Elizabeth A. Hyde, 1458 Euclid Place, N. W., Washington, D. C., wants to hear from other Washington members willing to help her get up an entertainment in that city in aid of the School Fund. S. L. Barksdale, a Mississippi Knight, says he has a good many correspondents. It is their custom, besides describing places each may have visited, to propound questions. They differ about answers sometimes, and so they send us five questions, agreeing to abide by our decisions. What is the Flower City and what the Flour City? Springfield, Ill. and Rochester. N. Y. respectively. How does a spider get his web from one tree to another? How does he spin a round web? How does he keep lines the same distance apart? And what keeps him from falling?
The spider possesses no special ability to get from one tree to another. He depends upon the wind generally. He spins a single thread long enough to reach across and then trusts to the wind. If the end attaches itself at what he deems the wrong place, he goes over it where it is, or around by way of the ground and adjusts it. He makes the web regular, both in size and distances apart, because he possesses mathematical and mechanical instinct, just as does the bee, only in less degree. He keeps from falling by clinging to his web. He possesses no peculiar power in this respect over other insects. We cannot express an opinion whether a certain firm is reliable or not. The price of Abbott's Life of Napoleon is $5 in cloth.
The rules of knucks up, with marbles, vary greatly. Here is one way to play it: Dig three holes in the ground three inches in diameter and four feet or more apart. The first player starting at the first hole tries to get his marble into the second hole. If he succeeds he takes a span with his hand and proceeds to the third; if he fails, the next player follows. Should he manage to get into the hole, he plays again, and can either try for the third hole or try to knock his opponent further away from the hole. He also has the privilege of a span. If he should hit his opponent's marble, the hit counts another hole for him, but he must put his marble into the hole he was playing for before he can shoot at his opponent's marble. There is a point to be gained in carrying your opponent's marble from hole to hole. You can finish the game in this way.
The players continue in this way until one or the other has gone up and down three times. The player who has lost the game places his clinched fist on one side of any of the holes, with his marble in front of his fist. The winner gets on the opposite side. He then takes aim, closes his eyes, and shoots. He does this three times, his eyes closed, and every time he misses, or hits his opponent's marble, he has to put his knuckles up on his side of the hole while the loser shoots at them. These are called the "blind" shots. Then he shoots three times at the loser's knuckles with his eyes open. These shots he very seldom misses. It is best not to have too many players, because there is likely to be confusion in the marbles and the holes. You can also play partners in the same way.
The largest city in the United States is New York, and its population, recently enumerated, is only a little below 2,000,000. The following States fought for the Southern cause of 1861, passing secession ordinances on dates in the order named: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The States of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware refused to secede, but passed ordinances declaring themselves to be neutral.