of paper of a given shape, one whittling pieces
of wood to fit together, one gumming up the various parts, till the
whole toy is finished and added to a growing pile. Nearly every
civilised country has such workers--Austria, Germany, France, America,
Japan, and England; and the toys in the end travel mile after mile in
great ships and trains, to be sold in the streets for such a little sum!

Now think how some of these are made. Most of those which require
gumming or fitting together are the work of man's hands alone. The
birdcage and dog musical-box in the illustration are of this kind. In
the inside of the box under the dog is a little cogged wheel, which,
when the handle is turned, rubs against pieces of metal and produces the
musical sounds. The bird's song, or rather, croak, is caused by air
rushing through a sort of parchment tissue when the floor of the cage is
compressed. The train, carman, cart, and trailer are made almost
entirely by means of moulds, though some parts have to be fitted
together by hand. First of all, a model is made in wax or clay, or some
other substance, then a cast is taken of it in plaster of Paris, then a
double mould (in two pieces) is made from the plaster cast, and into
these moulds liquid metal--an alloy mainly composed of lead--is run, and
left to cool. All these five toys have wheels that move. They are
electro-gilt--that is, the gilding is fixed on them by means of a bath
through which an electric current passes.

The other toys in the illustration are made mainly by hand, though parts
have to be cast in moulds or cut by machinery. The monkey bicyclist is
hand-made; his body is composed of wool and wire. The weight hanging
down under the string keeps him perfectly balanced, and as the string is
raised or lowered he runs up and down more easily than a good many human
bicyclists.

(_Continued on page 389._)

[Illustration: Chinese Laundrymen.]

THE CHINESE LAUNDRYMAN.

The differences in general appearance of the men of various races are
most striking. No one could mistake a Chinaman for a North American
Indian, or a Negro for a Malay or a Maori. Not only are these men of
various races different in outward appearance, but they have also minds
of different characters, and seem naturally fitted for different kinds
of work.

The Chinaman has his own special fields of labour. He is a great trader
with the countries near home, and sends out many junks to the East
Indies,