Harper's Young People, April 6, 1880 Part 8

B.

We will publish such contributions, giving full name and address of author. But before being sent, the stories, poems, essays, and drawings must be submitted to your teacher, and only those forwarded to us which the teacher considers the best. We will ourselves make the final decision. The copy must be neatly written, and on one side of the paper only.

ARTHUR M. M.--There will be a table of contents published at the end of every volume of YOUNG PEOPLE.

HARRY S.--An answer to your question would occupy too much s.p.a.ce in this department. It will, however, be made the subject of a separate article in some future number of YOUNG PEOPLE.

J. U. B.--Any taxidermist will give you the desired information.

JESSIE S.--The great Greenland whale which is found in the Northern Ocean has a throat so small that it can not swallow anything larger than a herring. Its princ.i.p.al food consists of a small marine mollusk, about an inch and a half long. It catches its dinner by rushing through the water with its immense jaws wide open. When its mouth is full, it ejects the water, while the whalebone fringe with which it is provided catches all the little sea-creatures, which serve as food for the monster. The sperm-whale has a much larger throat, and is said to be able to swallow a man.

CHARLES H. B.--There are so many kinds of worms, snakes, and other little creatures which may be the architects of the holes you have noticed, that you had better dig open some of the little dwellings, and see what you can find. Dig very carefully, and send word to YOUNG PEOPLE'S Post-office if you discover anything curious.

BIRDIE S.--Thanks for your very kind notice, but your pretty puzzle is so complimentary to ourselves that we can not print it.

EMMET M. L.--_The American_, your amateur paper, is very neatly printed, and well made up.

MARIE L.--The extra number of brakes on Mount Washington steam-engines is to increase the safety of the descent.

Sallie Floyd reports j.a.pan quinces in bloom at Carthage, Missouri, on March 7; Nellie Sands, of Lawrence, Kansas, writes that robins and redbirds have lived all winter in the evergreens in her garden; "Henry,"

of Philadelphia, says the dandelions have been in bloom almost all the time; and Lillie Ca.s.siday writes that it snowed hard on March 14 and 18 in Winterset, Iowa--the only snow of the winter in that locality.

LIZZIE S. S.--You can make an aeolian harp of a box of thin pine. The box should be the length of your window, about five inches broad, and three deep. Put a row of hitch pins at one end, and tuning pins at the other, and two narrow bridges of hard wood about two inches within the pins, over which to stretch the strings. Eight strings will make a good harp.

They should be of catgut, and if you tune them in unison, the sound will be sweeter than if they are tuned in thirds or fifths. The tension should be rather slack. The ends of the box should be raised about an inch above the strings to support a thin pine board upon which the window rests. The draught of air pa.s.ses over the strings stretched midway between the upper board and the sound-board, which should have two round holes cut in it. The harp will sound sweeter if placed in a window which is struck obliquely by the wind.

Charlie Cubbery, Lizzie Brown, Blanche T. S., Grace Roberts, Lizzie Falconer, and M. M. Coleman write pretty stories of gold-fish, canaries, turtles, goats, and other pets, which we sincerely regret we have no room to print.

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

ENIGMA.

My first is in swine, but not in cow.

My second is in quarrel, but not in row.

My third is in rip, but not in tear.

My fourth is in pretty, but not in fair.

My fifth is in herb, but not in root.

My sixth is in inch, but not in foot.

My seventh is in rake, but not in hoe.

My eighth is in yes, but not in no.

My whole is a precious stone.

KATIE.

No. 2.

WORD SQUARE.

First, not any. Second, a part of a stove. Third, necessity. Fourth, extremities.

LOUISA.

No. 3.

DIAMOND PUZZLE.

A consonant. A p.r.o.noun. A dwelling. Utility. A vowel.

REGINALD F.

No. 4.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC.

Cunning. Something always found on board of ships. An article used in soap-making. A girl's name. Something good to eat. A number. The name of a large river. Answer--Capitals of two of the United States.

JOHNNY R. G.