There is nothing much to do here except go to school and play. My father keeps a store, and during the summer I worked for him. School began on the 4th of October. I have ten chickens, and am building a coop for them; and I have a very large cat named Buff. I am saving money now to buy a cornet.
Will you tell me whether the stamps the readers of Young People are collecting are used or new? I have quite a number of used ones.
George H. H.
The stamps in the albums of young collectors, if they are genuine issues, have, with but few exceptions, done service on some letter or package before they find their way to the collector's hands. Unless they are too much defaced by postal marks they form as valuable specimens as if they were new, and are perhaps more interesting. To obtain full collections of new foreign stamps would be difficult and very expensive.
Asheville, North Carolina.
I like Harper's Young People very much. I have a paint-box, and I am going to color all the pretty pictures. I have a pony named Tiny, two cats, and a canary which sings delightfully. I am eight years old.
Emily T. H.
Boston, Massachusetts.