[Ill.u.s.tration: A BABE IN THE WOOD.--DRAWN BY F. S. CHURCH.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.]
WAKEFIELD, Ma.s.sACHUSETTS.
An article in your paper of April 27, 1880, ent.i.tled "A Cheap Canoe," has given a decided stimulus to the boys of this town in the matter of canoe building. There are now six on our lake, built almost entirely by the boys who own them, on the model there given.
I send you a short article from our local paper, written by my son, a lad of fifteen, giving his experience on his first canoe trip down Ipswich River. He proposes a much longer one next summer vacation.
Many thanks are due to you for giving the boys something useful to do, which teaches them how to do their own work.
S. W. A.
ST. JOHNS, MICHIGAN.
Undertaking myself the education of my young son, I am deeply indebted to you for much useful information. I find YOUNG PEOPLE a _multum in parvo_, serving as an entertaining reader, besides giving manly hints in all branches of knowledge--geography, natural history, science, drawing, and music. Even the puzzles draw out the youthful mind, which learns from them unconsciously the a.n.a.lysis and definition of words. It is like the medicine which "children cry for."
Especially let me thank you for your historical sketches, and also for the healthy moral tone pervading every part of the paper, teaching the children to be gentle and kind, as well as manly and brave.
For myself, I am only less interested than the little ones for whose especial benefit it is intended. As a "little mother," my sympathies are all with your success.
E. S. C.
FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY.
Perhaps you would like to hear from one of your little American friends over the sea.
We live in Frankfort-on-the-Main. It is a beautiful city, full of public monuments and handsome buildings.
Last month when I was in Freiburg, in Baden, I had the pleasure of seeing the Grand Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Baden. They were spending a few days in Freiburg to visit their son, the Heir Prince, who lives there. During their stay the feast of _Frohnleichnamstag_, or Corpus Christi Day, took place, and a large procession was to pa.s.s through the streets and before their palace. The Grand d.u.c.h.ess came to an open window, and was joined by her daughter, the Princess Victoria, who is eighteen. Then the Grand Duke soon came and stood behind them, and when the Heir Prince peeped over his father"s shoulder, the picture of the ducal family was complete.
The Grand d.u.c.h.ess also visited our school in Freiburg, and asked me several questions. She is very beautiful. She is about forty years old, but her skin is as fine and smooth as wax. She looks to be as good as she is beautiful. The Grand Duke is not less handsome.
I and my sisters and brother all enjoy YOUNG PEOPLE so much, and welcome it every week.
We have lived in Paris several years, and I have often seen going through the streets the bath-tubs and boilers full of hot and cold water that Paul S. speaks of in the Post-office Box of YOUNG PEOPLE No. 39.
I will write another time about the curious houses in old Frankfort.
ETHEL D. W.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.
We have not been so fortunate with our pets as other young people.
We had three rabbits and two guinea-pigs. The other morning, when we went to feed them, the top of the hutch was broken, and nothing was to be seen of the animals. We are pretty sure some dogs got them in the night, from the way things looked. We are very sorry to lose our pets.
ISABEL AND HELEN C.
Pa.s.sAIC, NEW JERSEY.
I am ten years old, and I have one little brother. Papa is a doctor, and Johnnie and I take long rides with him, and drive for him. We have two horses, named Roxy and Bill. We have gold-fish and turtles and frogs in the fountain in front of our door.
We like YOUNG PEOPLE very much, and jump for joy when it comes.
A. W. and J. R.
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA.
I have been taking YOUNG PEOPLE for eight weeks, and find it very interesting.
I have a little dog so small that mother can almost hold him in the palm of her hand. I call him Dash. Whenever I go out in the yard he runs after me, and tries to bite me. I have a little brother who is always begging for peaches.
WILLIE H. F. B.
HAMILTON, ONTARIO.
A few weeks ago, as I was pa.s.sing a bookstore, I saw HARPER"S YOUNG PEOPLE, and I went in and bought a copy. I am going to get all the back numbers. I think "The Moral Pirates" was a splendid story.
My brother has a row-boat, and I often go fishing and rowing in Burlington Bay. One day papa and I went fishing, and we caught four fish. Mamma laughed ever so much when we brought them home.
ANDERSON GIBSON S.
WEST HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.
I am very glad that I have commenced to take YOUNG PEOPLE, and sorry I did not begin sooner. All my friends take it, and like it very much, as it is both amusing and interesting. "Across the Ocean" and "The Moral Pirates" were splendid stories. I wait impatiently for Tuesday to come, so that I can read the stories and the Post-office Box, which I like very much.
LOUIS H.