Harper's Young People, May 4, 1880 Part 7

GUY H.

EDNA, MINNESOTA.

I wish to thank the children through YOUNG PEOPLE for sending me so many nice presents since I wrote. A great many of those who have written to me have inquired my age. I am sixteen, but I have been to school only two years in my life. When I was between seven and eight years old, I was taken sick, and six years ago my feet were taken off. Since then I have been at school nearly two years, and before I was taken sick I had learned to read a little. I am not as well educated as I would be if I had been well, like other boys. My home is in Edna, Polk County, Minnesota. When I wrote before, I was staying with a friend in Crookston.

ELMER R. BLANCHARD.

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN.

I tried Puss Hunter's little recipe too, but I put frosting on my cake. I made a mistake, and put it in a jar with dried beef. When I treated a slice to the folks, they laughed at me, and said it tasted as if it was flavored with ham. I like YOUNG PEOPLE, and I like the little letters best of all.

MAY W. (10 years).

BELLERIVE, SWITZERLAND, _April 5, 1880_.

I noticed in YOUNG PEOPLE of March 16 that it was time to look for violets and anemones. I wish to tell you that I have already found them here, and also the "p.u.s.s.ies." I am fourteen years old, and I am at school here in Vevey, on Lake Geneva.

L. SULLIVAN.

FOX LAKE, WISCONSIN.

Here is a recipe for water cookies that my sister asked me to send to Puss Hunter for her cooking club: One cup of sugar; one-half cup of b.u.t.ter; one-half cup of water; caraway seeds; flour enough to make it very stiff. Roll very thin, and sprinkle with sugar after putting the cookies in the pan.

H. F. P.

BAILEY'S MILLS, FLORIDA.

I am staying now on Lake Miccosukie, which is ten miles long and from two to three miles wide. About two miles from the lake the outlet sinks into the ground. The Miccosukie Indians once lived here. There is a large live-oak where they used to dance around their scalp pole at the green-corn feast. I have some pieces of pottery and arrow-heads; some are very pretty. General Jackson fought the Indians here, and drove them across the lake. There is an Indian mound near here which has large trees growing on the very top. I wonder who made it, and what for. The trees here are in full leaf, and many are in bloom (April 13). The orange-trees are filled with fruit.

WILLIE L. B.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA.

I am ten years and five months old. I read YOUNG PEOPLE every week. The answer to the "Personation" in No. 24 is Queen Charlotte of England, wife of George the Third. She was married in 1761, and died in 1818. The town in which I live is named for her. It was incorporated by the Colonial Legislature in 1762. Two miles southeast of this town is Monticello, the former residence and now the burial-place of Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, and former President of the United States. One mile southwest from here is the University of Virginia, founded by Jefferson. When I am old enough I hope to become a student there.

HARRY A. G.

OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY.

I once had a gray fox, but one night he got loose, and a dog killed him. Last spring I bought a 'c.o.o.n, and kept him all summer.

He was very cunning, but my fox was the best. He would play hide-and-seek with me for hours. Will you please tell me what minnows eat, and must I change the water every morning and evening? Sometimes I leave the water unchanged for days, and the fish seem livelier. I caught them in a ditch.

WILLIS E. L.

Minnows may be fed the same as gold-fish (see YOUNG PEOPLE No. 6). Once a day is sufficient to change the water, although if you have certain kinds of water-plants in your globe or aquarium, the water may go unchanged for days, and still remain pure.

INGLESIDE.

I am a little girl only ten years old. I live on a farm in Cherokee County, Georgia. Last summer I began to make a collection of insects, but did not succeed very well. Will you please tell me what is the best way to kill and preserve them?

KATIE R. P.

The best method of catching b.u.t.terflies and insects is with a net, which can be made in the following manner: Take a common barrel hoop, and slit off a strip about a quarter of an inch wide. Of this make a hoop about a foot in diameter, and fasten it with wire to a light rod about a yard long. Then take a round piece of mosquito netting about three-quarters of a yard in diameter, and bind it firmly to the hoop. Insects captured with a net do not get broken as if caught rudely with the hand. When your treasure is secured, gather the net in your hand, thus confining the insect in a very small s.p.a.ce. Then dose it carefully with a few drops of ether, which should be poured on the head. This will probably kill the insect at once; but should it a few moments later show any signs of life, another drop will finish it. The advantage of ether is that it evaporates quickly, and leaves the color and texture of the insect uninjured. The best way to mount your specimens is to have thin pieces of cork glued to the bottom of your case, to which the insect is fastened by a long slender pin stuck through its body. If you have no corks, soft pine wood will do. You must mount your specimen and arrange its wings and feelers immediately, as it soon becomes stiff and brittle, and will break if handled. The great enemies of a collection of insects are mice and moths. Mice will ruin the result of a whole summer's work in a single night if they can get at it. But a little care and forethought will guard against the ravages of these mischievous destroyers.

KENOSHA, WISCONSIN.

I had a young wild rabbit that grew so tame I could let it out in the yard to eat gra.s.s and clover. It would also eat bread and milk out of a dish. I liked it very much. When I caught it I put it in a wire cage, and fed it, and it soon got tame, and played around the kitchen most of the time. I am sorry to say that my little sister squeezed it to death. I am twelve years old, and I live on a farm one mile west of Kenosha. I have three brothers and three sisters, and I am the oldest of them all. Five of us go to school in Kenosha.

E. B. C.

HORACE C. W.--See YOUNG PEOPLE No. 18, page 232.

MATTIE L.--There are so many good books of the kind you require, that it is difficult to say which is "best."

A. H. E., and OTHERS.--We receive a very large number of puzzles from our youthful correspondents. If no answer accompanies them, they are not examined. If the solution is one we have already published, it can not be used again. Good puzzles are always welcome, but even after being accepted, they may wait weeks before their turn comes to be printed.

"SUBSCRIBER," CLEVELAND.--The composition for making ink-rollers consists of glue and mola.s.ses, the proportions varying from about two pounds of glue in summer to one pound in winter for one quart of mola.s.ses. The glue should be soaked about half an hour. The water should then be poured off, and the glue heated until it melts. Then pour in the mola.s.ses, and stir it well. It should now be boiled slowly for about an hour before it is poured into the mould, which should be well oiled. You will find it much more difficult than at first appears to make a good ink-roller, and it will be as cheap in the end for you to buy them. If you take proper care of one, it will last a long time. Do not wash it immediately after use, as that tends to make it harder. When it appears clogged with ink, rub it with oil an hour before you wish to use it, and sc.r.a.pe it clean with the back of a knife.

OLAF T.--As we can not examine your telescope, it is difficult to tell where the trouble lies. Possibly the diameter of your tube is too small for the increased size of your gla.s.s.