[Ill.u.s.tration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX]
The following communication is from a member of an old and well-known publishing firm in this city:
NEW YORK, _April 28, 1880_.
_Messrs. Harper & Brothers_:
GENTLEMEN,--When you announced your intention of making a paper for the young, I must own I felt a little sorry. I had always believed, and believe still, that HARPER"S MONTHLY was the best magazine in the English language, and HARPER"S WEEKLY the best of all ill.u.s.trated papers; but it is so hard to make a periodical for the young--the number of people capable of editing such a periodical being extremely small--I felt it must be a failure, and so for a good while I gave it very little attention. I have a boy of seven, and another of five--bright boys, of course--and I have read every line (almost) of three late consecutive numbers of HARPER"S YOUNG PEOPLE; and I must say, if these are specimens--and I have no doubt they are--it is as complete a success in its own way as the MAGAZINE and the WEEKLY. I am not sure whether the boys or their papa were most interested. The only fault I see in it is that it increases the difficulty of getting the children off early to bed.
I congratulate you on having a paper that will do as much good as any paper or periodical published in the world.
GRAHAMVILLE, FLORIDA.
I live on the Oklawaha River. The Silver Spring is six miles from this place. We live at the edge of the hummock, and see many kinds of birds and flowers. A little bird has built its nest in one of our hen"s nests. I have one brother. His name is Philip. I will be seven years old in May. We cut down a palmetto-tree yesterday. The cabbage, which is the tender part at the end of the tree, is good to eat. The bud I brought home, and am curing it to braid for a hat. It makes a pretty hat that looks like straw. Some people here use the palmetto leaves for fans or brooms. They are very large, and have long stems. The small leaves make nice fly-brushes.
E. PEARL L.
BRAZORIA, TEXAS.
We take YOUNG PEOPLE, and like it very much. I read the papers until I know them almost by heart, and I thought it would be nice to write a letter for the Post-office Box. I am a little boy nine years old, and I live on the Brazos River, in Texas. I and my little brother have never been to school, but papa and mamma teach us at home. We have beautiful redbirds, bluebirds, and woodp.e.c.k.e.rs here, and a pair of mocking-birds have built their nest in a rose-bush near our window. We have two pet chickens, named Poll and Nelly, that have never been with a hen since they were hatched. When I call, "Cluck! cluck!" they come running to me, but they are afraid of a hen. Every night they cry to be put to bed.
WALTER H. S.
REFUGIO, TEXAS.
I want to tell you about some minnows I had. I got them out of a mud hole, and put them in a large candy jar in some fresh rain-water. I kept them about two months. I fed them on flies and bread-crumbs, and when I dropped their food in the water, they would swim to the surface as fast as they could and swallow it. I put some sh.e.l.ls and a calla lily in the jar, and the little fish would dart around after each other, and hide behind the sh.e.l.ls.
They were very amusing.
LULA B.
FLINT, MICHIGAN.
I had YOUNG PEOPLE for a Christmas present, and I like it very much. I have a puppy. I call him Champion, after that brave dog in the story I read in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 20. He is two months old, and my papa thinks he will be big enough next winter to draw me on my sled.
JOSIE A. U.
DUNCANSBY, MISSISSIPPI.
I am a little girl ten years old, and I have a brother eight. I live in the country, two miles from the Mississippi River, where there is nothing to see but big fields of cotton and corn. Papa is a planter. I wait patiently every week for YOUNG PEOPLE. I was born in Louisiana, but my grandpa was born in New York State. I have never been to school. I am taught at home.
CALLIE R. H.
WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT.
I send you the names of all the flowers I have found in the month of April. I bring them in from the fields, and mamma tells me the names, and I write them down in a book. I think I can find more flowers in May, as I live too far north to find many in April.
Here is the list: Round-lobed hepatica (_Hepatica triloba_), trailing arbutus (_Epigoea repens_), yellow adder-tongue violets (_Erythronium americanum_), bloodroot (_Sanguinaria canadensis_), cinque-foil (_Potentilla canadensis_), sweet white violet (_Viola blanda_), common blue violets (_Viola cucullata_), wood-anemone (_Anemone nemorosa_), rue-anemone (_Thalictrum anemonoides_), wild strawberry (_Fragaria vesca_), shepherd"s-purse (_Capsella bursa_), leather-leaf (_Ca.s.sandra calyculata_), dandelion (_Taraxac.u.m dens-leonis_), bluets (_Oldenlandia cerulia_).
HARRY H. M.
FAIR HAVEN, VERMONT.
I have watched the reports of willow "p.u.s.s.ies" coming out in different parts of the country with a good deal of interest, and I thought I would write and tell you that on April 25, when riding to church, I saw some cowslips in bloom. I think that is doing pretty well for our New England spring. My little brother and I found two handfuls of arbutus to-day, but it has been in bloom for some time. We have a black and white shepherd dog. He can climb an apple-tree that leans a little to one side a good deal quicker than my little brother, who is eight years old.
SADIE H.
MOORTOWN, CALIFORNIA.
I am a little boy nine years old. I was born in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It storms fearfully here. Last winter was an awful hard one--the coldest ever known. It has been snowing here to-day (April 13), although the wild flowers are just in bloom. I have a pet fox and a squirrel. They are very tame.
DANIE R.
MARLBOROUGH-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK.
I am seven years old. I live in Brooklyn, but I am visiting my grandpa and grandma now. I have a little uncle not much older than myself. We play archery sometimes, and we like to hunt eggs for grandma. There are two cats here--a big yellow one we call Solomon, because he looks so wise; and another real pretty one we call Harriet, because Harriet gave it to us. We have lots of fun here--swinging, playing croquet, riding, and rolling in the hammocks.
MAY T.
LAWRENCE, KANSAS.
I am twelve years old. Papa takes YOUNG PEOPLE for my brother and me, and we like it very much. I have two pets--a cat and a canary.
I let my canary out of its cage almost every day. If I do not, it seems to think itself very badly treated. Violets were in blossom here about the 1st of April.
ANTOINETTE R.
PRINCESS ANNE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.