1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
107 
B©YS & ®(0)OTMM 
TTIie Map 5®rlsses. 
About two hundred and fifty pairs of eyes will look for 
thisxolumn with great interest. They will not see the 
award of prizes here, and will be much disappointed. 
To put your little minds at ease, I will tell you that the 
names of those who are to receive the prizes, are given 
in the “Basket” pages—which one I don’t know, but 
you can find out by looking in the table of contents on 
the second page. After you have satisfied yourselves 
about that, turn back here, and I will tell you all about it. 
Such a lot of plans 1 withinafew of two hundred and fifty; 
they filled a large basket. I did not open them until Feb¬ 
ruary 3d, in order to give a fair chance for all to get in, 
and as this page must be made up on the 5th, I shall have 
to put a part of the story on some page that is made up 
later. Most of the parcels have been opened, but the 
selection of those for the prizes has not been made at the 
time I write. What a nice lot of maps there are ! I am 
glad that I thought of them for prizes, as it has done 
every one who has drawn a map quite as much good as 
if he or she had taken a premium. A large share of the 
Kiiii 
• 1.—SEARCHING FOB THE KEY-HOLE. 
senders say that this is their first attempt at drawing. 
Good 1 Go on and try again. It is a capital plan to learn 
to put things on paper, and you will find it useful all your 
life. If an Indian wishes to show you the way to a place, 
he smooths off a space on the ground and draws a map 
with his finger. Civilized boys and girls ought to be 
able to make a good map with pencil and paper. 
Some funny things have turned up in this map business. 
One boy wrote to the office that he had sent money for 
his subscription and had not received his paper, and that 
the money was inclosed to “ the Doctor.” As I put away 
the letters as fast as they came and did not open any until 
the time was up, no wonder the young man’s money was 
missing. Another youth addresses me as “Dear Aunt 
Sue.” Now that is a little too much. It has been supposed 
that Aunt Sue was a man, but I was never before taken 
to be a woman. Aunt Sue and the Doctor are not the 
same, not by any means, though if I were to be a woman, 
I should like to be just such a one as Aunt Sue. Whether 
Aunt Sue can return the compliment I can not say. Some 
young men of 18 and 10 have sent in drawings, thinking 
that they can compete with “ boys and girls.” Just think 
of a young gentleman of nineteen—no doubt with whisk¬ 
ers and mustache—entering into competition with my 
youngsters of 12 and 1-1! No, all males over 10 are young 
•gentlemen, and all females over that age are young ladies. 
I did not in the offer make this distinction, but everybody 
knows that “boys and girls’’means—little folks. In 
some cases I have been puzzled to know whether the 
writer was a boy or a girl. If a letter is signed J. Smith, 
I can not tell whether it is Miss Jane Smith or Master 
John Smith. This in future correspondence should be 
avoided. One young man expresses his doubt if there is 
any such person as “the Doctor.” If that incredulous 
youth will call at 245 Broadway any day, from 11 a.m. to 
3 p.m., and ask the first person he meets, from the 
smallest shop-boy to Mr. Judd himself, to show liim the 
Doctor, he can be convinced that there is such a person, 
and that said person will be very glad to see him. Well, 
children, wc have all had a good time over this trial, you 
in working at the maps, and I in studying them. I wish 
I could give every blessed one of you something, but as 
I can not, I have used my best judgment, with the help 
of the “ young Doctor,” as the neighbors call him. Those 
who have not been successful in one thing, may be more 
fortunate in another, and I am intending to have more 
trials during the year. There is one proposed in another 
place in this paper. Try again, children. You all have 
the best wishes of The Doctor. 
'Frying to JFiaacl tlie Key-Mole. 
Here is a chance for fun, if yon only know how to make 
it. We have seen an evening party made wild with 
laughter at seeing this little trick well done. Like many 
other things, its success depends upon the individual. 
The fewer there arc in the secret, the greater will be the 
enjoyment. To do the thing properly, requires two boys. 
Let these go out quietly, so as not to attract notice. One 
of the boys is to bo dressed, and the other boy is 
to dress him. Any common or even discarded cloth¬ 
ing will do. A long skirt should be fastened around 
the neck, with the slit in front, to allow the hands to 
be used, or a cloak will serve all the better 
We might as well say here, that the trick, 
game, or performance, as we choose to 
term it, is called the “ Old Woman find¬ 
ing her Key-hole.” Well, the boy with the 
skirt or cloak around him is the foundation 
of the old woman. To complete her, we 
want a broom, a sun-bonnet, and another 
cloak, or a very large shawl. The bonnet 
is to be put upon the broom, adding a veil 
to hide the face; then the cloak or shawl is 
to be pinned or otherwise attached to the 
broom, beneath the bonnet, so as to look as 
much like the real thing as possible. The 
boy must now’ hold the broom so that the 
bonnet will appear as if upon his head, and 
the attached shawl or clonk will fall over 
him and the garment Ire already has on. The 
position of the boy in the clothing is shown 
by the light lines in fig. 1. When this “ old 
woman ” is properly figged and understands 
her or his part, the other boy goes into the 
room where the company are, and contrives 
to draw them to one side, so as to leave a 
door free for the operations of the old 
woman. This he can do by mentioning an 
unfortunate old woman that he has just seen, 
who seems to be lost. At the proper time 
he lets the old woman into the room, who 
immediately turns her back to the com¬ 
pany and begins to search for the key-hole. 
The boy who plays the old woman should 
make her as short as possible, by stooping 
and keeping the broom as low as he can. 
The old lady looks from one side of the door to the other, 
and not finding the key-hole she looks a little higher, 
and keeps on higher and higher—the boy, of course, all the 
while lifting the broom, until she presents the ludicrous 
figure seen in fig. 2. As if disgusted with not finding what 
she is in search of, at the top of the door, she suddenly 
tracting. A boy who enters into the spirit of the thing 
can make it exceedingly funny. It must be so arranged 
that the upper garment, or shawl, attacliedtothe broom. 
TUB KEY-HOLE CAN T BE SO HIGH. 
shall not be lifted above the top of the lower one, and 
thus disclose the hidden boy and the simple “ machinery.” 
AouBit Sue’s Piazzle-lSox. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
I am composed of 30 letters. 
My 4, 1G, 6,11, is used by soldiers. 
My 10, 9, 7, is used by men for one purpose, and by 
ladies for another. 
My 18, 14, 20, is a body of water. 
My 13, 27, 15, 19, is an herb. 
My 17, 24, 12, 28, 29, 22, is a girl. 
My 23, 26, 14, 25, 5, 30, is worn on the head ; so is 
my 1, 2, 8, 18. 
My 3, 2, 21, 22, is a season. 
My whole is a proverb. Bayard W. Purcell. 
Fig. 3. —HAS THAT KEY-HOLE DROPPED UPON TIIE FLOOR? 
shrinks—boy drops the broom—t.o the original stature of 
fig. 1, and begins-tho hunt again. After trying awhile the 
old lady thinks that the key-hole may have fallen to the 
floor, and she suddenly elongates herself in that direction, 
giving a sweeping glance as in fig. 3, and as quickly con- 
2. I am composed of 19 letters. 
My 1G, 6, 7,14, 4, is a river in Indiana. 
My 3, 15, 10, 18, 2, 13, is a town in North Carolina. 
My 9,18, 13, 4, 8, is a bay in North America. 
My 12,17, IS, 19, is a town and a kind of bark. 
