A CHEAP CANOE.
So many lads have written to Our Post-office Box asking for advice and information as to how to build a cheap canoe, that Messrs. Harper & Brothers have just reprinted in a circular the article on this subject which appeared in Harper's Young People April 27, 1880. Messrs. Harper & Brothers will mail the circular and working plans to any address on receipt of a three-cent postage stamp.
Warm Weather.—Why, of course, dears. But we need the sunshine to ripen the corn, and make the apples round and red, and paint the yellow pears, and kiss the green grapes until they grow large and purple. Let me tell you a secret. It isn't worth while to fan, and fan, and keep saying "Oh, dear! I wish a breeze would come! When will this heat be over?" Neither is it a good plan to drink a great deal of ice-water. The more you drink, the more you will want. Try to forget the heat, and get some pleasant thing to do, sitting in the coolest place you can find. Paint a picture, draw some Wiggles, make a puzzle for Harper's Young People, or write a letter to Our Post-office Box; help auntie dust the parlor, gather flowers to fill the vases, read an interesting book, arrange your specimens or stamps, or tell a story to please your little sister. If you do something that you like to do, or that will make others happy, the warm day will be gone before you know it.
Fort Bayard, New Mexico.
I am a little boy eight years old. I have taken Young People for over a year. I like New Mexico very much. I have a little burro (that is Mexican for donkey) that I ride or drive. My father has three deer-hounds and one stag-hound. One of the deer-hounds is mine; I call him Thor. The names of the rest of the hounds are Hilda, Maida, and Jarl; Jarl is the stag-hound. Day before yesterday Hilda was hooked by a cow, Thor had a cut in his foot, and Jarl had a sliver in his leg two inches long. When Jarl was a puppy, he had a bad fall from a railroad trestle. Papa was going to shoot him, but one of the soldiers said, "Don't shoot, sir; he is all right." We have a pointer called Roy. I have been to the Santa Rita copper mines, and have seen the stamps that they crush the ore with. I take German lessons from the librarian of the Twenty-third Infantry. My mother has twelve hens—two sitting, and two with little chickens. I have nothing more to tell about now, but I will write again. I liked "Toby Tyler" and "Tim and Tip," and I like "Mr. Stubbs's Brother" very much; and oh, I liked "Scrap" so much! and "The Boys' Tea Party" was splendid. I would like to send my love to the Postmistress.
W. Swift M.
The Postmistress sends you hers in return.
Glassborough.
I have begun to make a collection of curiosities, and have three butterflies, one moth, a hornets' nest, and two birds' nests; in them are three eggs. My only pet is a kitten named Bunthorne, but I am lamenting the loss of a horned toad from Mexico. It refused to eat, and after three months of captivity it quietly died. They are called by the Mexicans el taurusita del Vergita, meaning the little bull of the little Virgin.
P.S.—Will you tell me the difference between a maiden and a spinster?
H. S. W.
What a pity about the poor toad! Perhaps he pined for home.
Any unmarried woman is a maiden. A spinster is a person who spins. In olden times the young ladies of the family used to spin and weave the household linen, and so they were called spinsters. Really a maiden and a spinster are the same.
Gallipolis, Ohio.
I am a little girl twelve years old. I have been taking Harper's Young People two years, and like it very much. I have been afflicted for years, and have to walk on crutches. I have two sisters, who are away at school; a week more and they will be at home, and I will be happy. I have a canary-bird; his name is Pedro. The bottom of his cage dropped out, and he flew away, and was gone a day and night; a boy caught him, and brought him back to me. I have a tortoise-shell cat and kitten. The old cat is named Spot, and the kitten Hot. I will exchange twelve foreign and United States stamps for the same number of gilt cards or glass buttons. I have a button string of over a thousand glass buttons; I have also six hundred cards.
Mary V. Cox.
Although you have to walk on crutches, you have happy times, I am sure, for a contented heart triumphs over all difficulties.
Sherburne Four Corners, New York.
I am a girl twelve years old, and am not very large for my age. I have five sisters and one brother. Two of my sisters are married, and each has a little boy. The oldest boy is four years old, and the youngest is not two weeks old yet. My birthday was last May, on Decoration-day. I am collecting cards, and now have 370. We have four horses and two colts; and I have a very nice cat.
Fannie A. H.
A very little girl with a very big hat,
And a dear little boy with a pail,
They were going to the beach to play in the sand,
And then off with papa for a sail.
Little Confectioners.—Several little girls have asked me to give them some receipts for making chocolate caramels and other candies. I hope they will remember that in candy-making, as in other cooking, it is necessary to be very exact in measuring the different ingredients; neither sugar nor flavoring can be left to chance. And the little cook must keep a sharp eye on her fire, and watch her pan and its contents, so as to remove them at just the right moment. Sugar must be made into a syrup by adding water to it, and boiling it until it is smooth and thick. It is then called clarified sugar.
Chocolate Caramels.—Dissolve four ounces of chocolate in as little water as possible, and add it to one pound of clarified sugar, stirring it for a few minutes before taking it off. If you wish a richer caramel mixture, then take half a pound of chocolate, two cups of sugar, half a cup of milk, and a small lump of butter. Scrape the chocolate in the milk, add it to the boiled sugar, and stir in the butter. When your caramels are done pour them into a flat pan or a sheet of tin which you have oiled or buttered, so that they will not stick fast to it. When cool enough to be dented with the finger, cut the caramels into the shape you desire with a knife. If you do not eat your caramels on the day they are made, keep them in a tightly closed jar.
Everton taffy is a favorite with children. It is made in this way:
Everton Taffy.—Melt three ounces of butter in a brass skillet, and add one pound of brown sugar; boil the mixture over a clear fire until the syrup, when dropped into cold water, breaks between the teeth without sticking to them. Pour it into pans which have been rubbed with buttered paper, and set it away to cool. If you wish, you may add the grated rind of a lemon when the sugar is half done.
Plain Taffy.—Boil a quart of molasses slowly for half an hour over not too fierce a fire, stirring it constantly. Add to it half a tea-spoonful of bicarbonate of soda (baking-soda). Try the candy by dropping a spoonful in cold water. If brittle, it is done.
You may, if you wish, make molasses candy very white by pulling it in your hands, first flouring them or buttering them, so that the candy will not stick fast to your fingers.
Now, dear little housekeepers, although I have given you these receipts, I do not advise you to spend a great deal of time in candy-making in midsummer. I would rather hear that you had been riding on the hay, or gathering apples, fishing with your brothers, or going over the hills for blackberries. But if you do make candy, be sure to write me word whether or not it turns out finely and tastes good.
Weatherford, Texas.
I am a little boy seven years old. I have never been to school yet, but I learn at home. I like my books very much. I had several nice books given to me, and I have read them all but one. I have just had a nice trip with my papa, going on the Texas and Pacific Railroad to Colorado City. It is in Western Texas, on the Colorado River. The river was very high, and I saw some horses swim across it. I saw a great many prairie-dogs. They burrow in the ground, and have a rattle-snake, an owl, and a rabbit with them. I also saw a panther. I wanted a prairie-dog for a pet, and a gentleman promised to send me one. I see where little Susie has told you about her pet, a horned toad. There are a great many of them here. They do not hop like a toad, but run almost as fast as a lizard. I catch them, and put them in the garden to destroy the bugs. My pet is a little rat terrier named Snip. I saw a little printing-office at Colorado City, where a paper called the Nut-Shell is printed. It is about as large as a big sheet of writing-paper. Its editor is Johnny Tolar, a boy about fifteen years old. I take it and Harper's Young People. I wrote this letter by myself, and then got mamma to show me the mistakes.
Howard L.