The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-23

Most of these games serve double pur-
pose: Besides being q means of amuse-
knowledge OF names and places in com
nection with the different events that
Is In way instructive and firmly ira
prints the whole indelibly upon their
Toy battieships are becoming more or
less common since last year. There are.
however. some pretty models OF the New
Olympia and others. The olympia Is, of
course, the favorite; after this Racifio
coast children choose the Oregon or the
Iowa. These miniature fighting machines
in many instances resemble the original,
guns, decks, fighting tops and all. Other
designs are torpedo boats, which VIII fire
toy torped0es
nor is the land branch Of warfare neg
lected Tin soldiers Of different nations,
appropriately uniformed, are to be seen.
These are not so modern as other toys,
dressed in the latest approved uniform to
have any attraction for the well-informed
young American.
for years. Now a battery Of artillery.
with horses and drums attached. is in
vogue. Another ingenious device Is q
toy rapid-fring gun built on the style o.
mechanism the gun Is capable Of firing
six or eight shots every second. II Is
breech-loading and automatic All that
and turn the crank. The gun does the
rest, and can probably do considerable
damage in b regiment of toy soldiers. In
injudicious thands, however TINS h, weap-
polished furniture, glass and other peo-
Dolls remain favorites with little girls.
being the first choice Of all the presents
Santa Claus" can bring; but the dolls
of today are much different from those OF
years ago. The clothes are pretty, OF
fashion, koGn a'e The hats are u marveis Of mil
linery. Faces that will wash, eyes that
will open and shut so that dolly" may
sleep or waken at her little mistress ae.
say mamma and papa" In plaintive
tones are for sale in many places. Doll
umbrellas. jackets and capes are now
riages. Many little girls. however pre-
fer to have the dolls undressed, SO they
can use their own Judgment and ingen-
Another modern happening that is clev-
erly exemplified in Christmas toys Is the
recent international yacht race. Miniature
models Of the Columbia ana snamr amir a,s are
sentation of the fin keels and graceful lines
of the racers. These are favorites with
youngsters who have weakness Tor san
For children who have disposition to
keep house, little sets OF parlor, dining
room and kitchen furniture MI the bill.
There are real ranges that will stand
fire, and pots, pans and kettles OF all
kinds The toy dining room set is COM
plete, china, tablecloths napkins and all.
Menageries, circuses and Noah's arks are
not changed any, except that perhaps the
animals are more numerous, and the trap
pings and fixtures more gaudy Animals
that .can walk are novelties. There are
even sheep which emit fairly good rep
resentation of bleat.
The colored books and cards have ap-
preached degree OF excellence this year
not before noticed. Jack the Giant
Killer and BLUE Beard" have given
place to stories OF Dewey and the Rough
Riders. The American nag Is always in
a conspicuous place In all the later books
for children. Even stories of Washington
will not catch the youthful eye as stories
of later heroes. Picture blocks. which,
being properly put together. tell the his
tory Of some famous incident. are tnstruc'
tive as well as amusing.
The youthful seeker for Christmas pres
ents is always on the lookout for some
thing new and novel In this line, and many
a parent is harassed almost beyond endur-
ance by child who has seen some toy
he must have for Christmas, and will be
satisfied with nothing else. The price OF
toys is not such a serious thing as 1t was
some years ago. OF course, some mechan-
ical toys command fairly high price, but
there never seems to be much difficulty in
getting rid of Them Other toys range
all the way from 20 cents to 81. The toy
stores for the past few days have been
crowded, and will be until Saturday night,
with parents trying to select something
suitable for the children, and children
looking around to see what they want, and
deciding on dozen different things in as