SANTA CLAUS IN MOROCCO.

BY HESTER CALDWELL OAKLEY.

Queer old Santa took the steamer Over from Gibraltar, Mounted on a donkey-pack, With a rope for halter. Thought he'd do his duty by All the little Arabs, Fill their stockings up with coins, Bellyunes, and scarebs. But his jolly old face fell When he reached a village— Tiny huts just thatched with straw, One yard square for tillage. All around he gazed aghast, Then he said, "By Jim'ny! What a savage, heathen place. Not a single chimney!" Gasped again, and paler grew, Muttered, feebly: "Shocking! 'Mong these little Moorish kids Not a blessed stocking!"

This Department is conducted in the interest of Amateur Photographers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor Camera Club Department.

PAPERS FOR BEGINNERS, No. 16.

TRANSFERROTYPE BROMIDE PAPER.

Transferrotype paper is worked in the same way as bromide paper, the difference in the papers being that prints made on this paper may be transferred to glass, tiles, placques, lamp-shades, or made into transparencies and lantern-slides.

Expose the paper, develop and finish in the same way directed for bromide prints in last paper, taking care that no alum is allowed in any of the solutions, as that prevents the picture being transferred.

After the print is washed lay it face down on the object to which it is to be transferred, being particular that the surface is perfectly free from any grease or dust. Squeegee the wet print into perfect contact with the surface of the object, and see that no air blisters are left between the print and the face of the support. When it adheres perfectly, put over it a piece of blotting-paper, place a weight on it, and set away to dry. When it is thoroughly dry, pour nearly boiling water (180° Fahr.) on the back of the paper until it begins to blister, or until one corner can be lifted with the point of a penknife, when the paper can be pulled from the back of the picture. After the paper is removed, rub the surface of the picture with a tuft of surgeon's cotton dipped in warm water, as to remove any bits of paper that may be left on the transfer, and put away to dry in a place free from dust.

If the picture has been transferred to a lamp-shade, as soon as it is dry varnish it with a thin coat of dammar varnish, and heat in an ordinary oven for a few minutes, when the shade may be washed without injury to the picture.

Window-transparencies may be made with transferrotype paper, and if the print is transferred to opal glass it will make a much more brilliant picture than when made directly on the glass. For placques, tiles, etc., the paper may be bought in different sizes, according to the object for which it is designed. Small squares of heavy plate-glass ornamented with transferrotypes are pretty, and make timely Christmas gifts.

Sir Knight W. H. Tobey asks if animals could be included in the prizes offered for figure studies, as there are no prizes offered for animals this year, or if a picture of a boy and a dog would be called a figure study. He also asks if the pictures for different classes should be sent in separate packages, and how many figures may be introduced into a figure study. Picture of animals alone will not count in figure studies, but a boy and dog, a milkmaid and cow, a boy or girl with horse, etc., etc., would come under the head of figure studies. Pictures for different classes may all be sent in one package, but each picture must be marked with the name of the class to which it belongs. There in no limit to the number of figures in a figure study, but the larger the number of persons included the less chance of making a successful picture.

This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor.

I heard a girl say the other day, and she frowned and looked quite cross, and puckered up her pretty face as she said it: "Dear me, I'm so nervous! I can't help fidgeting, and swinging my feet, and knocking over things when I'm tired, and I wish the children would keep still, and that Rob would not rattle the paper when he reads it. I hate to hear the rattling of paper. I'm just as nervous as a witch!"

Think of all this, from a girl fifteen years old. Why, her grandmother might have spoken in that way, and it wouldn't have been remarkable. But Dolly! I looked at her in surprise.

If there is anything among all the things you girls should cultivate, my dears, it is repose. Simply do not allow your feet to swing and your brows to pucker, but compel face and feet to mind your will, and will to be calm and tranquil on the outside if not beneath the surface. A result of this will be that the looking quiet, and moving gently, and holding yourself in control, will bring about a restful condition of mind. You will feel better and be less nervous if you put down the expression of nervousness.

Indigestion is at the bottom of half of our maladies. School-girls should eat plenty of good food at the right times, and should avoid too many sweets. Many a headache and fit of the blues can be traced back to a pound of candy, delicious candy, but too much for the stomach to manage. Bonbons and caramels and all such tempting confections should be eaten after a meal as dessert, not munched all day betweentimes.

One of the prettiest Christmas presents sent me last year was a box of home-made candies, sent by a dear girl friend who has great skill in this line. The candies were laid in a dainty birch-bark box lined with paraffine paper. This box was in its turn fitted tightly into a little silk-lined basket—rose-colored silk was used, and quilted into its folds was some violet-scented sachet powder. The whole was tied with a bow of rose-tinted satin ribbon, and on the very top, fastened down by the ribbon, was a lovely long-stemmed Jacqueminot rose. After the candies had disappeared I took the box for hair-pins and the basket to hold my spools and needle-book, and it still keeps the giver in my mind from day to day.

There is an old proverb which tells us that "All roads lead to Rome."

At this season "all roads lead to Christmas." Whatever else I begin to say, I end by finding myself talking about Christmas. It is so pleasant an occasion, so merry a day, that we think of and plan for it long before it comes, and remember it gladly long after it is gone. One of the most graceful things you can do, if you have not gifts to send, is to write to your friends, near and far, a Christmas letter. A letter never fails to give real pleasure to the one who receives it. There is even a beautiful charity called "The Christmas Letter Mission," which sends letters and cards and leaflets to people who are sick in hospitals, or shut up in prisons. You may not have time to send this sort of letter, but you can write to grandpapa, or Aunt Gertrude, or the girl you met and liked so well, last summer, at Bar Harbor or Put In Bay. If you can follow your letter in thought and hear the welcome word, "Ah! Jennie, dear child, has not forgotten me!" from grandpapa, or "Jennie's writing! Bless her heart!" from aunty, or, in fancy, see Elsie flying over the farm-house to find her mother, and have her share her pleasure, you will be repaid.

One more hint. Never put off writing a letter of thanks the very day you receive a gift. No matter how small the courtesy shown you, return it in a little graceful note.

In taking leave thank your entertainers for the pleasure they have given you, and as soon as you reach home write a note to your hostess again thanking her, and assuring her of your safe return.