Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, March 16, 1916, Page 9

Rues for Young Writers. | 1, Write plainly on one.side of the ‘paper ‘only, and number the v-au. 2. Use pen and ink, not penc! ‘ 8. ort and ted ar s will i}’:o""a,%. preference. Do not use over 1250 words. 4. Originel stories or letters only will be used, 6. Write your name, age ‘dren plainly at the bottom story. Address all communications to Uncle Jed, Bulletin Office.’ ““Whatever ycu are—Be that! Whatever you say—Be truel Straightforwardly act, Be honest—in fact, Be nobody else but you.” and ad- of the POETRY. I Caddis Folks By Lindsay McCoy. The Caddis worms are most curious folks, And their funny dress makes them look like jokes. Bach one of them has a style of his own And trims up his gown with straw, seeds or stone. Some wear ruffied leaves almost to the throat, Some wear an ulster and some skirt and coat. But if they wear frills or if they dress plain ) They weave a silk lining of finest grain. Some time the Caddis will leave its old home; Will leave the dark pool and far away roam; Will leave its old case, will get some bright wings— Dame Nature can do most wonderful things! Never Fret Nanny has a hopeful way— Bright and busy Nanny; When I cracked the cup today, She said, in her hopeful way “It’s only cracked—don't fret, I pray;” Sunny, cheery Nanny! Nanny has a hopeful way, So good, and sweet, and canny; When I broke the cup today, She said in her hopeful way: “Well, 'twas cracked, I'm glad to say;” Kindly, merry Nanny! Nanny has a hopeful way— Quite right, little Nanny Cups will crack and break alway, | Fretting doesn’t mend or pay; Do _the best you can, I say, Busy, loving Nanny! -St. icholas. UNCLE JED'S TALK TO WIDE-| AWAKES. I guess ihe Wide-Awakes will be interested in a woman over two hun- | dred years old, and who is likely to | live to be older than Methuselah. | And this woman has never been! known to have said a word in her | whole life and she never will say a| word for silence is the, charm of her | existence. She has never looked in the glass, | or at.a fashionplate, or employed a | sempstress or done anyt! that | other women do. No one knows who | her husband was, and she never even | celebrated a wedding. And she ism’t-the queerest woman | who ever lived, either, for there are| women of her kind all over the world, and there are likely to be until the end of time—she is famous because of | this. This woman was never a child. She| never just growed like Topsy; but was created like Eve. She was brough* | to light by being In a play, “Speed the Plough,” about the time Washington | eut down the cherry tree with his lit- | tle hatchet; and throughout the play she never spoke a word, vet, if she| nad not been in the play, the play itself would have been forgotten long wgo. # Isn’t this all queer? And she is one | »¢ the most famous women known to iterat, ye. She was put in the play by the writer, Thomas Merton, to rep- | tesent a fear and to create a laugh. She couldn’t be spoken to, but was uways spoken of. “What will Mrs. Brundy say?” was the only reference mnade to her, Mrs. Grundy represented the prim, tonservative, sharp-eyed respectabil- THE ‘WIDE AWAKE CIRCLE BOYS AND GIRLS DEPARTMENT ple do and wear, with the nettling tongue of a gossip. No one ever knows just what Mrs. Grundy will say about it; and vet, Mrs. Grundy has been feared all these 200 years and will be feared for all time to come. You never before heard of such a woman; but if you keep your eves and ears open you will discover that there have been 10,000 Mrs. Grundys born since her day, and they will be born for generations to come. THE WINNERS OF PRIZE BOOKS. 1—Mary E. Lacraw of Brooklyn: Robinson™ Crusoe. 2—Mary A, Burrill, of Stafford Springs: Miss Pat in the Old World. 3—Mildred T. Dunn, of Norwich: g‘faflg.e Morton, Captain of the Merry ai 4—Carl Anderson, of Baltic: Swiss Family Robinson. 5—Nellie Lynn, of Stafford Springs: Rip Van Winkle! 6—Mason Parker, of Mansfield: Hans Anderson’s Fairy Tales. ..7—Mildred Wilde, of Wauregan: The Meadow Brook Girls by the Sea. 3—Curtis D. Kinney of Lebanon: Black Beauty. ‘Winners of books living in the city may call at The Bulletin business of- fice for them at any hour after 10 a. m. on Thursday. LETTERS OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT Grace Goddard of Willimantic: T re- ceived the prize book. Thank you for it. I have read it and it was made doubly interesting, as I Bave read the first book in the series. Carrie Gelo, of Yantic: I thank vou very much for the prize book you sent me, The Camp Fire Girls in the Moun- tains. I read it through and it was a very good story. Gladys Miner of Hadlyme: I thank you very much for the prize book. I have nea-ly read it through. I think it is very interesting. Ralph H. Kenyon of Leonard Bridge: I thank vou for the prize book you sent me. I think it will be very in- teresting. Mildred Weaver of Mansfield De- pot: I received the nice prize book you sent me and found it very interesting. I thank yeu for it. Mary A. Burrill of Stafford Sprinzas: I was very much pleased with the prize book you sent me. I think the Ruth Fielding series of books are very interesting. Thank you ever so much for the one I received. Helen E. Campbell, of Taftville:— Thank you for the prize book you sent me. I have read the other two volumes from Otis library. And 1 was glad to win the one I hadn’t read. Ruth Davis, of South Canterbury—I received the prize book you sent me entitled ‘Ruth _Fielding at Silver Ranch” and I thank you very much for it. LETTERS WRITTEN BY WIDE- AWAKES. A Hunting Trip. One bright morning I got up early and did all my chores before 7 o’clock. Then I told my mother I was going to get my friend and go hunting muskrats. She said I might go. shells, and steel traps and started across lots for my friend’s. I got there at 8 o'clock. He was all ready I took my gun, {to go and so we started off for the marsh where muskrats like to live. We reached the marsh at 10 o'closk. ‘We laid our stepl traps down and sat still on a old stone wall for about 15 minutes, then all of a sudden my friend jumped up and fired. He did not kill the muskrat. We went over where he thought the muskrat was and found nothing. We looked around for sometime and all of a sudden a muskrat shot out from under a bog. I fired at it and killed it on the spot. We skinned this one and began poking around some more. ‘We plowed another out and killed it with a stick. We skinned this one also. We stayed there all the forenoon and afternoon and got eight skins from the muskrats. This brought us $1.60 apiece. It was not so bad for a day’s sport. We hope to go again soon. CURTIS D. KINNE. Lisbon. Some Tree Curiositles. The immense ceba. or silk cotton tree at Nassau, planted by John Miller over ky which criticises what different peo- two centuries ago, is one of the most famous of its specles, and an old print By EMMA H. TEEL. This is not the tail he wiggles and ashes around when he is swimming in he water and having such a good ime. It was altogether another kind f a tale, and it began long before ‘addie had the wiggly tail at all, This tale began one day last sum- er. A little curly headed girl and a aller +white headed boy, better own around here as Pud and Dope, ith an old rusty bucket between em, came tumbling into the room phere mamma was writing. * see vhat we found up in the branch!” they claimed ther, as they presented e contents of the bucket for inspec- on. ““What under the sun are you going p do with those frog eggs?” asked pother, in astonishment. ‘“We're going to build a dam down the spring and make a pond to put in, and see 'um turn into tweeny eeny froggles,” answered Pud. ‘The dam was built, the pond cleaned t and the frog eggs dumped in and en forgotten for more absorbing in- until one day they ran ahead mother down to the spring. “Just lookle, mamma. Our pend is full of little wiggly things that are head and tail.” “Those are your baby frogs,” an- ered mother, “and are cglled tad- es.!” “Are they sure °‘nough frogs? They P!a"t look a bit like 'um,” commented hu “No, not any more than sometimes pme little folks look like the good gfle boy and girl which they really e, and the little frogs mupt keep hinking of what they really are, just B the children do, and then they will e _it.” ‘Soon after this there was a very jeavy rain, and one of the tadpoles i refuge in the spring when the tie was w% away. Big Fother, for w dipped him i THE TADPOLE’S TALE ot e up and carried him to the house. Whe; the children spied him it was ru.lnlng too badly for them to take him back to the branch, so mamma told them to put him in a glass jar of water and they could watch him grow to be a real frog, and perhaps it would help them to remember to be thelr real good selyes. e children took great pleasure in watching him and changing the water and feeding him with crumbs, until one day Dope cried out, “Oh, Puddle, Taddie’s gone.” Mamma and sister rushed to see. Sure enough, there was the jar brim- ful of water, but no Taddie to be seen. Beeing Teddie on the floor, mamma said: “T think Taddle is like folks are sometimes—in too big a hurry and has jumped out before he has legs and learned how to breathe out of water. New he looks as if he couldn’t breathe either out or in water, but we'll know life is in him and manifesting perfect- 1y, and that he 1s content to manifest ;rh:; lel(ew;.ts a g&?dh little Taddie and er until he grows uvAe!t out of it i er a few minutes of quietne: Pud exclaimed: “Oh, mamm:? see h; bmthln$ and wiggling his tail. I think he'll know better now, dear lit- tle fellow; T'll just kiss the jar 'cause I love him and can’t kiss him.” Mamma 1laughed, feeling this love t e: woiuld ccmplet:’ the cure. n a few moments’ thought the 1it- tle girl continued: “Md;‘e‘, you were just like that boy in our room at school who told the teacher he had made a grade at summer school when he hadn’t, and went on into the next room, but he had sach a hard time trying to do work he didn't know any- thing about that he was glad to be put back. Hurry up and grow and then youw'll be promoted to the ‘frog- gles]" school, down beside the rushy pool.”” i into of u-u“u.a-' in 1802 shows this m! as . B A e fsland bears little soil, it has been difficult for the roots to penetrate far ‘below the surface. As they could not|using them. grow down, they have grown up, and so have developed into immense but- tresses which radiate 55 feet from the | How many Wide-Awakes center, while the branches of the tree|or heard & nbl: c:hh “l.l." have a spread of over 100 feet. The travelers tree, the leaves of which resemble those of the banana tree grows throughout the West Indies. It is sometimes termed the fan-tree because its leaves spread like a fan. It called the travelers’ tree because wayfarer has only to pierce the stem of a leaf and pure cold water spurts out. : . A rubber tree was reported last year |me a nice Bible. My Sunday school as having been found in Bolivia—a | teacher gave me a hand-embroidered veritable monarch of its kind. It measures 27 feet around its base and yields more than 20 pounds of rubber every day for 120 days of the year. At the present price of rubber the|we had a good deal of trouble with is | day the [ ars. My teacher teaches two classes. uch sorrow it caused the parent birds they would be more careful. Wi have seen I have. Yantic. My Sunday School. school. We have about forty schol- T went to Sunday school every Sun- day last year. One man gave me a dollar bill. The Sunday school gave pincushion. One of my schoolmates gave me a bottle of toilet water. * When the whole class is there -we have fifteen members. Not long ago tree is worth about $60,000, and the|organs. I think we tried three before income derived from it supports an|we found one that was all right. entire family in comfort. GLADYS MINER, Age 15. Hadlyme. How to Make Fudge. Irene Smith’s friend, Edith Gray, had come to spend a month with her. Irene went to high school in the city and Edith was her roommate. Irene lived in the country. They en- joyed themselves very much roaming about in the woods, watching the birds and picking wild flowers. They would lie under the shade of a tree reading a story book. One hot day they, with four of their friends, took their lunch and went in boats to a small island. They had a nice time walking in the woods and s nming in the lake. Before they reached home it began to rain, but they did not get very wet. When Irene and Edith woke the next morning they found it still rain- ing hard. In the forenoon they played games, read books, told stories and sang sonss. In the afternoon they began to get tired of reading. So they each put on large aprons and went to the kitchen to_make fudge. First they mode a zood fire. Then in a dish the s of sugar, one cup of milk and one tadbles; butter. This .u. ..cu_and boiled for about While Edith tended th! tered it. When the fudge had boiled enough a teaspoon of vanilla was added. Then it was put in a deep pan and set to cool. pan and but- NELLIE LYNN, Age 15. Stafford Spring Seeds. ill be spring and we plant our seeds and| Pretty soon it shall have to plants. When a seed has been sown, receives enough heat, light and moisture, it swells a little, and the germ, waking from sleep, sends out a little shoot which, downward, forms a root; s little shoot forces its way upwar unfold into the stem and leaves. matter in what posi- tion the seed is planted, the shoot al- ways goes up. The dark, damp soil i plate of the root, while the stem car- ries the leaves into the light and alr, whence they h: * their part to do in the growth of tae plant. the working At first the young plant must be nourished by the seed, and on it the germ plant fe and grow The sim- ple means provided for ttering seed over the earth and thus preventing the destruction of various kinds of plants i interesting. Many seeds are carricd by the wind to places far dis- tant from those in which they are pro- duced. Some seeds are conveyed by streams which they fall and take root ft by the current on proper Some seeds have a shelly or an oily covering that resists the action of the waters of the sea s by this that the is! of the| > are covered wilth an abundant growth of vegetation. Squirrels, field mice and many other animals bury seeds in the ground, prob- ably for the purpose of afterward feed- ing on them, and thus lead to growth of plantsand trees in places where seed would not otherwise, reach. CARRIE GELO, Age 11. Lebanon. I have gone camping many times. Our camp is up the river. We use a canoe to carry thc supplies in. It doesn't take very long to get there in a canoe, cven if it is about three miles. ‘When we get there we are glad, be- cause we want to start camping right away. % The camp is situated near the river, among the trees. We put the tent on a sort of platform that we use for a cellar. To one side of the platform is the fireplace, made of sand and stones. We have a swing. On a tree that hangs over the river is a rope that we hold on when we swim. We can dive from the shore, and the bottom of the near the ore, is smooth and Swimming is our chief sport. Fishing is one of our sports, too. The cange is the only thing we have to fish in. It is not very safe to fish from, but if you are careful it is safe. One time one of the boys who went camping went fishing in the canoe. He got a bite and stood up to -pull in. When he stood up the canoe turned over. It was not very deep, being only up to the boy's shoulder. He stood up in the water and got in the canoe and ¥{1dd\ed back. He had the fish with him. Counting everything, there is fun in camping. CARL ANDERSON, Age 13. Baltic. Yellowstone Park. Among the most noted parks in the world is the Yellowstone Park in Wyo- ming. This park has been set apart by the government in order to preserve the trees and other supernatural fea- tures with which is abounds. It has spouting geysers, hot springs and many other natural wonders. Animals consisting of bear, deer and birds of beautiful plumage have been established for the pleasure of tourists. 0lg Faithful is one of the noted gey- sers in this park, spouting about every T. This park is not only noted for its natural wonders but also for its health Tesorts. Mineral springs have been found here, and people desiring fresh air and good health visit this park. Guards have been placed along the way to keep it from harm. Hotels are found riear this park in which one may stay over night. HAROLD WILDE, Age 13. Wauregan. Birds’' Homes. The humming bird’s nest is small and lined with thistledown, and covered with a grayish or greenish moss which comes off the trees. This is fastened to0 a limb of a tree and it looks like a knob and is almost invisible. The flvcatcher makes a nest in a hollow limb. It is decorated with a snake's skin. Some people say this is to keep awayhis enemies, but if the bird was asked why he used the ekin, he could not tell. ‘Birds build the same kind of nests as their parents built without asking the reason why. The chipping sparrow makes a mest and lines it with hair. The crow uses cedar bark. ‘The robin mud, the vireos old wasps’ nests to line their nests. One Sunday a man spoke about our numbers. He sald we had about one- half of the average number of schol ars in the country. He also told a story. This is it: Once a queen was out driving. It began to rain. Belng near a house, she ordered the coachman to go in and get her an umbrella. He knocked at the door and an old woman peered out of a crack. “What do you want?" asked woman in a cross voice. “An umbrella,” said the coachman. The ald woman shut the door in the coachman's face. She went up to the attic and found an umbrella. She gave it to the coachman. When he opened it it broke. The next day the coachman returned with a new umbrella. He told the woman that the queen had sent her a new umbrella. The woman was astonished. She said that she had watched for the queen many times and then had let her pass her door in the rain. MILDRED E. GRANDY, Age 10. Yantic. the My Party. Last night 1 was sitting, in the din- ing room reading a very interesting story book, when I heard the doorbell ring. My mother answered the call ! immediately and all my school chums were at the door. My mother said, “Walk in quietly,” and of course all the children's feet were covered with My mother was the snow off. They came in so quietly I did not notice them, I was so interested in my story book. One of the girls came over in back of me and blindfolded ow. ry busy brushing e. First I thought it was one of my brothers trying to joke me and make me lose my place. I said: “John!™ and when Gladys took off her hands how surprised I was. I immediately gave up my book and started to play. We played post office, spin the plat- ter and all softs of other games. At last mother and a few of the girls helped pass the cake, and can- dy. My mother went in the pantry and brought out my birthday cake. It was very pretty and she cut it and each had a good, large piece. At last one of my kindest friends, Gladys, presented me a gold ring, wit} my initials on it. I highly appreciated it. It was getting lace and we all hel; ed to put the children’s coats, on they started for their homes. I than ed them for the good time they gave me. It was late and I was very tired and retired to bed. MILDRED E. WHITE, Age 15 Stafford Springs. A Piece of Sponge. Did you ever look at a piece of sponge and see what a curious thing it is? Do you know by =M@ it was made? One of Nature's mslest chil- dren did it. It was once alive and growing on the rocks in some of the far-away seas. It lived, breathed, and grew just as you do. Some sponges are like round cups. Some are like branches of trees. Oth- ers are thin, and spread ,out like a fan. They are of almost every color, from orange to a dingy brown. When they are on the floor of the ocean with seaweed and fish all about, they are very pretty. As long as the sponges are allve it is not easy to catch them. They are torn from the rocks by men called “divers,” who, for the sake of getting the little skeleton, destroy the creature itself. All sponge animals cannot build a “toilet sponge,” for that is the kind you always use. You know how full of holes all sponges are? Well, if there was not a fresh supply of water, full of living things, all the time passing through these queer holes these sponges could not live a moment. This is all done by little whip-like hairs inside their bodies, which move to and fro, and do_all the work and do it well. You must examine your piece of sponge after what I have told you and see if you can tell how strangely it is made! There are many common kinds, but we use the very best for bathing. NANCY TETREAULT, Age 12. Versailles. Testing Seed Corn by the Rag Doll Method. Two years ago I tested my seed corn by the rag doll method. ‘When 1 tested it I first took a cheese cloth about five feet long and three feet wide; then I made a line down through the middle with a crayon. I made squares about six inches square on ‘each side of the line, leaving about a foot on each end. I numbered the squares and the ears that I was going to test. I put ten kernéls in each square. Then I folded the sides over on the corn and rolled the cheese cloth up on a stick, put it to soak in some warm water over night. Then I put it in a warm place. In a week or ten days I looked at it. If all of the kernels of Nos. 2, 10, 6, 1 and § sprout, I used the ears with those numbers and threw the others away. MASON PARKER, Age 12. ‘Mansfield. Chicago. ‘Chicago ranks second in size among the cities of the United States. One of the chief routes of trade from the prairies and western plains, to the ports of the Atlantic is by way of the Great Lakes. The amount of shipping of those lakes is very great, and Chi- cago connects Lake Michigan with a branch of the Mississippi. This city is also a great railroad center. Chicago is near the prairies and has therefore grown to be the largest grain and meat market in the world. Chicago leads in the manufacture of steel rails. The iron used in this city is taken 2flefly from mines near Lake Super- . Chicago is perhaps srowing more rapldly than any other city in the world. ALICE AYER, Age 12. Norwich. 2 My Pets. T have two rabbits. Their names are Dick and Beauty. Last year we had some baby rabbits but soon sold them at fifty cents apiece. When I go to feed them they will crawl up the side of the cage to get the food from me. The food we give dren together. “Yes,” laughed grandma, “You know £o long ago they didn't have any matches. There were none made then. If we let our fire go out we had to borrow some. Mother usually covered a heap of knots deep in the ashes over night. On raking them open in the morring there would be a bed of live coals to begin the day. “But one night, late in the fall, the knots did not burn, and there was no fire to get breakfast. I was the old- est—about as big as Edna. Mother pinned a woolen blanket over my head with a thorn, for we didn’t have many pins. Giving me the little iron fire-kettle, she bade me be spry, for the children were hungry. “Well, I got my kettle full of bright coals, with a blazing knot on the toy. I ran off through the frost, the wind keeping the coals all ablaze. “When I got half way home I heard a crackling through the thick bushes. Almost before I had time to stop, a great, black bear ambled out into the rough, narrow road. 1 was so that I dropped my kettle and stared at him. And he stared at me, sticking his nose out toward me, sniffing and snuffing.” “Lut he didn’t like the smell of the burning knots, and the next moment he leaped out of the path and went crashing off through the bushes. “I didn’t stop for the coals, but scooping the knot into the kettle, I fled toward home in a great panic. “A little time after that father and Mr. Noble, our neighbor caught the bear in a trap, and father had a coat made out of his skin. MILDRED TERESA DUNN, Age 11. Norwich. A Newfoundland Dog. A Newfoundland dog was so train- ed that he would go and get any ar- ticle belonging to his master when told to do so, if he had ever seen it. One day his owner, while riding with some friends, wished to show what a wonderful dog Nero was, so he marked a shilling, showed it to the dog and put®it under a stone by the side of the road. After they had rid- den three miles, the master said: “Nero, go and get the shilling,” and Nero trotted off. Great to the disappointment everyone he did not return all day. But Nero was doing his duty as he saw it. When he reached the stone with the shilling under it, he tried to turn it cver, but could not; it was too large. So he stood there, barking, until two travelers came by. They, thinking tkat Nero had some animal under the stone, turned it over. Then, seeing the ehilling, one of them put it into his pocket and they rode off. Nero foilowed théws at a distance, for twenty miles and watching his chance, stole into the room where the man who had the shilling slept, and hid under the bed. In the night, af- ter all were asleep, Nero took the trousers with the shilling, jumped out of the window and ran home with them. MARY BOROVICKA, Age 11 West Willington. of Why Early Settlers Chose the Atlantic | Coast. Nearly all the early settlers settled along the Atlantic coast. There were five reasons for this: 1. The early settlers came Europe and landed on coast of North America. 2. There were no long roads nor long rivers leading inland from the coast to the prairies. 3. The Appalachian Highland stood between t¥» Atlantic coast and the prairies. 4. Savago tribes of Indians held the lands that were a little back from the coast. 5. The settlers wished to trade with the ships from Europe. JOSEPHINE BOROVICKA, Age 13 West Willington. from the eastern How Jeff Frightened the Kitten. Once we had a tame crow named Jeff. He ioved to torment the c: He would take her tail in one claw and pinch it with the other foot. One of the kittzns was a great trial to Jeff and would keep stealing his food. The kitten wasn't afraid of Jeft no matter how much he scolded. Kitty was making a fine lunch one morning when Jeft quietly walked up to it seized it by the tail and lifted it near- ly off the ground, flapping his wings at_the same time. The kitten was frightened. but Jeft just held on until one of us took the kitten away from him and carried it into the house. This was the last time the kitten stole Jefl's food. ANNA LA ROCHE, Age 12. Versailles. LETTERS TO UNCLE JED. Our Tame s And Squirrels. Dear Uncle Jed: In front of our schoolhouse by the lilac bush I throw corn and crumbs every day for the friendly chickadees, the tame squir- rels and the large bluejays, who are pretty, but not very friendly, for they drive away the peaceful squirrels and chickadees when they come for their share of the food. But in spite of this I like them all very much and love to watch and feed them. Two of our visitors are red uir- rels who come frequently to nibble corn. Sometimes a strange one ap- pears and the other two scold him and chase him away. ‘Whenever the crumbs are all eaten the chickadees sit on the branches of the lilac nearest the window and on the sill singing loudly, “chick- a-dee-dee,” over and over again. They are so tame that they will eat from our hands. The nuthatches chirp and the blue- Jay’s cry is the shrillest of all when the squirrels are discovered eating. ‘When we came to school Monday morning there were rabbit's tracks arnund everywhere and we have de- cided to bring some cabbage and oth- er_things that they like. Little animals like these cannot ob- tain much food during the winter and ,clverycna should feet them so they will ve. MARY AUGUSTA BURRILL, Age 13. Stafford Cprings. Feeding the Birds. Dear Uncle Jed: Bvery morning I feed the dbirds with bread. Some- times I sit at the window and watch them for quite a long while. Once there were seventeen birds. There are some very small crows, and big ones, too. The big crows have a long yellow bill. The birds seem to get tamer every day and when one sparrow has a piece of bread a small crow tries to get it away from him. Once I saw a crow chasing all the sparrows away, so he could have the bread all to himself, but instead of flying away, they got another piece and seemed to be just as happy as before. It is quite interesting to see them hop about in the snow. Every time —Wisdom. | whe origle's niest 1, maga verv,gtrone | hem is_votato and, apple peclinga and | when & crow,makes his'appearance all 00 Drops Use For Over Thirty Years GASTORIA the sparrows are afraid of him ana they don't seem to mind if he takes any bread. I like to feed them very much and I hope other Wide-Awakes will feed the birds, too. HELEN RISLEY, Age 10. The Flying Squirrel. Dear Uncle Jed: As I have, at one time, had a flying squirrel for a pet, I thought to write upon this sub- Ject. Of all the tenants of the woods, the fiying squirrel is perhaps the most seldom seen, yet this is not due to any scarcity of the little animals, which in fact is among the most nu- merous of the squirrel family, but to its habit of moving almost entirely at night. Should you doubt this state- ment. enter some patch of forest con- venient to your home and strike solid Iy upon the trunks of such trees as appear to be dead and have one or more holes in the trunk: in about one time out of five your efforts will be rewarded by the appearance in the opening, as if by magic, of the bright eyes and upstanding ears of a fiving uirrel. These squirrels do not, of course, but their legs are connected at the ‘wrists’ with a light memwrane which serves as a sort of parachute, although it has some of the possi- bilities of an seroplane. making a lege spread wide apart, so as to pre- sent the greatest possible surface to the air. and his extraordinarily wide and fluffy tail serving as a rudder, the squirrel sails swiftly through the air, often for 100 feet or even more, un- til he reaches the trunk of another tree up which he runs in order to at- tain a height for a new flight By this method flying squirrels are able rapid- ly to cover long distances with little exertion, for often when nearing the end of a long §ail. they will point themselves upwards and by means of their ‘ruders’ and the impetus given will rise almost to the height at which they started—just as a boy or girl riding down hill may be carried over a lesser up-grade at the foot. LILLIAN M. BREHAUT. East Norwich, N. Y. The Faithful Dog. Dear Uncle Jed:—One late afternoon in September a traveler and his dog were ascending a mountain trail. They had proceeded half way up when they heard the howling of wolves. Di- rectly in the path of the two stood four large wolves thelr eyes glaring like fire, and their teeth gnashing. What could the traveler do. His only de- fense was his dog. The dog instantly redognized his master's danger and began biting the nearest one. The traveler lent his ready hand. He quickly seized his jack-knife and jabbed it into two of the wolves. - The howling of the wolves and the barking of the dog brought several men to the scene. One of the fore- man of a lumber camp, happened to come with his rifle. He quickly shot them. One by chance escaped and was never seen in that place again. The dog was in a serious condition but the traveler after many days of hard nursing made him well again: but the traveler's wounds were soon cured. ‘The doz grew old and feeble but in spite of his feebleness saved three more lives. He now wears a silver collar, which he received from the par- ents of a rescued child. LOUIS GOLDSTEIN, Age 12. Norwich. A Visit to St. Paul's Cathedral. Dear Uncle Jed:—I will tell you sometiing of England. One day we thought we would like to go to St. Paul's cathedral. We looked at the statues of which there are many. We then went up to the Whispering Gallery. They gave ft that name because it is made of a cer- tain kind of stone, so that if you whis- per you can be heard as if you were talking aloud. If you go half way around the guide tells you the history of it The gulde took us up a winding stair and when we got up to the top we were in the big dome, from which we had a splendid view of all London. I think*some of the Wide-Awakes must have seen the picture of it. ‘We went often to the monument of the Great Fire of London. The fire began at Bread Lane and ended at Ple Corner. The monument is at the place where the fire ended. It is a very tall one. I forget the exact height. IVY FISKE, Age 10. Norwich. Winter Birds. Dear Uncle Jed: I thought you would like to hear about the birds I have been feeding this winter. I always feed them every winter, but I have never seen so many, or such a variety as I have this winter. 1 bave counted over _ thirty awkward Before ki flight the squirrel will run rapie up the trunk of a tree and, when he has attained a sufficlent height, springs boldly off into space. With Starlings at one time, to say nonm of Juncos, Sparrows, Bluejays, one day a pair of big, black Crows ;'ame. But they did not stay very long. The Starlings are almost as large as a Bluejay and almost black. They do not hop like other birds, but walk awkwardly along, putting one foot be- fore the other as they walk. ‘Thelr bills are quite long and they screech and quarrel over their food all the while they are eating. They are not a pretty bird lke the sweet little Juncos which are white-breasted, and very pretty. 1 break up bread or cracker crumbs and throw it just out of the window and down come birds from all _the trees around, chirping and screeching They make such a noise scolding and screeching that they awaken the large cat T have. He goes and sits on the window. seat and watches them for hours. He wants them so bad that he makes hia mouth zo and makes a chattering sound like a monkey, but my mother won't let him go out for fear he will frichten them away. But they do not seem to be afrald of him for they fly on the window-sill right ide ot him. I think it is very Interesting to feed the birds and watch their antics and see how my cat acts over them. He has never caught any and T should feel very sorry if he did. Do any of the other Wide-Awakes feed the birds? HARRIET S. NEWBURY, Age 10. Norwich. Surprises. Dear Uncle Jed: Little Trask was sitting on the step when a gray cat slid through the gate and ran up te him purring. She stood up to meet his hand: she jumped on his shoulder and rubbed his cheek with her whisk- ers. “Grandpa. ay I keep this Kkitty?™ asked Trask. “Oh. yes” sald grandpa. “You may keep her if she will stay.” In khis heart he knew she would not stay: but Trask thought she would and when she drank a saucer of milk and washed herself for a nap the affalr was very promising. But she was on Transk's handkerchief and when she tried to pull it away, she ran off to her mistress. Trask ran after kitty and got her handkerchief back and wanted to have the kitty. Mrs. Adams gave it to her and she went home feeling very happy. MOLLIE SEGAL, Age 11 Norwich. Margaret Lives On a Farm. Dear Uncle Jed: I live on a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres. My father has twelve cows, _two horses, four pigs, and one hundred and ten hens. T attend the Scotland Gramma: school and am in the eighth grade. There are nine puplls in my grade. My teacher's name is Mrs. Geer. 1 study reading, spelling, arithmetic, writing, history, geography, and language. Of all my studies I llke history the best. We have parents’ day every second Wednesday in the month. Last par- ents’ day we spoke pleces about Lin- coln. 1 enjoy coasting, and sleigh-riding very much. MARGARET E. GRADY. Scotland. May Lives On a Farm. Dear TUncle Jed: I live on a chicken farm with my mother and father. We have a horse whose name is Babe. She is very gentle. Mother and I drive her all cver the town. We have about one hundred and fitty chickens and an incubator. T am staying with my grandma and grandpa, as mother and father are away this winter. 1 ride three miles to school every day. In the summer I pick boxes of straw- berries with my mother for the market. The rest of the time I roll hoop and play with my doll. MAY E. LITCRAW, Age 9. Brooklyn. Edith Plays With Buff. Dear Uncle Jed: The lovely cat my grandfather owns is a great big An- gora. His name is Buff and he weighs twelve pounds, but doesn't ltke to be weighed. ‘When I first knew Buff he belonged to a neighbor of my grandfather and every time we went out when he was near he would run away; but by being kind to him he has become very tame and now comes Into the Rouse and likes to be petted. I like to play with Buff very much. I take a stick and run it under the nowspaper. Buff will jump at it and tear .the paper. He is very fond of raw meat, but doesn’t care much for fish. EDITH TIFT, Age 11 ¢