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ETTERS should be directed to "EDITOR OF OLIVER OPTIC'S MAGAZINE, CARE OF LEE & SHEPARD, 149 Washington Street, Boston, Mass."

MONEY LETTERS should be addressed to LEE & SHEPARD, 149 Washington Street, Boston. In answer to several inquiries, we will say, that the game of billiards is probably of Eastern origin. By some writers it is said to have been of Persian invention; and others affirm that the Knights Templars, on the termination of the first crusade, brought the game back with them from the Holy Land. The game disappeared for a while in Europe, but revived under the reign of Louis XI. of France, who preferred its peaceful character to the cruel tournaments, then the pastime of royal courts. Henry III. is said to have given to it its title of "the noble game." As with all games, there is great danger of playing to excess, of making it rather a matter of occupation than of simple recreation. Let the boys be careful never to waste time either on billiards or on any other game; let all games, all amusements, be for rest of body and mind, in order that the real work of life may be better done. The danger is in excess; and if you cannot well resist the temptation, then quit altogether, and there will be no danger,

Not quite up to the mark, Grizzly Jake, although very well drawn. - Bunker Hill does not quote accurately; the "love of money is the root," &c.; his mistake is one very frequently made. The rebus by Lantern Boards is good and correct, but he will agree with us that it is too easy. - Remedio's head work- some of it is A. The postage on a Monthly Part of the Magazine is twenty-four cents a year; of the Weekly, twenty cents. We think favorably of Echo's last geographical. Seignior's letter is very welcome. We know and honor his "grandpa." - Ned L. R. is right; we had detected the error, and are glad he looks sharply into what he reads. Em. Blank has a good chance to improve, but will come out all right.

We

wants specimens of amateur papers. have squinted hard at the head work sent by Rutgers, but cannot find any of it difficult enough to place before our shrewd guessers. - We shall use the rebus sent by West, for it is good; but we hope no one will tell us it is not original. - Dexter's musical is good, of course; but the name is so little known, that we fear our boys and girls would never guess it. Is it modesty, or something else, that leads one of our young friends to use a small "i" when speaking of himself?- Whirlwind is pretty good at blowing, but his rebus will need a little more wind to make it go. - The first half of Humpty Dumpty's Napoleon rebus is excellent, but the last half falls below the standard; therefore well, you know the rest? Thanks for the photograph, friend Rose. Rob's rebus just pleases us, it is so odd; it will be used. Pontiac's rebus is rather complicated, and will have to wait a while, and, meantime, perhaps he will send another and better one.

Willie Brown should have made himself known when he called, and he would have been warmly welcomed; we will hope for better fortune next time. We should like to see specimens of W. E. Wentworth & Co.'s Indian curiosities.. We have enjoyed Bobby Buttonhole's ingenious rebus, but can hardly find room to print it, at least at present. Atlantic Cable tells a sorrowful story about his Eureka Press, and, according to his statement, it is a poor thing of a very poor kind. By the way, those conundrums have already seen hard service, and we must not abuse them by over use. - Good prose is always to be preferred to poetry of medium quality.

Forgotten Davy Jones? By no means! and we are glad to see his handwriting once more, and his rebus strikes us favorably. — C. L. Erk is informed that the first seventy-eight numbers will cost $3.50; covers, fifty cents each. We are very glad to receive from him such a model letter. Must we again explain what is so plain? "Wish correspondents" means simply that those whose names and addresses are given under that head desire correspondents among our readers; when they specify any subject on which they wish to write or receive letters, such subject is enclosed in parentheses. - That Shakespearian rebus is A.

OURBOYS GIRLS

OLIVER OPTIC, Editor.

EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

DEA

XXV.

EAR BOYS AND GIRLS: Besides the great number of churches in St. Petersburg, there are hundreds of little chapels, in which there is a plentiful array of saints, shining in their golden robes. They are erected at the corners of the streets, in the squares, in the bazars, and market-places. The middle of one of these openings, at the entrance to the Summer Garden, where the last attempt to assassinate the emperor was made, is now occupied by one of these chapels, erected by the government as a thank-offering to St. Alexander for the safety of the czar.

At the chapels and in the churches the faithful cross themselves many times; and in the course of the service the more devout kneel frequently, and bow down till their foreheads touch the pavement - though we have not seen any elegantly-dressed ladies or gentlemen do this; they satisfy their consciences by the crossing and bowing. In the street the Russian takes off his hat and goes through his devotions, without regard to the crowd that surrounds him, bowing and crossing himself a dozen times, often more. In all the churches, and at the house of Peter the Great, where the "miraculous image" he carried with him in all his battles is kept, there is a stand for the sale of candles. Before the various saints there are circular stands, with from twenty to fifty sockets for candles. The pious Russian buys a candle at such price as he can afford, lights it, and places it before the saint, to propitiate his or her favor. We have seen fifty burning at once before a single shrine.

From St. Petersburg we went to Moscow. We went in a sleeping car, though the thing hardly deserves the name. The trip occupied twenty hours. It was over a country nearly flat, with an occasional Russian village to be seen from the window- a group of miserable shanties — meaner dwellings than we have seen in any other country. The greater portion of the land seems to be uncultivated what we used to call "brush pasture."

ental than any thing we had ever seen. It has over three hundred churches, many of them with domes of gold, green, or blue, studded with gold or silver ornaments. We had joined our travelling fortunes with a couple of Americans — Judge Davis Divine, of San José, California, and Mr. S. K. Mattison, of New York city. We all follow the same route as far as Vienna, if not farther. We are mutually suited with each other, and agree like brothers. Our party took a German commissionaire and explored the city. We climbed to the top of Ivan's Tower, where there is a bell that weighs sixty-four tons, and walked around the great bell at the foot of the tower, a small piece of which, broken off by a bad fall, weighs eleven tons. We went through the magnificent royal palace, which contains three of the finest apartments in Europe; the Church of the Assumption, where the emperors are crowned; and the curious Cathedral of St. Basil, with domes and minarets of all shapes, and in all the colors of the rainbow. All these are within the walls of the Kremlin. We rode to Sparrow Hill, where Napoleon obtained his first view of the domed city; and the view of it was even more pleasant to him OLIVER OPTIC. than to us.

IMPORTANT NOTICE.

Beginning with January, 1871, Oliver Optic's Magazine will be issued in Monthly Parts only. The popularity of the Monthly Parts during the past year, the wishes expressed by a large portion of our subscribers, and the desire to make great improvements in the Magazine not possible in the weekly edition, induce the Publishers to make this change, and they assure the boys and girls that, while all the old and favorite features will be retained, new attractions will be added, so that, more than ever, they will be able to call it "the best Juvenile Magazine published.”

"Oliver Optic," whose last letter is dated in Spain, with his face set homeward, will return to his editorial chair with renewed vigor, and with his brain and portfolio full of good things for his young friends. Meanwhile, his excellent letters will be continued.

Attention is asked to the Prospectus for the next volume on the cover of this number. LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers,

149 Washington Street, Boston.

SKATING, as a diversion, is mentioned