Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-10-12
An AMUSING Letter lrom Tom Hood, tho

An Amusing Letter from TEN Hood, tho
Poet. a.
!, my dear jennie: 50 you are at Sandgate9
0fcourse, wishing for your old playfellow,
N, II. She can play-1rs work to mel 70
help you make little puddles in the sand,
and swing on the gate But perhaps there
are no sand and gate at Sandgate, which, in
that case, nominally tells us ib. But there
must be little crabs somewhere, which you
can catch, il you are nimble enough-so like
spiders, l wonder they DO not make webs.
The large crabs arc scarcer. If you catch
big one with strong claws, and like experi-
ments, you can shut him up in a cupboard
with a 1oafof sugar, and you can see whether
he will break il with bis nippers. Besides
crabs, | used to find jelly-fsh on the beach,
made, it seemed TO me, of sea-calves' feet
and no sherry. The mermaids eat them,
suppose, at their wet-water parties, or salt
soireeS. There were star-fsh also but they
did not shine till they were uusavory, and
so made very uncelestial consultations. l
suppose you never gather any sea-flowers,
but only sea-w weed.
"The truth is, Mr.. David Jones never rises
from his bed, and has garden full of weeds,
like Dr. Watts's sluggard. have heard that
you bathe in the sea, which is very refresh
ing; but it requires care, for # you stay under
water too long yGl may comeup mermaid,
which she can boil if She likes. You had
better try this with your doll, whether it
turns her into half 'doll-fn. hope you
| like the sea. ] always did when | was a
child, which was about two years ago. Some
times it makes such iiZzing and foamiug,
! wonder some of our London cheats do not
bottle it up, and sell it for ginger-pop. When
the sea is too rough, if you pour the sweet
oil out of the cTuet all over II, and wait for
it to calm, it will be quite smooth, much
smoother than dressed salad.
"Some time ago, exactly, there used to be-
about the part Of the coast where you are,
large white birds with black tipped wings,
that went flying and screaming over the sea,
and now and then plunged down into the
water after FISH. Perhaps they catch their
| sprats now with nets, or with hooks and
! lines. Do you ever see such birds2 We used
to call them 'gulls,' but they don't mind it.
Do you ever see any boats or vessels2 And
don't you wish, when you see ship, that
! Somebody was sea-captan instead OF doc
! tor, that he might bring you a pet lion, or
| calf elephant, ever so many parrots, or n
monkey, from foreign parts2 knew little
girl who was promised baoy whale by her
sailor-brother, and who blubbered because
he did not bring it.
81 suppose there are no whales Mt Sand
gate but you might find seal about tue
beach; or, at least a stone for one. The sea.
stones are not pretty when they are dry, but
look beautiful when they are wet-and we
can always keep sucking them. When
can buy a telescope powerful enough, shall
have peep at you. l am told with gooC
glass you can see the sea at such a distance
that the sea can't see you. Now must say
good-by, for my paper gets short, and not
stouter. Pray give my love to your Ma, and
my compliments to Mrs. H., and no mistake,
and remember me, my dear Jennie, as your