Various

“ I mean this: that you must get all the votes you can for Florence. It will make me a thousand times happier than to be Queen myself; and just think of Florence! You said yourself she never looks happy, and now we'll all unite to make her so."
"Oh, Susie," said Sadie, after a moment's pause, "how good you are to propose such a thing, and how Florence will love you for it!"
"No, no," protested Susie. "Sadie, of all things, Florence must never know, never even suspect; that would spoil it all." ”

“ An elephant tirelessly somersaults on a trapeze, three dogs ascend and re-ascend a ladder, a little boy chops a tree, a tiger climbs a pole, a girl dances with a skipping-rope, and a circus rider leaps through a hoop. The trainer is larger than the elephant, the axe is larger than the boy, and the tiger balances upon its tail. But this is neither here nor there. As long as the toys are kept in motion, the figures repeat their feats; and if they are not quite life-like, they have the advantage of being unwearying in their exertions. ”

“ Every little while a ferry-boat or tug would whistle hoarsely, and the boys noticed that very often Charley altered the course he had been steering as soon as he heard the whistle. "Do those whistles mean anything except for us to get out of the way?" asked Harry, presently.
"A long whistle or a lot of little short whistles means 'get out of the road,'" answered Charley; "but when you hear a steamboat give one short whistle, or two short whistles, she is telling you which way she is going to steer. ”

“ When close-hauled, it should be at a sufficient angle with the keel to insure the boat moving ahead through the water. When running free, the boom is swung out to a greater degree over the side, and in going before the wind, or scudding, it is more nearly at a right angle with the mast.
Tacking is the process of working a vessel to windward, or against the wind. When you are ready, put the helm down (that is, if on the port tack, the end of the tiller goes to starboard, turning the rudder to port, and the boat obeys by coming up into the wind) ”

“ They do not see the toys giving happiness to children; and what they think most about, I fancy, is the number of impressions they can make in a day, for every time the die strikes it is a bit of bread for them.
Their whole attention must be fixed on the machine in its up-and-down motion. A moment's carelessness would cost them their fingers; and we see one girl half of whose hand has been lost by being caught under the die.
The first die simply hollows out the form in the plate, a second die cuts away all the surrounding metal, and a third die smooths the edges. ”

“ The jib halyards and sheets, as well as the throat and peak halyards, were all led aft so that they could be reached by the helmsman without leaving his post. When all the other work was finished, Charley made a gun-carriage for the cannon, and it was lashed to the deck just forward of the mast. Nothing now remained to be done but to name the boat, and this proved to be the most difficult task of all. Each of the boys could think of a dozen names that he did not like, but not one that he really did like. ”

“ A very delicate evolution, and one which should only be resorted to in light summer winds, is jibing. It consists in letting the boat go off slowly from the wind, and while so doing hauling the boom amidships until the wind, blowing from directly aft, takes the mainsail on the other tack. In performing this the main-sheet must have plenty of play, as the boom often whips round with considerable force. ”

“ It imparts strength, vigor, and health, and is in every respect a prudent exercise. And when we consider how little study and practice it takes to attain the necessary skill to handle a boat with safety, we wonder that there are not more sailing-masters among the young people.
There are two classes of small boats, depending upon their respective rigs, in most common use in harbors, rivers, and lakes—cat-boats and sloops; the former carrying but one sail, secured to a mast placed forward in the "eyes" of the boat, while the latter has a jib in addition to the mainsail. ”

“ To reef a jib, let the boat come to the wind, and lower the sail so that you can pass and tie the reef-points beneath it. Make the outer clew or tack fast, and shift the sheets. To reduce the mainsail, lower it a little below the boom (after bringing to the wind) , stretch the foot down by means of the reef-pennant on the after-leach, and make fast; secure the tack, and then pass the points, tying with a square knot. In shaking out a reef, unknot the points first, then cast off the tack, and lastly the reef-pennant. ”

“ In a small sail-boat, when a thunder-shower is coming [Pg 456] up, it is always safer to go quickly to a harbor, and there bring her into the wind, and as soon as she loses headway, let go the anchor, and pay out considerable cable before checking her.
When a sudden squall strikes you, there are two methods to pursue—to luff, or to slack off the main-sheet so that the sail will "spill." An experienced boatman usually does the former, but a modification of both systems will be found advisable. ”

“ In one of the upper stories of the factory we find a young man with a pile of tin plates before him, each about four inches long and three inches wide. He places them [Pg 459] one by one on a steel bed-plate, with the counter die upon it, and putting his foot into the stirrup of a leather band by which the die is suspended in an iron frame-work, he strikes out with it, lifting the die, and then allowing it to fall upon the plate, in which it hollows out a very fair representation of a horse. ”

“ The main-sheet is a long rope fastened to the boom, double or single, according to the size of the boat, and is used to trim the sail. This is the rope which requires most attention, and is the key to boat-sailing. The jib-sheets are ropes fastened to the clews of the jib, led "aft" on both sides, and are used to trim down the sail with the wind.
A boat is said to be on the starboard or port tack according as the right or left side is presented to the wind. The weather side is the one toward which the wind is blowing; lee is the opposite of weather. ”

“ If I push the tiller over to the left-hand side of the boat, I port my helm; but the boat turns to the right, doesn't she? Well, the tiller is really the helm, and every vessel, whether she is steered with a wheel or not, has a tiller, though it may not be in sight. Now when the helm is pushed or pulled toward the port side, the vessel turns her head to starboard, and when it's pushed toward the starboard side, she turns her head to port. ”

“ I became deeply interested in religion, and so grieved at the wretched state of the poor people around me that, although it was forbidden by law, I could not refrain from preaching in the open air to such as would come to hear me. ”

“ Perhaps some of our readers have advanced so far in the serious business of life that they have forgotten what tin toys are. They are made of tin, of course, but they comprise many different articles, and over a thousand different designs. They are mounted on platforms and wheels, or on wheels alone, and in some of them the revolution of the wheels sets the figures on the platform in motion. ”

“ I get Young People every week, but it has to come a long way to find me. Arizona is so far off from the great cities that one might think we would be deprived of good schools, Sunday-schools, and other things we left at home, but we have them all, of the very best, too. ”

“ That's the way to hoist a lower mast out of a ship."
"I can tell you what's better than a pair of shears, though it mayn't be quite so stylish," said Joe.
"What's that?"
"Why, a pair of darkies," answered Joe. "I see two colored gentlemen coming down the road who can lift as much as any shears, and we'd better get them to help us." ”

“ Tom, Dick, Jerry, and Harry had all gorged themselves, and were in a stupid state in consequence. There was nothing to do but to put them out on the loggia in front of the house, and there on the cold stone platform they shivered and whined and scratched the door all through dinner.
If there was any one rule in the house more for the good of the pets than any other it was that the dogs should not run away. In Venice there is a large tax on dogs, and they must wear both collars and muzzles. ”

“ The second card follows the first instantly, and all thus are kept busy with hand and tongue without a moment's delay or rest, as the name of each card follows its predecessor at once, and the confusion that is made causes shouts of laughter as the game goes merrily on, until the company feel well acquainted, and are ready to join with spirit in some harder game. ”

“ No good boat will capsize unless the sails are confined by the sheets. The position of the boom trims the mainsail, and this is done by the action of the main-sheet, the boom being regulated in accordance with the direction of the wind, and the condition of the sea. ”

“ I lost all my books and playthings and all my nice little papers. I had ever so many playthings, and I had one wax doll and two nice china dolls. I was making a collection of postage stamps, and I had nearly two hundred. I felt very badly to lose all my things, yet I was so thankful that my papa and mamma escaped from the house alive! It was a very dark night, and they did not wake up until the fire was almost to their room. I was away from home at school. I send my love to all the little girls that take Young People. I am ten years old.
Maud A. R.
Brooklyn, New York. ”

“ The manufacture of tin toys requires no great ability or ingenuity, and most of the persons employed in it are paid very little. A Dexter several inches long can be bought for fifteen cents at any shop, and this sum includes the profits of the producer, the wholesale merchant, and the retail seller. The producer's price to the trade is not more than seven or eight cents. But simple as it is, the toy is handled by sixteen persons before it finally reaches the little girls who wrap it in tissue-paper and put it into a card-board box. ”

“ We try to do what we can in the way of teaching the colored children around us, thus following the example of our father, who died before the war, while a missionary to the colored people in South Carolina, but our greatest obstacle has been a lack of books, which we were not able to provide. ”

“ The manufacture of tin toys is a new industry in America, and it is so successful that, besides supplying the domestic market, it sends large quantities of goods to all parts of the world, including England and France. When Santa Claus drops in on the children at the Cape of Good Hope, at Penang, at New Zealand, at Buenos Ayres, and at Callao, he will have articles from this factory in Avenue D, New York. ”

“ You've got to remember this, for some day if one of you is steering, and I sing out 'port,' you mustn't make any mistake about it."
"I understand," said Joe. "The boat is always to do the opposite of what you tell me to do if I'm steering. When you tell me to 'port,' the boat will turn to the starboard, and when you tell me to 'starboard,' she'll turn to port. It's very scientific, but it is what I call awfully contrary."
"The easiest rule for understanding a steamer's whistle is this," continued Charley. "If she blows one whistle, she means to pass on the port side of you ”

“ He never snaps at the meat, but takes it very gently from the fork, and eats it like a gentleman. He will sit up in a chair and have a napkin pinned round his neck before he eats; that is to keep his vest clean. I saw a picture in a book of an ill-mannered dog that had eaten up a little child's dinner. I feel sorry there are such wicked dogs in the world. Fritzie would scorn such an action. He would protect the little girl, like the "Faithful Sentinel" in Young People No. ”

“ Tin toys also include locomotives with trains of cars, street cars with papier-maché conductors and drivers, express wagons, hose-carts, ox teams, menagerie wagons, ice carts, milk wagons, "four-in-hands," trucks, stages, steamboats, fire-engines, and magic lanterns.
They are all made much in the same way as the Dexters: the sheet tin is struck by heavy dies, and the impressions made in the metal are cut out, trimmed, and fastened together. Eight dies are used in making a Dexter four inches long, and the set costs from four to six hundred dollars. ”

“ Charley had been in the navy long enough to know that no vessel, however small or however big she may be, can be properly sailed unless every member of the crew knows what his duty is, and how to do it, and refrains from interfering with the duty of other men, unless especially ordered to do so. ”