Chimacum, Washington Territory.
I live in a lovely valley surrounded by high hills and mountains. It is a very pleasant place in summer, but very dreary in winter, as nothing can then be seen except snow in every direction. The nearest town is called Port Townsend; it is about ten miles from here. The Coast Range of mountains looms up in the west, and they are really magnificent when the sun shines on them. There is quite a large creek flowing through my father's farm, from which we get large speckled trout. Many people come from the towns to fish in the summer. There is a smelting furnace at the "Beach," two miles from here, where iron ore is melted. The place is called Irondale, and is the nearest post-office to this valley. There is a great amount of bog ore in this valley, and as it is only a foot below the surface of the ground, it is easily mined.
Barton R.
Dear Santa Claus,—Will you please give me a drum for a Christmas present? I won't drum with it in the house, and I'll let my brothers drum too. Papa said if I wrote to Harper's Young People, maybe you would see it, and send me one. I am seven years old, and my name is Hammond W. I live in Monticello, Sullivan Co., N. Y.
Papa has taken Young People for us for two years, and this year it is mine. Please put this in, so I can get the drum.
Hammond W.
My brother and myself have a little pony that is real cunning. I was riding the other day, and a boy threw a snow-ball at her, and she ran after him just as fast as she could go, and he had to jump over a fence. The pony throws me off every time she gets a chance. I put my arm out of joint a few months ago, and it is not strong yet. I have a trapeze and some parallel rings. I can perform a great many tricks. The water is nearly as high now as it was in the spring. I was in Milwaukee a few weeks ago, and I saw the place where Matthew Carpenter was buried, but did not go near it. I tried to ride the bicycle that my brother rides, and I don't want to try again. I have a collection of 950 stamps, and I will exchange rare stamps, such as New Zealand, Servia, etc., for rare stamps and coins.
C. B. Bird, Jefferson, Wis.