The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 22, April 8, 1897 | Page 7

in the neighborhood of the sugar bush, as the maple grove is called.
The men used iron kettles to boil the sugar, and did not take as much care as they might have done to see that the kettle was not rusty, or that no twigs or leaves fell in, and so a boiling of sugar sometimes would be spoiled.
Nowadays the women go along to the sugaring with the men. The boiling is done under cover, and it is the duty of the women to see that the kettles are properly cleaned and scoured. As the men do not have to divide their attention between boiling the sugar and gathering the sap, and both processes are in the charge of special people, the result is that the sugar is much better.
If you ever have a chance to go to a sugar camp, go. It is great fun. Shortly before the syrup sugars the boys and girls pour it on ice or snow, or into cold water; this hardens it so that it can be held in the fingers like candy. The process is called "waxing" sugar.
GENIE H. ROSENFELD.

INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.
A NEW INKSTAND has lately been patented.
The great trouble we all have with our ink is that it thickens so quickly if we are not very careful to cover the inkstand after using.
The new ink-well, to save this trouble, is self-closing.
[Illustration]
One lid of the well is made in the shape of a half circle, and is fitted into a groove made to receive it.
When a person wishes to dip the pen in the ink, the touch of the pen slides the curved lid back; and then directly the pen is drawn out, the lid slides back into place again and the ink is protected.
NEW FLOWER-POT.--To people who really love flowers, the new flower-pot holder should prove a very great treasure.
It is to be made in china, and very prettily decorated, and its novelty consists in the plan of making it with an upper and lower chamber.
The upper part holds the flower-pot, and the lower collects the water that trickles through the pot, and keeps it away from the roots of the flower, thus preventing the plant from standing in water and rotting.
[Illustration]
The upper and lower portions are connected by a perforated grating, through which the water is carried off.
G.H.R.

LETTERS FROM OUR YOUNG FRIENDS.
We have to acknowledge a great number of letters this week; so many, indeed, that want of space prevents publishing them all.
From the Dartmouth Street School, Worcester, we have three letters.
Etta H., Annie H., and Roy R. have sent us delightful little notes, telling us how much they enjoy THE GREAT ROUND WORLD.
We must congratulate all three of our young friends on their excellent writing. They are among the best written letters we have received so far. Etta's is particularly clear and good.
Frederic D. writes a second letter, asking about Crusoe's Island.
We have heard nothing new about Juan Fernandez.
We have, however, written to the Consul at Valparaiso and asked him if he can give us any information.
We cannot get an answer for several weeks, but when we do all our doubts about Crusoe's Island will be set at rest.
We thank Swift T., of Yonkers, for his very kind and friendly letter. It pleases us very much to know that our young friends like the paper and are anxious to receive it every week.
DEAR EDITOR:
I want to say how glad I was when I heard from THE GREAT ROUND WORLD that General Gomez had won a victory. I wish that that brutal General Weyler had been killed instead of General Maceo. Wasn't it extraordinary that all the trees in India were covered with that queer stuff? I wonder how it got there? Have any of the Hindustanees risen yet?
I am also very interested in the war Greece is having with Turkey. I wish the powers would not interfere with Greece and Turkey, but let them fight it out.
Your picture of a statue of King Arthur has a shield. We have a photograph of a statue in a tomb at Innsbruck, but it has no shield. Did Fischer make two statues?
I wish THE GREAT ROUND WORLD were published twice a week.
Yours very truly, WILLIAM THORN K. 15 West Sixteenth Street, New York. March 14, 1897.
DEAR YOUNG FRIEND:
The original statue of King Arthur had no shield, though it was evidently intended that it should have one. Some years ago an appropriate shield was made for it. The photographs are sometimes with it and sometimes without it, though as the statue stands now in the church it is with the shield as illustrated in THE GREAT ROUND WORLD.
We have heard of no fresh rising in India; the plague and the famine are weakening the people so much that they have little spirit of revolt