162 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



Eeb. 



wind-mills were my hobby, and my happi- 

 ness to sit and see them go, after they were 

 all put up, was only equaled by my grief when 

 some great wind blew them all to bits. 

 One of my home-made ones, made of cloth 

 and sticks, and bits of wire, churned the 

 butter for a whole summer. 



I, too, had the boating fever, but the boats 

 were mostly built and launched by my bro- 

 ther, older. Some boys' boats are now slung 

 up in the warehouse, away np under the 

 rafters, and they have quite a likeness to 

 the one in tiie cut. 



Many of you know something of my first 

 printing, and how the press was run by a 

 wind-mill, after we got too many subscrib- 

 ers to print them easily by foot power. 

 Scroll saws and amateur photographic out- 

 tits were things that came in vogue after my 

 boyhood had passed. The same with the 

 telephone ; but my brother and I did start 

 out to make a wooden locomotive, with an 

 old stove-pipe for the boiler. The water- 

 wheel was all faithfully worked out, and the 

 saw-mill that it carried was the delight of 

 the neighborhood. The same pond (built 

 by mucii hard labor in carrying sods) that 

 furnished water for the saw-mill, also car- 

 ried the home-made boat; and didn't we 

 find real happiness in the improvements 

 made on it day by day V Sometimes some 

 of the girls at school came over to see, and 

 you can guess there were particular girls 

 there in that old schoolhouse who had an 

 especial interest in the affairs of certain 

 boys ; and when theij admired the pond, the 

 boat, the water-wheel, and saw-mill, I tell 

 you but weren't we happy V Telescopes y 

 It was I who was crazy about a home-made 

 telescope when I was a boy ; but it was the 

 older brother who actually had one, and 

 studied the heavens with it when he was a 

 man. 



Now I have talked about all except the 

 grindstone. Did you ever see a boy grind 

 his knife, when some new machine was to 

 be builded V Isn't the picture an apt one V 

 The chap with the knife is so absorbed in it 

 he doesn't think that his younger comrade 

 is getting tired; and while the poor little 

 chap doubles himself up, in his weariness, 

 wishing the other would get that " edge on 

 it" pretty soon, he almost envies idle Fido, 

 who has an interest always in what the boys 

 are at work at. I can very well remember 

 how I used to turn grindstone for father, 

 and how I declared, mentally, I would some 

 time liave a water-wheel or a wind-mill 

 that would make the pesky old grindstone 

 go of itself, some way or other. Well, I 

 guess we did, for now we have a great 

 emery wheel that goes itself, and carries the 

 knife back and forth, of itself too, until it 

 looks as if it almost had sense and brains, as 

 well as the rest of us. Don't you think this 

 is a rather nice world to live in, children V 

 I do, and I thank God to-day for wind- mills 

 and water-wheels, boats and printing-press- 

 es, locomotives and telephones, telescopes 

 and cameras,— aye, and for the bright go- 

 ahead boys and girls who are day by day 

 growing up and learning how to use them, 

 and through them learning how to love the 

 kind Father who gave them all. 



i^lyi 



Every sirl or boy, under 15 years of 

 ape, who writes a letter for this depart- 

 ment, CONTAINING SOME VALUABLE FACT, 

 NOT GENERALLY KNOWN, ON BEES O • OTHER 

 MATTERS, will reeeive one of David Cook'.s 

 excellent live-cent Sunday-school Ijooks. 

 Many of these books contain the same 

 m.atter that you find in Sunday-school 

 hooks costing from $1.00 to Jl.SO. If you 

 have had one or more books, give us the 

 names that we may not send the same 

 twice. We h.ave now in stock, six different 

 books, as follows: Silver Keys, Sheer Off, 

 The Giant Killer, The Roby Family, Res- 

 cued from Egypt, and Ten Nights in a Bar- 

 Room. 



" A chiel's amang ye takin' notes, 

 An' faith, I'll prent it." 



WONDEK how many of our little friends 

 know why they have lanterns that give a 

 red light, on our railroads. Well, a red 

 light is a signal of danger. AVhen one train 

 is ahead of another, it hangs out a red light 

 on its last car, that the train behind may' be 

 warned of danger when they get in sight, 

 and see the red light. If a bridge is broken 

 down, or the track is out of repair, or any 

 thing of that sort, a red light is hung or 

 waved some distance before it that they 

 may have warning so as to stop in time. 

 Well, the idea has been suggested that we 

 often need a red light to warn us to look 

 out for certain things that are bad for us. 

 One of our .Christian papers has what it calls 

 "red lights," to warn teachers and pupils, 

 in studying Sabbath-school lessons, lest they 

 get to arguing on doctrinal or other points, 

 and so waste time uselessly. It is a rather 

 sad matter to think of. but I believe even 

 Sunday-school teachers do sometimes need a 

 red lightheld up before them. 



Well, now, I wonder if we little folks 

 need any sort of a red light to be held up be- 

 fore lus,v when we are writing these little let- 

 ters.' Shall I tell you of a few things that I 

 have to mark out very often in your letters, 

 because it is something everybody knows al- 

 ready, or because you all say the same thing 

 over and over too much '? I think you won't 

 feel hurt, if I do, will you V I am sure you 

 will take suggestions from Uncle Amos, 

 will you not ? All right ; here are the red 

 lights:— 



RED LIGHT NO. 1. 



Do not say, " I thought I would write you 

 a letter," when you commence. Just write 

 the letter and that tells the story. Neither 

 would I say, " I take my pen in hand," etc. 

 Away back, when I was a little boy, we 

 used to have a lingo something like this : 

 " I take my pen in hand to inform you that 

 I am well, and hope you are enjoying the 

 same blessing." I don't mean there is any 

 thing bad about it, but it is a verj^ old 

 phrase, and most people have seen it so 



