Chapter VIII: Like Seeks Like (2)

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Reading what Jack said in February about the little birds being killed by flying against the telegraph wires, I thought I would write and say that we often pick them up. They look soft and pretty, as if they were asleep, as they are not cut and their feathers are not rumpled. I also want to tell you about my canary-birds. My little Toppie hatched three little singers, which I named Tom, Dick, and Harry. I sold Harry to pay for my ST. NICHOLAS. We sent Dick to a little girl who had been praying for a bird. She was so glad to get it that she said she must be a good little girl. We still have the other one, who is singing nearly all the time. I was twelve on Washington's birthday. I have one sister and three brothers, and we all love the ST. NICHOLAS.--Your affectionate reader, HATTIE F. NOURSE.

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DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have a dolly twenty-five years old. I am going to take her to Saratoga this summer. I think it will do her good. I am seven years old. I like ST. NICHOLAS ever so much. MATTIE WYCKOFF.

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Providence, R. I.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: In the December number of ST. NICHOLAS, in "A Chat About Pottery," I find on page 105 the question, "Who ever saw a blue dog?" and the answer, "In life, no one, my dear." During the past month I have seen, several times, a dog as blue as the sky on a summer's day. He is of the "Spitz" breed, and, as his master keeps a dye-house, we think he is used as an advertisement.

He attracts a good deal of attention when on the street.--Yours truly,
EDWIN S. T.

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Shawangunk, N. Y.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: My uncles have taken the ST. NICHOLAS for me for three years, and I like it very much.

I see in your "Letter-Box" a letter from Alma Aylesworth asking how apples were made to grow sweet on one side and sour on the other.

They take a sprout of the sweet and another of sour, just as near the same size as possible, split each in two at the middle, press one-half of each to a half of the other, put grafting-wax up the cracks, and set it in like any other graft.

For a few years, this limb will bear apples sweet on one side and sour on the other; but when the tree gets old, the apples will be of one flavor throughout.--I remain your faithful reader, MAMIE C. COCKS.

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Franklin, Pa.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I would like to have you tell me what Cleopatra's needle is. I read about its voyage in the papers.--Yours truly, B. L. F.

The obelisk known as Cleopatra's needle, presented by the Khedive to England, is a great stone that was cut out in one piece from the quarries of Syene, Egypt, it is supposed in the time of Thothmes III. (about 1600 years B. C.), when, also, it was set up in the temple of Karnak, at Thebes. It is a tall, rectangular pillar, tapering from the base to near the top, where it is pointed like a flattened pyramid; its sides are inscribed with hieroglyphics. The obelisk was taken to Alexandria by Queen Cleopatra, and was named after her. Some think that Cleopatra's Needle was another stone, quarried by order of Ramesis II., and set up in Heliopolis, the City of the Sun; but several obelisks have borne the name, and this may have caused uncertainty about them. The former account is believed to be correct.

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Ashland, Wis.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I saw, in your January number, two ways pictured for carrying the mails. Here, where I live, on the shore of Lake Superior, we see both ways at the present time. The mail from Bayfield comes on the backs of packers, and on the railroad the mails come from Milwaukie and other points south of us.

We have a jolly fire-place. It is large enough for Santa Claus to come right down without any trouble; and he filled our stockings full last year.--From your constant reader, ESTELLE WILMARTH.

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We have received the following letters in answer to Alice Clinton's question, in the February "Letter-Box," asking for a list of books pleasant to read:

Ogdensburg, N. Y.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Will you please tell Alice Clinton, if she wants some interesting and instructive books, to read Dickens's "Child's History of England" and Higginson's "History of the United States."--Truly yours, LULIE JAMES.

Brooklyn.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have taken you ever since you were born, and I like you better all the while.

I think Alice Clinton would enjoy "About Old Story-tellers," by Ik Marvel; "America Illustrated," edited by J. David Williams: and Parley's "Universal History," as they are all very nice.--Your friend, CORA EUGENIA ALWYN.

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DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Inclosed you will find a short story which my little brother wrote, as he said he wanted to write something for good ST. NICHOLAS.--Yours truly, J. S. H.

THE FISHER.

Once there was a boy who did not obey his mother and went fishing and fell into the water how frighten was the mother when she found out that her boy was drowned and the father and mother began to cry and one day a man came to comfort them. But he could not and they never found that boy.

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WE have received the following lines as an answer to the geographical puzzle in the February number:

_Queen Charlotte_ the fair
To a ball did repair
In the city of _Aire_,
And met all the _Adams_ carousing there,
Sweet _Alexandria_, _Sydney_ the swell,
And noble young _Ellsworth_, who pleased her right well.
They praised her fine _Cashmere_, with _Brussels_ to trim it,
But found it _Toulon_(g) and _Toulouse_ the next minute.
Her shoulders were _Chili_, she thought she should freeze,
But a warm _Paisley_ shawl put her quite at her ease.
Her rich _Diamond_ jewelry sparkled and shone;
Her shoes were _Morocco_, of smallness unknown;
And her kerchief diffused a sweet smell of _Cologne_.
A _Superior_ dancer, she floated around,
With _Washington_ great or _Columbus_ was found.
With _Madison_ flirting or dancing a jig,
_Montgomery_, _Raleigh_, she cared not a fig
For them, or for _Jackson_, who stared in surprise
When she said she was _Hungary_, coolly did rise,
And was borne off by _Quincy_ from under his eyes.
At _Table_, _Elk_, _Sandwich_, and _Orange_ she ate,
Sat drinking _Moselle_ and _Madeira_ till late;
Then, after an evening quite _Pleasant_, she said
_Farewell_ to her hostess, and went home, they said,
With gallant _Prince Edward_, a gentleman bred.
LIZZIE E. T.

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DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I saw in the January number a recipe for "chocolate creams." I have a very good recipe for chocolate caramels. It is: Half a pint of rich milk, a square and a half (or an ounce and a half) of Baker's unsweetened chocolate, softened on the fire. Let the milk boil; then stir in the chocolate very hard; add half a pint of best white sugar, and three table-spoonfuls of molasses. Boil until very thick, taking care not to burn it. Pour on buttered tins, and, when nearly cold, cut in squares.

If you think this is a good recipe (which I am sure you will, as I have tried it many times, and have never known it to fail), please put it in the "Letter-Box," and oblige, your interested reader, MARY WHARTON WADSWORTH.

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Butte Creek, Cal.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am ten years old, and live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and my papa belongs to a mining company--mining for gold. I have a hydraulic mine of my own, but I don't get any gold out of it. I have a dog whose name is Flora, and a wooden sword and dagger, and I play soldier with her and get cleaned out sometimes.

We have no school here, but I study my lessons every day, and papa hears me recite at night. I study arithmetic, geography, spelling, U. S. history, and writing. I may write to you again some time.--Yours truly, SCOTTIE HANKINS.

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Philadelphia, Pa.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I want to tell you about a girl we had. She was a German girl, and she asked my father, who is a druggist, for a label. She wanted to send it to Germany, so her friends could direct the letters. On the label was printed, "Dr. Siddall, Mantua Drug-store, Tinct. of Myrrh, No. 3526 Haverford St., W. Phila." She sent this label, and when the answer came, the direction read, "Care Dr. Siddall, Mantua Drug-store, Tinct. of Myrrh, No. 3526 Haverford St., W. Phila."

We had a good laugh over it, to think that anybody would put "Tinct. of Myrrh" on the direction of a letter.

I thought I would send you this to put in the ST. NICHOLAS, so that everybody who reads this could have a laugh over it.--Very respectfully, J. R. SIDDALL.

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DORA'S HOUSEKEEPING, by the author of "Six Little Cooks," is a handy little book that tells about the troubles and triumphs of a girl fifteen years old, who is left unexpectedly to take charge of a house and provide daily meals for its six inmates. The story itself is pleasant, and it introduces useful hints about household duties--such as bed-making, sweeping, care of lamps, etc. The book is adapted to beginners, for its recipes contain fuller detailed directions than cook-books usually give. Solids and sweets are treated of in common-sense proportion, and waste is guarded against with tasty dishes prepared from remnants. The book is illustrated, and is published by Messrs. Jansen, McClurg & Co., Chicago.

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CHILD MARIAN ABROAD, by William M. F. Round, is a little book with eight full-page pictures. It gives a lively and interesting account of a bright little girl's adventures during a tour in Europe with her uncle and aunt. She sees many great people and grand sights, plays with a princess, gets into comical scrapes,--some with the help of a little American boy named Harry,--and, altogether, has a delightful trip, very pleasant to read about.

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A CORRESPONDENT, having read in the November number the poem "My Girl," by Mr. Adams, sends us this clever imitation:

MY BOY.

A little crib in "mother's room,"
A little face with baby bloom,
A little head with curly hair,
A little woolly dog, a chair.

A little while for bumps and cries,
A little while to make "mud pies,"
A little doubting wonder when
A little pair of hands is clean.

A little ball, a top to spin,
A little "Ulster" belted in,
A little pair of pants, some string,
A little bit of everything.

A little blustering, boisterous air,
A little spirit of "don't care,"
A little tramping off to school,
A little shrug at woman's rule.

A little odor of cigar,
A little twilight talk with Ma,
A little earnest study then--
A little council grave again.

A little talk about "my girl,"
A little soft mustache to twirl,
A little time of jealous fear,
A little hope the way to clear.

A little knowledge of the world,
A little self-conceit down hurled,
A little manly purpose new,
A little woman, waiting, true.

A little wedding gay at eve,
A little pang the home to leave,
A little mother lone at dawn,
A little sigh--my boy was gone! L. R. I.

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E. I. S.--We believe that some consider it not quite certain whether "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" was the sign of mercy. But Appleton's "American Cyclopaedia" says that, when, in a Roman amphitheater, a gladiator was overcome in fight, he was allowed to appeal to the spectators; and, if they pointed downward with their thumbs, his life was spared,--but if upward, his opponent dispatched him on the spot.

THE RIDDLE-BOX.

#NUMERICAL ENIGMA.#

I am composed of thirteen letters in two words that form the name of a king lately dead.

My 6 5 8 7 is the capital of his realm. My 4 11 6 2 10 is the city of his birth. My 1 7 10 2 3 12 is a noted port in his kingdom. My 8 2 13 9 10 is a cathedral city in his dominions. L. H., V. H., +

#EASY DIAMOND PUZZLE.#

1. A consonant. 2. A wager. 3. A city in Italy. 4. A part of the body. 5. A vowel. N. B. S.

#WORD SYNCOPATIONS.#

Remove one word from another, and leave a complete word.

1. Take a crime from a clergyman's house, and leave an attendant. 2. Take a summer luxury from worthy of observation, and leave remarkable. 3. Take savage from to puzzle, and leave a drink. 4. Take suffrage from a bigot, and leave a river in Great Britain. 5. Take to lean from a glass vessel, and leave an animal. CYRIL DEANE.

#ANAGRAMS.#

Each anagram is formed from a single word, and a clue to the meaning of that word is given, between brackets, after its anagram.

1. Any one can (trouble). 2. I anoint combs (joinings). 3. Cover no sin (change). 4. A rude song (perilous). 5. I'm no cereal (rite). 6. A mad girl (song). 7. Real blue ant (fixed). 8. An egg dies (liberate). W.

#DROP-LETTER PUZZLE.#

Every other letter is omitted.

H- D-T- M-C- W-O -O-H -E-L -H-T -E -A-H -O -O. C. D.

#EASY RHOMBOID PUZZLE.#

. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .

ACROSS: 1. Oversight. 2. Clean. 3. To fall. 4. To jump. DOWN: 1. One hundred. 2. An article. 3. A color. 4. A title. 5. A part of the body. 6. A pet name for a parent. 7. A vegetable. H. H. D.

#PICTORIAL ANAGRAM PUZZLE.#

#SEXTUPLE WORD-CROSS.#

.
.
.
.
. . . O . . .
.
.
.
.

The central letter, O, is given in the diagram, and is used for both the Full Perpendicular and the Full Horizontal; but the central letter forms no part of the words that make the limbs and arms of the cross.

FULL PERPENDICULAR, eight letters: An American singing-bird.
FULL HORIZONTAL, seven letters: An instrument of war.
TOP LIMB, three letters: A short, jerking action.
BOTTOM LIMB, four letters: Part of a chain.
LEFT ARM, three letters: A small gulf.
RIGHT ARM, three letters: An instrument for catching fish. B.

#PRESIDENTIAL DISCOVERIES.#

In the full names of the nineteen presidents of the United States, find the following hidden words, each of which is selected entire from the name of some single president, although in one or two cases the spelling merely gives the sound of the word that is to be found:

1. An insect. 2. A household task. 3. Two birds. 4. A faithful woman. 5. A forest tree, familiar to school-boys. 6. Two Old Testament men. 7. Four New Testament men. 8. A product of the mine. 9. Two products of the pig. 10. The thousandth part of a dollar. 11. A heavy weight. 12. An inhabitant of the western part of Europe. 13. A famous spy, executed during the Revolutionary war. 14. A line of soldiers. 15. One of the supports of a bridge. 16. Dexterity. 17. A river crossing and river obstructions. 18. Fish eggs. 19. Affirmative votes. 20. A noted Philadelphia philosopher and statesman. 21. An old-time Grecian hero. 22. A useful timber. 23. An English statesman whose head was cut off. 24. A title-deed to lands or estates. 25. Three musical syllables. 26. A title of the Deity, mentioned in the Bible. 27. A delicious sweetmeat. 28. A domestic fowl. 29. A girl's name. 30. Something added. 31. One of the members of a family. C. MARVIN.

#EASY DOUBLE ACROSTIC.#

1. Pleasing. 2. The ocean. 3. "A little house full of meat, with no door to go in and eat." 4. A bar of wood. 5. A thought. 6. A tribe. 7. Pleased.

The initials and finals, read downward, spell the names of two powerful countries. DEL.

#NUMERICAL PUZZLE.#

1 2
3 4 5
6 7

My 3 4 5 is to obstruct. My 1 4 7 is to bend under weight. My 2 4 6 is a carriage.

Place the letters in the positions indicated by the figures of the diagram, and read therefrom my whole, which is the name of a large island. H. H. D.

#A PROVERB AMONG PROVERBS.#

ONE word taken from each sentence in succession will form the answer.

1. "Likeness begets love, yet proud men hate one another."
2. "They that hide can find."
3. "Trade knows neither friends nor kindred."
4. "It is better to be happy than wise."
5. "Gold may be bought too dear."
6. "If you would have a good servant, take neither a kinsman nor a
friend."
7. "A gift long waited for is sold, not given."
8. "It's time to sit when the oven comes to dough."
9. "Only that which is honestly got is gain."
10. "Prudent people always ask the price ere they purchase."
11. "Good advice is never out of place."
12. "Friendship is the perfection of love." CYRIL DEANE.

#A MEDLEY.#

A word that means to cleanse, behead,
And leave of cloth a kind;
Behead again, and leave a seed
Canaries love to find;
Behead again, and it will leave
An animal behind.

Transpose my first, and it becomes
A set of antics gay;
Then curtail twice, and leave what oft
Projects into a bay;
Curtail again, and leave what boys
Will put in mother's way.

Transpose again, and find a word
To horses may apply;
Curtail it twice, and leave a step
That one can measure by;
Behead it, and you have a card
That often counts for high.

Transpose again, and bring to light
A well-known proper name;
And in the very center find
A serpent known to fame,
That caused the death of one,--a queen,--
Who laid to beauty claim. H. H. D.

#HALF WORD-SQUARE.#

A member of a legislative body; a plant; new; periods of time; to allow, reversed; a preposition; a consonant. A. C. CRETT.

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN MARCH NUMBER.

A COMMON ADAGE.--"Well begun is half done."

LITERARY ENIGMA.--
"Sweet was the sound when oft at evening's close
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose."
_Goldsmith's "Deserted Village."_

1. Euripides. 2. Tasso. 3. Southey. 4. Hume. 5. Irving. 6. Carlyle. 7. Wordsworth. 8. Hawthorne. 9. Lyell. 10. Davy. 11. Emerson. 12. Mann.

TRANSPOSITIONS.--1. I pass no, passion. 2. Glare, large. 3. Let this, thistle. 4. United, untied. 5. One cadet, anecdote. 6. Towels, lowest. 7. Not impart, important. 8. Lambs cringe, clamberings.

EASY REVERSALS.--1. Drab, bard. 2. Reed, deer. 3. Door, rood. 4. Yard, dray. 5. Keel, leek. 6. Loop, pool. 7. Tram, mart. 8. Doom, mood. 9. Part, trap. 10. Room, moor.

DOUBLE DIAMOND.--Perpendicular: Ponderous. Horizontal: Gathering.
P
P O D
V I N E S
G A R D E N S
G A T H E R I N G
C A R R I E D
S T O V E
S U E
S

CURTAILMENTS AND BEHEADINGS.--Poe, poet. Raven, rave. Bells, ells.

EASY NUMERICAL ENIGMA.--Robinson Crusoe. Robin, cross, ounce.

PICTORIAL ANAGRAM PROVERB-PUZZLE.--"A new broom sweeps clean."

EASY UNIONS.--1. Rest-o-ring, restoring. 2. Sweet-e-ned, sweetened. 3. Inter-e-sting, interesting.

AN OLD MAXIM.--"Light cares speak; great ones are dumb."

RHOMBOID PUZZLE.--
E P O D E
O P E R A
E A R L Y
N O T E D
R O S E S

DOUBLE CROSS-WORD ACROSTIC.--Steam, Smoke. 1. ScissorS. 2. TeaM. 3. EchO. 4. ArK. 5. MandrakE.

EASY DIAMOND PUZZLE.--1. T. 2. Era. 3. Trout. 4. Auk. 5. T.

MALTESE-CROSS PUZZLE.--
F R E S H
B A S A I
E I S A D
I N T E N S E
N N N H A
G A C T L
C L E A R

POETICAL REBUS.--"Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive."
_Scott's "Marmion."_

NUMBERICAL ENIGMA.--Nightingale. Nigh, tin, gale.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC.--Louisa M. Alcott, Ralph W. Emerson, 1. LumbeR. 2. OpheliA. 3. UsuaL. 4. ImP. 5. SumacH. 6. AndreW. 7. MoosE. 8. AsyluM. 9. LakE. 10. CondoR. 11. OlympuS. 12. TO. 13. TeN.

WORD SYNCOPATIONS.--1. La-wren-ce; wren, lace. 2. K-now-ing; now, king. 3. De-fin-ed; fin, deed. 4. Re-fine-d; fine, reed. 5. W-ant-ed; ant, wed. 6. F-urn-ish; urn, fish.

CHARADE--Wedgwood.

ABBREVIATIONS.--1. Beryl, bey. 2. Crown, cow. 3. Fairy, fir. 4. Grape, gap. 5. Steam, sea. 6. White, wit. 7. Halts, hat. 8. Honey, hoe. 9. Bevel, bee. 10. Pence, pen.

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ANSWERS TO PUZZLES in the February number were received, before February 18, from Lucian J., G.L., N.E., G.A.R.C., Mattie E. Doyle, Josie Brown, B.P. Emery, Rene L. Milhau, Willie C. Du Bois, "Dominie," M.H.F., "Ben Zeen," M. Alice Chase, W.L. and F.H. Amerman, Louie C.O. Haughton, Frank Haughton, Alice Stedman, Kittie Perry, Annie L. Zieber, Georgine C. Schnitzspahn, Anna M. Richardson, H.A. Warren, Constance Grand-Pierre and Sarah Duffield, W. Eichelberger, "Adelaide and Reggie," Mason Romeyn Strong, Robert M. Webb, "L.," "Yankee Girl," Grace B. Latimer, Eugene L. Lockwood, "Bob White," "Medea," Robert Howard, Nellie J. Towle, Eddie H. Gay, Ray T. French, Gertrude C. Eager, Abbie G. Weed, Arthur C. Smith, Addie Campbell, "Bessie and her Cousin," Lucy V. MacRill, M.W. Collet, L.C.L., Hattie M. Heath, "Little Eagle," Edith Wilkinson, Grace Van Wagenen, Nessie E. Stevens, A.H. Babcock, Anna E. Mathewson, Clara B. Dunster, Ben Merrill, C.E. Sands, John Taylor, Jennie Taylor, Harry Durand, Nellie A. Hudson, Leonice B. Barnes, "Winnie, Brookline," Bessie L. Barnes, Louise G. Hinsdale, Lizzie B. Clark, Lizzie M. Dow, Mabel Barrows, Miller Bowdoin & Co., R.T. McKeever, "Three Cousins," "St. Nicholas Club," Lizzie E.T." Anna F. Robinson, Florence E. Turrill, Ida N. Carson, Camille and Leonie Giraud, "New Friend," George J. Fiske, Florence Wilcox, Fred M. Pease; No name, Cambridgeport; Eddie Vultee, Milly E. Adams, Perry Adams, Maude Adams, and Anna R. Stratton.