There were three wise men of Gotham Who went to sea in a bowl. What did they find the earth around Before they reached their goal? They found a good many things. To enumerate a few: A nail in North American land; (1) A meat in the isles of the sea; (2) A gale of wind in a city of Maine, As you may plainly see; (3) A yellow man in Asian heights; (4) Delicious fruit in a bay; (5) A friend to man in a Russian lake; (6) A measure of oil in Cathay. (7) At a hotel in France they were given a queer dish of food. Here is the receipt for it: Take poetry, music, and painting, Already well combined, And to make the dish we are wanting, Add the first person you find. Then stifle my first by my second, And let all stand until cold, When you have a delightful pickle That our grandmothers made of old. (8) Proceeding, they found A town of Maine in a Floridian bay, (9) A bit of wood in a sea; (10) A little friend in an Alpine pass, As travellers all agree; (11) Convenient coin in a Russian mart; (12) Bright light in an African isle; (13) A part of a ship in a British town, (14) A stag in a town of the Nile. (15) In Egypt a landlord presented them with a bill that read: When first you know that I am near, You turn from me and flee; Yet if I harm you, what seems queer Is that you send for me; And when my bad effects are gone, You make me pay for what I've done. (16) Their time getting short, the wise men left their bowl for a balloon, and found A writer's tool in a Danish port, (17) French coin in a State of the West; (18) A rodent fierce in a Grecian plain, A dreaded household pest. (19) A favorite toy in a burning mount, (20) With a cutting tool they see; (21) A statesman famed in a town of Maine; (22) A snake in an inland sea. (23) Being up in the air, they had to exist on light dinners. Here is the receipt for one of their meals: Take a conjunction and lay it near Something that's fully equal. The smallest article you can find Follows this as a common sequel. Add a substance of nature aerial, And so make a food fit for palate imperial. (24) Going back to their bowl again, they saw An American stream in a city famed. (25) French coin in an Italian town; (26) A head of hair in an English isle, A place of great renown. All these they saw as they sailed afar, Where'er their course they bent; But never found 'neath the farthest star The secret of content. (27) [Illustration: Stamps] This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondent should address Editor Stamp Department.