Harper's Young People, January 11, 1881

L. M. F. and L. L. P. – Your plan for a reading and debating club is excellent, and if well carried out must have good results. You will find suggestions that may be useful in some remarks appended to a letter from Violet S. in Harper's Young People No. 53, and also in a book called Stories of the Sea, noticed in No. 61. We would advise you not to waste your time over fourth-rate literature (to which the books you mention belong), but to select the best authors, whose works will not only entertain but instruct you. An excellent guide for you would be William Swinton's Masterpieces of English Literature, recently published by Harper & Brothers.

Violet S. – Your account of the proceedings of your society is not full enough. Can you not favor us with a sprightly description of what is done and said at your meetings, instead of giving the "order of exercises" merely?

John N. H. – Either hickory or sassafras wood is good material for bows.

Helen G. – How to make the "Wiggles" was fully explained at the end of the Post-office Box in No. 51 of Young People.

R. T. F. – Amber is not, as you suppose, made from "the sap of a tree in South Africa," but is a fossil resin from several species of coniferous or cone-bearing trees of a very remote geological period. More than 800 species of insects have been found preserved in amber, and leaves of 160 species of plants. Fine pieces of amber are very highly prized, and are sometimes worth more than their weight in gold. The largest mass known is in Berlin, Prussia. It weighs eighteen pounds, and is valued at $30,000. Amber is extensively used for ornaments, the mouth-pieces of pipes, etc. You may be able to procure a piece of some manufacturer of meerschaum pipes.

The ancients prized amber very highly, and it was an important article of commerce in early times. From the fact that it is found in large quantities in the remains of the lake-villages of Switzerland, we know that it must have been an article of exchange in prehistoric times.

Floy. – If you have any pressed flowers, leaves, or other pretty objects which can be sent easily by mail, we have no doubt some of our readers would be glad to send you postage stamps in exchange for them. You can put your offer in the Post-office Box.

Jesse H., Jun. – The English noun envelop, as well as the verb, is accented on the second syllable. The French form of the word, envelope, has an even accent on the three syllables. Our word is derived from the French.

Jean C. P. – Please give the name of the county in which the town of Warren, where you live, is situated. There are several towns of that name in Ohio, and correspondents will not know where to address you unless the county is given also.

Ford D. Lyon. – The controversy about the origin of the phrase, "Consistency, thou art a jewel," has not been satisfactorily settled. The saying has been floating about for a great many years, but no one has been able to find out who started it on its travels.

Grace. – The ü in Olmütz is sounded like the French u, very difficult to catch without the aid of a teacher. You can come very near it by pronouncing the vowel o and changing to e without altering the position of the lips.

C. G. G. – The time required for the transmission of a signal through the Atlantic cable varies according to the condition of the batteries. A dispatch has been sent from New York to London and the answer received within an hour.

James McK. – No charge is made in the matter about which you ask.

Sallie K., Cincinnati, Ohio. – The name of the street in which you live is so obscurely written that we can not make it out. Write it very plainly, and we will print your request.

Daisy R. – Send enough to make a pretty wreath.

Jennie S. M. – A very good recipe for butterscotch was given in a letter from Kittie G. in the Post-office Box of Young People No. 37.

Henry C. D. – Glass for windows was made during the Middle Ages in all European countries. In England glass-painting for windows was practiced in 1338. Some splendid windows of York Cathedral were painted at that period by John Thornton, of Coventry. In the fifteenth century English window-glass was more expensive than any other kind of glass. The Egyptians made glass at a very early period of their national existence. Paintings representing glass-blowers making a very large vase show that nearly 4000 years ago the Egyptians were far advanced in this art.

Favors are acknowledged from Garrett Waggener, Bertha Herron, C. C. Shelley, Jun., Stella Pratt, George W. Taymun, Flora C. B., Mabel White, Alice Brown, J. W. Menefee, Orrie H. Clark, Shelton H. Hibbs, H. H. J., S. H. R., W. H. Scherzer, Carrie and Belle N., Albert Woolley, B. D. Ellis, C. G. Myers, B. Tompkins, E. Fay Stevens, H. McIlvain, Frank A. Harmony, Annie S. and Bennie C. Duffie, F. H. Kellogg, Everett Jones, Lewis B. Frazier, Lyman Perley, Sidney J. Carson, Katie Dale, Louis Mareé, Tamar Love, Thomas Buford, Fredy Leser.

Correct answers to puzzles are received from C. H. McB., Hugh Pilcairn, Thomas Cook, George Dudley Kyte, "Lone Star," Harry and Isobel Jacob.

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS

No. 1

WORD SQUARES – (To Owlet)

1. First, a piece of ordnance formerly used for blowing up barricades and other defensive works. Second, a female name. Third, to feel a sharp, pricking sensation. Fourth, a state in Africa. Fifth, part of a printing-press. Sixth, having a melancholy appearance.

    Zelotes.

2. First, to disturb. Second, to weaken. Third, a Turkish coin. Fourth, absent without leave. Fifth, to show clearly. Sixth, leased.

    Bolus.

No. 2

DIAMOND

A letter. A small vessel. A hut. A celebration. A guide. A snare. A letter.

    Wennie.

No. 3

DOUBLE ACROSTIC

An ensign. A boy's name. A wonder. Finished. Answer. – Two things to gain which men often make great sacrifices and devote all their energies.

    Lone Star.

No. 4

ENIGMA

First in sieve, not in pail.
Second in rum, not in ale.
Third in calf, not in ox.
Fourth in cat, not in fox.
Fifth in rude, not in kind.
Sixth in brain, not in mind.
Seventh in wheat, not in hay.
The whole a savage bird of prey.

    Oscar.

No. 5

ACROSTIC

Place seven divisions of the United States in such order that, their initials read downward spell the name of another.

    Bolus.