before the opening, or shook them or turned 
them slowly. The lookers on often called 
for a repetition of some section. Some¬ 
times one of the exhibitors would look 
through. This would cause a shout of mer¬ 
riment. 
Our Kaleidoscope cannot bo properly de¬ 
scribed without an illustration, but I advise 
each of you to get up one for yourselves. I 
think it will amuse you for at least one 
evening. 
WHAT SHALL I READ. 
BY M. 8. I.ADT» 
This question has just been propounded 
by a young girl, and I will give it a public 
answer, hoping it may benefit other young 
friends who have a desire for self-cult ore. 
Taking it for granted that you are only be¬ 
ginning, I would advise that those old 
standard works, viz.: Plutarch, Roll In, etc., 
should be examined. The best of the old 
authors in poetry, history and philosophy; 
these give tone to the miud, and cultivate 
purity of taste. It is well to dwell among 
these people of the past, aud fortify our¬ 
selves, as much as may be, by emulating 
their heroic virtues and self-denial; but we 
must still remember that we are living now; 
that progress commands a dividend, and 
that we must keep up with the spirit of the 
age; then wo must read the best works of 
living authors,-be they philosophy, poetry 
or romance. The latter we shall find to 
contain both the former, and In a peculiarly 
instructive vein,—and while wo may use 
wisdom about too frequent indulgence, and 
in the selection, these works should not bo 
excluded entirely from the library. 
A good paper should be examined at least 
as often as once per week; and by a good 
paper 1 mean one containing general news, 
and alive to the interests of the day. (>ne 
in which you can get. at the vital principles 
of the affairs of your own country,and some¬ 
what of the changes and progress going on 
in other lauds. It is surprising how much 
general information may be gleaned from a 
first-class newspaper. It is, in its way, an 
educator. 
This young friend asks what she shall 
read, but does not ask how sbe shall road, 
though it is not, in the least, an unimpor¬ 
tant. matter. 
In the first place 1 would have, if possi¬ 
ble, regular reading hours. If not practi¬ 
cable, I would pick up my time as 1 best 
could; a great deal can be gathered in this 
desultory manner. A young lady who has 
Often interested me by her intelligence in 
conversation, assured me that nearly all 
the information she had stored was gained 
by reading dally with book or paper prop¬ 
ped up before her, while putting her hair 
up for dinner. “ Ah?" said she, with a lit¬ 
tle shake of the head, "mother has never 
found out how it can take me so long to 
make my toilet,” 
For Sabbath rending I would use books 
appropriate to the day. I would carry no 
work, however much it interested me, into 
the Sabbath, if unsuited to its uses. 
Do not read too hurriedly. Read to have 
matter for thought and to grow. Look out 
for doubtful argument. Do not receive all 
you read, though ingeniously constructed, 
as a final conclusion,—learn to examine and 
separate. Though your author may write 
well, his statements seem correct, and his 
reasons plausible, yet look into the subject 
with what powers of analysis you possess. 
While it is weak to bo skeptical of well- 
grounded truths, we should not be con¬ 
vinced unwarily with speculative theories. 
Read slowly, thoughtfully, aild let it enter 
into your brain und provide it nourishment. 
OUT IN THE WOODS 
A MOTHER’S RECOMPENSE 
“ JIipriTY-im*I” says the little tree-toad, 
" What Is going tO happen Outfit? ? 
I guess 1 had better get out of the road. 
If iihoito children me oothing this way.” 
lie stretches his hind-legs, ho long and slim, 
For a (lying leap to the hleltory-limb : 
Amt then he pops open his ruhy-red eyes 
At the funny proceedings, In solemn surprise 
Hop.sVlp-ond-Jutnp t It Is Lorry and Ocn 
With the rent of tho romping crew; 
They’re roumperinu over the woods again. 
And what arc they going to do? 
To build a bolt!)re, I do declare ! 
la there any mischief they wouldn't dare ?— 
But roasting potatoes Is Jolly fun— 
You eat 'em scorched, and about half done! 
To-day I saw a young gentleman 
Taking his mother to ride, 
I saw her look into his handsome face 
With a mother's fondness und pride ; 
And T said to myself: " Mrs. Camden 
H as always a son by her side.” 
I saw with what dutiful gallantry 
He handed her Into her seat, 
] marked his careful solicitude 
As ho tucked the robes round her feet; 
And I said to myself: “ Mrs Camden 
H as not much more trouble to meet.” 
DIDN’T BELIEVE IT 
A little girl, six years old, was on a visit 
to her grandfather, who was a New England 
divine. *' Only think, grandpa, what Undo 
Robert, says.” “ What docs he say, my 
dear?” " Why, he says the moon is made 
of green cheese. It isn’t, at all, Is it?" 
“ Well, child, suppose you find out your¬ 
self." “How can I, grandpa£” "Gotyour 
Bible, and seo what it says." “ Where 
shall I begin ?" 11 Begin at the beginning." 
The child sat down to read the Bible. When 
she had read about half through tho second 
chapter of Genesis, she cante back to her 
grandfather, eyes all bright with the ex¬ 
citement of disoovery. " I have found it, 
grandpa! It. isn’t true; for God made the 
moon before he made any cows.” 
Bite lias find bor days of trouble— 
Time’s tide ne’er smoothly runs— 
Hard work, sickness and poverty, 
And the earn of little nnc9 : 
And now she Is old and feeble, 
But the mother Of seven sons. 
For when ALLEN and WIT LARD and ALBERT 
Went into the world ns men 
To earn for themselves a fortune 
And comforts for her. why Penn 
A nd d t Lira and Cu a ulky were left at homo 
To care for their mother then. 
And now that Julius and Charley 
H ave left the roof tree, too. 
And Penn has bought for his mother 
A beautiful cottage new, 
1 see that she keeps a carriage. 
And rides out with her " baby Ltr.” 
" Cliokety-claek . " says the saucy tree-toad, 
" Wliut a furs you young ones make! 
1 wonder If baked notafoos are good? 
How long do the? take to hake? ” 
Ho turns to tho mother-bird on her nest— 
Four little iledglings under her ureust— 
” Do yon know, madam, about such things ?” 
She shakes her head, and she Rutters her wings 
“ Ohickudeo-deo I Don't yon wish they would go? 
1 am really afraid,” says she, 
*' That some of those dreadf ul children know 
I hare got my nest In this tree. 
It’s all very well for you my dear, 
With your long logs you have nothing to fear; 
For me—of course I could easily fly. 
But fancy leaving my darlings to die 1” 
SI Ippety.slide! " There’s ft copperhead—quick! 
Keep Alice and Lorry away ! ” 
Lon picks up a stone, 8yd “ goes for” a stick— 
The sunke thinks ho'd better not stay, 
lie rapidly wriggles himself to his den, 
And pokes out Ids tongue at the whole race of men, 
“ Two-legged, hideous things ! I nlflrm 
That only to look at them makes me squirm.” 
Learn to say “ no.” No necessity of snap¬ 
ping it (log-fashion, but say it respectfully, 
as you ought to. 
LEARNING TO SEE 
Would it not be well if our children were 
taught to uCC ? Some seeing they cannot es¬ 
cape from. A boy speedily makes a correct 
comparative estimate of tho size of apples 
aud other “ goodies,” and a girl gets a more 
or loss quick perception of shades of color 
and degrees of fineness in dress material. 
In the, trades, too, the power of sight is still 
more developed In special directions. But 
with all tho training, none see all that is in 
their path, and most fall to see all the rela¬ 
tions of the things they do see. They cau- 
not help seeing a house, but how the house 
was built, the kind of brick, number of win¬ 
dow*, bight, size, garden, and flowers in it— 
those they do not see in detail. Botanists 
and entomologists know how hard it is to 
get an exact description of all tho distin¬ 
guishing marks of a floweror insect—marks 
which might bo sccu had people only learned 
to see. 
Now, the eye is not in fault; generally, 
there is no physical disability. The trouble 
is, we have not been trained to perceive all 
that is painted with unfailing accuracy on 
the retina. All particulars of everything 
within tho range of our vision have im¬ 
pressed themselves on the eye; can wo not 
learn to see them? It is said that a lady 
asked Turner, tho landscape painter, where 
he saw such colors as he had used—she had 
never seen such. His answer was, “ Don’t 
you wish you could?” 
Is not this failure to observe likely to be 
a great hindrance in after life, cutting off 
sources of pleasure, causing false judgments 
aud much ignorance? It will he answered, 
these details are trifles, not needing atten¬ 
tion, except for special occasions. The ob¬ 
jector has lived to manhood or womanhood, 
aud found no need of that special training 
recommended. People have before now 
said the same about learning to read, but 
who believed them ? They knew not what 
they had lost. Vou can, perhaps, tell what 
you have seen, but how do you know what 
pleasure the things you have not seen 
might have given you? You know of some 
dangers you have escaped, but cannot tell 
of those you might hnvo escaped, had you 
seen (it may have been but the raising of an 
eyelid). 
You may have a keen eye for all things in 
your business (or think you have), but the 
blunders of your apprentice and workman 
days might have been less numerous had 
you only learned to see while young. 
Would that the fathers and mothers 
trained their children as Houdin’s father 
trained him! While walking the streets, 
at a given signal they would give an instan¬ 
taneous glance at a shop window, and thou 
compare notes, to ascertain how many par¬ 
ticulars each had noted. Who does not per¬ 
ceive that this habit of instantaneous per¬ 
ception, thus trained, must, have been of 
immense use in after life? In some schools 
the pupils are taught to measure distances 
accurately by the eye, but the power of per¬ 
ceiving, at a glance, all the peculiarities of 
any object, is not taught anywhere. Why 
should it not be? But if the teachers are 
derelict, we call upon the young to practice 
themselves in learning to observe, quickly 
and accurately. Learn to see—you. do not 
know how much this implies, d. m, 0 . 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS.-No. 25 
PifToty-wliUT! wlmt u cloud of smoko, 
As tho danelng breeze comes near; 
Suys the little tree-toad, “ 1 shall certainly choko, 
H I stop In this atmosphere. 
I guess 1 had best hop ft little bit higher, 
For 1 don't quite relish the smell of that lire. 
I’ll go and Inquire It .Miss Kuty-Dtd’s In, 
Aud see what she thinks of tills racket and din.” 
riddlo-dee-doa ! for tho toad an 1 tho snake 
The children care never a whit; 
They eat their potatoes butf-raW, und their cake, 
They gobble it up every bit. 
They Jump on the luge where the sunshine is warm 
And brown ants and black ants In colonies swurrn 
They hung on tho saplings, and morrily swing 
Backward and forward, like birds on the wing. 
But dtngery-illng ! In the midst of tho play 
Tho sound of the dinner-bell comes; 
Hop-skip-und-Jump I they all scamper away. 
And nothtnft la left but the crumbs. 
Now tho bird flutters down, and the snako wriggles 
out; 
Tho pert little tree.tond goes hopping about; 
They eat up tho scraps, und declare they arc good. 
And bright shines the sun on tho merry grocn wood. 
A MONSTER KALEIDOSCOPE 
ITT LORETTA. 
SOMETHING WORTH LAUGHING FOR. 
THKbookHhave told us that George Wash¬ 
ington never laughed aloud. It doesn’t seem 
just right to dispute them, but hero is a st o¬ 
ry told by an old sold ier whoso children told 
it to me, that shows how even books may be 
mistaken. 
For long weeks tho grand army of the Rev¬ 
olution had suffered from hardship and cold, 
as few armies bad suffered before. The faces 
of the men were pale and thin, their forms 
were bowed and shivering with cold (for 
they were clothed in ruga.) and their feet, 
all bare, or covered with nothing but frag¬ 
ments of leather, left bloody marks upon tlm 
snow wherever they walked. They might 
have disbanded and gone away to their 
homes for clothing and shelter; but there 
was a country to save, libei-ty to win, and 
their noble commander to follow into tho 
heart of fiery battles. I do not think a man 
went home. 
Faraway, there was another commander 
—a fair and true hearted woman. She mar¬ 
shalled her forces from far aud near—only 
women and girls! lutotheir hands she plac¬ 
ed shining weapon*, ami, armed in like man¬ 
ner, she took the van aud cheered them on 
to battle. That was it silent and bloodless 
war; but it was a victorious one. Erutho 
winter wan half gone, an enemy was van¬ 
quished, for whom no sword had terrors, 
and who had never quailed before the loud¬ 
est cannon. 
One morning the old soldier, (but ho was 
young then,) standing in front of George 
Washington's tent, saw the General come 
to the door and look abroad over the en¬ 
campment. Here and there a soldier was 
carrying water to his tent, or hewing wood 
to feed the fire that must roast his scanty 
breakfast of potatoes; but there was none 
of that noisy mirth that, soldiers are noted 
for. All wore wan, and speechless, and de¬ 
spairing. 
Suddenly there came in sight, just turn¬ 
ing a corner of the camp road nearby, three 
wagons, laden from dashboard to tailboard. 
Upon the foremost load, sat a fair and noble 
woman, the woman whom the gw»t com¬ 
mander loved best of in all tho world—his 
wife. She hud come, the conqueror of the 
knitting needles, tho queen of stockings! 
The young soldier looked at his command¬ 
er. O’er all that more than kiugly face 
there was a sudden flush of joy and George 
Washington lifted up his voice aud laughed 
aloud!— Amanda T, Jones. 
We had a monster kaleidoscope here the 
other night, and t he children (yes, and the 
older folks, too) all said they never saw such 
masses of flowers, such wonderful cataracts, 
mountains of snow, beautiful bouquets, 
glittering jewelry, splendid rainbows, such 
a collection of bead work, distorted faces— 
and some pretty ones—dolls, etc., etc., too 
numerous to mention. 
Of course, after looking through it at the 
ever changing scenes, the first questions 
wore, “ What, is it ? ” ” Where did you get 
it?” Wo waited till all had looked and 
pronounced it splendid, then told them the 
modus oiwrnndi of manufacturing such an 
instrument. 
We placed the melodeon at the opening of 
tho folding-doors between tho parlor and 
sitting-room, leaving them open just tho 
width of tho instrument. Wo then sus¬ 
pended blankets from above the doors, to 
separate tho two rooms, turned tho lid of 
the melodeon back, ami supported it by a 
pile of books, at an angle of about 45’. Then 
wo threw blankets over tills to keep out 
every bit of light, The lights in the parlor, 
where were tho spectators, were turned 
down quite low. Wo placed a very strong 
light so its rays would fall directly on tho 
articles exhibited. The spectators wore re¬ 
quested to look through the opening at the 
end of tho melodeon next them—not more 
than two can bo accommodated at once— 
while we, tho exhibitors, displayed hanging 
baskets, old artificial flowors, bead work, 
dolls, etc., at the other side. 
These articles were not only magnified 
and repeated in tho reflection, but one 
would think there must be magic and en¬ 
chantment in the work, the reflection of 
some indifferent articles was so handsome. 
Tho cascades were formed by pouring water 
from one dish into another. The beds of 
snow wore formed of whito tissue paper 
crimped—the rainbow’s different colors of 
tarletan. We just took what articles we 
1 could find with bright colors and held them 
%yr Answer in two weeks, with the names of 
t hose gi ving correct answers up to the time of go¬ 
ing to press. 
PROBLEM.—No. 9 
Three men. John, George and Henry, with 
their wives, Sarah, Mary and Ann, wont to a 
store and bought goods, each persou paying ns 
many cents per yard ns ho or she bought yards; 
also, each man pays out $3.36 more than his wife. 
George got 5i yards moro than John, and Mary 
H yards moro than Sarah. Tell me the name of 
tho wife of each. C. K. Williams. 
J3T* Answer in two weeks, with tho names of 
those giving correct answers up to tho time of 
going to press. 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.—June 8 
Illustrated Kbbttk No. 23. -Washington is 
the Capital of the United States. C'orroct an¬ 
swers have been received from Mary M. Tolford, 
Bert Paddock, Will T. Carpenter, Aubery Bowie, 
Geo. L. Dav, J. W. Hoyt, J. tt. Bcott, Martha L. 
Moore, Geo. M- Meyers, Mrs. Frank A. Moreaee, 
John F. Pock, Curtis Zoller, Nellie G. N'oris, 
Hoeea A. Annls. Clurenco M. Warner, Millia 
Dayton, Schuyler Goldsmith, Jennie Elizabeth 
p. w. Comstock, Lewis D. Coffraln, J. T. K., 
Seth Youngs. James W. IJarber, David A.Clmt- 
fleld, Mrs. W. H. Warner. Mrs. .Jane Vaughn, 
Mrs. A, D. Lao, Henry A, ThmU, A. ft. Klnne, E. 
P. Morsemau, Florence E. Blink, Fred. Snell, II. 
Winne Shepard, Alice A. Abbey, Mary I,. Abbey, 
Henry It. Skillman. F. Ingraham, Carrie P. Itus- 
HOtl, Milton Cornell, J. Sylvester Hicks, II. Willie 
Whittemoro.T. Howard Bosom, Electa J. Blood, 
David II. Harrington, L. A. Smith, C. W.Taylor, 
Kathleen H. Aldrlck, M. E. Cobble. A. A. Young, 
Addle Morse, Eugene Barrett, Winfield Cart¬ 
wright, A. FI., M. C. und E. E. Colo, A. Pardee, 
.1. W. k, Charles Knight. H. Bellows, Charles 
Sprout, K. Jeffers, G. W. Crandall, Eugono 
Gram eg, K. G. Seekoll, Mrs. I>., Ellon E. Edger- 
ion, Lnrin Jennings, Emma Phillips, Lillie D. 
Bomb Mav Merrin, C. .1. Keith, John C. Bowen, 
Geo. W. smith, G. R. Young. 
Problem No. 8. — 737.«7366 + acros. Tho only 
attempt at answer received is from Geo. Farley, 
who gives It thua;—1 sq. m. 97 a., 11 sq. rds, 8,014 
sq. feet. 
Ornithological Enigma No. 1— European 
Kingfisher, 
