LETTERS FROM OUR YOUNG FRIENDS.
Dear Editor:
I was ten years old on the 29th of May.
I think The Great Round World is fine, and wish it much success.
I wish it was thicker, so I could read more at a time.
It's too bad about Greece and Turkey's war. Do you think there is any chance of Greece winning if the Powers stop their foolishness?
My big brother (who is six feet three inches) was down in Jamaica for a while, and saw a Cuban filibuster and knew the captain of it.
Meredith D.
Greenwood Hill, Pottsville, Pa.., June 7th, 1897.
Dear Meredith:
It is very difficult for us to tell anything about Greece and Turkey; many people think that Greece is entirely out of the whole matter, and that if the Powers want Turkey to give up Thessaly they will have to fight her and force her to do so.
Editor.
To the Readers of The Great Round World.
Dear Boys and Girls:—The first part of this letter is for you little ones whose hunger for "stories" is often unappeased because of the lack of books suitable for you—whose ages may be represented by single figures.
If you are not yet ten years old you will be sure to enjoy "The Adventures of a Brownie." It is written by Miss Mulock, and is a delightful tale of a most fascinating Brownie, who lived behind a piece of coal in a dark cellar, but who ventured out occasionally to tease, play with, protect, and amuse six merry little people. He proved to be a kind and ever welcome friend to them, although he was often naughty and played sorry tricks on careless people.
"Little Prince Fairyfoot," by Frances Hodgson Burnett, will prove interesting to all lovers of fairyland, and all who enjoyed "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" will be sure to like "Davy and the Goblin," by Charles Carryl.
You girls whose skirts have almost reached the tops of your boots will find "Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances," by Mrs. Ewing, very interesting. "Unknown to History," by Miss Yonge, and "Number XIII., the Story of the Lost Vestal," by Emma Marshall, are slightly historical in character, and are stories of absorbing interest, the one containing old English, and the other old Roman characters.
For boys of a corresponding age, no book could be found more enjoyable than "Some Strange Corners of Our Country," by Charles Lummis. The book is comparatively a new one, and should be read by every American boy and girl, as it describes some of the curious customs of our great West, and explains many of the freaks of Nature in this only partially known "New World."
Wishing the readers of The Great Round World a bright and happy vacation,
I am your sincere friend,
Edith Chester.
Bensonhurst, L.I.
William Beverly Harison, Esq.
Publisher "The Great Round World."
My Dear Sir: If, by your valuable paper to be published next week, you will kindly inform me where I can enter into communication with some official of the schoolship St. Mary's as to becoming a pupil of same, and who is the proper person, and particularly if at any place in this city, you will confer a great favor on me, and greatly oblige, Yours very truly,
Harry B.
Philadelphia, Pa., June 4th, 1897.
My Dear Harry:
In reply to your inquiry about the schoolship St. Mary's we print the following letter from Mr. McMullin, the Clerk of the Board of Education.
Mr. McMullin has also been kind enough to send us the rules for admission to the schoolship. If you will send us your address we will be pleased to forward them to you.
As your letter was dated from Philadelphia we thought that you might not be eligible for admission to the St. Mary's, and made further inquiries as to the maintenance of a similar vessel in your city.
Editor.
Editor "Great Round World":
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 10th inst., and in reply would say that the schoolship "St. Mary's" is open to admission only to boys whose parents reside in New York City, or who have a guardian appointed here.
The vessel is now at New London, Connecticut, and will leave there about the 23d inst. for a cruise in foreign waters. No applicant will be received, however, after the 15th inst.
I am not able to say whether the city of Philadelphia maintains a vessel similar to ours or not. A letter to the Clerk of the Board of Education in that city would probably obtain the information you desire.
Respectfully,
Arthur McMullin, Clerk.
Dear Editor:
My sister takes The Great Round World, and I read it and like it very much. In—I have forgotten the number of the paper—you said that the Queen of the Hawaiian Islands people did not like her rule. Well, one of my friends went there some years ago, and when he was there they loved her just as much as anybody. Will you please explain this? It was the people who ruled for her that they did not like.
Good-by. I live at Willowbrook, Auburn, N.Y.
George W.M.
P.S.—I am nine and a half years old.
Dear George:
It is said that the Queen of the Hawaiian Islands allowed herself to be influenced by bad advisers, and after a while ruled her people so badly, that they ceased to love her.
Editor.
Dear Editor:
The Great Round World interests me very much. I am very glad that the children here in the United States can work so prettily in sewing, and I think that we people ought to be proud to think that the children in this country can really accomplish the best work done in the world.
I would like to know if those American sailors who were arrested in Siberia are free, or were they rearrested.
I think General Weyler is very mean for treating the wounded soldiers of Cuba so cruelly, but I am glad that Cuba is getting the best of the war.
Yours truly,
Nancy J.
New York City, June 7th. 1897.
Dear Nancy:
You will find the latest news about the American sailors in last week's issue of The Great Round World. Thank you for your letter.
Editor.
Dear Editor:
I am very anxious to know if you can tell me who the Turkish Consul in New York and the United States Consul in Constantinople are, and how to address a letter to each. I read your paper every week, and enjoy it very much.
Harry A.S.
Dear Harry:
The Turkish Consul in New York is Chefik Bey. Address your letter:
His Excellency Chefik Bey,
Turkish Consulate,
24 State Street,
New York.
The United States Consul in Constantinople is Mr. Luther Short. Address your letter to him:
The Honorable Luther Short,
American Consulate,
Constantinople,
Turkey.
Editor.
Dear Editor:
Our teacher reads to us your nice paper, and we like it very much. Will you tell us something more about the Freeville Junior Republic, and what did they do with the insane Empress, Carlotta of Mexico?
Your unknown friend,
Raymond C.
Charlestown, S.C., June 9th, 1897.
Dear Raymond:
You will find something about the Junior Republic in the next number of the Magazine.
About the ex-Empress Carlotta of Mexico, we have no fresh news for you.
Editor
Dear Editor:
Our teacher in the Germantown Academy reads to us the paper which you call The Great Round World. The Great Round World and Harper's Round Table I consider the best papers for boys of which I have any knowledge. I would like to know whether the whale could walk on land, as other animals do. My father told me that the whale was in its former condition a land animal, which had changed its home to the water.
Yours respectfully,
Franz W.
Germantown, PA., June 14th, 1897.
Dear Franz:
Whales are in many respects the most interesting and wonderful of creatures. It would seem that at one time they may have been land creatures, and able to walk on land as other animals do. That is, however, so very remote that we have no record of it. Scientific men base their arguments in favor of this theory on the facts that whales are not true fish, but are indeed land mammals adapted to living in the water.
Their fore-limbs, though reduced to mere paddles, have all the bones, joints, and even most of the muscles, nerves, and arteries of the human arm and hand. The rudiments of hind-legs are found buried deep in the interior of the animal, and in the young whales bristles about the chin and upper lip give evidence that the whales have once been covered with hair like other mammals.
The blubber is also arranged by nature as a means for keeping their bodies warm. True fishes are cold-blooded animals, and not sensible to differences of temperature.
All these different facts make people think that at some very remote period whales were land animals.
Editor.