Various

“ Simple as it appears to the looker-on, it requires no little practice to spin a top. Only after a series of mortifying failures can a boy make sure of seeing his top successfully describe an arc through the air, disengage itself from the string, and then spin round triumphantly for some seconds upon its sharp iron point. ”

“ The other day I was listening to Beethoven's Fourth Symphony performed by some of the best players in the world, and led by a famous conductor, and I could not help thinking how very interesting it might be even to very young students to listen to any such performance, having a copy of the music with them, and then, on going home, to pick out certain parts and try to play them, reproducing some of the stringed effects. ”

“ Most people can see only a face in the moon, and not always that; but in old times it was firmly believed that there was an actual man in the moon, with a bundle of sticks on his back, which he had to carry always as a punishment for gathering them on Sunday. ”

“ Luckily the shark's overlapping snout forces him to turn on his side in order to bite, or all would have been over at the first rush. A sudden turn foiled the monster, but the next moment he was round and at me again like an arrow. And so we went plunging to and fro, churning the smooth blue water into foam, while the shouts of the sailors (who had clustered like bees along the ship's side) seemed to rend the very sky. ”

“ Orchestra is a Greek word. It really means an open space where people sit, but it expresses now a place for an instrumental band and a chorus, and, properly speaking, an orchestra must sit. This is one of the chief distinctions between an orchestra and a band. Bands must, by right, stand while they play; orchestras ought, by right, to sit, that is, unless the weight of their instruments obliges them to stand. Besides this distinction, a band is composed of wind instruments; an orchestra has both wind and stringed instruments. ”

“ As soon as you have made it spin, snatch the whip from under the arm, and give it a smart lash at the top, drawing the hand toward you as you strike. If you hit the top fairly, this stroke will make it spin well, and then you can do what you like. A way of fighting whip-tops is for two boys to stand about twenty yards apart, and lash their tops toward each other, so as to make them come in contact. Of course each player tries to knock over his adversary's top with his own. ”

“ Jumbo had a great time crossing the sea. A big elephant is a very awkward passenger when he travels by water. He weighs so much that he must be kept in the centre of the ship, and he must be fastened so securely that he can not possibly break loose. Jumbo made the passage in the same box in which he was drawn eight miles from the Zoological Gardens in London to the dock where the great steamer that was to carry him to America lay. ”

“ To give the top a spinning motion, hold your hand high, and bring the arm down with a bold swing from the shoulder. It will then fly from the string with a kind of "swishing" sound, and come down on its peg with great force. A little practice will make you perfect in spinning the top, and if you know the length of your string, you can make it strike the ground exactly where you please, merely by measuring with your eye the distance from the point where you stand to the spot on which you want the top to strike. ”

“ The great object in this game is to split some other player's top and keep your own safe. In order to do this, skillful players have a way of throwing the top in such a manner that if it miss the object aimed at, it leaps out of the ring with a single bound, thus getting out of danger. This feat is performed by drawing the arm smartly toward the body just before the top reaches the ground. It is not an easy thing to do, but can be accomplished by practice. ”

“ Father is a scout, and goes out with the soldiers after Indians. There used to be lots of bad Indians in New Mexico. My papa was wounded just one year ago. He and two miners were prospecting for gold, when five Indians jumped on them from a cañon. Papa was up on the side of a hill, and when the Indians began to fire he climbed up to the top, while the other men went for the horses, and got them out of the cañon to the creek. Papa staid and fought the Indians for about twenty minutes. ”

“ Peg in the Ring. To play this game, first draw a circle five or six feet in diameter, and in the centre of this draw a smaller circle about a foot in diameter. The first player throws his top at the ring, allowing it to spin. If, when it falls, it remains within the large ring, it is called "dead," and the owner is obliged to lay it in the little ring, where any one may play on it. The same penalty is incurred if the top fails to spin, and in neither case can the owner have his top again until it has been knocked out of the ring by some other player, who thus counts to himself one point. ”

“ Whip-tops will spin better if the point is armed with a hollow-headed brass nail, such as are used for furniture. The whip may be made of leather shoe-lacings, but the best and most lasting is eel-skin, kept in a moist condition. To whip a top the stroke should never be a high one, but the real motion should come from the wrist rather than the arm. In playing the game, tuck the whip under the left arm, and take the point between the hands, the fingers pointing downward ”

“ Indians again.
Flora, Cuba.
I am a little girl ten years old, and I have never been away from my country, but I am learning English with my governess, and I hope papa will take me to New York this summer. As perhaps you have never been in Cuba, I wish to tell you something about my beautiful island. The climate is delightful and healthy enough. We have many fine fruit trees—oranges, limes, and lemons. When the trees are young they are a lighter green than when they are old; they have many thorns, and the leaves are pointed. ”

“ In order to spin a top of the common kind, the player should be provided with quite a stout piece of whip-cord, with a knot at about an inch from one end, and a large metal button attached to the other. Hold the top in the left hand, unravel the end of the whip-cord beyond the knot, and slightly wet it. Now lay the wet end along the top just above the peg, and hold it down with the thumb. Take the string in the right hand and wind it round the top, beginning at the upper part of the peg and winding gradually upward. ”

“ Bob was thus left alone with his prize, and a most uncomfortable time he appeared to be having of it, standing there in the hot sun, clinging desperately to the halter, and jumping from one side to the other when the pony attempted to bite or strike him with his fore-feet.
"Let him go; he hain't any good," shouted Reddy, from his secure retreat.
"If I let go the halter, he'll jump right at me;" and there was a certain ring in Bob's voice that told he was afraid. ”

“ There is something very inspiring and fine about a performance where a great many people take part.
It is always well, even in the most delightful music, to stop and think how much you enjoy because you understand it ”

“ Jumbo did not like the sea, particularly when he was seasick. When we remember how seasick a child weighing sixty pounds often is at sea, we can understand how tremendously seasick an elephant weighing six tons can be. For the first two or three days of the passage Jumbo suffered greatly from seasickness. He lost his appetite. He frequently sighed like a small earthquake, and he tried to get rid of his headache by beating his head against the front of his box. ”

“ There are very few portions of musical history so interesting to me as the orchestra. To-day we have such excellent music in public orchestras that I suppose we forget there ever was a time when even musicians were not sure how orchestras ought to be arranged. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there were flutes and many stringed instruments ”

“ He moves about, tosses his head, switches his ingeniously contrived tail, and so manœuvres that he keeps the running quail away from the unprotected edges of the field.
When they get to the verge protected by the net they begin to take alarm. They are probably a little uncertain about the peculiar-looking "old cow" behind them, and running along the net, they see the decoy quail apparently feeding in great security and comfort. The V-shaped mouth of the large basket cage looks invitingly open. The puzzling nets are barring the way, and the cow is gradually closing up behind. ”

“ Of course it would be a good thing if our English spelling could be more uniform, but at present the best way for your friend and yourself, and for a Postmistress too, is to spell according to the standard dictionaries. The English language is derived from many sources, and there is danger that in spelling words by their sound we may lose some of their sense, as we find it, by tracing the word back to its root. ”

“ One of the sailors of the vessel found this out. The man was washing his clothes near Jumbo's box, and he rudely slapped the elephant's trunk to make him move it out of the way. This was, in Jumbo's opinion, an outrage which no gentleman would offer to a respectable elephant, and he determined to resent it. Presently the man went away, leaving his clean clothes within Jumbo's reach. The latter instantly seized them, wiped the deck with them until they were far blacker than before they had been washed, and with a sweet smile, handed them back to the astonished sailor. ”

“ The man has to carry a bundle of thorns, and the woman her butter tub, and to stand in the moon always as a warning to other Sabbath-breakers.
The Dutch say that the man was caught stealing vegetables. But in the island of Ceylon they speak of "the hare in the moon," instead of the man, and tell this story about it:
Buddha, the god whom they worship, was once a hermit on earth, and got lost in a forest. He wandered about until he met a hare, which said to him, "I can help you out of your trouble; take the path on your left hand, and it will lead you out of the forest." ”

“ He reached down the pole to his companion, but Tom could not take either of his hands from the rocks to seize it, and even if he could have done so, it would have been of little service, for Charlie was not strong enough to pull him up.
Then another idea struck Charlie. "If I can drive away the snake," he thought, "it will not be so bad for Tom, if he must fall." He picked up some small pieces of stone, and going back a little distance, where there would be no chance of his hitting Tom, he began to hurl the stones at the sleeping snake. ”

“ In Sweden, the country people say that the spots on the moon are a girl and boy carrying a pail of water between them, whom the moon once kidnapped and carried up to heaven. But the Germans see a man and woman in the moon, who were put there for punishment ”

“ It is irresistibly comic to watch him, and a little attention generally pleases him to such an extent that he will redouble his efforts and multiply his ridiculous pranks until the spectator is thrown into convulsions of laughter. ”

“ The first player spins his top in the usual manner, slips the bowl of the spoon under it, and lifts it off the ground. He then drops it on one of the stones, and tries to drive it toward the boundary line. He may pick the top up in the spoon and drop it on the stones so long as it continues to spin, so that if a top be properly spun it may be dropped six or seven times on the stone, and drive it fairly across the boundary. ”

“ You may walk a little farther each day than you did the day before, as you grow stronger. The bright eyes and rosy cheeks of health will soon make up for the pallor you lose, and the freckles, if they come, will be little beauty-spots. Do not wear a veil unless it is very windy indeed, but tie on a large shade hat. Try a little gardening. With a sun-bonnet and a pair of long loose gloves you can protect your complexion thoroughly, if mamma desires you to do so, and you will have hours of real delight among your lilies and roses. ”

“ Buddha made the fire, the hare at once jumped into it, and has been seen in the moon ever since.
There are any number of old superstitions and strange beliefs in regard to the moon. In Suffolk County, England, it is considered unlucky to kill a pig when the moon is waning. The pork, so the old wives say, will waste in the boiling. Another fancy is that to look at the moon for the first time through glass brings ill luck. ”

“ Here is a list of the instruments of a complete orchestra: First violins 15, second violins 12, violas 10, violoncellos 10, double basses 8, flutes 2, piccolo 1, oboes, cor Anglais, clarionet, corno di bassetto, bassoon, double bassoon, trumpets, horns, trombones, timpani, cornet à piston, bass trumpet, tenor tuba, ophicleide, contra bass tuba, harp, bass drum, cymbals. The number and kind of instruments can of course be varied to a certain extent without losing the effect.
Chamber music differs from ordinary orchestras because none of the instruments are doubled ”

“ Surinam has continued under Dutch rule from 1804, with the exception of a period of eleven years, when it was in possession of the English. Slavery was abolished during this period. There is a House of Assembly, the members of which may never be less than nine nor more than thirteen. Four are appointed by the government, and the others are regularly elected by the colonists. There is one curious provision. A royal decree may overrule a unanimous decision of the Assembly, and not infrequently a command will arrive from Holland undoing all that has been accomplished by that body. ”

“ Treat might not think it worth their while to leave the circus they were with on the strength of such uncertain prospects.
"And you shall go to the show, Abner," said Toby, pleased at the opportunity he would have of making the crippled boy happy for one day at least; "an' I'll take all of you fellers down, an' get the skeleton to talk to you, so's you can see how nice he is. You shall see his wife, an' old Ben, an' Ella, an'—"
"But won't you be afraid of Job Lord?" ”

“ Castle did.
"Of course; a feller what's been with a circus ought to know how to ride any hoss that ever lived," replied Bob, with considerable emphasis, owing to the fact that the pony kicked and plunged so that his words were jerked out of him, rather than spoken.
"I s'pose some fellers can; but I wasn't with the circus long enough to find out how to ride such hosses as them;" and Toby retired to the shade of the alder bushes, where Abner was sitting, to wait until Bob and the pony had come to terms. ”

“ Little boys and girls tell about their pets in their letters. All the pets my sister Mary and I have are five hens and one rooster. Specky is my hen, and I think a great deal of her; she will hold still and be patted.
I have been very sick this winter, and I enjoyed hearing Young People read to me. I am very much better now, so that I am able to write this all alone myself. I was ten years old last 22d of January. I have never written before.
Bessie L. C.
The Postmistress assures you, dear, that she has frequently seen Jimmy Brown. ”

“ I have a papa who gets lots of papers and magazines for us to read, and a mamma who is always ready to read them to us, and a grandpa who will play checkers with me, but almost always beats, a little sister who is ready for any fun, and Ida, the girl who does the housework, is very kind in helping us to have a good time, and the two men who work on the farm let me work with them whenever I wish. ”