TO THE CHILDREN, LARGE AND SMALL, SICK AND WELL, WHO READ THIS PAPER:
Do you all want to do something for me? I am sure your answer is, Yes; for I think children always like to be helping others. Well, I want you to give me ever so much money. I imagine I see round eyes grow big, and hear you say: "Pray what for? You are a stranger, and we never have much money; nor do we know what you want it for, anyway." I will tell you, for though you don't know me, it makes no difference, as I do not ask it for myself. I want it to do good to some poor little sick children, and to yourselves in giving it. In the city of New York, as most of you know, there are a great many little children who, when they are sick, or meet with an accident, have no one to take care of them, or if they have, are compelled to stay in a small close room, where there are a great many people, a great deal of noise, which makes it very hard for them to get well. Knowing this, some kind people have built a house, called "St. Mary's Free Hospital for Children," 405 and 407 West Thirty-fourth Street. It is an Episcopal institution, under the care of some kind women. They take in any child, black or white, of any creed, under fourteen years old, who has no disease which other little ones might take, so long as they have space and money to take care of them.
In the Rev. Dr. Houghton's church, Twenty-ninth Street, New York, is a society which sews for and takes care of sick little children; and this year they have furnished one ward in the hospital, for children under six years old. This is the ward I want you to take a special interest in. I hope you will go some day and see them. On any day, except Sunday, between 11 and 12 a.m., and 3 and 4 p.m., they will be very glad to see you. Oh, such a dear little baby as I saw there the other day! He had fallen down stairs and broken his hip, and his mother brought him there because the doctor said he never could get well in his own home; and though he had to lie on his back for some weeks, he was merry as a cricket, and seemed very happy. Those who can be up have playthings of all sorts to keep them busy; and for these also there is a nice, sunny, large play-room up stairs, where they have fine times. What I want you to send your money for is to endow a bed in this "little folks' ward." To "endow" means that when you shall have paid money enough, there will be one bed always there for some little sick child, and money to take care of it while there. This would be called the "Harper's Young People Cot"; and if every one of you tries to help, you will be able to have it. When you buy candy, it is soon eaten, and that is the end of both candy and money; but in this case the good of your money will last always, and the self-denial it costs will help you to grow stronger to "fight for the right." Jesus will know it, and will send His blessing to those who care for His suffering little ones.
"Little self-denials,
Cost us what they may,
Help us in this earthly life
To learn the heavenly way."If you will all set to work in earnest, we shall soon be able to have the amount needed. Who will send the first contribution, and head the list? The first of every month the names and amounts contributed will be published in this paper, which has kindly offered its help. Send your contribution, with name, for "Young People's Cot," to St. Mary's Hospital for Children, New York, to Miss E. A. Fanshaw, care of Mr. George A. Fanshaw, 43 New Street, New York.
The sooner the better. Don't you remember that story of the "Daisy Cot" which pleased you all so much? Let us have a "Young People's Cot."
Verona, Italy, June 23, 1881.
Although so far away in the old city of Verona, I have the great pleasure to receive every week, through my papa's kindness, Harper's Young People, which delights me. I think the readers of Young People would like to receive little accounts from my note-book. I will send a letter now and then.
When in London I went to the great Westminster Abbey, in which I saw the urn which contains the bones of the two Princes murdered in the Tower in the year 1483. In the Tower I saw the steps where their bodies were found. In the Arsenal were primitive cannon-balls made of stone, and all sorts of old weapons; also ten small cannons presented to Charles II., when a boy, to practice with; also much old armor, and many instruments of torture. Among many curious things in the British Museum, I saw a gigantic land tortoise, which weighed 870 pounds when found, was supposed to be eighty years old, and was still growing.
In my next letter I will tell you about Paris.
I am nine years old, and before my next birthday I expect to see many old and wonderful things on the Continent.
Alberto D. M.
Cincinnati, Ohio.
I was much interested in your account of the flying-squirrel given in Harper's Young People No. 87, Vol. II. I have never seen this graceful little animal, but from what I have heard, I suppose it is a pretty creature.
The little common squirrel inhabiting the woods is frequently seen where I live, on Walnut Hills. One day, when I was walking down a certain street with a friend of mine, I saw a pet squirrel nestling on the shoulder of a boy, who kept hold of a chain which was fastened around the little squirrel's neck. I did not think that this precaution was necessary, for the little creature did not show any inclination to run away, but, on the contrary, seemed quite contented.
I have often wondered whether or not squirrels would be happier when frisking about among the branches of trees in their native woods than when shut up in close cages. I should think that they would pine for their former freedom.
Lizzie C. C.
Unless the squirrels are made captives when they are very young, they are very wretched in confinement. We once knew about a squirrel which really fretted itself to death in its cage, and we wondered how the boy who owned it could ever be happy afterward. He gave it quite a little funeral, and erected its monument in the garden, with an inscription; but that did not make up for its unhappy days, nor restore its life. A squirrel's cage should be large enough for a boy of twelve to stand up and take several steps in, and it should be dressed with green boughs, to make it seem as much like a bit of the woods as possible. Children who have such pets should not chain them unnecessarily, and they should be careful to keep their homes clean, and give them plenty of food and fresh water.
Etna, California.
I have just been reading some of your interesting letters, and I thought that I would sit down and write to your nice paper, which we all enjoy reading. We live in Northern California, among the mines, ninety-two miles from the railroad. Papa kept store for a while, and the miners changed gold for money; and once a man brought a piece of gold, that he had just dug out of his mine, in the shape of a horseshoe.
My sister is thirteen years of age, and I am eleven. We both take music lessons. We have a nice day-school and Sunday-school. There are fourteen little girls in my class in the latter. We are building a new church. My sister is secretary of the Sunday-school.
Nellie J. F.
Augusta, Maine.
I have taken Harper's Young People almost a year, and I like it ever so much. I just loved Toby Tyler, and wasn't the big, fat woman good? I like such big folks, because they are so kind always. I live away down in Maine, on the beautiful Kennebec River. Augusta is the capital, and is the head of navigation. We have large schooners which come up here, but no ships. The schooners bring coal, and carry away ice. Papa says the Kennebec produces the best ice in the world, and our ice crop last year brought into the State over $1,000,000. I like the letters from all the boys and girls, and hope mine is not too long to be put in with others.
Charlie F. P.
We always wonder why Maine people say "away down in Maine." It is quite far up on the map. Yours is a nice letter, and the information about the ice is very pleasant in this sultry weather.
Hope, Indiana.
I love to read the children's letters in your nice little paper. I have two sisters, one eight and the other fifteen years old, and one brother who is twenty years old. For pets I have a little dog named Trippy and a little bird named Ruby. They are both very cute. I am thirteen years old.
We have a piano, and I spend a good deal of my time playing. I can not do much work, as I am crippled, and have to walk with crutches. I have been sick a long time. I was taken ill last November a year ago, but I am again able to go to school. I have been attending the young ladies' seminary this spring. It has just closed, and we had a musical entertainment, in which I was able to take part. My papa is postmaster in this place.
Please print this, as I have not seen any letters from this place.
Gertrude E. M.
It is very pleasant to play well. It is a real resource to yourself, and music enables you to entertain your friends agreeably. I am sure papa likes to hear his little daughter's piano. Girls who play should not grow tired of scales and finger exercises, but practice them faithfully, and they will be repaid by becoming fine performers.
Dayton, Ohio.
This is my first letter to Young People, and I hope to see it printed before long. I write to congratulate the young naturalists on beginning, and hope the society will prove a success. I would like very much to join a society of this kind; but it is impossible, as there are no boys and girls old enough in our neighborhood to join.
Addie E. C.
You may be an independent member, and whenever you discover anything interesting, report to the Post-office Box.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This is the first letter I ever wrote to a paper, though my brother and I have taken Young People since before Christmas. We live in Philadelphia in winter, but in summer we stay at Cape May. We feel very sorry for President Garfield, and I run to the bulletin-board to see how he is as often as a new bulletin appears.
We have a splendid large Newfoundland dog. He was too large and too curly to get an honor at the dog show, but we would not part with him for anything.
Francis R. P.
Huntington, West Virginia.
I regard the Natural History Society as a very important arrangement, and agree with Madison C., Jun., in all but one thing, and that is that there should be no limited number.
George C. McI.
Auburn, Massachusetts.
I take Harper's Young People, and I like "The Cruise of the 'Ghost'" so much that I wish it would never end. I live in Germantown, but am spending my vacation here. Before I came here I went to West Newton, and saw a steam road roller which came from England. I think it is great fun to make the wiggles.
W. S. N.
San Augustine, New Mexico.
I have not been to school in my life. Mamma is going to get a teacher. I am writing this myself. I have a sister twelve years old; her name is Jessie. We have a pet pony, and his name is Billy. We live on a ranch. Papa keeps the Post-office. I have taken Young People since the first number.
Effie D.
Syracuse, N. Y.
I have a canary-bird named Dick, which I want to tell you about. When he was a young bird, he was so small that he could get through the bars of his cage, and one day, when he was hung out-of-doors, he flew away, and staid all night. Early in the morning my mother looked out of a window, and saw Dick on the porch, and she put the cage out, and he flew into it. He is very tame, and will come on my shoulder, and drink out of my mouth. I like Harper's Young People very much.
Frank J. M.
No doubt the little truant was very glad indeed to find himself at home. Once upon a time, a long while ago, we took care of a friend's bird while she went away on a visit. The very day we expected her home, the cage door was left ajar, and Fluff flew away over the trees, and the garden wall, and out of sight. Imagine our despair. What to do we did not know. Finally, we borrowed a neighbor's bird, a very sweet singer, and set his cage and the deserted one, with its door open, side by side on the window-sill. The little girl of the family sat in the shadow of the curtain to watch, and two hours after our little fly-away came home, allured, we thought, by the songs of our borrowed bird, and perhaps by a thought of the nice fresh seed and cool water in his little house.
Markesan, Wisconsin.
I am a little boy twelve years old, and live in Green Lake Co., Wis. I would like to tell the little readers of Young People about the swarms of locusts we have here this summer. About half a mile west of our village there is a high hill covered with large oak-trees, and they are swarming with locusts, and they make a roaring noise which sounds like machinery; we can hear them very plainly down in the village. They have stripped some of the trees quite bare of leaves. They are harmless little creatures, only eating leaves of the oak.
I have a pure water-spaniel dog that will bring ducks out of the water, and anything else that I wish. I take him to the post-office and give him the mail, and tell him to take it home; he will take it in his mouth and run home, and wait on the veranda until mamma opens the door, and then he will wag his tail and seem so pleased.
Now I do so hope this will not go into the waste basket, as this is the second time I have tried to get a letter printed.
Eddie Atkinson.
Why did you not tell us your dog's name? He must be a splendid little fellow. What a pity the locusts should need so many leaves for their dinners! We should be sorry to see the oak-trees stripped, and glad that the locusts do not come every summer.
The following exchanges are offered by correspondents:
I live at Beverly, New Jersey, and am ten years old. I am making a "Zoo" garden on a small scale, and will exchange a dried balloon-fish or star-fish, or a spike from a wreck at Atlantic City, for a small live snake, lizard, or gold-fish. "First come, first served."
W. H. E., 238 S. Third St., Philadelphia, Penn.
Albany, New York.
This is my first letter to the Post-office Box. I am going away soon. I like Harper's Young People very much. "The Brave Swiss Boy," "Toby Tyler," and "The Cruise of the 'Ghost'" are about the best stories. I will give a collection of one hundred and eleven (all foreign) stamps—as Finland, Russia, Japan, Cuba, Portugal, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Newfoundland, Hong-Kong, etc.—for a good collection of shells. Correspondents will please write before sending. My address is
A. S., Jun., 258 Clinton Avenue.
Foreign stamps from Europe, East Indies, Bahamas, Cuba, and United States, for stamps from Asia, Africa, South America, Oceanica, Mexico, and Central America.
Charles L. Miller,
Lock Box 108, Bristol, R. I.
Stamps from Denmark, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Bavaria, for stamps from Mexico, Central America, Cape of Good Hope, Japan, New Zealand, and Nova Scotia. No duplicates given or taken.
L. B. Crane,
229 East Nineteenth St., New York City.
Blue gum, cactus, orange, lemon, Spanish-bayonet, California moss, and a stone from California, for Indian relics or other curiosities.
R. H. Dowse, P. O. Box 144,
Riverside, San Bernardino, Cal.
Five foreign stamps (no duplicates), for one Chinese or African stamp.
Morison C. Manchester,
40 Lawrence St., Lowell, Mass.
One of Scott's albums containing 350 stamps, 300 very rare, including 12 unused stamps, for a $2 printing-press.
G. B. Donnelly,
331 Hicks St., Brooklyn, L. I.
Leaves of the oak and hickory trees near here, for leaves from other places; or tree tulips, for foreign coins, or leaves from the large trees of California or other famous trees. Label specimens.
J. B., P. O. Box 1179, Canton, Ohio.
Seeds, mosses, flint glass, ferns, wood, and leaves, for fairy stories or a second-hand toy magic lantern.
E. A. Smith, Conover, N. C.
Some French, German, and English stamps, for stamps from any other country, or stamps for coins if more desirable.
William F. Sealy,
811 Second Avenue, New York City.
Pieces of bark from the white cedar of Canada, for foreign stamps and postmarks.
Libby and Adele Titus,
P. O. Box I., Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., N. Y.
[For other exchanges, see third page of cover.]
C. W. T., Florida.—Florida was first visited in 1512 by Ponce de Leon, who went there to look for the fountain of youth. In 1565, the Spaniards built a fort at St. Augustine, and most of the country was held by Spain until 1763, when Spain gave it to Great Britain for Cuba, which the English had taken. The British kept Florida until 1781, when the Spaniards drove them out. After the Revolution, the country belonged to Spain until 1821, when it was sold to the United States. In 1845, Florida became a State of the Union.
George C. McI.—The supply of bound volumes of Harper's Young People for 1880 is exhausted.
We do not care to so much as mention the initials of one correspondent who sent a very dictatorial letter to the Post-office Box the other day, complaining because we had not published his exchange. Exchangers usually understand that the convenience we give them in Young People is a favor, and not a right; and if occasionally they are overlooked or obliged to wait a while, they must remember what we have often told them, that we print their offers as soon after receiving them as we can, and as nearly as may be in the order we receive them. We are quite sure the correspondent to whom we refer will regret his manner of writing when he thinks the whole affair over calmly and coolly.
Jacqueline.—There is but a limited demand for French translations, and even experienced translators have great difficulty in finding publishers to look at their work. It would be excellent practice for you to translate the book you mention, but we do not think you would be successful in procuring anybody to print it for you. Translation should be literal, and elegant as well, and there is no better way of becoming familiar with the idioms of French or any other foreign tongue than by studying its literature, and rendering it into your own language.
Robert H. R.—Read article on "The Young Tin-Typers," Harper's Young People No. 63, Vol. II.; and if that does not aid you, go to some obliging carpenter for help.
"Silver Saul," Johnnie T. P., and others.—You may send your puzzles for examination if you wish. Birds' eggs are not allowed as exchanges.
Fred H. W.—We can not give addresses, nor arrange for private correspondence.
William Shattuck, H. S. Buffum, Marion S. Hare, B. P. Craig, William H. Paine, Joe S. McKnight, and Edward W. Smith withdraw from our exchange list, their supplies being exhausted.
L. L. B.—The best authorities give dec-orative, which is the common pronunciation. The present æsthetic whim is, however, to say de-cor-ative. This usage is not yet general.
We can not adjust differences of opinion as to the worth of specimens and articles exchanged. It would be well in most cases for exchangers to have a brief correspondence by postal cards before sending their wares. Thus trouble would be avoided in the end.
J. C.—Frederick William Nicholas Charles is the Crown Prince of Prussia, and on the death of his father, the Emperor William, will succeed him on the throne of Germany.
"Canoe."—The price of a Racine canoe is $75. Address E. G. Durant, Racine Manufacturing Co., Racine, Wis., for circular.
"Inquirer."—The size of a bicycle is the diameter of the front wheel. On a 36-inch machine the "spools," or pedals, when the cranks are horizontal, should be 22 inches from the saddle, or seat.
"In Expectation."—You can probably ride a 44-inch bicycle.
Ed S. Beck.—Send to the Pope Manufacturing Co., 597 Washington St., Boston, Mass., for a book called The American Bicycler.
E. J. Hatch and H. J. Wheeler.—See Harper's Young People No. 26 for directions, with working plans, for building a canvas canoe. The fine workmanship necessary in a cedar canoe could only be performed by an experienced and skillful builder. The best and safest sails for canoes are the triangular sails known as "leg-of-mutton," made of unbleached muslin, having a hoist of eight feet, and the foot laced to a boom of such a length that it will swing clear of the "dandy," or after mast. The "dandy," or "mizzen-sail," as it is sometimes called, should have a hoist of four feet, and a boom of the same length.
Correct answers to puzzles have been received from Mary H. Denny, Charles H. Brooks, Enos H. Dyer, Charlie Trimble, Robert N. McMynn, "Lord Glenalvon," Percy L. McDermott, "School-Boy," Frank S. Davis, George Washington, "King Billy," "Vi O. Let," Lizzie C. Carnochan, "Pickwick," "North Star," "Phil I. Pene," "Clem A. Tis," "Pepper," K. E. Brown, Maud M. Chambers, F. Trafford, Mamie and Josie, Charlie Trimble, Leo Marks.
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
EASY NUMERICAL CHARADE.
| I am composed of 11 letters, and am one of the United States. |
| My 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is to unite. |
| My 8 is one of the vowels, and perhaps the most important. |
| My 9, 10, 11 is to sever. |
Murray C. B.