STUDY AND STUDIO.
Rosemary.—1. We have sent your quotation to “Our Open Letter Box.”—2. For icing, consult the [February number] of The Girl’s Own Paper, p. 264. You will find many receipts for cakes there and elsewhere in our magazine. This is not literary! but we cannot divide a letter. It is better, if possible, for our correspondents to send separate letters for questions on cookery, health, toilet, etc.
A. Dawson.—We should think Twenty Minutes, by Harriet L. Childe-Pemberton might suit you, or The Witch’s Curse, and Other Plays, by Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (Miss Alcott). French’s catalogue (Covent Garden, Strand, London) contains all sorts of plays for young and old, and might prove a help.
Ida.—We should advise you to get Chambers’s Book-keeping by Single and Double Entry, published at 1s. 6d. You might also take correspondence lessons in the subject. Apply to King’s College, London (Ladies’ Department), the University Correspondence College, 32, Red Lion Square, W.C., or to one of the private addresses occasionally given here.
Blackberry.—Your lines in their beginning recall the hymn—
“There’s a Friend for little children
Above the bright blue sky”;
but they are not written in any metre, and do not rhyme, so they can scarcely be called verse. The writing of lines of different lengths below each other does not constitute metrical composition.
Sofie Abelsberg.—You write a good English letter. You should not say “Since three years I study,” but “I have studied for three years”; and you use “yet” wrongly. You should say “I still make mistakes.” These are common errors for a foreigner, and we congratulate you on expressing yourself so well. We insert your request.
Nil Desperandum.—We are very sorry for you, as it is quite true that the profession of teaching music is overstocked in London. We are sure it is far wiser to go into the provinces, but we cannot tell you of any special town where you would find an opening. It is best to inquire among friends if possible, or your late teachers might be able to suggest something. Perhaps some reader may help you. We should think that in a case like yours the Teachers’ Guild, 74, Gower Street, might be useful. The High Schools all over England employ visiting music-mistresses.
Jecko (Constantinople).—We are sorry we do not recognise your quotation, but we have placed it in “Our Open Letter Box.” In any case, you could not have received a reply in our next number. The magazine goes to press long before it reaches the hands of our readers.
I. F. N.—We are willing to ask our readers at your wish if they can suggest four suitable mottoes for embroidering on a bed-spread. We should recommend Coleridge’s couplet, divided as you like—
“O sleep! it is a gentle thing
Beloved from pole to pole.”
Ancient Mariner.
Mignonette.—Many thanks for your kind and appreciative verses—“As Sweet as Spring”—about The Girl’s Own Paper.
Ballochmyle.—1. Unless we are mistaken, a full account of “The House of Education” at Ambleside appeared in this magazine a year or two ago. Write to the Secretary for details of the training if you would like to undergo it. Your age would be all right.—2. Chromo-lithography is a process of reproducing paintings in colours.
Se Saren Rose.—The poem “Divided” is by Jean Ingelow, the well-known poetess who died not long ago. You will find it in the first volume of her poems, which you should be able to procure from any good library. You are quite justified in your admiration. The title of the book is, Poems: Jean Ingelow: Longmans, Green, & Co.