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[Illustration: Pilgrims going to MECCA]




[Illustration: THE GREAT ROUND WORLD AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT]

       *       *       *       *       *

VOL. 1 FEBRUARY 25, 1897. NO. 16

       *       *       *       *       *

There does not seem to be any prospect of a settlement of the Turkish
troubles.

The various European powers have called the Sultan to account for the
massacres in Armenia, and laid out a system of reforms, which they think
should be made.

But this is as far as they have got.

"You may lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink." The
various powers of Europe are learning that this is a very true saying.

They have decided upon the reforms that Turkey ought to make, but they are
as puzzled as they can be to know how they are going to make the Sultan
order these reforms.

Germany, France, Italy, Austria, England, and Russia have been discussing
the matter for weeks.

They have been saying among themselves, "What on earth are we going to do
if Turkey flatly refuses to make any reforms at all?"

This is the European conundrum.

The consequence is, that the full list of reforms has not yet been given
to the Sultan.

All the powers are feeling that it is of no use to tell him what they
insist shall be done, until these same powers have made up their minds
what they are going to do, if he tells them all to go away and mind their
own business.

England suggests that, if the Sultan refuses, they shall call out their
soldiers and sailors, and fight him till they make him obey.

Russia is unwilling that the Sultan should be forced to do what he does
not wish to do.

The Russian Minister at Constantinople says that he knows for a fact, that
if the powers do anything to lower the Sultan's dignity in the eyes of
Europe, all the Turks will rise and make war upon the offending country.

Russia says that to carry out the reforms that Europe asks for will take
money, and she thinks it would be wiser for Europe to provide Turkey with
the necessary money, and then keep an eye over her, and, through the
control this loan of money would give, see that the reforms are carried
out.

This seems the most sensible plan, but nothing has been decided upon.

The desired reforms deal entirely with the way the various provinces shall
be governed.

Turkey is a very large empire, and the trouble with the present system of
government is, that the Sultan does not have resident ministers for the
various parts of it, as other countries do, but governs the whole himself,
being guided entirely by the advice of the few people near him in his
palace, who do not know the affairs of the empire any better than he does,
but advise him according to their own whims, or prospects of making money
out of the country. The result is great injustice to the people.

Europe feels that this is not a proper way to govern a great country, and
insists that he shall rule his people with law and justice.

Europe says that the Sultan must appoint ministers to govern the different
parts and departments of his empire, and that he must, as other sovereigns
do, ask the advice of his ministers before he makes the laws, and not be
guided entirely by personal favorites and friends.

While all Europe is uneasy about him, the Sultan is keeping very quiet,
not letting any one have the smallest idea what he means to say or do when
these reforms are offered to him.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Czar of Russia is quite ill, and every one feels sorry that he should
be sick now, when his advice and assistance are so badly needed to settle
the worrying Turkish question, which has so troubled Europe.

The young Czar Nicholas, who was crowned with so much pomp and glory at
Moscow last August, seems unable to carry on the government of Russia.

Many people say he is too weak to govern, and that there are going to be
troubles and revolts in Russia.

The truth of the matter seems to be, that the young Czar is a gentle,
kind-hearted man, who will not govern Russia in the stern, cruel way that
his forefathers have done, and who is therefore thought to be weak and
incapable.

While he is making a part of his people love him for his goodness, by far
the larger half, who have, under the old rule, been able to make money
and gain great power, are furious against him.

Poor young Nicholas is not only hated by the people who were most friendly
to his father, but by the Nihilists, who look upon him as their natural
enemy, and, between the two parties, it is said that the Czar goes about
in constant fear of his life.

Nicholas never wanted to be a ruler. Those who know him say that he has
become grave and sad in the few months since he came to the throne.

It is said that he is of too gentle a disposition to be able to keep his
ministers in order, and that they quarrel fiercely in his presence, and
show very little respect for him.

According to all accounts, his health is giving way under the constant
worry, and it is reported that he received a shock a few weeks ago, which
so completely upset him, that it brought on his present illness.

He was walking in his gardens, and wishing to speak to one of the men who
was at work, he signalled to him to come to him. The gardener, proud of
his sovereign's notice, ran towards him at full speed. But a sentry, who
had not noticed the Czar's signal, fearing that the man was going to harm
the Emperor, fired his gun at him, and he fell dead at the Czar's feet.

Nicholas was terribly overcome by the dreadful mistake.

Some people say that his present illness is due to anxiety about the
Czarina, who is also ill, and again others say that the wound which
Nicholas received when he was travelling in Japan is the cause.

He was struck by a crazy Japanese, and would have been killed, had not
Prince George of Greece, the son of the present King of Greece, who was
with him, warded off the blow. As it was, the blow was heavy enough to
form a lump on the young man's skull, which has caused him great pain, and
which some people declare is troubling him now.

Whatever the cause, the Czar is ill, and in no state to attend to anything
but his own affairs. It is a sad pity just at this moment, when Europe
needs him so badly.

       *       *       *       *       *

There is a little flurry in Siam.

Siam is in Asia, just below China, and next door to Burmah.

Some weeks ago a report came from Bangkok, the capital of Siam, that some
Siamese soldiers had fired upon and wounded our American Vice-Consul, Mr.
Kellett.

Our minister there protested, and sent word of the outrage to the King.

But the King of Siam did not take the slightest notice of the protest.

Then word was sent to Washington, with the request that an American
gunboat be sent to Bangkok, to teach the Siamese to respect United States
citizens.

The gunboat was despatched, and has duly arrived off Bangkok, but still
the King of Siam does not give any reason for the brutality of his
soldiers.

It is said that an American named Cheek, who owned some very valuable
property in Siam, died a short while ago, and named Mr. Kellett in his
will as the man who was to settle his property for him.

No sooner was Mr. Cheek dead, than the Siamese government tried to
prevent Mr. Kellett from settling his affairs, and did their best to stop
the sale of Mr. Cheek's property.

It is reported that Mr. Kellett would not submit to this interference, but
did his duty very thoroughly, and tried to make the Siamese government
behave honorably, too.

This enraged the Siamese, so the story goes, and they tried to kill Mr.
Kellett to get him out of the way.

The captain of the gunboat, Commander Reiter, has orders from Washington
to look into the whole affair, and if he finds that the story we have
heard is true, and that Siam is in the wrong, he is to insist that the
King makes proper amends.

The Siamese, having wounded the Consul of one country, soon after had
trouble with the representative of another.

The German Minister to Siam was attacked in the streets, not by soldiers,
as was Mr. Kellett, but by a mob.

The dispatches say that an American named Bennett put himself at the head
of the police, beat back the mob, and saved the German Minister's life.

The reasons for this last outrage have not been given, but in this case
the Siamese government has behaved very well.

An apology has been sent to the German Minister, and the King has
decorated him with some Siamese order.

Of course this makes us feel all the more surprised that the King does not
take any notice of the wounding of Mr. Kellett, but our gunboat is at
Bangkok, and if the King owes us an apology, he will be made to give it.

       *       *       *       *       *

The long-talked-of treaty between England and Venezuela has been signed.
These countries agree to settle the question of the boundary between
Venezuela and British Guiana by arbitration.

In NO. 9 of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD you will find a full
account of the quarrel between England and Venezuela. It was said that
England claimed more land than belonged to her.

You will see, if you look at NO. 9, how the United States stepped
in, and helped to adjust matters.

The signing of this treaty brings a quarrel to an end that has been going
on for upwards of a century.

The boundary line which has been so much disputed has been surveyed
several times, but no two surveyors have agreed, and so all the troubles
have come about.

The treaty says that the arbitrators are to find out just how much land
belonged to the colony of British Guiana at the time it became the
property of England, and that they are to work from that point.

The Committee of Arbitration is to meet in Paris, and is to consist of two
Englishmen, Baron Herschel, and Sir Richard Henn Collins, a Judge of the
English Supreme Court; one American, Judge Brewer; and one member chosen
by Venezuela, who is also an American, the Hon. Melville Weston Fuller,
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

These four arbitrators are to decide among themselves who shall be the
fifth man to join them in their work.

If they have not been able to agree on the fifth man in three months after
they meet, our old friend, King Oscar of Sweden, is to step in and fill
the vacant place.

The treaty provides that within six months after it is signed the
committee must meet in Paris, and that the whole work shall, if possible,
be completed within six months after the meeting.

The two copies of the treaty, as soon as they were signed by Sir Julian
Pauncefote for England, and Senor José Andrade for Venezuela, were sent
off, the one to London, the other to Caracas, to be ratified by the
governments of England and Venezuela.

The ratification must be made within six months of the date of signing,
and then the work of the committee will begin.

       *       *       *       *       *

Very little headway has been made with our own treaty with England.

The Committee on Foreign Relations has made certain changes in it, and
handed it to the Senate with a recommendation that it be accepted.

The changes made strike out the name of King Oscar of Sweden as umpire,
and narrow the work of the arbitrators down to dealing solely with matters
that concern Great Britain and the United States in their relations with
each other.

The idea is to make it impossible for England to interfere if we wish to
make a treaty with another country.

Some people think that if the treaty be ratified as first presented, we
will be compelled to ask the advice and permission of England in reference
to every treaty or similar arrangement we may want to make with other
countries.

It seems most important, among other things, that we should be free to
make the best terms for ourselves in the matter of the Nicaragua Canal,
and that we ought to be entirely free to settle all questions with our
Central and South American neighbors.

From what we hear, these alterations are not pleasing to the English
people.

_The Times_, the most important London newspaper, says that it is a pity
that the treaty has been so much changed that it is really of no value at
all. The paper goes on to say that if the treaty should not be ratified by
the Senate, the good work done on it will not have been wasted, for it
will have given a great lesson to the people of both countries, and indeed
to the whole world. The first step has been taken toward the beginning of
universal peace.

Meanwhile, the treaty is in the hands of the Senate, and may soon be
discussed.

       *       *       *       *       *

News comes from Hamburg that the strike of the dock laborers is over.

The strikers have been beaten because of their lack of money.

In NO. 7 of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD you will find an
account of the strike, and if you will also refer to NO. 10, you
will see that it was thought that the strikers could not hold out very
much longer.

The money the strikers expected to receive from other labor unions to help
them was so slow in coming that the men and their families were in want,
and no man is likely to stand out for the benefit of others when his own
children are suffering from cold and hunger.

The men have gone back to their old employers and asked for work. The pity
of it all is, however, that during the strike others have been taken on in
their places, and the employers have now no work to give them.

After holding out since the end of October, and refusing the masters'
offer to give them $1.10 a day, and let all future troubles be settled by
arbitration, the strikers have had to give in without gaining a single
point. It is very sad.

       *       *       *       *       *

The plague in India is still raging fiercely, and every one is feeling
very grave about it.

Europe is so afraid that it will spread, that the greatest care is being
taken to quarantine all people who have come from India.

All letters and merchandise are carefully fumigated, and they say that in
Italy the authorities are so frightened that they fumigate the people, as
well as their clothes and baggage.

So serious is the situation, that the Sultan of Turkey has issued an order
forbidding the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca.

The European Ambassadors in Russia and Persia are begging the rulers of
those countries to forbid pilgrims to pass through their lands, or to
embark from their ports.

You will understand what a very serious order this is, when you realize
that the pilgrimage to Mecca is a part of the religion of every Moslem,
and that about seventy thousand pilgrims go every year.

In all religions, there is some special ceremony or service that people
must attend if they wish to be considered children of God.

With the Moslems or the followers of Mohammed, it is necessary that once
in their lives they make the pilgrimage, or hadj as it is called, to
Mecca.

It does not matter how many thousand miles of sea or land must be crossed
to reach Mecca; once in his life every Mohammedan must make the
pilgrimage, if he wants to reach paradise when he dies.

The Mohammedans believe that when they have made their pilgrimage, they
are forgiven their sins, and can go back to the world as free from sin as
when they were born. All Mohammedans who have made this pilgrimage are
given the title of Hadji.

There are about one hundred and seventy-six millions of Mohammedans who
believe this, and who have been believing it, and making their
pilgrimages, since and even before the year 620 A.D.

These people are scattered through Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceanica,
which, as you know, is sometimes called the fifth division of the globe by
geographers, and consists of Australasia and all the islands below Asia.
The Philippine Islands, where Spain's second war is raging, are a part of
Oceanica.

If you will take your map, and see what an enormous portion of the globe
is inhabited by Mohammedans, and then find Mecca, which is in Arabia,
close to the Red Sea, you will understand that the making of this
pilgrimage is no easy thing to many of the Moslems, and that it must have
a most serious meaning to them to make them undertake such terrible
journeys.

These people must save a great deal of money, and have much difficulty in
arranging their affairs, so that they can afford the time to make the
journey, which their religion says must be made on foot wherever it is
possible.

Forbidding the pilgrimage for one year means the disappointing of seventy
thousand people, and it is thought that the Moslems may rebel against the
Sultan's decree.

Even if they thought that the pilgrimage might spread the fearful plague,
and kill the millions of people who do not believe in the prophet
Mohammed, they would persist in going, thinking they would in that way be
doing a great work for their religion.

The Sultan has therefore this very difficult matter to deal with, and
while Europe is wondering what to do with him, he is showing that after
all he has a great deal of courage and common sense.

The pilgrimage is made to Mecca to perform there certain religious rites,
but particularly to visit the Great Mosque, or Temple, to pass around the
Kaaba, and to kiss the sacred Black Stone.

The Kaaba is the most sacred shrine or altar of the Mohammedans. It was in
existence before Mohammed was born, in 570 A.D., and was a place of
worship even then.

In one corner of it is the sacred stone, which the Moslems believe was
brought down from heaven by the angel Gabriel, and given by him to Abraham
to make the corner-stone of the Kaaba.

They believe that the stone was originally a ruby, but that the tears
which the pilgrims have shed over it for their sins have turned it quite
black.

The sacred black stone was broken in the year 683, and the pieces are
kept together by a silver setting. The stone itself is about eight inches
long, and is set into the outside wall of the Kaaba, where it can be
conveniently kissed by a person of medium height.

Mohammedans always turn toward a certain point of the compass when they
say their prayers, and it is toward the sacred black stone that they turn.

The gathering together of the pilgrims at Mecca has often brought plague,
and nearly always brings disease in its train, and there is very little
doubt but that the Bubonic Plague, which is raging in India, would be
caught by the pilgrims, and spread by them over the whole of Asia and
Europe.

This plague is supposed to attack only the dirty and unwashed, and as the
majority of these pilgrims are filthy beyond description, it would be
certain to fasten upon them.

This will be the first year, since the death of the prophet Mohammed, that
there has been no general pilgrimage to Mecca.

We may hear a great deal more about it yet.

       *       *       *       *       *

At last active measures are about being taken in reference to the terrible
Dead Man's Curve.

Some weeks ago, it was said that it was to be done away with, and the cars
run through a tunnel made under Union Square.

Nothing, however, has so far been done, and the people are getting tired
of risking their lives, to oblige a cable car company.

At last the officers of the law have interfered, and the owners of the
road are being prosecuted, for having their cars run in such a manner
that it is a danger to citizens.

The president of the company was called before the Grand Jury, and said
that it was impossible to run the cars around that curve in any other way
than that which is in use at the present time.

Several engineers who understood all about cable cars were then called.
They said that if the company would put a short cable on the stretch of
road around the curve, there need be no more danger. They said that a
gripman could stop his car or slow up on a short cable, but that with the
long cable, such as the company is now using, it is impossible for the
gripman to have any control of his car while rounding the curve.

The president of the company declared that a short cable would not work.
The case is to go to trial. While the worst that can be done to the
company is to be fined $500, people are looking forward to the trial,
because they expect that the witnesses who give evidence will show some
way of getting the car round the curve without shaking everybody who is in
it, and killing or wounding all who cannot jump out of its way.

       *       *       *       *       *

Did you ever see a house move?

If you have not, you have missed a very funny sight.

Imagine driving along a country road, and meeting a three-story house
making a journey along the highway to new quarters.

There is a good deal of this to be seen just now at Katonah, New York.

A year or so ago the Croton water, which is in use in New York City, was
found to be impure.

A commission was appointed to go and examine the Croton Water-Shed. This
meant that they were to examine the little streams, and brooks, and
rivers, and lakes, which supplied the water to our aqueduct, and see what
the trouble was.

They found that along the banks of these streams and lakes, in villages
and out in the country, a great many dwelling-houses and shanties had been
built, the occupants of which were in the habit of throwing all sorts of
rubbish into the water, making it unfit for drinking.

In consequence of this, all of the houses were ordered to be torn down or
moved away, and one small village of shanties was destroyed. Among others,
the inhabitants of Katonah were ordered to move, that the banks of the
stream might be cleared of dwellings.

Katonah has a railroad depot, and a post-office, and thinks a good deal of
itself.

When the Water-Shed Commission said that it must move or be destroyed,
Katonah gathered its residents together, and decided that rather than be
wiped off the face of the map, it would pick up its houses and move
itself.

So a new Katonah was established, about a quarter of a mile away from the
old one, and just outside the Water-Shed on which it was forbidden to
build, for fear of spoiling the water for New York.

For several months past there has been a procession of houses moving from
old Katonah to new.

[Illustration: HOUSE MOVING]

_The Sun_ gave an amusing account of seeing a barber's shop leading the
parade; this was closely followed by a large yellow cottage, with a cat,
who had refused to leave her home, still seated on the front door-step.

The way that houses are moved is very simple.

You of course understand that only frame or wooden houses can be moved any
distance. Houses of stone or brick would be likely to fall to pieces, and
being so heavy, the difficulty of moving them is greatly increased. They
are therefore seldom moved, and only for very short distances.

Frame houses are always put on stone or brick foundations. If the wood
were put right down on the earth, the damp would soon rot it, and the
house would fall, so strong stone or brick foundations are first laid, and
then the wooden house is built upon them.

When a house is to be moved, a carpenter puts beams across in all the weak
spots, the ceilings are shored up, and all is made snug inside. Then the
house is raised off the foundations on beams, and made all firm
underneath, and then is made to slide off its foundations on some huge
rollers that are laid in the high road.

Ropes are then fastened to some of the heavy beams under the house, and
horses are brought. The ropes are tied to the horses, and as they pull,
the house slips from one roller to another.

Houses can be moved very safely, but not very quickly, and it is of course
much less expensive to move an old house than to build a new one.

One of the strangest things about the moving at Katonah, is that the
villagers are trying to take their shade trees with them, as well as their
houses.

One of the residents had some very fine trees in his garden, and he hated
to leave them behind him, so he decided to try and see if they could not
be moved.

The neighbors made the greatest fun of him, but he did not care, and set
to work as soon as the ground was frozen hard enough, to allow of the tree
being moved without disturbing the earth around the roots.

The procession of houses is now varied by a great tree, forty feet high,
which is moving down the road in the same quiet, stately way as the cat,
and the barber's shop, and the yellow cottage.

                             GENIE H. ROSENFELD.




INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.


A great sea monster has been washed ashore on the coast of Florida, and
men who study natural history are much interested in it. What is left of
the creature is said to weigh eight tons, and no one can tell exactly what
kind of a fish it is, because it appears to have been tossed by the waves
for a long time, and has been partly destroyed by them.

Those people who have seen it think that it is a kind of cuttlefish, but
that the arms, or tentacles, as they are called, have been broken away
from it. These arms must have been from one to two hundred feet long. It
is now only a huge body without much shape to it. Photographs and careful
descriptions of it have been sent to the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington and to Yale College, and the scientific men there expect to be
able to decide what it is by comparing it with other known kinds of
mollusks. Scientists study these things so carefully, that they can tell
what the exact size of an animal was, and what it looked like, if but a
small portion is left; we may therefore expect to hear all about this
great creature ere long.

The size of this wonderful creature can be better realized, when we learn
that it took four strong horses, a dozen men, and three sets of tackle to
move it.

At first it seemed impossible to believe that such a terrific monster
really existed. Sailors have told so many yarns for the sake of making a
good story, that people are a little afraid to believe the wonderful tales
of the sea, but THE GREAT ROUND WORLD took pains to find out
that this eight-ton cuttlefish story was true, so we need have no doubts
about it.

The cuttlefish, which supplies the bone we buy for our canaries, is a very
terrible fish indeed.

The bone, as we call it, is not really bone, but a sort of half-formed
shell which the cuttlefish wears under its skin.

It has a large round body, surrounded by eight arms, which are many times
the length of the body, and which it can twist or turn in any direction.
The mouth is in the centre of these arms. Professor Winchell describes
this ugly creature for us. He says:

"Staring out from either side of the head (the head and body are really
one) is a pair of large, glassy eyes, which send a shudder over the
beholder. At the bottom of the sea the creature turns its eight arms down,
and walks like a huge submarine spider, thrusting its arms into the
crevices of the rocks, and extracting thence the luckless crab that had
thought itself secure from so bulky a foe. Each of the arms is covered
with what are called suckers. Each sucker consists of a little round horny
ridge, forming a little cup, which is attached to the arm by a stem. When
the arm is pressed upon an object, the effort to escape from the grasp of
the arm causes a suction which effectually retains the object."

Professor Winchell goes on to tell that these cuttlefish or octopods
sometimes attain a very great size, and that sailors tell wonderful
stories about them. In one of these stories, the captain of a ship
declared that, while sailing off the African coast, he sent three of his
men over the side of the ship to scrape it. While they were at their work
one of these monsters reached its long arms up from the water and drew two
of them into the sea.

Professor Winchell says that while this may be only a sailor's yarn, it is
at the same time well known that these creatures do attain a fearful size.

The recent discovery of the cuttlefish in Florida may lead to some
extremely interesting discoveries.


HORSELESS FIRE-ENGINE.

A monster steam fire-engine is being built for the city of Boston, and it
is to be a horseless engine.

For some time past the Fire Department has been seeking for some engine
powerful enough to throw water to the top of the very high buildings--the
skyscrapers, as they are called.

An ordinary engine is of very little use for these tall buildings. And an
engine large and powerful enough to throw the water to the necessary
height would be so heavy that no horses could draw it.

The difficulty has been met by the invention of this horseless engine,
which will throw a two-inch stream of water over 300 feet into the air.

The engine is propelled much in the same way as a steam engine. The driver
sits on a seat in front of the engine, and steers it by means of a wheel,
and the engine is moved by steam.

When it arrives at the fire, the driving arrangement is disconnected, and
all the energy of the steam is turned into the apparatus for forcing up
the water.

The engine is sixteen feet long, seven feet wide, and ten feet high. How
terrified the horses in the roads will be when this huge monster comes
rushing toward them, spouting fire, and appearing to move of its own free
will.


LIEUTENANT WISE AND HIS KITE.

We gave an account, in an earlier number, of Lieutenant Wise and his
efforts to make kites strong enough to lift soldiers into the air, that
they may overlook an enemy's fortifications.

He has almost succeeded. The other day he made a fresh attempt, and had
himself raised forty-two feet in the air.

He sent up four kites, with a pulley and rope attached. To this rope a
boatswain's chair was fastened, and when the wind was blowing steadily
enough for him to make the attempt, he seated himself in the chair, and
had the soldiers who were helping him draw him up toward the kites.

They succeeded in pulling him up forty-two feet, and when he was lowered
again he said that he did not feel uncomfortable while in his lofty perch,
and that the swinging motion was very slight.

The experiment was made on Governor's Island, New York Harbor.

    G.H.R.



   VICTOR L. LAWSON       HORACE WHITE                HOKE SMITH
    President            First Vice-President     Second Vice-President

    DIRECTORS
    John Norris
    M.H. de Young
    Frederick Driscoll
    F.B. Noyes
    T.G. Rapier
    C.W. Knapp
    Clayton McMichael
    A.J. Barr
    L. Markbreit
    Stephen O'Meara
    Victor F. Lawson

MELVILLE E. STONE General Manager

CHARLES S. DIEHL Assistant General Manager

GEORGE SCHNEIDER Treasurer


    _The Associated Press_

            _General Office_

                       _New York, January_ 23, 1897.


    WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, ESQ.
    Publisher _Great Round World_.

    DEAR MR. HARISON:

    The conception of _The Great Round World_ magazine appeals to me
    very strongly. It meets what has always been lacking in the
    field of reading for the young; current history is of the
    highest importance to the child, and should be clearly and
    honestly told. In their book reading, the children have the
    established facts of history presented in accurate and approved
    form. The events of to-day, however, which will make possible
    the chapters of history in the books of another decade, have
    never been accurately presented in equally agreeable form until
    the advent of the new magazine. It seems to me, therefore, that
    it deserves and will have a vigorous growth. I congratulate you
    on the form of the new magazine, and the careful summary of the
    news of the world thus far given.

    Yours sincerely,
           CHARLES S. DIEHL.

=Special terms for Subscriptions=

=TO LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOL=

=TEACHERS=

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    3 & 5 W. 18th St.
    New York=

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These famous photographs are mounted on cards, size 11 x 14 inches, and
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A selection of 39 different subjects is offered.

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The safest ways to remit are by registered letter or postal note.

    Set No. 1. 25 printed in one color                  25 cents
     "   "  2.  "    "     "  "    "                    35   "
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[Illustration: The "SLOT" Does It

YOU CANNOT CUT YOUR FINGERS WITH THIS SHARPENER]

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Any boy or girl sending 10 two-cent stamps and a correct solution to this
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Any one enclosing $1.50 with correct solution will receive a _Slot
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=School Books Wanted=

The following school books will be taken in exchange for subscriptions for
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Send books by express prepaid. Send none which are much soiled or worn;
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Put your name on package and send a list by mail with your subscription
order.

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=READERS=

    Barnes'           First, 20c.  Second, 30c.   Third, 40c.
    Appleton's          "    15c.     "    25c.     "    30c.
    Cyr's               "    20c.     "    25c.     "    30c.
    New Franklin        "    20c.     "    30c.     "    35c.
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    Stickney's          "    10c.     "    15c.     "    20c.
    Swinton's           "    20c.     "    30c.     "    40c.
    Information         "    30c.     "    30c.     "    30c.

=HISTORIES, UNITED STATES=

    Barnes'          Primary, 40c.    Large 1890 or later, 75c.
    Eggleston's   First Book, 40c.       "                 75c.
    Fiske's                              "                 75c.
    Johnston's       Shorter, 40c.       "                 75c.
    Montgomery's  Beginner's, 30c.       "                 75c.
    Sheldon's                            "                 50c.
    Thomas'                              "                 50c.

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=School and College Text-Books=

AT WHOLESALE PRICES

       *       *       *       *       *

    At my New Store (FEBRUARY 1ST)

          =3 & 5 West 18th Street=

                           _The St. Ann Building_

       *       *       *       *       *

With the greatly increased facilities I can now offer to my customers the
convenience of an assortment of text-books and supplies more complete than
any other in any store in this city. Books will be classified according to
subject. Teachers and students are invited to call and refer to the
shelves when in search of information; every convenience and assistance
will be rendered them.

Reading Charts, miscellaneous Reference Charts, Maps, Globes, Blackboards,
and School Supplies at net prices singly or in quantity.

All books removed from old store (more or less damaged by removal) will be
closed out at low prices.

       *       *       *       *       *

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    All books, etc., subject to approval_

*       *       *       *       *

=William Beverley Harison, 3 & 5 West 18th Street=

=FORMERLY 59 FIFTH AVENUE=

       *       *       *       *       *


SIMPLE LESSONS IN THE

STUDY OF NATURE

By I.G. OAKLEY


This is a handy little book, which many a teacher who is looking for means
to offer children genuine nature study may be thankful to get hold of.

Nature lessons, to be entitled to that name, must deal with what can be
handled and scrutinized at leisure by the child, pulled apart, and even
wasted. This can be done with the objects discussed in this book; they are
under the feet of childhood--grass, feathers, a fallen leaf, a budding
twig, or twisted shell; these things cannot be far out of the way, even
within the stony limits of a city.

Nor are the lessons haphazard dashes at the nearest living thing; on the
contrary, they are virtually fundamental, whether with respect to their
relation to some of the classified sciences, or with reference to the
development of thought and power of expression in the child himself.

The illustrations are few, and scarcely more than figures; it is not meant
to be a pretty picture-book, yet is most clearly and beautifully printed
and arranged, for its material is to be that out of which pictures are
made. It will be found full of suggestions of practical value to teachers
who are carrying the miscellaneous work of ungraded schools, and who have
the unspeakable privilege of dealing with their pupils untrammelled by
cast-iron methods and account-keeping examination records.

    =_Sample copy, 50 Cents, post-paid_=

       *       *       *       *       *

    =WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON
    3 & 5 W. 18th St. ··· New York City=

       *       *       *       *       *


=KLEMMS'=

=RELIEF PRACTICE MAPS.=

       *       *       *       *       *

=LIST OF MAPS.=

    Small size, 9-1/2 x 11 { Plain,                       5 cents each.
                           { With Waterproofed surface   10   "    "

    Europe, Asia, Africa; North America, South America, East Central
    States, New England, Middle Atlantic States, South Atlantic
    States, Palestine, Australia.


    Large size, 10 x 15 { Plain,                     10 cents each.
                        { With Waterproofed Surface, 15   "     "

    United States, British Isles, Roman Empire, Western Europe,
    North America, South America, Asia.

    (POSTAGE ON SINGLE MAPS, 5 CENTS.)

       *       *       *       *       *

"I would advise =Sunday-school teachers= to use, in connection with the
lessons of 1897, =Klemm's Relief Map of the Roman Empire=. Every scholar
who can draw should have a copy of it. Being blank, it can be beautifully
colored: waters, blue; mountains, brown; valleys, green; deserts, yellow;
cities marked with pin-holes; and the journeys of Paul can be traced upon
it."--MRS. WILBUR F. CRAFTS, _President International Union of
Primary Sabbath-School Teachers of the United States_.

       *       *       *       *       *

=DESCRIPTION OF THE MAPS.=

These maps are made in two forms, both with beautifully executed relief
(embossed)--the cheaper ones of plain stiff paper similar to drawing paper
(these are to be substituted for and used as outline map blanks), the
others covered with a durable waterproof surface, that can be quickly
cleaned with a damp sponge, adapted to receive a succession of markings
and cleansings. Oceans, lakes, and rivers, as well as land, appear in the
same color, white, so as to facilitate the use of the map as a
=_geographical slate_=.

       *       *       *       *       *

    =WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON
    _3 & 5 W. 18th St. ··· New York City_=

       *       *       *       *       *


=Evolution of Empire Series=

UNITED STATES

BY

MARY PLATT PARMELE

AUTHOR OF

="Who? When? What?" "France," "Germany," "England," Etc.=

    Price,
    Post-paid
    75 Cents

       *       *       *       *       *

_From New York Sun Editorial Dec._ 30, 1896.

In too many of the little school histories there is but a tedious, bare
narrative of apparently unconnected facts, and there is a profitless
rigmarole of dates and names: but when the sequence of cause and effect is
not obscured, and form and life are given to the actors, and the
development of events and institutions is traced, the story of the United
States becomes, as it should become, the most, fascinating as it is the
most important of histories to Americans; and whatever in historical
inquiry and writing promotes accuracy, adds detail, and clears up
obscurity, increases the worth and the, charm of the work.

W.B. Harison has published in his "Evolution of Empire" series, a brief
historical sketch of the United States, by Mary Platt Parmele, whose other
volumes in the series have received cordial praise. In this book one finds
the story of our country told in about 300 pages, and very interestingly
is it written. The book leaves out the innumerable incidents and figures
which are of great importance to students, but which are not necessary in
a book for general reading, and presents the narrative in a graphic
manner, in which the interest of the reader never flags. The book is bound
in blue buckram and costs but 75 cents. The other volumes in the series
deal with the histories of France, England, and Germany, in the same
brilliant vein.--_Hartford Post._

Its value does not lie in the multitude of facts which it contains, but
rather in the lucid, natural way in which a few really important facts are
presented and grouped, and in the stimulus which it imparts to a rational
study of our country's history.--_The Review of Reviews._

In "The Evolution of an Empire," Mary Platt Parmele has endeavored to give
in outline the story of the discovery, settlement, and development of the
United States of America, touching only upon vital points and excluding
all detail. The task has been a most difficult one on account of the
constant temptation to deal with matters of minor importance. The author
has, however, succeeded in making a very acceptable book.--_Boston
Transcript._

The latest issue in the "Evolution of an Empire" series is Mary Platt
Parmele's "History of the United States." It is a short and simple
outline, which presents in a book of about 300 pages the main facts of our
national history, and a very fair and judicial presentment it is, too.
While the general reader will find it of interest, it has been prepared
more particularly for the young, who are easily wearied by the prolix
details which encumber so many of the histories prepared for them. Mrs.
Parmele very truly remarks that the child, bewildered in a labyrinth of
unfamiliar names and events, fails to grasp the main lines and soon
dislikes history, simply because he has been studying, not with a thinking
mind, but with one overtaxed faculty, memory, intended to be the humble
handmaid of the higher faculties. In the work under consideration, she
begins with the first voyage of Columbus and brings us down to the
principal events of 1893; she is sparing of details, and has merely
skeletonized her theme, adding sufficient of incident, to avoid dryness.
It seems a meritorious and well-prepared work, and a chronological table
adds to its value.--_The Detroit Free Press._

    =WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON=

    =3 and 5 West 18th St.--44 East 49th St.=

    =NEW YORK CITY=



[Transcriber's notes: In "Lieutenant Wise and His Kite" the word
Lieutenant was changed from Lieuttenant in the first paragraph.]