Harper's Young People, July 6, 1880 Part 6

WILLIE W.

NEW YORK CITY.

If any of the readers of YOUNG PEOPLE have pet turtles, this is what they can feed them with: Mine eat flies, bugs, worms, and fish. One of mine is so small that a large three-cent piece would cover it. Bull-frogs will eat these same things too.

I think YOUNG PEOPLE is splendid. The story of "The Moral Pirates"

is the best yet.

LYMAN C.

SCHUYLERSVILLE, NEW YORK.

YOUNG PEOPLE is the best paper I ever saw. I like the story of "The Moral Pirates" best of all, and I hope it will be a long one.

I have two brothers, both younger than I am. We do not go to school, but study at home. I would like to know whether you are going to have a binding for YOUNG PEOPLE. I read the letters in the Post-office Box over and over, and enjoy them very much. We raise a good many chickens, and I have lots of pet ones, all of which have names.

KEBLE D.

We have already stated in the Post-office Box that an ornamental cover will be ready when the first volume is concluded.

NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK.

I like YOUNG PEOPLE very much, especially the story of "The Moral Pirates." I always read it the minute it comes from the post-office.

J. M. P.

NEW YORK CITY.

I am twelve years old, and a constant reader of YOUNG PEOPLE. I am the boy who was buried under the snow, in the story called "Ned's Snow-House," in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 18. I was very much surprised when I read it, and it was some time before papa found out who wrote it. I was nine years old when it happened.

WARREN S. B.

TAIOHAE, NUKAHIVA, MARQUESAS ISLANDS.

I am the only white girl in this place that can talk English. I have two brothers and one little sister. I am the eldest, and am nearly twelve years old. It is very wild out here. In one of these islands the people eat each other. There is no school here, and mamma teaches me my lessons. Papa gets HARPER'S WEEKLY, and YOUNG PEOPLE came with it. I send now to subscribe for it.

ISABELLA F. H.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

I am seven years old, and I like YOUNG PEOPLE so much! I often go out to Spanish Fort, on Lake Pontchartrain. They have a pair of goats and a little carriage there that children can ride in for five cents a round trip.

I have a pet dog named Jack, and four pet chickens; and I had a little canary, but it got sick and died. My dog chases my chickens all day long, so that I have to whip him.

CHARLIE S.

b.u.t.tEVILLE, OREGON.

I live on the banks of the Willamette River. We are having lots of rain here now. I thought I would write and tell you how much I liked the story of "Across the Ocean." I liked "The Story of George Was.h.i.+ngton" too. I am eleven years old.

W. B.

MEXIA, TEXAS.

I have had a present of a little canary, but it does not sing. The lady who gave it to me said it had been a beautiful singer, but it became sick. She gave it castor-oil, and it recovered, but has never sung since that time. The little bird has a nice cage, always fresh water for drinking and bathing, bird seed, fish-bone, and plenty of green leaves and gra.s.s. I wish some one could tell me how to make it sing again.

ADELE M.

It is not easy to restore song to a silent canary, and as you will see from a letter in this "Post-office Box," you are not the only one seeking a remedy for this trouble. The companions.h.i.+p of a singing-bird will sometimes arouse a canary to display its own musical talent. Your bird may be silent from overfeeding, as too much green food, like lettuce leaves, makes a bird grow fat and stupid, and less likely to sing. Try to place your bird near singing canaries for a few weeks, if you can, and if that does not affect it favorably, we fear nothing will.

Cora R. Price and Mamie E. Evans both send the following legend of the forget-me-not, in answer to the inquiry of "A Constant Reader": Some flower seeds having been cast away by a traveller from a distant country, they fell by the edge of a lake. Some time afterward two lovers were wandering by the lake's side, and the lady, seeing the strange flowers, entreated her companion to gather some. As the gallant knight reached to pluck the blossoms, he fell in a quicksand, and was drawn into the treacherous pool, flinging the flowers at the maiden's feet, and crying, "Forget me not," as he disappeared forever.

Here is still another fanciful legend, sent by Ethel Sophia Mason: When Adam and Eve were driven from Eden, the flowers all shrank away from Eve with the exception of a little blue blossom, which Eve had named "heaven's flower," as its color was so much like the blue sky. As Eve pa.s.sed, it seemed to murmur, "Forget me not," and she gratefully gathered it, saying, "Henceforth, dear flower, that shall be thy name."

It was the only plant transplanted from Paradise, or that survived the flood. It is said to have the power of speaking at midnight, and telling the legend of its sweet name.

TROY, NEW YORK.

I am very fond of natural history and botany. The other day I was out walking with my teacher, and I saw a caterpillar, or, as my little friend Ada says, a pillarcat! It had a black body, with a red stripe running along its back. I wish some one would tell me what kind it was. I would like "Wee Tot's" address.

LENA.

The address of "Wee Tot" was given with her letter in Post-office Box No. 26. Walter H. P., who wrote about caterpillars in Post-office Box No. 31, can perhaps tell you the name of the caterpillar, and what kind of b.u.t.terfly or moth it produces, although you describe only its color.

Had you stated its size, length, and other peculiarities, it would be easier to give you its name.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

I like to read YOUNG PEOPLE very much, but I like the pictures best of all. I have shown the paper to the boys in our neighborhood, and have got a good many of them to take it. I never drew any Wiggles before, but I like them. I am twelve years old, and I work for a dentist.