HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
Single Copies, 4 cents; One Subscription, one year, $1.50; Five Subscriptions, one year, $7.00—payable in advance, postage free.
The Volumes of Harper's Young People commence with the first Number in November of each year.
Subscriptions may begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the Number issued after the receipt of the order.
Remittances should be made by Post-Office Money-Order or Draft, to avoid risk of loss.
HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, N. Y.
[A RAILROAD PUZZLE.]
BY THE DOCTOR
Dear "Young People,"—Not many days ago I was travelling on a railroad, and here is what happened. The train on which I was riding came to a stand-still out in the country, away from any dépôt. On looking out to ascertain why we had stopped, I saw a long freight train just ahead of us on the same track, standing still, but headed toward us. In other words, we were going down the track, and they were coming up. Between these two trains there was a switch, on which stood a "gravel train." The engine of the "gravel train" was off the track, and so could not back up on the switch, and give room enough for our train to get on and let the freight train go by. In fact, there was only room enough on the switch to accommodate half of our train. The question was, How were we to get past each other?
Of course one of the trains could be backed up to a switch at the nearest dépôt, and let the other by, but that was some miles away. Neither did we wish to wait until the engine of the "gravel train" could be put upon the track, and then back up to give us room on the switch at hand. One or the other of these things would have to be done if some method were not known by means of which—and the little piece of unoccupied switch—we could accomplish our desire.
We did get past each other, occupying only twelve minutes, leaving the cars of each train in the same order in which they stood when we met. I give this to you for a puzzle. If any of you have fathers who are railroad men, they must not tell you how until you have tried a long time yourself. I give a little sketch, which you may use if it will make things any plainer. The freight train was about three times as long as the passenger train. From the beginning of the switch to the engine D there is room for not more than half of the passenger train; so if you think that will help you any, you are at liberty to use it.
A is the passenger train, going down.
B is the freight train, going up.
C is the "gravel train," on the switch.
D is the engine of the "gravel train," off the track.
[A GAME OF BALL AS PLAYED IN JAPAN.]
There is a Japanese ball game which is very popular in its native land, and which might well receive some attention in this country. It is known as "Temari." The "Temari" is a ball about two inches in diameter, and made generally of cotton wound round with thread, so that it keeps its roundness and is elastic. Its outside is often ornamented with figures made of threads of different colors. A number of girls stand in a circle, and one of them—say, for example, our friend Jessie—takes the ball and throws it perpendicularly on the ground, and when it rebounds, she strikes it back toward the ground with her open hand. If it rebounds again toward her, she continues doing just as before. But if it flies away, the one toward whom the ball flies, or who is nearest to the direction of the flying ball, strikes it toward the ground, as Jessie has done, and the game continues until one of the players misses her stroke or fails to make the ball rebound. She then steps out of the circle, and the others play again in the same way as before until another girl fails and is obliged to step out. The same process continues until there is only one girl left, to whom belongs the honor of victory.
[LULU TAKES CARE OF KITTY.]
BY M. E.
They brushed the clothes, they beat the clothes,
One sunny April day—
Their winter clothes, I mean—and then
They packed them all away
In paper boxes tied around
With very strongest strings,
First freely sprinkling them with some
Tobacco dust and camphor gum,
And other sneezy things.
And when, their labor done, they took
Their tea and toasted bread,
"Why, where is kitty?" some one asked,
And "I know," Lulu said;
"She's in my dollie's biggest trunk;
I brushed and beated her;
There can't not any moths, I dess,
Det into her nice fur.
She scratched my finders when I put
The camphor stuff about.
Div' me some toast that's buttered froo."
They left it all to her, and flew
To let poor kitty out.
[COAL FOR NOTHING.]
If any one wishes to be supplied with coal for nothing, he has only to rent a house near a railway, invest in a monkey, and follow the example set in the following story:
An eminent menagerist lived in a suburb where forty trains a day passed his garden. The weather was cold, but coal was expensive. The menagerist, however, was a man of resources, and conceived a plan for utilizing the forty trains a day. From his menagerie in town he brought a large Barbary ape, which unfortunate animal was chained to the top of a pole at the end of the garden.
The result was as pleasant as owning a colliery, without any wages to pay, or fear of floods and explosions. Every fireman, and occasionally an engineer, on the passing trains, had a shot with a lump of coal at the Barbary ape. The ape was never hit, but the garden was littered with coal, which the menagerist triumphantly conveyed to his cellar.
"WHAT A PLEASURE IT IS TO SEE THE DEAR CHILDREN ENJOYING THEMSELVES!"
"GOING FAR?"