at he would else be trying to do so
sometime.

Now, where in the "Arabian Nights" do you find anything like this?--We
answer, triumphantly, Nowhere!

"'JAMES,' said his father, 'do not shut up hot water too
tight, and take care when it is over the fire.'

"'A lady was boiling coffee one day, and kept the cover on
the coffee-pot too long. When she took it off, the water
turned to steam, and flew up in her face, and took the skin
off.

"'Do you know how they make the wheels of a steamboat move?
They shut up water tight in a great kettle and heat it. Then
they open a hole which has a heavy iron bar in it, the steam
lifts it, in trying to get out. That bar moves a lever, and
the lever moves the wheels.

"'Machines are wonderful things.'"

This fact the reader must distinctly realize. And doesn't he realize
that the days of JACK, the Giant-killer, and Little Red Riding Hood, are
about over? We want truth. The only question is, (as FESTUS observed),
What is Truth?

* * * * *

PUNCHINELLO CORRESPONDENCE

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

_Derrick_.--There is a superstition afloat that, if you see a ladder
hoisted against a house, and, instead of passing outside the ladder you
pass under it, some accident or affliction will befall you. What about
this?

_Answer._.--It all depends upon circumstances. If, while passing under
the ladder, a hod of bricks should fall through it and strike you on the
head, then an "accident or affliction" shall have befallen you:
otherwise not.

_Nincompoop_.--I hear a great deal about the "log" of the _Cambria._ Can
you tell me how it is likely to be disposed of?

_Answer_.--It is to be manufactured into snuff-boxes for the officers
and crew of the _Dauntless_, as a delicate admission that they are up to
snuff and not to be sneezed at.

_Nick of the Pick_.--What is the best way of securing one's self from
the bodily damages to which all persons who attend pic-nic parties now
seem to be liable?

_Answer_.--Don't go to pic-nic parties. Rough it at home.

_John Brown_.--We cannot insert jokes on the number of SMITHS in the
world--except as advertisements. For lowest rates see terms on the
cover.

_Hircus_.--We are sorry to say that your remarks on Baby Farming are not
based upon facts. In nine cases out of ten it has nothing whatever to do
with Husbandry.

_Acorn_.--As this is the seventh time you have w