Harper's Young People, April 20, 1880 Part 8

MILDRED C. (12 years).

Mary B. L., a little six-year-old girl, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sends the following in big capitals: "A fox went around where he knew there were some chickens. When he got there, he said,'Come down, and I will show you something more beautiful than you ever saw.' 'You talk very nice, but I can not trust you,' said a hen, 'so we can not come down.'"

Daisy W., of Rochester, New York, reports having made a cake by Puss Hunter's recipe, and it was very nice.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

We have two pet gold-fish which are turning black. Can any one tell me what is the trouble with them?

VIRGIE C.

OGDENSBURG, NEW YORK.

I am ten years old, and study geography, and I would like to know why Rhode Island is so called, when it is not an island. I live on the St. Lawrence River. Last winter more than two thousand teams crossed on the ice, and this season not even a man could cross on foot.

ABNER C. P.

The first settlement of Rhode Island was made on the island where Newport is now situated, and which contains about fifty square miles.

The Indian name of the island was Aquetneck. There are various stories in regard to the origin of the present name, but the one generally accepted is that it was bestowed on account of a supposed resemblance to the Isle of Rhodes. The State was afterward named from the island.

H. W. SINGER.--Your question is answered in Post-office Box, YOUNG PEOPLE No. 7.

SALLIE R. E.--Read the answer to F. S. in Post-office Box, YOUNG PEOPLE No. 22.

J. H. KNOX.--March is considered the proper season.

BESSIE C.--The best way to prevent your bird from eating its eggs is to put its food in the cage at night, so that when the breakfast hour arrives there will be something fresh and tempting to distract its attention. If it still persists in this troublesome habit, we fear there is no remedy for it.

C. S.--Your inquiry about coloring Easter-eggs came too late to be answered for this season, but you can practice now, so that by next Easter you will be able to color eggs "nicely." The best way is to purchase the coloring matter, as it comes in little packages already prepared, and with full directions for use. The way you propose would also be very pretty.

WINNIE R.--Keyed musical instruments similar in form to the piano were in use several hundred years ago. The virginal, shaped like an old-fas.h.i.+oned square piano, was a favorite instrument at the time of Queen Elizabeth of England, and by some authorities is supposed to have been named in honor of the Virgin Queen, as she was called. The harpsichord, much in use during the last century, was shaped almost exactly like a modern grand piano. The honor of having invented the hammer which plays upon the strings of the piano now in use is claimed by several nations, but the credit is probably due to Italy, although the first pianos are said to have been made in Germany, probably in the city of Freyburg. The piano was first called the hammer-harpsichord, afterward by the Italian name forte-piano, as it could give both loud and soft tones, while the harpsichord produced only loud ones. The name was changed later to piano-forte. Pianos are first mentioned as being in use about the middle of the eighteenth century.

Idella G. S., Edward L. H., and some other young readers in the far South inquire what are the willow "p.u.s.s.ies" which Northern children gathered with so much glee in the earliest days of spring. They are the blossoms of the common low willow which grows in great abundance at the North, and as they are the first signs that winter is pa.s.sing away, are always heartily welcomed. The buds form in the autumn on the brown twigs, and with the first warm spring sun, long before anything green has started, they swell, and burst open the brown scaly covering, disclosing a soft, downy white ament, or blossom, resembling the toe of a white kitty. This resemblance is perhaps the reason why children call these early flowers "p.u.s.s.ies."

A. ENGEL.--Directions for feeding mocking-birds are given in Post-office Box of YOUNG PEOPLE No. 13.

LOUIE T.--Your rabbit-hutch should be in a dry place, and should have two apartments. The sleeping-room should be boarded in, only you must have a door which you can open to clean it and supply it with fresh straw. The other apartment should have grated sides, and there is where the food should be placed. You must feed your rabbits regularly two or three times a day. They should have oats or bran for dry food, and carrot tops, cabbage leaves, and fresh clover frequently. If you have a yard, let them run in the gra.s.s an hour or more every day during warm weather.

K. Post's request in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 22 for long English words, has been answered by Bertha F. H., H. P., Hattie N., Thomas J. F., Albert H. E., Kent K., Emily J. M., f.a.n.n.y S., Bertie C., H. H. M., Edith C., Willie H. H., Herbert N. T., G. A. Page, and others. To print all the words sent would occupy too much s.p.a.ce. We give only a few of the longest. Supervacaneousness, unconst.i.tutionality, interchangeableness, incomprehensibleness, anticonst.i.tutionalist, disproportionableness.

_Smile_s and _beleaguered_ have also been suggested, as one has a mile, the other a league, between the beginning and the end.

Favors are acknowledged from B. E. Mace, C. Hastings, Fred Burgess, William Winslow, A. H. Patterson, S. Brown, Jun., Lizzie C., Francis B., Olive Russell, I. H. M., John Moody, "Mark Marcy," Eddie S. P., Henry S. P., Henry K., Willie Trott, Alvan G. W., Anna Wierum, Herbie E. L., Lizzie M., Edwin Wilson, Addie Anderson, Lester O. B., Julius Weller, Royal, Effie Barker, f.a.n.n.y Sumner, Altia Austin, Annie Carrier, D. J.

Reinhart, Metz Hayes, Florence R. H., George Wing.

Correct answers to puzzles are received from Philip Cruger, T. H., George Kyte, Maude K., Laura B. W., F. Ozias, "Sunbeam," Leon M. F., f.a.n.n.y S., Sallie Ely, George S. V., W. F. Bruns, E. B. Cooper, A. H.

Ellard, "North Star," John Collins, Lillie MacCrea, Lily B., Annie C., Charles Slattery, Hattie Norris, M. K. S., S. G. Rosenbaum, H. L. B., H. K. Pryer, B. L. Townsend, Robert Davidson, M. O., Frank Paine, C. B. Howard, Allen Smith, George Schilling, Albert Hegeman.

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

NUMERICAL CHARADE.

I am composed of 8 letters.

My 4, 2, 6 is a boy's name.

My 1, 2, 7, 6 is a metal.

My 8, 3, 5, 1 is to stain.

My whole was an ancient king.

A. H. E. (13 years).

No. 2.