Letters From Our Young Friends.
Dear Mr. Editor:
I take The Great Round World and like it very much. I am interested to know what has become of Robinson Crusoe's Island, as I have not seen anything about it lately. I hope there will be something about it soon.
Yours truly,
New York, Feb. 19th, 1897. Frederick D.
P.S.—We have a club every Saturday morning, and we read The Great Round World.
Dear Frederick:
We have had no further news about Crusoe's Island. Rest assured that we will tell our young friends when anything more is heard of or from the island of Juan Fernandez. The Editor.
Dear Mr. Editor:
I have of late become deeply interested in your delightful little paper, The Great Round World, and as I saw many of the enthusiastic readers writing to you, and asking different requests, I thought I would follow their example. I use your little book for different purposes. At school we have to begin topics, and I get a great deal of information from your little paper. I also spend many happy moments reading its contents.
I wish you would send me the names of a few good books. I do not want anything like fairy tales, but something on the order of "Six Girls," by Miss Irving, or "Little Women"; or I would be more pleased with the names of a few good boarding-school stories. I would also like you to explain the relationship between Noah and Daniel Webster.
Hoping I will receive an answer in a short time, I remain,
Your interested reader,
Cincinnati, O., Feb. 22d, 1897. Grace G.
Dear Grace:
We are very glad you take pleasure in The Great Round World, and that you find it useful.
We are told by a girl who is fond of reading, that "A World of Girls," by Mead, is the most delightful school story ever written.
"Jackanapes," "Six to Sixteen," "A Flat-Iron for a Farthing," are all three by Mrs. Ewing, and are charming books.
"An Old-Fashioned Girl," and Miss Yonge's "Pillars of the House," are both interesting.
History does not tell us of any close relationship between Noah and Daniel Webster. Editor.
Dear Editor:
I tried "Sylvia's Caramels," and found them very nice.
The other day I went to the Zoo. It is very nice. Chiquita is twenty-six inches tall and twenty-six years old. She is very cunning. She slept in a cigar-box up to the time that she was six years old! The man that told about her said that there was nothing she disliked more than to be called "dear little thing."
You asked us to tell you about any book that we like. "Timothy's Quest" is one of my favorite stories, by Kate Douglas Wiggin. All her stories end well, this one especially. It is very funny, also.
Will you please send me a "Who? When? What?" chart?
Wishing success to your little paper, I remain,
Your true and constant reader,
West Newton, Mass., Feb. 20th, 1897. Clara M.B.
Grace may perhaps find Clara's favorite story, "Timothy's Quest," interesting to her. We are much obliged to Clara for her nice letter.
Dear Mr. Editor:
It's Washington's Birthday, and a very gloomy day, too. I haven't anything to do, and mamma is in a great state of things, so I thought I would write, which I never like to do.
Well, you know there is a lot of cruelty going on all around the world.
Just think, in the summer time, how animals suffer, poor things. But I cannot do a thing. I just have to see and hear about it.
Now there goes a horse-car driver whipping his horse, and here's a man pulling the reins so the poor creature's head is bent way back and his lip bleeding. I do beg you to write something in your paper about it, but don't say who told you to, for all the children whom I know that get your paper would laugh at me; but if you don't tell them they will think it all right. I'll tell you what to write: just something to ask them to be good to animals; and tell them some of the sufferings of animals.
I don't know what to say now, so good-by.
Your friend,
Dear Little Friend:
We could not resist the temptation to publish your letter, though we have not put your name to it, and so no one will guess that it comes from you. Dear child, your gentle plea for dumb animals will do far more to make thoughtless people care for them than any words of ours.
But we will do our best to help you, and will try to have the article you ask for written.
There is a Society in New York for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and it publishes a lot of little books and papers telling people how to take care of animals. You should ask your mamma to let you go to the Society's rooms at No. 10 East 22d Street, and get Mr. Haines to give some of these books to you.
When you grow up you should join the Society, and then you would be able to do a great deal for animals. They will love you for your kind little heart as much as we do.
You might do something to help your favorites now, by getting all the boys and girls you know to join you in forming Bands of Mercy. These are clubs of young people who pledge themselves to be kind and helpful to all animals.
Write to Mr. J.L. Stevens, the Secretary of the American Humane Education Society, Milk Street, Boston.
Tell him The Great Round World gave you his address, and he will send you information about forming your club, and about the badges and rules.
You can do a great deal for suffering animals by interesting other boys and girls in the work, and teaching them that we ought to be even kinder to animals than we are to one another, because animals are dumb, and cannot tell us when they suffer.
Editor.
We have great pleasure in informing our readers that we are about to publish a volume of "Great Round World Natural History Stories."
We know how much our young friends love true stories. This collection will contain only true stories, and has been written by one who was an intimate friend, as she says, of each of these interesting creatures.
It has taken several years to collect them, and they are being prepared and illustrated with the greatest care.
We publish one story as a supplement, and will be very glad if our readers will let us know if it pleases them.
We are constantly having new books sent in to us. We would like to have our subscribers read the books, and write us what they think of them. Letters of this kind will be printed in The Great Round World from time to time. Any of our subscribers who have had a letter about some book published may become a "reader"—that is, new books will be given them to read, and write an account of. If the account is well-enough written to be published, the book may be kept; and others will be sent from time to time for criticism of this kind.