Part 4

Perhaps some of your young people will like to hear about a parrot that we used to have. He was a very funny fellow. He repeated almost everything that he heard. When mamma asked for the servants in the morning, he would commence to call them: "Lola! Dolores! German! it is time to get up; the mistress is calling you!" When he was angry he would begin to cry, "I am angry! I am angry!" When the servants did not give him dinner, he would cry, "I am hungry! I am hungry!--the servants have not given me my dinner." He knew how to laugh. Sometimes he scolded the servants, and afterward he would laugh--"Ha! ha! ha!" When we were breakfasting he used to come to the table for us to give him his breakfast, and he would eat from our hands. Sometimes he would sit on papa's shoulder. His plumage was red, green, and blue. He was very pretty.

Have you ever seen a crane? The other day a gentleman presented one to papa. He has a long neck and long legs, and is very pretty. He eats from our hands, and is very tame. He eats all the flies and roaches he can find. The other day a dog bit a little friend of ours. As it was a strange dog, that came from the street into the yard where the child was playing, it is not known whether the dog was mad or not. But the doctor said he must treat the wound as if he knew the dog was mad; so he had to burn the place to prevent the boy from having hydrophobia.

CONCEPCION.

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POLK TOWNSHIP, ILLINOIS.

I am a little boy six years old. I live on a farm. I have two dogs, and my grandpa named one of them Peter. I have a brother four years old, and a darling sister, too. Papa calls sister "Black-eyes," but her name is Clara. She can say two lines of "Three Little Kittens," and says "please" and "thank you" as well as anybody. My brother and I saved our money until we had enough to buy "The Franconia Stories" and "Little Learner Series," but we like our YOUNG PEOPLE better than any books we have.

PAUL C.

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NEW YORK CITY.

I will be twelve years old in a few days. I notice, in looking over my first volume of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, that most of the boys and girls who write to you are under that age. When I read some of their letters, I only wish I was favored as they are, and could have chickens and rabbits, and live in the country. But I am a city boy, and go to the public school, and have lots of books, and enjoy myself in reading, and playing with my two little sisters, who are, I think, the most cunning little girls I know.

JOHN M. H.

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HOBART, NEW YORK.

I like your paper very much, and receive it with great pleasure every week. I am not going to school at present, but expect to very soon. We have six cats, and none of them are cunning. I am nine years old, and live on a farm. We send our milk to New York. This is one of the sections of New York State in which maple sugar is made, and it is very interesting to watch the process. We have had no snow as yet, but usually at this time of the year have about two feet--more or less.

MYRA G. W.

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LIMA, PERU.

As the editor hopes that some girl will write in the defense of poor puss, I beg to say that I have two splendid cats. The largest is a fine Maltese, looks very much like an old woman, and is exceedingly fat. He is named Mr. Mason. Besides having the good quality of being an excellent mouser, he is very religious, and often spends the nights in the Cathedral, which is just in front of our house. Early in the morning he comes back, howling for something to eat. The other cat is named Mr. Stubbs, and is decidedly the favorite. He is rather thin, and has a face like a mouse, but is the most affectionate animal alive; and when mother opens the door in the morning, he stands quite still, and says, "Mew! mew!" as if to say good-morning; he then walks in, and pays us each a visit in bed. He never scratches, and I am almost sure that if Augusta C. knew him, she would think differently about cats.

I have one sister and two brothers. We were all born in Mexico, but, my parents being Americans, we are all, of course, American citizens. During the last eight years we have been living in Lima, Peru, and so Mr. Harper will not think it strange that this letter takes a little longer to go to him than some others. We have taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE since it has been published, and always praise and recommend it to everybody. It is just splendid.

CARLOTA L.

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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

I am a little boy nearly ten years old, and live in Boston. My brother Theo (who is seven) and I have taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE ever since we first heard of it, and we like it very much, and so do all the boys and girls in our neighborhood.

My father says that I may write a letter, which perhaps you will publish, because the little boys and girls who live in other parts of the country may like to hear about things at the sea-shore.

Last summer we lived at a place twenty miles from Boston, in the town of Cohasset, and it was the nicest place we ever had for summer, because it was always cool and pleasant in fine weather. It was near Minot's Ledge Light-House, and quite near the great blue ocean. We could always hear the sound of the waves on the beach, and could see the steamboats and vessels going up and down the coast. Sometimes in stormy and foggy weather the vessels would be in danger of going on the rocks; then the fog-horn would sound very loud to warn them off the shore.

We used to go in bathing nearly every pleasant day. My sister, who is twelve, could swim out in very deep water, but I thought it much nicer fun to dig sand on the beach, or run about the rocks on shore.

Sometimes the children from other houses would come and play with us under the trees or in the stable, where we kept our horse and our hens, and sometimes we used to take long walks to the village or through the fields.

In September, when the days grew shorter, mamma and auntie wanted to go back to Boston, because the evenings were lonesome, and most of the people were going to their homes. But I want to go to Cohasset again next summer, and I should like to see some of the boys and girls there who read this paper, and I guess they can find me by inquiring at the post-office for

HARRY A. P.

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Some of our youthful puzzlers omit to send the answers with their puzzles. No puzzle can be admitted unless the solution is sent in the envelope with the puzzle. Some boys and girls send correct answers to puzzles, but forget to sign their names, and in consequence we can not give them credit, as we would like to, for their careful work.

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Nellie Anderson, Lancaster, Ohio, found violets in bloom in December.

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Ada Allen, Bolivar, Missouri, has sent us her teacher's certificate that she has recited perfectly the list of the Kings and Queens of England.

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Lester Tallmadge, of Leaville, Colorado, would like to receive the full address of H. R. S., who lately sent him a package of interesting curiosities, in order that he may make a suitable return.

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C. Y. P. R. U.

ALICE.--I can not decide for you the question which is the most useful of all the trees in the world. I will leave it open for the C. Y. P. R. U., and members may send me their opinions. The tree which is applied to the most various and multiplied uses is probably the palm. There are a number of species of palm, differing in some minor peculiarities, but all graceful, elegant, and beautiful. The Palmyra palm (_Borassus flabelliformis_) is, on account of its great usefulness, called the prince of trees. Until this tree reaches its twentieth year it has little grace or beauty. A recent writer says: "It is covered from the root upward with the remains of old leaves which have been cut off some distance from the trunk, leaving ugly and dangerous projections. These leaf-stalks when green are soft and easily cut, but after they become dry they are almost as hard as horn. A person running against such a tree by night, or accidentally, is sure to retire wounded. After the tree becomes older, all these remains of former leaves disappear, and the straight trunk emerges smooth and clean, as if it had been artificially trimmed and polished. It rises to the height of from sixty to ninety feet, and is considered in its youth during its first hundred years. The timber is almost worthless until the tree is sixty years old."

A Hindoo poem is said to enumerate eight hundred and one uses to which the palm is applied. The leaves are used for fuel, for thatch, for mats, for baskets, for cords, for fans, for umbrellas, for pouches, books, etc. The sap is drawn from the tree twice daily during seven months of the year, and makes, when unfermented, a pleasant drink; when fermented, an intoxicating wine. It is boiled into a coarse sugar, which is used both as food and medicine, and as a cement in mortar. The fruit is considered a delicacy. There is an Indian proverb about the palm which says, "If you plant it, it will grow a thousand years; and if you cut it, it will last a thousand years."

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The Postmistress acknowledges with thanks the kindness of her young friends who have sent her pretty cards and other favors of the season.

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ST. CLAIR, MICHIGAN.

DEAR POSTMISTRESS,--Will you please try to think of something pleasant for five girls to do. We are trying to get up a club by ourselves. We want to meet in the afternoon, and sometimes in the evening. We would like to have you tell us some name for it, and what kind of badges and what color would be nice. I take HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, and like it very much.

WORTHY E. MCE.

How would you like "We Girls?" I think that would be a pretty name for such a club as yours. As for badges, there is nothing more appropriate than a geranium leaf or two, to be worn when you meet, or you might assume rosettes of pink ribbon, or, prettier still, always wear a white apron when you assemble. I think it would be very charming for you to have some beautiful needle-work on hand, and while one should read aloud, let the others sew. If there are poor little girls in your town who do not know how to sew, or whose mothers are too busy to make comfortable clothing for them, your club, with _your_ mothers' permission, might make garments for them. A cooking club is very popular among girls of your age, and, upon the whole, would perhaps give you more enjoyment, and result in more real benefit to you in making you efficient little house-keepers, than anything else the Postmistress could propose. If you try the latter work, you will need the assistance of some older friend until you are fairly organized. Please write, and tell me what you finally resolve upon.

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PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

I am a regular subscriber to your nice paper, and read it with great interest. I would like to tell you about a dog that I know of that was much attached to his master, who is a boat-builder. The other day, while at work placing beams in position in a new boat, one of the poles became loose, and was about to fall on the man, who was in the way. The dog saw his master's danger, and sprang on him, knocking him out of the way. The man was slightly hurt, but the poor dog was killed. He saved his master's life, but lost his own. Please give this to the Postmistress to publish.

KITTY B. H.

I am very glad to publish this letter in memory of the faithful dog who lost his life to save his master's.

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There is one thing certain about our paper this week. The C. Y. P. R. U., on the look-out for relations of solemn fact, would never be able to tell which articles were intended for its special entertainment if the Postmistress did not point them out. "The Loss of the _Royal George_" is one, but who that did not know it to be an actual occurrence, and one of the most terrible and heart-rending in English history, would not think the story one of the wildest fancies of some writer's brain? Then who would believe that some birds could be so cruel and heartless as to feed upon the flesh of their fellows, if Dr. W. O. Ayres, of Yale College, did not tell us so in "My Family of Orioles"? Unless the Postmistress is very much mistaken, the articles in YOUNG PEOPLE which will be most widely read this week are those in which "truth is stranger than fiction."

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PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

ENIGMA.

Formed half beneath and half above the earth, We sisters owe to art a second birth; The smiths' and carpenters' adopted daughters, Made on the earth to travel o'er the waters. Swifter we move as tighter we are bound, Yet neither touch the water, air, nor ground. We serve the poor for use, the rich for whim, Sink when it rains, and when it freezes, swim.

ELLA B.

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No. 2.

TWO EASY DIAMONDS.

1.--1. A letter. 2. A verb. 3. Large plants. 4. A creeping fish. 5. A letter.

2.--1. A letter. 2. A huge serpent. 3. Juvenile. 4. A conjunction. 5. A letter.

ROBTUS.

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No. 3.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC.

1. To obey. 2. A surgical instrument. 3. Universal. 4. Part of a bird. 5. To breathe out. 6. A weight. 7. A pronoun. Primals--One of Shakspeare's plays. Finals--The name of a famous author.

HARMON W.

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No. 4.

A LETTER PUZZLE.

One I, one O, one R, four S's, and one C. Now place these letters in order, and form a word for me.

H. W.

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No. 5.

NUMERICAL ENIGMA.

My whole is a familiar adage composed of 22 letters. The 6, 4, 5, 16 is to try anything. The 3, 18 does not mean yes. The 11, 2, 20, 15, 16 is to lift. The 13, 8, 10, 12 is to sting. The 19, 22, 14 is used to wash with. The 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 is very sweet. The 9, 17, 1, 21, 4 is a fragrant substance.

W. B. G.

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Correct answers to puzzles have been received from "Lodestar," Nellie Anderson, Ella Chirney, Ernest Payne, Walter E. Paulding, G. W. Taggart, Edward Lee Haines, Sammy A. Jones, Reggie Reid, Arthur Bancroft, Elbert E. Hurd, J. J. Bellman, Gerson G. Freund, Jacob Marks, Henry E. Johnston, Jun., and Willie Volckhausen.

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[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._]

End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, January 10, 1882, by Various