Chapter X: Test Trials (2)

For left end I should choose Frank Linden, of Hyde Park, as he has done the best work this year in that position. He is one of the fastest men in the school, and always gets off with the ball. He is a hard tackler, and attends strictly to his business. Prentiss of Evanston will take care of left tackle. He was one of the surest men on his team, frequently carrying the ball for good gains. He has the knack of breaking through and nailing his man behind the line. He also possesses unusual power in getting his opponent out of the way or in blocking him on the defence. Gordon Mackay, who played centre for Hyde Park, is the quickest and snappiest man for that position. He gets into the play well, tackles fairly, and rarely lets his man through, although he frequently breaks in himself.

Guy Knickerbocker, of Hyde Park, should go to right tackle. With Linden, Trude, and Mackay he played on the champion Hyde Park team of 1895, and consequently may be ranked as a player of some experience. He is aggressive, he knows how to handle his man and keep him guessing, and he blocks well; he weighs 179 pounds, and by his weight partially overcomes his principal fault of not running low enough.

Right end should be taken care of by Schoellenburger of Englewood. He is the heaviest player for the position, but he is fairly quick, and seldom allows a gain around his end. He is unusually good at breaking up interference, carries the ball well, and seldom allows the runner to get outside of him. If Freedlander, the captain of the North Division team, had played this year as he did last, I should have given him the position, but his work has fallen off, and he may now only rank as substitute.

Of all the difficulties of choice for this eleven, the selection of guards seems to be the greatest. There are four players of nearly equal rank, but taking everything into consideration, Mitchell of Evanston and Gram of Lake View seem to have the best claims for the All-Chicago team. Mitchell is the cleverest of all in running with the ball, and he knows his defensive work perfectly. Gram does the best offensive work. He is rather light, but exceedingly quick, and takes advantage of every opportunity offered. In defensive work Dowd of Englewood or Eberling of Evanston may equal him, but they do not excel.

The other substitutes of this team are Orchard of Evanston at quarter-back; Johnson and Becker, of North Division, half-backs; Miller of Hyde Park and Sutler of Lake View, tackles.

The Shady Side Academy Football team of Pittsburg finished the season with five victories and two defeats to its credit. This record places them second among the Pittsburg schools, with Kiskiminetas first. At the opening of the season things did not look very bright, as there were several important positions to fill and a scarcity of material. In the first game the team played very fast and snappy football, but against Braddock High-School the work was poor, and the coach was somewhat discouraged. However, the eleven showed some improvement when they met Pittsburg High-School, and easily defeated them.

In the game with Kiskiminetas the team was in poor condition, and was easily defeated; but when Kiskiminetas played the return game, both teams were in good condition, and Kiskiminetas again won. In the second contest with Pittsburg High-School both teams showed improvement over their form in the first game, and it was only after a hard straggle that Shady Side won, 4 to 0.

As to the best playing on the team, perhaps McConnel should be mentioned first. He was the best tackler on the team, and demonstrated this fact a number of times by the way he prevented opponents from scoring, and his interference was also good. He played his position at quarter-back better than any of the other quarter-backs among the schools. Scheldecker and Kirke were both hard tacklers, and the former was the best man in the line to run with the ball.

The Brooklyn Association has begun early to prepare for the baseball season, and the baseball committee has completed the schedule for the games that must decide the championship next spring. Unless something turns up to modify the schedule, it will be played as follows:

April 28--Adelphi _vs._ Brooklyn Latin.
May 1--Brooklyn High _vs._ Pratt, and Poly. Prep. _vs._ Adelphi.
May 5--Adelphi _vs._ Pratt, Brooklyn High _vs._ Brooklyn Latin, and
Poly. Prep. _vs._ St. Paul.
May 8--Brooklyn Latin _vs._ Pratt, St. Paul _vs._ Adelphi, and
Brooklyn High _vs._ Poly. Prep.
May 12--Pratt _vs._ Poly. Prep., and St. Paul _vs._ Brooklyn High.
May 15--St. Paul _vs._ Pratt, Poly. Prep. _vs._ Brooklyn Latin, and
Adelphi _vs._ Brooklyn High.

_The All-Boston Interscholastic Football Team will be announced next week._

"FOOTBALL FACTS AND FIGURES."--By Walter Camp.--POST 8VO, PAPER, 75 CENTS.

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QUESTIONS FOR YOUNG MEN.

ON SMOKING.

Perhaps this is a dangerous subject for any one to touch upon, and yet there are a few things still to be said on the subject of smoking to which any respectable person should be willing to listen. Many a young man does not understand why his parents do not wish him to smoke, still less why he is told by these persons that it is wicked or immoral or wrong for him to smoke. As a matter of fact smoking in itself is neither wrong nor immoral nor wicked. To some people it is physically injurious, but they soon find that out, and are obliged by their doctors to give it up. If it is not in any way injurious to you, or to me, or to another person, there is no reason why we should not smoke, except that if you are fond of out-door exercise, if you have an ambition to get on an athletic team, if you look forward to college days when you hope to be a member of some class or varsity team, it is wiser for your own interest that you should not smoke. And the reason is not far to seek.

When a man has been running and breathes hard he is said to be "winded." That is merely a term, however. The fact of the case is that the action of the heart is increased. This sends the blood through his body much faster than usual, and he is obliged to draw air much more frequently into his lungs in order to do the extra work of purifying this blood which moves so much faster than usual. When you smoke, the nicotine in the tobacco has an effect on your nerves, which in turn affects the heart, not at all seriously perhaps, but, at the same time, if you run shortly after smoking, there is still more exaggerated action in the heart, and this requires still quicker breathing. Hence trainers say that a man who smokes injures his wind.

Now it is a law of athletic training that one cannot really get into condition in a month or two. To prepare for a football game on Thanksgiving, one must begin the 1st of December the year before--not the 1st of October of that year. In other words, if you wish to be a member of a 'varsity team you must keep yourself more or less in training not only during your four years at college, but during the years preceding your college course. As a result any sensible person will say that although smoking may be in no way harmful in itself, it is wiser and more to your own interest, if you have any out-door or in-door athletic ambitions, not to smoke until those ambitions are satisfied.

Then there is another side to smoking. A habit of any kind is a very difficult thing to give up. If you form a habit of taking a cold bath every morning, it is hard to break it. If you form a habit of reading only the best books, it is almost impossible to read anything else. If you form a habit of drinking whiskey, it is quite as difficult, but not much more so, to break that. In like manner the habit of smoking is a difficult thing to break up. I do not believe it is any easier to get into the habit of smoking than it is to get into the habit of taking a cold bath every morning. Each is a habit, and only becomes injurious, and then _does_ become injurious, when it grows stronger than your own will. Yet the cold bath may not be healthy any more than is the smoking. Therefore if you have any ambition of any kind to keep yourself in physical condition do not smoke, or do anything that will injure your physical condition. If, however, you decide to take up smoking for one reason or another if it does not injure you physically, the smoking itself may be perfectly right and proper. When, however, you grow to feel that at certain times in the day you _must_ smoke, then the thing is bad, and should be stopped at once. In other words, smoking is not an offence against the Bible, as some people seem to think, but it may, and often is, an offence against health. Whenever health is endangered by it, therefore, keep clear of it.

THE STORY OF THE ARMY MULE'S LAST KICK.

There was an experiment tried at a Western fort many years ago, the results of which were never recorded at the War Department. The story is somewhat as follows:

One windy afternoon the Colonel, a fat pudgy little fellow, but a capital Indian-fighter, one of his captains, a long, lanky New-Englander, with whiskers and a drawl, and one of the sergeants were conversing together, every now and then glancing furtively at a solitary mule that was silently wearing the grass off the earth with his mouth.

"Waal, Colonel," drawled the Captain, "I like your scheme, and I reckon I'd try--" But just then the mule reached out with one of his hind legs in the direction of the talker in such an exceedingly suggestive manner that the Captain hastily backed into the Colonel. The Sergeant prevented the two men of war from falling by putting his shoulder to them, which position made the three look like an Egyptian pyramid, minus the sphinx--unless you included the mule for that purpose.

The Colonel's idea was that gun-carriages were useless in Indian fights, and if a howitzer were strapped upon an army mule's back, with the muzzle towards the tail, and loaded with ball-cartridge, the results that would accrue would be disastrous for the Indians.

"Waal," again drawled the Captain, with a wary look towards the mule, "let's experiment." And they did. They got a howitzer tied on that mule, who remained suspiciously quiet, looking steadily at the horizon, and they placed a time fuse in position, and then led the mule out on a bluff in front of a target. The three experimenters invited a number of brother officers to the scene, and when all was ready the pudgy Colonel lit the long fuse, and retired to the group of spectators.

The unruffled mule stood steady, gazing at the vanishing-point in the perspective, until the sputtering of the fuse aroused his curiosity, and he slowly turned his head and inquiringly watched it sputter. A little thing like that shouldn't bother an army mule. But his turning bothered the spectators; for as he did so, the muzzle of the howitzer began to describe sundry sweeps in all directions, like a telescope searching for a comet or a lost star. The mule grew alarmed, and betrayed his obstinate nature as he absolutely refused to stand still, and gathering his four legs together in a bunch, he began making what seemed one thousand revolutions a minute; and there was that loaded howitzer threatening death at all points of the compass! In the mad rush to reach safety that took place before that dancing mule a stampeding herd could have found points. The pudgy Colonel was stuck between the bars of a rail fence, and all that one could see was his fat legs kicking towards the sky. As for the lanky New-England Captain, he essayed the climbing of a tree, regardless of his country's uniform, with the result that what he left on the bark looked like a patched quilt, with stray bits of regimentals and bunches of whiskers. He was having a hard time keeping the trunk of the tree between himself and the muzzle of the howitzer. The rest were rapidly losing themselves in every direction, seeking cover as if a pack of Indians had hailed down upon them.

The gun went off at last, and, alas! the mule kicked his final--or else the gun kicked it for him, for it knocked him over the bluff to his grave. As for the ball, after taking a chip out of the Captain's tree trunk, and scraping the top rail of the Colonel's fence, it danced along and careened through the windows of the Colonel's headquarters, cutting a swath in the room like the path of a cyclone, then wandered out through the opposite partition to a yard in the rear, and after playfully lopping a proud rooster's astonished head, it brought up with a smash against the kitchen chimney, completely wrecking that smoke-carrier and the dinner it had smoked for, throwing the cook into a fit, for which she is still claiming a pension. For a long time mules were disliked on that frontier post.

Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly
answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to
hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.

HINTS ON RETOUCHING.

I.--APPARATUS AND MATERIALS.

The apparatus and materials required for retouching negatives are an easel, or rest, for the negative, a few pencils, a sable brush, two cakes of moist water-color, and a little retouching varnish.

Retouching-frames may be bought of dealers in photographic supplies; but one which may be made at home, at a very small expense and in a short time, answers every purpose of the more expensive apparatus.

Take a piece of half-inch board twenty inches long and fourteen inches wide, and cut an opening in the centre just large enough to admit the largest size negative used by the amateur. Round the edges of this opening tack narrow strips of wood--cigar-boxes make about the right thickness--allowing them to project over enough to hold the negative after the fashion of a glass in a picture-frame. When a smaller size negative is used it is placed in a kit, and the kit fastened in the opening. Next take two pieces of wood twelve inches long, two inches wide, and half an inch thick, and attach them to one end of the board at the corners by hinges. At each side of the board fasten by a small screw, so that they may be moved easily, a small strip of wood having in one end a small hook. In the outside edge of each support fix a small staple or screw-eye, and when the board is wanted for use open the supports, hook the strips of wood into the staples, set the frame on a table, and you have as firm and solid a retouching easel as can be desired. The accompanying diagram will make the explanation clear to any one.

Three or four of Faber's pencils, varying in softness from HHH to HHHHHH, will be needed. Cut them in long slender points, leaving at least half an inch of lead at the end free from wood. They must be ground to almost needle sharpness. A handy device for renewing the point when it becomes dulled is to tack a piece of fine sand-paper to a small block, and use it for rubbing down the superfluous lead.

Two cakes of water-color are convenient, though they are not always used. Indigo blue and lamp-black in the moist colors are considered the best for this purpose. A very soft sable brush with a fine point is used to apply the paint. This brush must not be very long, but should be of medium thickness.

Retouching fluid or varnish may be bought ready prepared, or it may be made according to either of the following formulas:

Sandarach 1/4 oz.
Alcohol 1-1/2 oz.
Castor-oil 20 grs.

Put the gum-sandarach in the alcohol and shake till thoroughly dissolved, then add the castor-oil. Shake well before using.

Gum-dammar 35 grs.
Yellow resin 3 drms.
Oil of turpentine 20 oz.

A simple retouching varnish is made by adding dammar gum to turpentine in the proportion of 40 grains of the gum to 1 oz. of turpentine, but the addition of the resin as in the last formula seems to give a better grain to the negative.

CONSTANT READER asks if there is a solution for making green
prints, and asks what is the matter with red prints, made by
formula given in the Camera Club, which instead of being red, are a
dirty brick color. Directions for green tones were given in No.
862, May 5, 1896.

SIR KNIGHT B. A. PORTER asks how to make carbon prints, and says he
would like to learn photography in some studio, and asks what
course to pursue to obtain a position. Directions for making carbon
prints have not been given in this column. A paper on
carbon-printing is prepared, and will appear after the holidays. Go
to some first-class photographer and state what you wish to do.
Many photographers take boys who wish to learn the art of
photography and give them instruction, in payment for their
services while learning. The rudiments are easily mastered, but
perfection comes only by long and patient labor.

FRED. J. asks how to join the Camera Club; if the "Vive" is a good
camera for beginners; and if the pictures made with it may be
entered in the ROUND TABLE contest. Send name and address to the
ROUND TABLE, stating your wish to become a member of the Camera
Club, and your name will be enrolled on the books and a certificate
sent you. Yes, to the other questions.

SIR KNIGHT RAYMOND E. REYNOLDS asks if the Bullet is a good camera.
The Bullet does excellent work for a small camera.

SIR KNIGHT GEORGE FULLER asks if the Premo, Sr., is a good camera,
or if he could get a better camera of some other make for the same
price. The Premo is an excellent camera, and has been on the market
long enough to have its merits tested. A Premo was given as one of
the prizes in our competition two years ago, and the winner is very
much pleased with it. Each make of camera has some special feature
to recommend it. You would doubtless be entirely satisfied with the
Premo, and the price is about the same for all cameras of the size
named.

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THE BULL AND THE GOVERNMENT PAPERS.

Here is a comical adventure that some members of an English ordnance survey met with while touring in the south of Scotland. In the prosecution of their calling they entered a field belonging to a crusty old farmer. Seeing the strangers looking about in a way he could not understand, the farmer approached.

"What are ye loitering in the field for?"

"Oh, we have a right to go anywhere," returned one of the company. "We are surveying, and here are our government papers."

"Paper here or paper there," returned the farmer, "oot ye gang oot o' my field."

"No, we sha'n't," returned the man, "and you are rendering yourself liable to prosecution for interrupting us."

The farmer said no more, but went over to his shed, which opened into the field, and let out a vicious bull. The bull no sooner saw the redcoats than he went for them in full career. The surveyors snatched up their theodolite and flew for their lives, while the old farmer, in great glee, yelled after them:

"What are ye running for? Can ye no show the bull yer government papers?"

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A Dog that Knew a Tune.

Does your dog know a tune? In Trenton, New Jersey, two famous dogs are owned. One is said to be worth $200. Some months ago both were stolen. All attempts to find them were in vain, and money rewards proved unavailing. Recently the owner went to a barn where he thought they might be. He whistled, but got no response. He was just leaving the premises when he recalled that one of the dogs always showed unusual life and joy whenever he whistled the tune, popular years ago, under the title "Captain Jinks," who belonged to certain marines. He whistled this tune at a venture, and was at once rewarded by a vigorous whine which he readily recognized. The dog knew the tune, and the result was the recovery by the owner of his two valuable dogs, and the arrest of the thief who had stolen them.

* * * * *

The Largest Lens.

The largest telescopic lens ever made has just been completed in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. It cost $100,000, and is the property of the Chicago University, for use in the observatory on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This lens is the greatest work of its kind ever undertaken in the world. Day and night, not a single minute has the lens been neglected. Every precaution was taken to insure its safety from damage, and now that the work is finished, it only remains to carefully ship it to its destination.

Once it safely arrives at Lake Geneva, the huge lens will be placed in the telescope of what is known as the Yerkes Observatory. The dome of the observatory is 110 feet high and ninety feet in diameter. Its weight is about 200 tons. It revolves on twenty-six sets of ball-bearing wheels, and is worked by electricity. Beneath the dome is a marble floor hung with counter-balance weights. This floor, ponderous as it appears, can be raised or lowered twenty-five feet, at the will of the observer, by the simple turning of a lever.

* * * * *

The Tables on Cabby.

One night, after Parliament adjourned, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, then Bishop of London, was driven to his home, Fulham Palace, by a cabby who, noting what a distinguished passenger he had, undertook to get from him a big fee. Determined not to be taken advantage of, Bishop Temple tendered the exact legal fare, two shillings, and refused to add even a modest tip.

Cabby did not protest. He tried flattery. He knew that most bishops of London had reason to expect promotion to Canterbury in the event of a vacancy in the primacy of all England. So he said, in a begging and martyrlike tone:

"Do you think the Archbishop of Canterbury, with his big salary, ought to ask a poor cabby to drive all the way to Fulham late at night, and then give him the pittance of two shillings only?"

"Decidedly not," returned the Bishop. "The Archbishop of Canterbury lives at Lambeth Palace, and the cab fare from Westminster to Lambeth is not two shillings, but only one shilling. Good-night."

* * * * *

From a Student in Adelaide.

I am a student in the University of Adelaide. One of our professors
is Dr Stirling, who is much interested in Central Australian
discovery. A short time since he told us some facts about an
investigation he helped to make in connection with an exploring
party, two or three years ago. Perhaps it will interest American
readers, for I read that in your country there was a race of people
who lived there before Europeans came. That race is dying out, is
it not? The Australian aborigines are, at any rate. Here is the
account related by Dr. Stirling, as I copied it in my note-book. He
read it from a circular sent out by a scientific society, but he
helped to prepare the circular, and he has helped also to explore
some parts of unknown Australia.

"The present inhabitant of Australian wilds is a descendant of a
stone age. He still fashions his spear from flint. History he knows
none. He has no traditions even, and a poorer and more meagre
language than any savage known even in Africa. He is a savage brute
in the form of a man. He is jolly, laughs much, has a good eye, and
has never yet been known to wash. He has no private ownership of
land, save the dirt on his own body. He does not till the soil, but
lives on roots and game. He lives in a climate that affords a 15°
Fah. temperature, yet he never uses the skins of animals for
clothing and rarely makes a fire. He goes about perfectly nude, and
eats his food raw. He has no religious belief whatever, and has
little or no sense of honor or of truth. Attempts to civilize him
prove disastrous failures. He is being 'civilized' off the face of
the earth, I am sorry to say, and soon only his flints will remain.
I hope this will interest you."

F. B. VAN BRAAGEN.
ADELAIDE.

It is of much interest. Please tell us about the University of Adelaide.

* * * * *

Kinks.

No. 59.--FOR YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS.

We once knew a professor at college who declared that when a pupil had mastered addition he had mastered half of arithmetic. To prove his assertion he gave this: Put down one hundred, then one, then five, then one, and then one hundred. What is the result? "207," some one said. Was that right?

* * * * *

No. 60.--A RIDDLE.

I'm part of a city, and part of a ghost;
I'm part of a little, and part of the most;
I'm part of astrology, part of the light.
Part of the battle as well as the fight.
With murder, however, I've nothing to do;
I shun all that's wicked, though not what's untrue.
In fathers and mothers I'm sure to be found;
In sisters and brothers I also abound.
I'm crossed in affection as well as in wealth;
I'm always with doctors, yet always in health.
I know naught of hunger, but suffer with thirst,
And I'm found with the best as well as the worst.

* * * * *

No. 61.--WORD SQUARE.

1. Spherical bodies. 2. To decamp. 3. To go beyond the limit. 4. A fish allied to the carp. 5. A Judean town. 6. Dull.

* * * * *

Questions and Answers.

Harold W. Jansen asks where mica comes from, saying he is interested in it because he and his sister fell to wondering about it while watching the tinsmith put up their coal-stove for the winter. Mica comes chiefly from North Carolina, and is found there in all sorts of blocks of various thicknesses and shapes, which can be split and resplit almost without limit, until it becomes the transparent pane of commerce.

The material is imbedded or scattered through the feldspar with which the surrounding mountains are covered. The veins are found between walls of slate. It is blasted from the surrounding rock by means of dynamite, and is freed from all impure matter by miners with chisel and pick. From the mines it is taken directly to the shops, where it is split into thin sheets and trimmed into regular forms, which are then ready for the market, the price varying according to the size of the sheets.

The average size will fit an ordinary parlor heater. In rare instances, sheets as large as twenty-four by eighteen inches are found; but there is seldom or never a demand for mica of this size, so the sheets have to be cut down.

A. W. A.: Fish are sensitive about the nose. They are also able to feel a shock in adjacent water. If a fish be buried in sand till only his tail be left exposed, a slight tap on any part of the tail will excite the fish and cause it to free itself, or attempt to do so. Salmon have been known to wear their snouts to the bone and their tails entirely away at digging in the sand and stones for a nest in which to spawn. This and other facts go to prove that fish, in spite of their sensitiveness about the nose and tail, do not feel pain, as from a hook in their gills or even in their stomachs. Fish that have been torn by a hook will often grab for a second bait, showing an inclination to feed, which they would scarcely do if suffering acute pain.

J. W. Anderson asks how fast the fastest bird is able to fly, and how high wild-geese are when one sees them in the form of an old-fashioned drag in the air above. The fastest flying bird is said to be the Virginia plover, which has been known to fly 225 miles per hour; but wild-geese, Baltimore orioles, and other migrants rarely average more than fifty miles per day. The height of the geese is sometimes as great as 10,000 feet, but ordinarily they fly about 4000 feet above the earth.--We regret the necessity of informing our old-time friend, C. Roy Baker, of Ohio, that we do not publish exchanges of bicycles, etc., and have no exchange column.--Leo Rehbinder: 844 Chapter charters have been granted, but many of the Chapters weary of well-doing. But our injunction has ever been to maintain your society as long as it yielded pleasure, and when it ceases to do so, disband it. The Order is a very large one, but we have no figures at hand of other orders. Ask your bookseller for titles of stories other than those published in this paper--S. B.: Address Thomas A. Edison, at Menlo Park, N. J.

"F. A. H." asks where he can learn mechanical draughting. At the Pratt Institute. The pay for beginners is small, say $6 per week. Apply to some draughtsmen for average rate of wages.--Edgar S. Pitkin asks about entrance to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. We have answered this question so many times that we fear old readers will tire reading of it. But we assure them that many want the information, and that to furnish helpful information is the purpose of this department. Sir Edgar should apply to his member of Congress for appointment, but he can learn when there will be a vacancy in his district by writing to the Secretary of the Navy, Washington. The age limit is fifteen to twenty. The appointment is from each Congressional district. There is doubtless a man at the academy now from your district. If so, when he goes out another will be taken in. The examination is very strict and difficult, but covers chiefly the common branches. The Secretary of the Navy will give exact information if a vacancy is to occur within a year. The conditions are too long to print here. The Congressman who makes the appointment generally has a preliminary examination, but it counts for nothing at Annapolis, and is usually found to be a very unsatisfactory way to select a man for the cadetship. An alternate is named. Both go to Annapolis and take the examination. If the appointee fails--and generally one-half fail--the alternate goes in, provided he passes.

Charles R. Botsford, 55 Liberty Street, New York, wants to belong to some amateur photograph club. Will the secretary of any such club desiring a bright member, either active or corresponding, write him?--John Desmond asks if the cruisers off the Cuban coast burn hard or soft coal. We presume his query is prompted by the fact that soft coal makes a black smoke that can be seen a long distance, because it ascends high above the water the instant it leaves the smoke-stack. When the Cuban trouble first began, the Spanish cruisers burned Cuban coal, and their smoke was seen plainly. The Spaniards noticed, however, that the vessels used by the insurgents to convey ammunition from Florida made almost no smoke at all. They inquired the reason, and soon began sending to Philadelphia for anthracite coal. So now the Spanish cruisers burn hard coal, and do not show themselves to the enemy hours before the hulls of their ships heave into view.

This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin
collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question
on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address
Editor Stamp Department.

The readers of the ROUND TABLE Stamp Column who intend going to Europe next summer will find the London Philatelic Exhibition very interesting. The exhibition opens July 22, and closes August 5. The stamps will be exhibited in classes: 1. Stamps of Great Britain; 2. Of British colonies; 3. Of Europe; 4. Of Asia and Africa; 5. Of America, etc. Each of these classes will be subdivided, and twelve gold, forty-three silver, and forty-eight bronze medals will be awarded to the best collections. In addition as special prizes, nine gold, nineteen silver, and ten bronze medals; besides a large number of additional medals and other prizes are offered by individual members for special exhibits. A few of the leading collectors in America intend competing for some of the prizes. It is estimated that stamps to the value of $2,000,000 will be on exhibition.

F. LOWE.--I congratulate you on the possession of the Tobago one
shilling, in color of the sixpence. I referred to this stamp in the
ROUND TABLE for November 10, and erroneously stated that the stamp
was the first of a new issue. It turns out to be an error of the
first water. It is quoted at all kinds of prices, from $5 upward.
The chances are that a large block of them is in the hands of
insiders. If so, $5 is a fair price.

W. W. STOCKTON.--The word Cave on your Ceylon stamp is a portion of
the name of a firm. It is frequently found on stamps of the Straits
Settlements.

E. LEROY POND, Terryville, Conn., wants to exchange U. S. stamps
for those of Siam, Salvador, China, etc.

A. H. GREEN.--The English shilling is worth face only. I hope you
will enjoy the next 892 numbers of the ROUND TABLE as much as you
have the 892 numbers already published.

F. MIKELSKY.--Apply to any dealer for onion-skin hinges. They cost
15c. per 1000.

J. A. HALL.--The U. S. charge 8c. for registering a letter, and if
such letter is lost while in the hands of the post-office officials
the U. S. will not recoup the loss. In Europe the various
governments make allowance on letters lost by them. For instance,
in England, by paying 4c. in addition to the ordinary postage, the
sender of a letter lost in transmission can collect from the
government $25. By paying 6c. in addition to the postage, an
allowance of $50 is made if the letter is lost. Each 2c. in
addition increases the amount $25.

J. H. OTRIEH.--Russian locals are collected by a very few persons
in this country. One of these collectors tells me that some of the
rare Russian locals command as much as $100 and more. The common
varieties, however, have very little value.

F. M.--I cannot give addresses in this column. Write to any of the
dealers who advertise in the ROUND TABLE.

S. HELLER.--You can buy 1000 different stamps in a packet for $10,
or 1500 for $25. I do not know of any larger packets, but think one
with 2000 stamps would cost at least $50 or $60.

B. STOW.--The Mr. Frederick Hill who has jast died at the age of
ninety-four was a brother of Rowland Hill. He was connected with
the London post-office for many years, and was pensioned in the
year 1876.

A. W. SPENCER.--The Alsace-Lorraine stamps were used by the German
post-offices in France during the war of 1870. The earliest dated
stamp known is September 6, 1870.

E. F. HERRE.--The only rare small cent is the 1856 flying eagle.
All the others are very common. The 1817 penny is worth 20c.

E. M. GEARHART.--The Olympian stamps can be bought of any dealer at
double face value, unused, and at 1c to 25c. each, according to
denomination if used. There are so many varieties of the
Confederate stamps that I cannot give any more definite answer,
until after examination. As millions of complete sheets were in the
Southern post-offices at the time the civil war ended, they are
very common with the exception of a few varieties. Neither the
watermarked or the unwatermarked U. S. stamps of the present issue
will ever be rare or even scarce, with the possible exception of
the dollar stamps. The late issues of the U. S. envelopes are
distinguished by the water-mark and the shape.

PHILATUS.

No other soap is found in so many homes.

THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. CIN'TI.

Some Popular Books

* * * * *

"Harper's Round Table" for 1896

Volume XVII. With 1276 Pages, and about 1200 Illustrations. 4to, Cloth, Ornamental, $3.50.

It is doubtful if any other book issued at this holiday season
contains so many stories for young readers as this volume.--_San
Francisco Chronicle._

The book is one which is sure to delight all the
children.--_Detroit Free Press._

A pronounced success as an educational means of great
value.--_Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph._

A Virginia Cavalier

A Story of the Boyhood of George Washington. By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.50.

An absorbing tale.--_Philadelphia Bulletin._

Rick Dale

A Story of the Northwest Coast. By KIRK MUNROE. Illustrated by W. A. ROGERS. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.

A "capital story."--_Book Buyer_, N. Y.

Naval Actions of the War of 1812

By JAMES BARNES. With 21 Full-page Illustrations by CARLTON T. CHAPMAN, printed in color, and 12 Reproductions of Medals. 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, Deckel Edges and Gilt Top, $4.50.

Brimful of adventure, hardihood, and patriotism.--_Philadelphia
Ledger._

The Ship's Company

And Other Sea People. By J. D. JERROLD KELLEY, Lieutenant-Commander U.S.N. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $2.50.

A great storehouse of charm.--_Boston Transcript._

The Dwarfs' Tailor

And Other Fairy Tales. Collected by ZOE DANA UNDERHILL. With 12 Illustrations. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.75.

The twenty-two tales form a cosmopolitan array that cannot fail to
delight young readers.--_Chicago Tribune._

For King or Country

A Story of the American Revolution. By JAMES BARNES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.50.

A manly, straightaway narrative, with the adventures of a
reasonable, practicable kind.--_Life_, N. Y.

Tommy Toddles

By ALBERT LEE. Illustrated by PETER S. NEWELL. Square 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.

Every child in the land should have this book.--_Interior_,
Chicago.

Shakespeare the Boy

With Sketches of the Home and School Life, the Games and Sports, the Manners, Customs, and Folk-lore of the Time. By WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D., Editor of "Rolfe's English Classics," etc. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1.25.

At once fascinating and instructive, and will be found as readable
by the elders as by the youth.--_Watchman_, Boston.

* * * * *

HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York

My little poet one spring day
Walked out along the country way;
His heart was light and merry.
He wisely said, "'Twere best I bring
Along with me, prepared to sing,
My rhyming dictionary."

My little poet's arm I took,
And asked if he'd within his book
A word to rhyme with _notions_;
He shook his little curly head,
And arched his brows, and laughed, and said:
"Oh yes, indeed! There's _oceans_!"

J. R. CONNER.

* * * * *

He was a Southern local politician running for office, and believed in making a thorough canvass in person. One day he was addressing a crowd of negro voters who had turned out to greet him, when he caught sight of a gray-wooled old man on the outskirts of the crowd. The old uncle had a rusty sword with him, and the orator thought he saw his opportunity to catch the negro vote.

"There," he cried, pointing to the apparent veteran, "that gentleman over there illustrates the bravery of your race. Men of his merit I admire. Brave men of your race should be upheld; their dignity should be maintained. And were I in office, I would fight for you the same as that aged hero fought for us. Look at him. There he stands to-day with his trusty sword, the weapon that he drew in defence of his country. What better example could--"

Broad smiles that threatened to divide the faces of that colored crowd had been spreading during the latter part of the orator's harangue; but when the old darky broke in with, "'Deed, massa, youse am right 'bout dat sword bein' drawn, but Ise done drawed it in a raffle," it completely broke up the meeting.

* * * * *

ANOTHER QUESTION.

"I hate to bother you, Pop; but, really, I'd like to know--"

"Well, what?"

"How it happens that baby fish don't get drowned before they've learned to swim?"

* * * * *

WHAT SHE WANTED.

Sallie was helping herself rather copiously to the preserves, when her aunt said, "Oh, Sallie, not too much, dear. You don't want too much, do you?"

"Yeth, I does," said Sallie, "and more too. I want three much!"

* * * * *

PROVED.

"Bah!" cried Bobbie. "The idea of saying the world's round! I know better."

"Oh, you do, eh?" said his uncle. "And how do you know better?"

"It stands to reason," said Bobbie, "if it was round, the ocean wouldn't stay on it, but go sloshing down it into space."

* * * * *

MERELY AN IDEA.

"Pop," said Willie, "I don't see why, if when you've got toothache you go and have your tooth pulled, it wouldn't be a good thing when your head aches to go and get your hair pulled."

Up to this hour Pop has not been able to explain.

* * * * *

ANOTHER QUESTION.

"Pop," said Willie, "why is it called a gymnasium?"

"Why? Why, because that's its name--ah--"

"Yes, I know that," said Willie, "but why didn't they call it a Tomnasium or a Bobnasium, eh?"

* * * * *

AN OBSERVANT YOUTH.

"Now, Bobbie," said the teacher, "spell pipe."

"P-I-P-E," said Bobbie.

"That's right. And now tell me something about pipes. What do people do with them?"

"Well," said Bobbie, thoughtfully, "boys blow bubbles with 'em; plumbers put 'em in; Scotchmen blow music out of 'em; and men like Pa smoke 'em. It all depends on the kind of pipes you want me to tell you about."

* * * * *

A YOUTHFUL OBSERVER.

"Dear me, Robbie," said his mother, "do you want to be a baby all your life? Do behave yourself."

"I wouldn't mind, Mamma," said Robbie. "All the baby does is laugh and squawk and get waited on. Seems to me that's rather pleasant."

* * * * *

AN OPINION.

I don't know what my Daddy does,
But I've a sort of whim
That when I get to be a man
I'd like to be like him!

For he's the finest chum I have.
It doesn't matter what
He does to me, I think he's best
Of all the friends I've got!

Why, even when he takes his hand
And spanks me, and I cry,
I cannot truly help but see
A look in Daddy's eye

Which shows me, though he doesn't spare
My feelings with his hand,
He loves me more than anything
That lives on sea or land.

And so I say if sometimes I
Have little boys like his,
I hope that I'll be to them as
To me my Daddy is!

JOHN KENDRICK BANGS.

End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, December 29, 1896, by Various