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798 JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT. [July, 
Bless me ! Vacation days are here again ! and 
so are hosts and hosts of city youngsters, all 
ready for a summer in the country ! 
Well, I wish you joy, one and all, and every¬ 
body,— city folk who go to the woods, fields, and 
seashores, and country folk who seek the sights 
of the town, and charms of bricks and mortar. 
And I specially wish joy to all city young folks 
who do what they can toward helping along the 
“fresh-air funds” devoted to giving the poor chil¬ 
dren of big cities a breath of pure country air 
and some of the sweet delights of country life. 
Who ’ll do it? Yes, all speak at once, if you 
wish. It is n’t one bit impolite to do so on such 
occasions as this, the dear Little Schoolma’am tells 
me. 
SAILS ON BICYCLES. 
My birds are beginning, to watch the bicyclers, 
and bicyclers I think must have been taking special 
notice of the birds. At least I have heard hints 
that small sails or wings may be attached to spry 
three-wheelers and the speed increased thereby — 
while their riders’ labors are much lessened. 
Sails have been tried by a very few cyclers in 
England. Who will try them here, boys ? Be sure 
to have your masts strong and very light; be care¬ 
ful in the handling; and don’t frighten the horses ! 
A NEW EIFFEL TOWER. 
A COOL and refreshing variety of the Eiffel 
Tower may yet be standing near St. Petersburg, in 
Russia, unless the warm weather has melted it 
away. At all events, it was standing there in 
March last, on the banks of the river Neva,— a 
beautiful structure built of thousands of blocks of 
ice, towering at least one hundred and fifty feet 
into the air. 
It had restaurants, too, and observation plat¬ 
forms ; and I am told that the Russians, little and 
big, seemed to enjoy it very much. 
If it were possible for an enterprising American 
to bring this fine Eiffel Tower over here as success¬ 
fully as the Obelisk was brought over, whdt a de¬ 
lightful summer resort it would make! 
Now you shall hear Lottie’s account, drawn from 
life, of / 
PoR/p Monmouth, N. J. 
Dear Jack : I live on a farin'; something quite inter¬ 
esting happened here about three weeks ago, so I want 
to tell you about it. One day my father was walking in 
the melon patch, when he saw a snake, about seventeen 
inches long, trying to swallow a toad. Now we do not like 
snakes, but toads are Very useful in destroying insects. 
Father stepped on the snake’s neck, and the toad, escaping 
from the suddenly .opened mouth, hopped away. Father 
then killed the shake. The next day he went out again 
and not seeing the snake at once, looked around for it. 
He soon saw*about three inches of tail sticking up from 
the earth; Jte pulled it and out came the rest of the snake. 
It was “ standing on its head,” being buried head down¬ 
ward in a perpendicular hole fourteen inches down. There 
were ^quantity of red beetles inside and around the skin, a 
good deal of the flesh having been eaten. Father thought 
that the beetles pushed their way down and let the snake 
drop after. The snake was what is called a ‘‘garter” 
snake. I do not know the name of the beetle; perhaps 
you do; it is large and of a bright red color. 
Your interested reader 
Lottie E. W-. 
My birds have brought in a startling story of 
last summer, calculated to alarm all lovers of good 
order. It is a true story, the particulars of which 
may be of interest to you all. 
It appears, according to V. I. A, who sends you 
the account, that in the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
live two brothers who have been much interested 
in bee-culture. For some years they have had hives 
of fine Italian bees, which they have kept upon the 
roof of their house; and from them they have for 
several seasons taken as much as sixty pounds of 
honey at a time. There were three hives, set one 
above another, containing, early in September, 
about fifty pounds of honey in the comb. 
It became needful to make some repairs upon 
the roof or the chimney, and ivorkmen were busily 
engaged therewith, when ail at once the bees came 
in swarms, dashed at them right and left, buzzing 
and stinging furiously. 
The men struck them down and fought them off 
as well as they could, and finally threw hot water 
upon them, destroying a great number. The own¬ 
ers hoped that when the commotion had subsided 
the few that were left would return to the hives; 
hence they carefully avoided going to the roof, 
trusting that the bees would become quiet and re¬ 
sume work. 
The next day was warm and beautiful. As the 
sun’s rays suffused the atmosphere, such numbers 
of bees settled down upon the house that it was 
dangerous to go in or out of the doors, and the 
windows had to be closed to shut out the noise of 
HOW THE BEETLES BURIED A SNAKE, 
STOP THIEF ! 
