The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 354, October 9, 1886

Ediscenda.—The highest mountain known has been found in New Guinea, and is called Mount Hercules. It is said to be 32,786 feet high, or 3,786 feet higher than Mount Everest, of the Himalayan Range.

Violet.—The best examination to pass would be either the Oxford or Cambridge; but if you do not wish to do so much, that of the College of Preceptors would perhaps be sufficient for your purpose.

A Lonely Girl.—We think there is too much science and too little history and literature in your list of books, and we should recommend a course of poetry also, as well as some works on art.

A, B, C, D, etc.—In the chronicles of Robert of Gloucester the age of Brutus is purely legendary. The whole chronicle is partly taken from the fabulous history of Geoffrey of Monmouth.

DORA (Bradford).—"How to Form a Small Library" was at page 7 and 122, vol. ii. Clean your hair-brushes with flour or bran, rubbing them well together with it as if you were washing them dry. You should write copies daily to improve your handwriting.

A. and M.—We are inclined to believe that governesses are not in demand anywhere in the colonies unless they be willing to turn their hands to help in the household, just as a daughter of the house might do. If you and your sister be willing to do this, and are both capable and industrious, you might do well in Queensland. Write to the secretary of the Woman's Emigration Society, New Buildings, Carteret-street, Queen Anne's-gate, London, S.W.

E. C. G.—We believe you can obtain grammars and dictionaries in most of the Eastern tongues at Messrs. Trübner's, Ludgate-hill, E.C. We cannot say what progress you would make without a master, as we do not know your capabilities.

Macaw.—We have great pleasure in giving the address of the correspondence class from which you have derived so much advantage, and which you sought through our advice. Miss MacArthur, 4, Buckingham-street, Hillhead, Glasgow. So well managed, as it appears to be from your account, we hope our notice may prove of much use to our readers.

Miss Mackay.—We thank you for the particulars which you send us of your essay club, called The Rookery, and willingly give your invitation to our readers to join it. There is no charge made for these answers to correspondents. We are glad to give help and promote all useful efforts, and believe we shall do so by giving your address as Hon. Secretary, Governor's House, H.M. Prison, Lincoln.

Leona Woodfield.—Candidates for hospital training are generally required to be from twenty-five to forty years of age. They may enter the Children's Hospital, Great Ormond-street, at twenty-one.

Union Jack.—The English language is a compound of three different dialects spoken for two or three centuries after the Norman Conquest. That of the East Midland was the speech of the metropolis, in which Chaucer, Gower, and Wyckliffe wrote, and was spoken in East Kent and Surrey. There were also the Northern and Southern dialects, which, blending with the East Midland, formed the basis of modern English. But these three dialects are likewise compounds of the Saxon, Celtic, Danish, and Norman tongues. To get rid of the smell of paint, sprinkle some hay with chloride of lime and leave it in the rooms; also a basin of water, to be changed night and morning. You will perceive traces on the surface of what it has absorbed.

T. C. S.—Why do you not read our answers under this heading? You will find that there are several societies for training female missionaries and catechists.

Mary Commander.—Astronomers measure the distances between the earth and the stars by means of mathematical calculations. You should procure some work on astronomy. There is a nice little book published in our office called "The Heavens and the Earth," and another, rather larger, called "The Midnight Sky;" both are illustrated.

Mary Williams.—If you refer to any volume of the G. O. P. and read our answers under the above heading, you will see all we can tell you about telegraph clerks. We must decline to full up space by continually repeating old answers.

White Tulip must do as we have directed "Mary Williams," and find all the addresses of societies where young women are trained for zenana and other missionary work. It is very wrong not to go to church on Sunday mornings merely because of "feeling shy." That is rubbish. Attend to your book and your prayers, and not to your neighbours. Nobody will notice you.

I. D. L. E.—Write to the secretary, Deaconesses' Training Institution, 41, Ferntower-road, Mildmay Park, London, N., and at The Willows, Stoke Newington, N. Otherwise, if you desire experience in parish work, you might be received at St. Luke's Invalid Home, Finsbury House, Ramsgate. You had better write to both these institutions, giving your age, and stating whether your application be made with the full consent of your parents. There are also the London Diocesan Deaconesses' Institution, 12, Tavistock Crescent, Westbourne Park, W. (head sister, Deaconess Cassin), and the East London Deaconesses' Home, 2, Sutton-place, Hackney, E. (deaconess, L. Collier). If you would prefer a situation by the sea, apply to Sister Emma, Winchester Diocesan Deaconesses' Home, Southsea, Hants.

Josephine.—There is a Governesses' Institute in Paris, at 48, Rue de Chaillot. Apply to the secretary or lady principal. If you wish to belong to a teacher's guild, that of Great Britain and Ireland has its office at 17, Buckingham-street, Strand, W.C. You must address the hon. secretary. You write a very good hand.

Bertha Green and Daisy.—The cheapest and best way for you to improve your education at home will be to join one or more of the amateur societies instituted to assist girls who cannot go to school nor have professional masters. A small directory of girls' educational and other societies and clubs is to appear immediately, edited by one of our own staff of writers, especially for the use of our girls, so many of whom write for the addresses of such and particulars about them. (Messrs. Griffith and Farran, St. Paul's Churchyard, E.C.)

A Poor Young Girl.—So well educated as you are, you would be likely to get on well in a colony. Write to the Colonial Emigration Society, 13, Dorset-street, Portman-square, London, W. They have a home for women and a loan fund. Anyone willing to act as mother's help, and put her hand to anything her employer does, and is, moreover, capable of teaching the young people of the family, would be sure to get on well in a colony.

Nelly Holmes should advertise in the Times, or some good daily paper, for the situation she requires. We cannot tell what salary a young girl in her teens would get.

ART

C. O.—Our opinion of the drawing is not favourable. The outlines of the figure are not true to nature in its undistorted form; they are those conceived by an uninstructed dress or stay maker. As you are only thirteen years of age, you are not yet acquainted with pure classical forms of beauty, and have time to cultivate your taste. Take lessons at a branch figure-drawing school founded by the South Kensington School of Art. The kind of drawing to which you aspire is much improved of late years, and shopkeepers begin to require that fashion-plates should somewhat resemble the true "human form divine."

Industry and Katie.—To preserve seaweed, gather specimens that are growing to rocks in preference to those floating on the water, and lay them in a shallow pan filled with clean salt water. Insert a piece of writing-paper under the seaweed and lift it out of the bath; spread out the plant with a camel's-hair pencil in a natural form, and slant the paper to allow the water to run off; then press between two pieces of board, lay on one of them two sheets of blotting-paper, then the seaweed, and over the latter a piece of fine cambric, over that the blotting-paper, and lastly the second piece of board; replace the cambric and blotting-paper daily, and when the seaweed is quite dry brush over the coarser kinds with spirits of turpentine, in which three small lumps of gum-mastic have been dissolved by shaking in a warm place. Two-thirds of a small phial is the proper proportion. This mixture helps to retain the colour of the specimens.

Ella and Heliotrope.—Painting carefully with muriatic acid will remove the rough coating outside shells and show the mother o' pearl beneath it. They should be frequently dipped in water to remove the burning acid, or it will make holes in the shell. To polish them, dip a rag in hydrochloric acid and rub till clean; then dry in hot sawdust and polish with chamois leather. To paint shells with oil-colours, mix the latter with Siccatif de Courtrai, or with mirrorine, and put on the paints very dry. To paint them with water colours, lay a wash of white of egg over them; mix the paints with Chinese white and white of egg. The best effects are produced with oil colours.

Daisy.—We make no distinction between persons who write to us, whether in service or out of it. We have an enormous correspondence, and very little space is devoted to it. Thus, many correspondents have to wait long for their answers. A good cashmere would suit very well for a wedding dress. Get one that will be of service to you afterwards. If you live in London it should not be very light. Your bonnet could be trimmed with white ribbon.

Christie.—Try laying on a wash of white of egg before painting in water-colours upon black cardboard. This will remove the greasiness of the surface. Then lay on a wash of Chinese white, and paint in the ordinary manner.

MISCELLANEOUS

Financier.—We consider that to wash with hot water is not bad for you, but should be supplemented by a good rubbing (performed very quickly) with a wet towel all over the body. This will cause a healthy reaction. But the morning is really the best time. "Sesame and Lilies" and "Stones of Venice" are good books to read (of Ruskin's). There is a "Dictionary of English Literature," published by Cassell and Co., which might be useful to you.

Memory.—We hear that many people have derived much benefit from the memory systems, and "Stokes on Memory" is a well-known book.

L. Nusse.—We fear that all such things are only forms of throwing good money after bad. If you really have reason to think that you are entitled to money, go to a respectable lawyer for help.

B. K. E.—No one can limit the power of prayer and faith, and yours may be answered as your heart desires. But do not "do evil that good may come."

Ol Sie.—Your verses show much poetic feeling, and an affectionate nature, but you would need to study the subject of composition before your lines were worth anything to anyone.

Monthly Reader and May.—The sooner you get your teeth stopped the better. But make a good choice of a dentist.

A. M. C.—The salaries in drapers' shops vary much, not only in different establishments, but amongst the assistants in each, according to their special departments. Girls with tall, handsome figures, employed for showing off mantles, get more than little girls behind the counter, and dress and mantle, or bonnet and cap makers are comparatively well paid. You must make special personal application.

An Arum Lily.—Use a rosemary wash for aiding the growth of the hair. See our articles on the care of the hair, page 631, vol. vi.

Rosina.—The young men who so far forgot themselves and presumed to speak to you and your friend without a proper introduction, are not suitable acquaintances for respectable girls. But you should not have been rude; you should simply have walked away to your chaperon, or some married person of your acquaintance.

Lack Penny might, perhaps, teach a few little girls at home. Has she any friends who would be glad to send them to her, instead of to a school, for a couple of hours in the morning, when busy themselves? There is nothing to be ashamed of in earning money, if you have it not, for your requirements.

Floo.—You slope your letters the wrong way, and we could scarcely read your writing. If you want to improve it, slope it the right way, and cross every "t." We do not know how the mother o' pearl became stained. Probably it was washed in hot water, and so cracked all over. You might try a quick brush over with diluted muriatic acid, and an immediate dip into cold water, then rubbing well with some sweet oil on a soft piece of flannel. Beware of touching your eyes after using muriatic acid, as it burns, and should be put carefully away, that ignorant people or children may not touch it.

E. M. P.—Perhaps your dogs are mangy. In any case you should show them to a veterinary surgeon. Consult our indexes.

Anxious One.—Your duty is very plain. Go to your clergyman, and tell him of the discovery you have made, and ask him to baptise you at once. If your name were sent in for confirmation after your course of preparation, you are, of course, ready for your baptism.

Tim Tippin should study the art of metrical composition. What she has written is very irregular and incorrect. But even were it perfectly according to rule, there is no new thought in it, no beautiful simile, nothing original. She is very young, and therefore could by no means be expected to produce what a powerful or imaginative intellect alone could produce, when arrived at its full development at some ten or twelve years later in life. So she must learn a good deal more before she can "become famous."

Edith.—We are unable to find employment and name employers for our correspondents, much as we sympathise with them in their desire to be self-supporting.

Ursula.—We do not answer seven questions. Bride and bridegroom sit side by side at the top of the table, the two fathers take in the two mothers, and first bridesmaid and best man pair together.

I. Nibs.—You would be much wiser to try and get your story as a serial into one of the papers in your own colony. We could not promise to take unknown MS., and unless you copied it you might lose it in passing through the post.

A March Elf should wear her hair in a plait at the back, tied up with a bow of ribbon, and curled a little in front. She is too young to need steels in her dresses.

E. C.—The frontispiece appears to tell its own story of poverty and weakness—a poor dressmaker, unable to finish a dress by a given time. Water may be softened by using borax, ammonia, or oatmeal, when needed for the skin. Boiling water and soda will generally take out stains from table linen.

Jessie.—We know nothing more about the water scheme than the newspaper report, which "Jessie" has herself seen.

Saffron Crocus.—Read our article on "Lissom Hands and Pretty Feet," vol. i., page 348.

Ethel.—Pincushions and fans, embroidered and ornamented in various ways, seem the most general contributions at bazaars at present. Painted match-boxes, writing-cases, and painted jars for tobacco, are all useful and sell well.

Gretchen.—There is a small volume on "Indian Outfits" published by Mr. Gill, 170, Strand, which is very valuable.