12. Rochelau, William Francis, Transportation (Great American Industries), Volume 4.

Flanagan.

An account of the development and services of means of travel and transportation.

13. Rolt-Wheeler, Francis, The Boy with the U. S. Mail. Lothrop, Lee. "The mail must go through" in spite of blizzards or floods, forest fires or wrecks. This story gives vivid pictures of the heroism of men engaged in the postal service of our country.

14. Roper, Daniel Calhoun, The United States PostOffice. Funk & Wagnalls. How the postal service has grown from the use of post roads when Benjamin Franklin was Postmaster-General, through the use of stage-coach and steamboat, to the mail service by airplane to-day.

15. Sea Stories: Retold from St. Nicholas. Century.

Short tales of sea life and adventure: repelling boarders, narrow escapes, steering without a compass, lights that guide at night, the famous voyage of the Oregon.

16. Spearman, Frank Hamilton, The Mountain Divide. Scribner.

A story of the building of the Union Pacific, in which the hero, Bucks, takes part in many adventures with outlaws and Indians. Read also Spearman's Stories of Railroad Life. Scribner.

17. Stuck, Hudson, Ten Thousand Miles by Dog Sled. Scribner.

A bishop of Alaska tells a story of travel in the Far North, describing many adventures with dog-teams.

18. Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels. Harper.

Strange adventures and travels in the lands of the pygmies and of the giants, with many dangers and many escapes.

19. Towers, Walter Kellogg, Masters of Space. Harper.

Talking at a distance, sending messages through space, the wonders of telegraph, cables, telephones, wireless how these instruments have grown from message-sending by fire or smoke.

20. Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens), Life on the Mississippi. Harper. The great humorist's own favorite among his books. Stories of the Mississippi River in the old days of steamboat travel from St. Paul to the Gulf, told by a man who for many years was a pilot in the river service.

21. Verne, Jules, Around the World in Eighty Days. Scribner.

Phileas Fogg, who has wagered that he can sail around the world in eighty days, is tracked as a bank robber; he escapes and by sheer good-fortune completes his journey within the time set.

22. Warman, Cy, The Story of the Railroad. Appleton. Short Rails. Scribner. The Express Messenger. Scribner.

Stories like "Jack Farley's Flying Switch," "The First Train Over the Bridge," "The Locomotive That Lost Herself," "Catching a Runaway Engine"; all the excitement and heroism of railway life and service.

Form a reading partnership with Miss Sheard. She, as the author, is one of the partners; as you read, you are the other partner. Do your share; find one or more places in "Postmen" at which you can stop and say: "There! I can give an example of that," or "I can tell an experience that proves that," or, "I know something else that Miss Sheard does not tell." When you have finished reading the poem a second time, write out one of the contributions you make as Miss Sheard's partner.

I like postmen.

They are the winged Mercurys of our streets,

Though they may not realize it.

They only realize they carry letters

I like postmen. You don't have to explain to them.
They understand.

They are gifted that way. Dowered mysteriously.
If you are looking madly for a letter,

They know. Without being told.

If they don't bring it, their eyes say, "Sorry";

And their husky voices (usually husky; it's the weather)

Say, "There's another mail from the East;

Or West" - as it may be, for they know —

"To-day."

If they bring the letter- they smile in a priceless way.

It is as though one of the Fates smiled at you.

I like postmen, their unruffled spirit.

They make so few mistakes,

Even when the writing seems to have been done
With a whisk.

They are wise, these men of letters

Graduates of the School of Humanity.

One I know has a limp.

Hill 70.

He has four medals that he keeps in a box.

I like postmen.

Their weather-beaten faces, when they grow old;

Their understanding eyes.

They just appear and disappear

without any fuss.

Sometimes like the Angels on the hill they bring

Tidings of great joy.

Always they are the last link between ourselves

And our own who are away.

They are the winged Mercurys of the dull town,
Though they may not know it.

I like postmen.

CLASS ACTIVITIES

1. Read what you contributed as a partner of Miss Sheard. Tell about a letter you have eagerly waited for. How was the postman a "link" between yourself and your "own," as Miss Sheard suggests? 2. Find the story of Mercury. Find a picture of the statue of Mercury. 3. Read the suggestion Miss Sheard makes for helping postmen. Tell about a poorly written or an incomplete address upon a letter which was interpreted by your postman.

4. Name other unappreciated services to which the phrase "though they may not realize it" may be applied. Give proof from the poem that Miss Sheard likes postmen. Which part of the poem best applies to a postman you know? Tell of some kindness he has done.

5. Name situations like a mining-camp in Alaska or a remote military station in the Philippines in which the coming of messages is of great importance.

6. What line of "Postmen" contains the most thought in a very little space?

7. Explain the following: "by intuition," "dowered mysteriously," "unruffled spirit," "writing done with a whisk," "graduates of the School of Humanity," "like Angels on the hill," "he has four medals that he keeps in a box.”

8. Explain the use of all the quotation-marks in the second stanza. Find all the passages in which you have to supply words to make the meaning complete.

9. Exercises for the composition class:

a. Write three addresses which would never trouble the postal service.

b. Make posters suitable for a publicity campaign to help the post

master.

c. Write about ways to help the parcel-post men at Christmas time. 10. Volunteer work: If you live near a museum, report to the class about early writing materials that may be seen there. Consult an encyclopedia or other reference book to find some queer ways in which mail is carried in various parts of the world.

ADDITIONAL READINGS. 1. "Where Dog is King," L. R. McCabe, in Our Dog Friends: Stories Retold from St. Nicholas. 2. "The First American Ski Runner," H. W. Lanier, in The Book of Bravery, third series, p. 241 3. "Pheidippides," R. Browning. 4. "Carrier Pigeons in the War," in St. Nicholas, 46:618-620. 5. "The Pony Men," in St. Nicholas, 47: 483-486. 6. "The Human Side of the Postal Service," W. H. Hays, in Review of Reviews, 64:625–640. 7. "Where Would You Send a Letter Addressed Like That?" T. G. Patten, in American Magazine, 90: No. 3, 42-43. 8. "Cemetery for Letters,” A. W. Fox, in Ladies' Home Journal, 36:198. 9. "Human Nature as Seen in a Mail Carrier," J. C. Lackey, in American Magazine, 87: No. 2, 26-27. 10. "Flying the Mail," D. Wilhelm, in World's Work, 42:49-59; 199-204. II. "Spirit of the Old Pony Express Now Carries the Air Mail," in Literary Digest, 67: No. 2, 76–82. 12. "New York's Floating Postal Service," in Review of Reviews, 68: 662663. 13. 'Mankind's Best Friend," E. H. Baynes, in National Geographic Magazine, 35: 186-190.

2. A PARABLE OF WHITE PAPER

WILLIAM ELEAZAR BARTON

There spake unto me a man, inquiring, For what art thou most thankful? and I answered and said, I am thankful for so many things, it is difficult to Specify. Not until I have a Cinder in mine Eye or an ache in one Tooth or an hurt on the end of one Finger, do I realize how many are the blessings which I have nearly all the time. But if I am to answer thee on the instant, I would say that among the things for which I am most thankful is White Paper.

And he said, I had not thought of that as among life's major blessings.

And I said, I can take a scrap of White Paper and transform it into a Promissory Note which the Bank will accept for an Hundred Shekels. I can make of it a Check which the Butcher or the Baker or the Candlestick Maker will accept for ten shekels as if it were that much in Gold. I can write upon it an Hymn, and it will be sung on the Sabbath in the House of God. I can write a Letter of Comfort that will warm the heart of a friend. I can send tidings beyond the Sea, and convey Information and Affection to lands afar.

And he said, I had not thought of all that.

And I said, When there cometh to me from the Stationer a Package of White Paper, all in even and trimmed sheets, I look at it with a kind of reverence as I consider what shall be the destination of those Five Hundred flat and unsoiled leaves. For with it I can blow up more trouble than with a Stick of Dynamite; and with it I can write that which shall be read by an Hundred Thousand folk.

And he said, I shall think more about Paper hereafter.

And I said, When the great Apostle Paul was in prison, and near to his death, he wrote unto Timothy for the Cloak which he had left at Troas with Crispus, for Winter was coming, and the Jail was cold and damp. He wrote for his Books, for his mind was alert, that he might read. But there was one thing which he wanted even more, and that was something upon which he could