The readers of Young People, whose letters give assurance of the pleasure and instruction they have received from the paper during the past year, will doubtless be glad to put others in the way of sharing in their enjoyment. This they can most easily do by speaking of the paper to their friends and acquaintances, showing them copies of it, and advising them to subscribe for the new volume. By thus extending its circulation they will be working for their own interest; because the larger the list of subscribers is, the better able the publishers will be to increase the beauty and attractiveness of the paper.
The next issue of Harper's Young People will be a beautiful Christmas number. The serial stories and the Post-office Box will be omitted, and the entire contents will be suited to the holiday season. There will be a charming Christmas story, entitled "How It All Happened," by Miss Alcott, with illustrations by Jessie Curtis Shepherd; "When the Clock Struck Twelve," a play for Christmas-eve, by Edgar Fawcett; a beautiful double-page Christmas picture by Thomas Nast; music; and other pretty things to please our young readers. The number will be inclosed in a special cover, designed by W. A. Rogers, and printed in dark red ink.
We must again call the attention of our correspondents to the fact that the Post-office Box can not be made a medium for buying or selling curiosities, stamps, or articles of any kind. Neither can we print requests for the address of any correspondent.
The requests for exchange should be made as short as possible. We can not publish lists of eggs, stamps, minerals, and other things; but would advise boys and girls to make out a neat list of the articles they have to exchange, and those they desire in return, and have copies always ready to send in answer to the letters they receive.
Requests for exchange are often accompanied by lengthy conditions, but we can not make room to print them, and shall invariably leave them for the exchangers to settle among themselves. In sending specimens great care should always be taken to mark them distinctly, and to state the locality from whence they came, otherwise the recipient may become the possessor of some valuable curiosity, and be unaware of its character.
Our puzzle contributors will please remember that a puzzle, in order to be accepted, must be not only good, but must have a solution not already used in Young People, and contain no slang, and no obsolete words. Read over your contributions and correct them carefully before sending them to Young People, as the misuse of a single letter spoils an otherwise excellent puzzle.