WOODSIDE, ASPLEY HEATH, BUCKS, ENGLAND. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Though I have had your magazine for nearly two years, I have never written to you. I do hope you will find room for this, as I should so love to see it printed. We came here last week from our home near London, where we went for the coronation. It was so very dreadful for the poor King, being taken ill so suddenly; but there is great rejoicing now that he is getting on so well. London was beautifully decorated, and it was so sad to see all the lovely arches and festoons being pulled down, even before they were finished. I am writing this in the pine woods close to our house, and our small dog Ruby, who is with me, is very indignant that she is not allowed to chase the rabbits; but it is not safe to allow her to go among the heather and bracken, as there are a great many traps hidden about. Now good-by, dear ST. NICHOLAS; I hope this letter is not too long. Your affectionate reader, KATHARINE CLEGHORN. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. To you, ST. NICK, I now do write

BY DELMAR G. COOKE, AGE 14.

A letter very sadly;
That you may know I 've lost
my badge,

And so feel very badly.
A stamp and envelope you' 'll find
Inclosed within this letter,

So please send me another
badge-

I'll try to keep it better.

Twelve summers have I been on earth,

And happy summers, too;

Last summer up Mount Washington

With people whom I knew.

Well, now, I think I'd better close;
My wishes please to notice:
That you to me a League badge send,
And that I am your little friend,

MILDRED OTIS.

LAKE GENEVA, WIS. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: We were sitting by the window, one day last week, when we saw a blue jay pecking at a queer brown thing

THE ROLL OF HONOR.

MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: There is a wealthy gentleman here who makes a present to all the schools by giving the children their choice of several magazines each year-one magazine in each family. I have taken ST. NICHOLAS nearly three years in that way, and I like it very much.

I liked the story of "Pretty Polly Perkins," and in the League I think that the several poems written by Grace Reynolds Douglas were very pretty. Would n't it be nice if the League could have one great meeting, with an attendance of all its members, and all get acquainted with one another? ELSIE K. WELLS.

NOTES.

EMMA L. RAPELYE, Madison, N. J., would like to exchange United States for foreign stamps.

Elizabeth Chapin wishes that an unmounted drawing did not have to be endorsed on the back. It does not. It may be endorsed on the margin of the face. See rules.

Dora Call (age 13), Larchmont Manor, N. Y., would like to get up a club of League members, in which the members will suggest new games, books, and other amusements.

Copley Amory, Jr., Walpole, N. H., would like to exchange United States stamps for foreign.

Aline Murray (age 14), Metuchen, N. J., would like very much to have a girl correspondent of her own age.

Our Japanese chapter, the Chrysanthemum Club, 25 Tsukiji, Tokio, Japan, has aroused a good deal of interest among other chapters. Other gratifying letters were received from Jean Herbert, May H. Ryan, Miriam Abbott, Joshua W. Brady, William G. Whitford, Bessie Stella Jones, Helen S. Connolly, Clifford H. Lawrence, Edith Phillips, Edith M. Gates, Laurence M. Simmonds, Marion D. Freeman, Clarence A. Southerland, H. Boswell Hawley, Mildred Jones, Eleanor Myers, Mattie Hain, Ruth Allen, M. Garthwaite, Neva Curtis, Alice R. De Ford, and Charles Paine.

"A STUDY FROM STILL LIFE." BY ELIZABETH OTIS, AGE 14. COMPETITIONS.

CHAPTER COMPETITION No. 2 CLOSES DECEMBER 31.

PRIZES FOR THE BEST CHAPTER ENTERTAINMENTS.

To encourage chapter formation and further to promote the aims and purpose of the St. Nicholas League the following prize offers are made to chapters already formed, and to those that may form in time to take part in the competition.

To the chapter that in October, November, or December of the present year shall give the most successful public entertainment, and devote the net proceeds to the best use, fifty dollars' worth of books, to be selected from The Century Co.'s latest published catalogue, which will be sent free on application.

To the chapter ranking second, as above, twenty-five dollars' worth of Century publications.

To the chapter ranking third, fifteen dollars' worth.
To the chapter ranking fourth, ten dollars' worth.

RULES FOR THIS COMPETITION.

1. The entertainment may be of any sort, provided that a majority of the features are selected from the ST. NICHOLAS magazine.

2. "The most successful entertainment" shall be understood to mean the entertainment realizing the largest net proceeds after legitimate expenses have been deducted.

3. The "best use" shall be understood to mean that most in accordance with the St. Nicholas League aims and purpose, and it may be educational, charitable, patriotic, or humane, or for the best advancement of the League itself as represented by the chapter giving the entertainment. It is not necessary that the sum realized be all devoted to one purpose. The matter is left entirely in the hands of each chapter, and a full report must be made to the League editor by the chapter president and secretary, and indorsed as correct by those to whom the money has been paid.

4. In all public announcements of the entertainment, and upon the printed programme, the chapter number and the name of the League must appear, as per following example:

Given by the St. Nicholas League,
Chapter No.

Of (Town), (State).

If the chapter has a name, the name should also appear.

5. Whenever practicable, it shall be allowable for chapters to obtain free use of hall, accessories, costumes, and any other form of contribution possible, in order to swell their net proceeds-in fact, to make any honest effort to reduce the expenses of giving the entertainment. 6. Where a dramatic entertainment is to be given the St. Nicholas League will, upon application signed by chapter president and secretary, send, postpaid, the "Book of St. Nicholas Plays," from which any play may be selected, said bock to remain the property of the League for use in future entertainments, and must be returned, care of the Century Co., when the entertainment is over.

7. The report of each entertainment, with a copy of its programme, must be received by the League editor on or before January 3, 1903. The awards will be announced in the League department for March or April.

REMARKS.

This competition ought to result in a great deal of good for everybody. Whether the entertainment be dramatic, musical, recitative, a fair, or a combination of all, it cannot fail to result in much wholesome interest and pleasure, while the fund obtained, whether small or large, whether it obtains a prize or not, will be of benefit to whatever good purpose it be applied.

Do not let the fact that you live in a small town, or even in the country, discourage you in the undertaking. Many of the most successful and profitable chapter entertainments given heretofore have been those given in small villages. Wherever there is a school there is a place for a chapter and a chapter entertainment. Badges and instruction leaflets will be sent upon request to all desiring to join the League and to organize chapters. It is not necessary to be a subscriber, but only a reader of the magazine, to belong to the League.

NOTICE TO SECRETARIES.

As a matter of convenience, the secretary of each chapter should be authorized to receive subscriptions from any one desiring to subscribe for ST. NICHOLAS, and the publishers have agreed to allow a liberal commission on each new subscription so received, the amount to be placed to the chapter's credit and remitted to the said chapter when it shall aggregate $5.00. Chapters may accumulate a good fund in this way, and while an entertainment is in progress a number of subscriptions should easily be obtained.

PRIZE COMPETITION No. 38.

THE St. Nicholas League awards gold and silver badges each month for the best poems, stories, drawings, photographs, puzzles, and puzzle-answers.

A SPECIAL CASH PRIZE. To any League member who has won a gold badge for any of the above-named achievements, and shall again win first place, a cash prize of five dollars will be awarded, instead of another gold badge.

Competition No. 38 will close November 20 (for foreign members November 25). The awards will be announced and prize contributions published in ST. NICHOLAS for February.

VERSE. To contain not more than twenty-four lines, and may be illustrated, if desired, with not more than two drawings or photographs by the author. Title to contain the word "Valentine."

PROSE. Story, article, or play of not more than four hundred words. It may be illustrated, if desired, with not more than two drawings by the author. Title, "A Close Call." May be humorous or serious.

PHOTOGRAPH. Any size, mounted or unmounted, but no blue prints or negatives. Subject, "An Autumn Snap-shot," and must be taken especially for this competition.

DRAWING. India ink, very black writing-ink, or wash (not color). Subject, "Fireside Days," and must be from life.

PUZZLE. Any sort, but must be accompanied by the answer in full. PUZZLE-ANSWERS. Best, neatest, and most complete set of answers to puzzles in this issue of ST. NICHOLAS. WILD-ANIMAL OR BIRD PHOTOGRAPH. To encourage the pursuing of game with a camera instead of a gun. For the best photograph of a wild animal or bird, taken in its natural home: First Prize, five dollars and League gold badge. Second Prize, three dollars and League gold badge. Third Prize, League gold badge.

RULES.

EVERY contribution of whatever kind must bear the name, age, and address of the sender, and be indorsed as "original" by parent,

"FINIS."

teacher, or guardian, who must be convinced beyond doubt that the contribution is not copied, but wholly the work and idea of the sender. If prose, the number of words should also be added. These things must not be on a separate sheet, but on the contribution itself-if a manuscript, on the upper margin; if a picture, on the margin or back. Write or draw on one side of the paper only. A contributor may send but one contribution a month - not one of each kind, but one only. Address all communications:

THE ST. NICHOLAS LEAGUE,
Union Square,

New York.

THE THIRTIETH

VOLUME.

WITH this number ST. NICHOLAS begins its thirtieth volume. During its whole life-for a magazine lives, just as a creature lives- it has been conducted by one editor, and so has an identity such as few periodicals can claim. It has changed as the times have changed; it has grown in ways that can hardly be understood except by a comparison with its early numbers. We advise our readers to put an early volume side by side with the one that is just closed, and compare them carefully.

See the difference in the style of stories, the style of illustration; note the names of the writers and the artists.

And the readers of the new volume are the sons and daughters of those who were little boys and girls in the distant seventies. To such readers as ST. NICHOLAS has, it is not necessary to preach a little sermon upon this text. It will be enough if they will give an hour or two to an understanding of all that the magazine has been to a whole generation of Americans and of English-speaking folk throughout the world.

BOOKS AS FRIENDS.

The twenty-nine volumes of ST. NICHOLAS have well stood the test of time, and they offer the soundest warrant for the principles upon which the magazine has been conducted. If we learn to look at our books as a collection of good friends, we shall see that they may be divided, generally speaking, into the same classes that will describe our human friends. We may consider certain books also as even nearer than friends as relatives. Thus if we find that some author has by his helpful influence somewhat changed our characters, making them over to some extent, we may regard his book as the parent of the new side to our characters. Books that attract us by

their similarity to our own way of thinking and acting are like brothers and sisters to us. When you grow up, and write books of your own, those will be in a sense your literary children, inheriting from you both virtues and faults.

But most books come no nearer than friendship. Some are intimate friends, for they are trustworthy, agreeable, and chosen companions of whom you never tire. Others do not come quite so near, and yet are more than mere acquaintances. as you may term books that you like fairly well, but which are not indispensable. You may follow this analogy or compariIson very far, for it is rather a real resemblance than a fancied likeness.

A SHELF FOR IF you have already THE ELECT. grouped your books according to your liking for them, it will be found pleasant to set apart a special shelf or a chosen part of your book-case for your intimate bookfriends- the ones that you most respect, enjoy, and are truly fond of. Then, when in the mood for converse with a favorite author, you can turn to this special group, sure of finding what you want. Or, if you do not care to open the volumes, you can "read them by the backs' -a phrase already explained in this department. That is to say, you can by a mere glance at the books themselves conjure up as if by a magic charm the scenes, personages, and often the very words that lie within.

BOOK-PLATES FOR

IN this number is an arYOUNG PEOPLE. ticle on book-plates that should be interesting to all young book-lovers. A book-plate is a simple, sensible, and artistic way of marking your ownership of a book, and it is worth while to have a book-plate so as to make book-ownership more real and more responsible. By putting your plate into a book you say, "This volume is one I am glad to

acknowledge as my friend"- and that will make you careful that these friends shall be the right kind. Another advantage of this token of ownership is its tendency to cause the return of borrowed books-an advantage which alone will justify the insertion of your name.

A BOOK-PLATE CONTEST.

The work of the St. Nicholas League members proves that there are many of you able to design your own book-plates, and the cost of having the design printed is only a trifle. To encourage our young artists, this department will give three yearly subscriptions to ST. NICHOLAS to the three designers of the best book-plates for a young book-owner. Designs should be in black ink, on cardboard of moderate size, and should be directed to this department so as to be received before November 15, 1902. The usual conditions as to originality must be observed, age will be considered, and the artists must not be over eighteen years of age. THE competition anBOOKS FOR YOUNG nounced in the September number has not yet been decided; but the result will be announced in the December ST. NICHOLAS.

THE LISTS OF

READERS.

A SUGGESTION

A YOUNG girl who keeps ABOUT KEEPING a small pocket-diary has inA DIARY. vented a clever device for saving space. She uses a set of simple symbols for entries that would be likely to occur over and over. Thus for the entry " I took my musiclesson" she puts in simply a drawing of a little harp; and for the words" I wrote a letter to —" she draws a tiny envelope in outline; and so on. Then on the inside cover of the diary she writes a list of these symbols with their explanations.

This is an adapting of a scheme used by a German scholar to save space in a little enclyclopedia. For the word "born" he used a star; for "died" a dagger; for "astronomy" he printed a littlę comet; for "law" a pair of scales; for "writer" a pen. You can readily see that by these little devices a great many lines of print were saved; but without a suggestion you may not notice that this "improvement" is really a going back to the days when the alphabet was not yet invented! Yet hieroglyphics, or ideographs, as these pictures are called, have

some very valuable qualities. They are brief, simple, plain, and never need translation — being equally understood by all nations, just as the Arabic figures are the same in English, French, German, Italian, and other languages. This consideration led an author recently to suggest that Chinese, which is written in these ideographs, should be adopted as a universal language.

You will find some very interesting things - even some amusing facts-about the Chinese language in the Encyclopædia Britannica. "CHRISTMAS IS THIS is not given as a

COMING." piece of news, but is repeated as a reminder to those who mean to buy books for presents, so that they may not hurl themselves wildly into a crowded store on the night before Christmas, grasp the first gaudy volume that insists upon being seen, and then tear away home to discover that it would have been better to remember the old adage "The more haste the less speed."

Remember, please, that books cannot be wisely chosen by that lightning-express method. Candy may, but not good reading. To give a book is to choose wisely- otherwise the gift is meaningless. There are plenty of guides to good reading, plenty of literary magazines that give honest opinions about the new books. Consult some of these before setting sail for the book-store where glittering covers lie in wait like false beacons to deceive you on every hand. And, by the way, why not look over some of your old ST. NICHOLAS numbers, where there are so many lists of thoroughly good books given in this department, lists by other boys and girls, and by older folks as well? That is one of the purposes of these pages.

WHEN TO STOP.

IT cannot be too often said that it is as wise to stop reading a poor book as to finish a good one. In truth, it is wiser; for to stop in the middle of a good book means only some loss, while to go on with a poor one means positive harm. The older we grow, the more books thrust themselves upon our attention, and it is never too early to be saving of your time for the best reading. To read trash is not only foolish and wasteful of time: it positively crowds out good reading.

WORCESTER, MASS. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I was very much interested in the long German word you once printed in the Letterbox of ST. NICHOLAS; So I take the liberty of sending a German word which is, I think, the longest word to be found. It contains one hundred and eighty-two letters. I have written it on a separate sheet, as I am afraid I cannot get it on this paper.

I thought you might like to print the word, as it is so long as to be really a curiosity, showing how the Germans compound their words.

We have taken ST. NICHOLAS almost twenty-two years and have many volumes. But those below Vol. XI. we left in England when we came back to this country, as they had been looked at so much that they were very dilapidated-looking. Hoping you will print this word, I am, yours truly, SARA WILSON.

GERMAN WORD.

Hinterladungsgewehrkleinkalibrigeblechhülfenpatronenbundesstaatskriegsverwaltungsmanufakturarbeiter

spezialoberaufsichtspräsident.

This means:

President of the special inspection of the workmen in the federal military department manufactories of metal cartridges for small-bore breech-loaders.

This long word was taken from a German paper in 1867, and quoted in "Humor in der deutschen Grammatik" (pages 19, 20) by Otto Sutermeister, a book printed in Bern, 1899.

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.

MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Here is a letter from one of your readers who last summer traveled through the West and had a good time.

I am from the great city of New Orleans, and last summer came out on a trip to the West.

Our first stop-over was at St. Louis. It is a very big city, but it has hardly any wooden houses, almost all being built of brick; I thought the "Crescent City" with its 90° of heat was hot, but when I got to St. Louis I changed my mind. It was 1080 in the shade, something that New Orleans never goes up to. We are contented with our 92° in the shade.

The next place we went to was Kansas City. I did n't like it much, either, as it was very, very hot, much hotter than St. Louis. Kansas City is nothing but high, steep hills, and the way the cable cars go down those hills makes a fellow's heart jump in his mouth. After we went to Kansas City we made a trip through Kansas, whose heat was really withering.

It

At Denver we stayed for about an hour, and then went on to the place where Pike's Peak is, Colorado Springs, Colorado. We did n't get to Pike's Peak, but we will go there on our way back. Instead we went to a place in Colorado Springs called the Garden of the Gods. consists of large stone figures, some resembling the shape of men and animals. Every imaginable animal was there except our domestic animal, the cat. really quite an instructive trip.

It was

After we left Colorado Springs we came on through

New Mexico and Arizona to San Francisco. We saw some of the famous Mexican Indians, who are noted as being cave-dwellers.

San Francisco is a very large and a fine place. There is a park here called the Golden Gate Park, which is a fine place. The Sutro Baths consist of water from the Pacific Ocean in rock reservoirs. They are fine bathingplaces. Adjoining the baths is the Cliff House. It is built on a rock hanging over the ocean. From its windows you can see the Seal Rocks, covered with sealions, who flounder about in the water and swim all around.

The Public Library of San Francisco is also a fine place. It contains a complete file of every good magazine, and is an interesting place. I found a file of the ST. NICHOLAS, and for three hours stayed there and reveled in the old numbers.

We have been to the Yosemite Valley and have seen the big redwood-trees. Through some of the trees the stage-coaches go through, as they are hollowed out so as to let the stages pass under. At another place in the Yosemite is an overhanging rock thirty-five hundred feet up in the air. I would not stand out on it, although several others did.

We go to Portland, Oregon, soon by the Pacific Ocean on a steamer, and then to Salt Lake City, and next home.

I could write pages about our trip, but if I want to see my letter published I suppose I must close. From your old reader,

KERNAN. SUMMIT, N. J.

MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Mama gets ST. NICHOLAS for us every month, and I think it and the League are just fine.

We have a lovely kitty which I thought you might like to hear about; she is black and white, with white on the tip-end of her tail; she knows everything. When we lived in the other house (before we moved), if left out at night she used to climb up the kitchen window-blind and jump on the roof, and then come along to our window; and if she could n't get in our window she would come to mother's window and get in there, and then walk into our room. And after we moved she would sit in the window and look out; she was too afraid to go out. But one night she was left out all night, and about two o'clock in the morning I heard her calling at the window, and there was "Dinah,” as big as ever, or rather as small as ever, for she is three years old, but a tiny kitten.

We also have a doggy, "Cricket." He is a Skyeand-Scotch terrier, and not much larger than a cricket! My brother went away to boarding-school, and Cricket missed him terribly; but he seems to know what Thanksgiving means, for I told him that Ernest was coming home then, and he wagged his short tail and wriggled. all over. Hoping you will publish this, I remain,

Your most devoted and interested reader,
DOROTHEA GARRETSON.

P. S. Mother says we have had you in our family about twenty-six or twenty-seven years, and you are the most interesting magazine we children ever had; we all enjoy you, even to mother and father and down to my niece, six years old. I don't think I could live without our "Dear St. Nicholas."