it just poured sixty-six hours—almost three days—and in that time thirty-three inches of rain fell—almost three feet." Then he showed me on the wall how high that would be; and you just measure yourself, and you'll see such a lot of water washing down a mountain-side must do something.

But I've been writing too long, so good-by.

Jennie Anderson.

P.S.—Mamma says I ought to say, as nearly as they know now, forty white people and one hundred and fifty natives were killed.

We would like to exchange beryl, mica crystals, and garnets from Connecticut, or shells, coral, and sea-beans from Florida or California, for fine specimens of minerals, particularly from Lake Superior or Northern New York. Our collection is a good one, and we would like good exchanges. We have also some curiosities, and could arrange exchanges for several different things.

Willie R. Corson and Charles E. Brainard,
137 Washington Street, Hartford, Conn.

The following exchanges are also desired by correspondents:

Sea-beach pebbles from New Jersey, or stamps, for ocean curiosities, minerals, foreign postage stamps, or anything suitable for a museum; or a New Zealand stamp and five kinds of English stamps, for an Indian arrow-head.

Clarence R. Williams, 4811 Hancock Street,
Germantown, Philadelphia, Penn.

Postmarks or stamps, for birds' eggs, Indian arrow-heads, or relics. Correspondents will please label all specimens distinctly.

Ernest Osborne,
761 De Kalb Avenue, Brooklyn, L. I.

Stamps.

Winthrop Vaughan,
P. O. Box 432, Brookline, Mass.

An ounce of sand or a stone from Ohio, for the same from any other State.

J. Pujols,
16 New Street, Cleveland, Ohio.

Postmarks and stamps, for stamps. Fifteen postmarks, for one stamp.

George N. Prentiss,
Watertown, Wisconsin.

Birds' eggs.

Windsor F. White,
1581 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Postage stamps.

S. Weatherbe,
Glass Lock Box 107, Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island, Canada.

A United States copper cent of 1802, for any ocean curiosity.

Frank P. Huested,
183 Madison Avenue, Albany, N. Y.

An opossum to exchange.

Joe Bissell,
P. O. Box 957, Pittsburgh, Penn.

Postage stamps.

Edwin S. Ketchum,
Care of Ketchum Wagon Company,
Marshalltown, Iowa.

Mexican stamps and rare specimens of Mexican shells, for rare stamps from Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Finland, Iceland, or Philippine Islands.

Harry L. Briggs,
48 Chester Park, Boston, Mass.

Postage stamps.

G. M. Woodcock,
Care of William H. Lyon & Co.,
483 and 485 Broadway, New York City.

Postmarks.

K. McKensie,
12 Garden Street, Cambridge, Mass.

Cocoons of the silk-worm, for birds' eggs.

Nellie Brainard,
265 Broad Street, Newark, N. J.

Shells, alligators' teeth, ocean curiosities, and stamps, for rare stamps, Indian relics, or minerals.

George W. McElhose,
24 Brill Street, Newark, N. J.

Postmarks.

W. H. Chapman,
Lock Box 40, Penn Yan, N. Y.

Postage stamps.

Fred L. Camp,
188 Lefferts Place, Brooklyn, L. I.

Flints, for birds' eggs or postage stamps.

Elijah G. B.,
522 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Stamps, for coins or eggs. Correspondents will please label the eggs.

Charles C. Kalbfleisch,
8 West Forty-ninth Street, New York City.

Five birds' eggs, for twenty-five foreign postage stamps. No duplicates.

Truman Lewis,
P. O. Box 197, Waterbury, Conn.

Postage stamps, for stamps or relics.

Ezra C. Harwood,
68 West Broadway, New York City.

Revenue stamps and postmarks, for stamps and minerals.

E. H. Smith,
Care of E. I. Smith, Corner of Woodward and
Jefferson Avenues, Detroit, Mich.

A stone from Illinois, for one from any other State.

Charlie F. Haven,
New Lenox, Will County, Ill.

California sea-weeds, acorn barnacles from the sea, some curious egg cases of a shell-fish, two flint arrow-heads, or some interesting objects for a microscope, for postage stamps from Asia, Africa, South and Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, or United States twelve, fifteen, or thirty cent, or any department stamps.

Humphrey Noyes,
Community, Madison County, N. Y.

A three-cent Canadian stamp, for one from Cuba; or an Austrian stamp, for one from Italy.

James P. Holdridge,
69 South Hamilton Street, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

A collection of California sea-weeds, for specimens of wood from different States, or for United States minor coins.

F. M. Elliot,
Evanston, Cook County, Ill.

A. P. J.—The Yellowstone River flows in a northerly direction out of Yellowstone Lake, and after a course of about 1300 miles, during which it descends about 7000 feet, it reaches the Missouri. The lake is one of the most beautiful sheets of water in the world, twenty-two miles in length, and from twelve to fifteen in breadth. Its elevation above the level of the sea is 7788 feet, and its greatest depth is 300 feet. Only four other lakes are known to have a greater elevation—lakes Titicaca and Uros, in Peru and Bolivia, which are respectively 12,874 and 12,359 feet above the level of the sea, and lakes Manasarowar and Rakas-Tal, in Tibet, which lie at the great height of 15,000 feet. The Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone are wonderfully beautiful. They are not more than a quarter of a mile apart. Before reaching the first fall the river flows through a grassy valley with a calm, steady current, until it plunges over a ledge 140 feet in height. The second fall is more than 350 feet high. Over this precipice the river plunges in snow-white foam and spray. From the foot of the falls rises a dense and heavy mist, and no one can approach within several hundred yards without being drenched to the skin. On the west side the wall of rock is covered to the height of about 300 feet with a dense carpet of mosses, grasses, and other vegetation, of the most vivid green. There is nowhere in the world a more beautiful scene than that which is presented by this remarkable fall, although Niagara is more impressive on account of the volume of water which pours over the precipice.

Mary B.—Among the most celebrated poems of Robert Burns are "Tam o' Shanter" (about which an article was printed in the Post-office Box in No. 56), "The Cotter's Saturday Night," "To a Mouse," "Highland Mary," "John Anderson," "To a Mountain Daisy," "The Twa Dogs," "The Banks o' Doon," "Mary Morison," "Bruce's Address," "John Barleycorn," and "For a' That, and a' That." The best piece for speaking is "Bruce's Address," which can be found in almost every collection of poetry.

Margaretta B.—The fifteen decisive battles of the world to which Mr. Herbert Spencer referred are probably those which are described in a volume bearing that title, written by Mr. E. S. Creasy, of England, and published in this country by Harper & Brothers. They are the battle of Marathon, the defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse (b.c. 413), the battle of Arbela, the battle of the Metaurus, the victory of Arminius over the Roman Legions under Varus, the battle of Châlons, the battle of Tours, the battle of Hastings, Joan of Arc's victory over the English at Orleans, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the battle of Blenheim, the battle of Pultowa, victory of the Americans over Burgoyne at Saratoga, the battle of Valmy, and Waterloo. These are called "decisive" battles because, in the words of the historian Hallam, "a contrary event would have essentially varied the drama of the world in all its subsequent scenes."

Freddie L. F.—Directions for making an Æolian harp were given in the Post-office Box of Harper's Young People No. 23, Vol. I.

S. S.—The rare issues of United States cents are of 1799, 1793, 1804, 1809, 1811, 1795, 1796, 1808, 1805, and 1823. The above dates are rare in the order given.

Many others are scarce; in fact, all before 1816, if in good condition, are worth much more than their face value. Collectors should remember that the value of all rare coins depends upon condition. A much-rubbed specimen of a cent of 1799 might be dear at one dollar, while an uncirculated cent of that date would readily find a market at thirty dollars.

Reader of "Young People."—The postage stamps exchanged by our young correspondents are, as a rule, cancelled stamps cut from letters.

Correct answers to puzzles have been sent by Walter Atcheson, May F. B., Bessie Comstock, Robson D. Caldwell, R. O. Chester, Mary E. DeWitt, Carrie Edwards, Fannie Edwards, Jesse S. Godine, William and Isabel Harris, Bessie R. Howell, Ralph B. Larkin, Thomas Lunham, Isobel L. Jacob, "Little Goosey," H. P. Meikleham, O. A. Mueller, Percy McDermott, Mary B. Nesmith, Maggie Osborne, William Olfenbuttel, Augusta Low Parke, Will H. Rogers, Will Rochester, Carrie Sinnamon, James Shriver, "Starry Flag," Nellie S., George Schilling, E. C. T., T. P. Tregnor, Woodville Wrenshall, Chester Maxwell White, Willie F. Woolard, Lily, Charles, and Fred W.

[to be continued.]

[PINAFORE RHYMES.]

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

HALF-SQUARE.