THE POLITE GHOST

Once there was a ghost—there were ghosts once—who thought to see the world of men, women, and animals of by-gone days.

Possessing the power of annihilating space, both of yards and years, this ghost called upon a weird thing, who said, after its surprise at being disturbed had partly passed:

"A feathered biped(1) I am known to be, But gifted with the power of English speech; Uttering again and many times again The saddest words within a mortal's reach. A grim dark thing of evil omen, I, Repeating evermore my doleful cry."

"Quite too grewsome even for me," said the ghost, as he entered a camp of Brabacons(2). The sentinel, surprised at the strange voice, asked, "Who goes there?" And the ghost, not being able to reply "friend," and too polite to lie, vanished, and soon knocked at the door of the Pope of Rome(3) who, tradition says, kicked the crown off a German emperor's head, to show his power to make and unmake kings. The door being opened, the ghost disappeared to call on the King of France(4) who once navigated the Ohio River on a flat-boat and gave his name as Smith.

"Too vulgar royalty for me," said the ghost to himself, too well bred to show his contempt. Turning to go he stubbed his toe—yes, this ghost had a real toe—he stubbed his great toe against something. Picking it up he found it to be the first book(5) to have its pages numbered. "That will do," he said, under his breath, "to give to the 'Sword Hunters'(6). It will be such a good joke on them, for it tells bigger lies than they can."

Cutting 'cross lots, the ghost next scared out of an old abandoned house a city of British India(7), and was so startled for the moment that he wished himself in the United States with the insect(8) that country people might carry to the barn when arriving home late at night. A wish being equal to a journey by sea and land, the ghost was presently in America. On the way, however, he passed over the sea(9) which, having two outlets to larger seas, its waters never flow out, but always in, and yet its surface is ever several feet lower than the larger waters west and southeast of it. He startled the "midnight judiciary"(10), begged the members' pardon, retired, and almost immediately crossed seas and met the woman(11) who furnished Sir Walter Scott with descriptions of Irish characters for one of his novels. He told her he wished to call next on the Queen of England(12) who saved her husband's life by sucking poison from a wound.

"You should take the 'X.Y.Z. letters'(13) with you as introduction," was the reply.

"Even so," said the ghost, "I might not be received."

"But you would had you the tact of the man(14) who compared himself, when he should be dead, to a book."

"Ah yes, but I have no country, being but a ghost. I am like the man(15) who once refused a sword from a Russian Czar. If now I were the man(16) who shut up Paraguay, making it a second Japan for twenty-five years!"

"Or the Pope of Rome(17) who was made a cardinal at the age of fourteen."

"Ay, or even the Confederate commander(18) at the siege of New Orleans in April, 1862."

Determining next to go to the smallest and oldest republic in the world(19), the ghost bade his fair companion adieu and started. Wearied with long travel, he sought conveyance. Finding himself on board a queer one, he asked an explanation, and was told this:

"A very mountain high and bright, In all the land I'm never seen; Formed of a substance liquid light, Yet hard and dealing death, I ween. "Men view me with delight and awe If I a distance safe preserve. But my approach they flee before, Nor pause my beauty to observe."(20).

The ghost next tried the ship(21) that carried the Golden Fleece. This took him to lands where he mounted the seat beside the driver(22) of the chariot of the sun. This he did, not without first being invited. He was too well bred to presume.

But he had run his course, for even the outing of a polite ghost must end. The Revolutionary general(23) who was once tied to the stake by Indians, a fire started around him, and was then saved by a rainstorm, got hold of him, this polite ghost, and was not to be scared by him.

"Who are you?" demanded the general.

"The god(24) of fun," replied the truthful, polite, and mythological ghost.

"Heigho! Heigho!! Heigho!!!" shouted the general at the top of his lungs, and looking up to the sky.

"I'll go, I'll go," said the ghost, frightened at the voice, but relieved at sight of what came in answer to it.

"There! there's the porter of heaven who opens the door(25). Get you gone," thundered the general.

And the ghost went.

In this fanciful story are mentioned a lot of odd things—people by their nicknames, articles by their descriptive characteristics, etc. There are also some riddles. In sending answers, do not write out the story. Number answers as numbered here, write one below another in the proper order, and put your name and address at the top of your first sheet of answers. Mail answers not later than March 1, 1897, to Harper's Round Table, New York—no street number required—and put in the lower left-hand corner of your envelope "Puzzle Answer." Correct answers, with names of winners, will be published in Harper's Round Table as early after the close of the contest as possible, probably within about two weeks.

The prizes, which will be awarded by the Messrs. Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York, are: $39, divided among the three or four best solvers according to merit. Persons of any age may help find the answers, but only those who have not passed their 18th birthday, and who are members of households in which this paper is regularly read, may send them in. Merit signifies correctness and neatness, and has no reference to the solution reaching the office of Harper's Round Table first in point of time. Elaborate decoration of answers is not encouraged. Use common stationery, note size, and do not roll. Write on one side of the paper only. Everything comes to those who—try!

Questions and Answers.

Lee Heilman asks the origin and use of "Yankee." It is from "Yangees," a corruption of "English," the name originally given by Massachusetts Indians to early colonists. It was applied solely to New Englanders by the British soldiers in the Revolutionary war; afterwards by foreigners to all citizens of the United States; and finally by Confederates of the South to all soldiers of the North during the civil war.—W. S. Goff asks the origin and meaning of the "O" in names like "O'Connor." It means "of," and came from names of places.—"What ship did William Penn come to America in?" asks a Knight living in Iowa. It was the Welcome. "Who came with him?" Ancestors of everybody now living in Philadelphia who is anybody. At least that is the impression one gets, so many good Quaker City folk laying claim to the honor for their ancestors. We regret having to say that in not one of some twenty cyclopedias at our hand is there mention of anybody on board the Welcome save Penn himself. The list is given in Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. Will some reader in that city copy out the names and send them to Howard G. Van Cise, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. The Annals will be found in any Philadelphia library.

Stanley Slingerland, 58 Hope Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., is a Knight of eleven, and wants some Knight near his age to write him.—Marion H. V. Tompkins, La Salle, N. Y., wants high and private school yells. Will you send her yours?—Frank H. King, aged fourteen, desires a position on an amateur paper. It is as contributor, we suppose. We fear he will find few positions of any other sort. Amateur papers generally let one fellow, the owner, "do all the work and board himself."—Fred T. McNaughton: No drawing contests are in contemplation by the Table.—Rosa E. Hutchinson asks: "In writing to some one in a foreign country, asking for an autograph, should a stamp of that country be enclosed, or a United States stamp? If the former, where may it be obtained?" Enclose an American stamp. It will answer as well. If, however, you must have foreign stamps, buy them from the dealers whose advertisements you find in this paper. You can procure from them any stamps issued anywhere, and at no excess of cost. In answer to your two other questions address one care Scribner & Sons, New York, and the other simply Indianapolis.

Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.

HOW TO FINISH LANTERN SLIDES.

For the benefit of those of our club who have never made lantern slides, we give the cost with the list of materials required. Lantern-slide plates, 55c. per box; mats, twenty-five for 25c.; wafers for marking corners, 10c. per box; cover glass, 60c. per box (two dozen in box); gummed binding strips, 20c. per hundred; printed labels for name and number, 20c. per hundred.

The mats usually come with the opening already cut, but one style of mat has the shape of different openings stamped on it in gilt lines, and may be cut along the lines of the opening best suited to the subject. Having the mat ready, place it over the slide on the film side, gumming it slightly at the corners to hold it in place, then in the lower left-hand corner of the slide as it lies film side up gum one of the round wafers. This wafer is always placed at the lower left-hand side of the lantern slide, and is a guide to the operator in putting the slide into the lantern. Dust the film with a fine camel's-hair brush or a piece of clean dry chamois, and place over it one of the cover glasses which has been previously cleaned and polished. These glasses are very thin and the edges sharp, and care must be taken in handling, or one is liable to get a severe cut. Some lantern-slide makers, in preparing a quantity of slides, finish each slide separately, while others mat the slides, then apply the wafers, then the cover glasses, and so on through the several operations necessary to the finishing of a slide. In the latter case it is better to gum the cover glasses at the corners just enough to hold them in place.

The next step is to bind the slide and cover glass together. Take one of the gummed strips—which are cut the exact length required for the slide—moisten it with a sponge, take the slide and cover in the right hand, lay the end of the strip on the table (keeping hold of it with the left hand), and put one of the corners of the slide near the end of the strip. Press down firmly on the strip so as to hold it in place, and bring the strip along the edge of the glass; then, without lifting the slide from the table, lower the side on which has been placed the strip, and carry the binder on to the next corner, and so round the plate. Turn the edges of the strip down on the plate, cutting away the extra thickness at the corners. If the strip becomes dry before the operation is finished, it can be moistened again. The gum on the strips is so very sticky that it will bear much rough usage and still hold the slide and cover glass together.

The last process is to apply the labels. These are pasted on the right-hand side of the slide, opposite the side on which is the wafer. The slide is now ready for name and number, which is written or printed on the label.

Many skilful amateurs make slides from their finest plates, thinking it one of the best ways of preserving their pictures, for if the original negative is broken, another can be made from the slide. Mr. E. L. Wilson has invented an apparatus for viewing lantern slides without the aid of a lantern. It consists of a large condensing lens fitted to a tube in one end of which is a frame for the slides. This apparatus has been given the name of touroscope.

Harry McLachlin asks for a treatment for over-exposed plates. As soon as the image flashes up, showing that the plate has been over-exposed, take it from the developer and place it in a tray of clean water to stop development. Turn the developer from the tray and rinse the tray. Mix up a weak solution of developer, or dilute this same developer with one-third water. Add to it a few drops of a solution of bromide of potassium prepared with ¼ oz. of bromide to 5 oz. of water. This solution should be mixed ready for use and marked "Restrainer." The bromide is called a restrainer because it makes the development proceed more slowly. Put the plate back in the tray and turn over the weak developer. Rock the tray gently, and if the image still comes out too fast, add a few more drops of the bromide. Unless the plate has been very much over-exposed, one can get a good negative by this process.

Harry McLachlin, Whitehall, N.H.; H. A. Kretschmar, West Nyack, N. Y.; Louis Earl Sherwood, North Ontario, Cal.; Joseph M. Kimball, 16 Montague St., Providence, R. I.—wish to become members of the Camera Club.

Sir Knight Harry Chase, 175 Sumner St., Malden, Mass., wishes to get one or two pictures that have taken prizes in the Round Table contest. Will any member who has won a prize write to Sir Harry? He will pay for the pictures or exchange prints.

M. R. asks if the Comet Camera is a good one for beginners. The Comet is a nice little camera which takes very small pictures. It would be more satisfactory to buy a larger camera, and use glass plates.