Many of the Germans are poor; yes, very poor; and yet,—don’t you know?—with all their poverty, the children’s clothing never looked ragged. Their clothing is sometimes made of very coarse material, and often many patches are to be seen, but no tatters. They all wore woolen stockings, knit by hand; not one time did I see the bare heel of a child sticking out. All stockings were well darned. Could not some of our American mothers learn lessons of carefulness and economy from these poor German women? Let me tell you something, little girls. You who are old enough to read are old enough to do a little sewing too, and how nice it would be for you to take hold and learn now! Long years ago I was a little girl; one time,—when ten years old,—my sister said, “Lizzie, when a tiny little hole comes in your stocking, it is a good plan to darn it right away; then you will never have to darn a great big hole, which seems so trying to the patience.” The advice was good, and I followed it accordingly; to this day I have never felt sorry for the advice of long ago. Will you think of it too, little girls? Children in the Old Country are taught to be very polite. It made no difference where they saw us, a bow and “_Guten Morgen_” (Good morning) was the greeting. Even though we did not know the names of the little girls and boys, it seems they knew us, having learned to know we lived on the same street they did. Don’t you think it is a good thing to be polite? I wonder why little folks here act rude and pass by those who speak to them, acting as though they never knew the gentleman or lady who spoke? Perhaps teachers and parents forget to teach the little ones politeness. Writing about poverty brings to my mind the little boys and girls who ate bread spread with lard instead of butter. And now I wonder how many of you, my little readers, would enjoy that kind of fare. No doubt you will say, “Oh, how horrid;” but let me tell you that those children ate their bread with a relish, and maybe you would too if you knew there was nothing better for you. They learned to know almost everything tastes good when one is hungry. The Old World is full of relics of the past, and there is scarcely a city that does not have a church, art gallery or museum in which one might spend much time and be greatly edified. We spent several days in Cologne, and by hiring a carriage for a couple of hours had a splendid opportunity of seeing the city, which is beautifully situated upon the left bank of the river Rhine. At one time a very thick wall surrounded the city and it was pierced with four gates. Only a small portion of wall attached to the gates is to be seen now, for the rest has been removed. Outside of the old gateways there are beautiful residences, and great pains are taken to beautify the front dooryards. The streets in the old part of the city are crooked, narrow and not very clean looking, but in the new portion they are quite the reverse.