Reproduction of the original: The Jack of All Trades: New Ideas for American Boys by D.C Beard

"New Ideas for American Boys" by Daniel Carter Beard is a sports and amusement book for boys. According to the author's knowledge and belief, there is not a thing described in this book that has not been proved practical by the experiments of himself or some boy[vi] or boys. It is the object of the author, in the chapters devoted to animal life, to teach the boys to look upon all animals with the same thoughtful kindness with which they might view their own undeveloped brothers. Excerpt: "Bird's-Nests in Washington's Coat. All boys know that Washington loved his country, but few know that he was a bird-fancier. That the father of our country loved the native birds is attested by the fact that they built nests in the wooden wrinkles of his sleeves and in the hollow ends of the roll of parchment which he held in his hand. His favorite bird was the red-headed woodpecker. He had it on the brain, and although each year a brood of little red-headed birds were hatched in his head, the dear old patriot never made a wry face, but with a benign smile he gazed over the roof of the livery stable across the street."

"Things Worth Doing and How To Do Them" by Lina Beard is a book for girls about merry frolics and active games that stimulate the health and renew the vitality of the body and there are scores of charming things for willing hands to make which are not only worth the making but which bring skill to the fingers and breadth and energy to the mind. Excerpt: "A FOURTH OF JULY LAWN FROLIC THIS is not to be a formal lawn party, but a genuine, fun-provoking Fourth of July frolic with everyone in comfortable dress appropriate for active games. There is to be no dancing, no tennis, nothing in the way of ordinary entertainment except, perhaps, the refreshments, and they too should be as nearly in keeping with the day as possible. Prepare your guests for something novel by issuing your invitations in the form of giant firecrackers. Decorate Your Grounds and make them as festive as possible with fluttering flags, floating streamers, red, white, and blue bunting, and Japanese lanterns. Also provide a number of small flags, one for each guest, to be worn in the hat, hair, belt, and buttonhole. This little touch of uniform will not only make the scene gayer and more exhilarating, but, like badges of an order, will have the effect of dispelling the stiffness of new acquaintances, and bringing the party closer together as members of one band of merrymakers."

From the author of The American Boy's Handy Book comes yet another guide to wholesome, imaginative fun. This book features dozens of indoor and outdoor activities, with simple instructions and easy-to-follow diagrams for building a backyard clubhouse, setting up a workshop, picnic games, papercrafts, and other diversions.

As this book is written for boys of all ages, it has been divided under two general heads, The Tomahawk Camps and The Axe Camps, that is, camps which may be built with no tool but a hatchet, and camps that will need the aid of an axe. The smallest boys can build some of the simple shelters and the older boys can build the more difficult ones. The reader may, if he likes, begin with the first of the book, build his way through it, and graduate by building the log houses in doing this he will be closely following the history of the human race, because ever since our arboreal ancestors with prehensile toes scampered among the branches of the pre-glacial forests and built nest like shelters in the trees, men have made themselves shacks for a temporary refuge. But as one of the members of the Camp-Fire Club of America, as one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, and as the founder of the Boy Pioneers of America, it would not be proper for the author to admit for one moment that there can be such a thing as a camp without a camp-fire, and for that reason the tree folks and the missing link whose remains were found in Java, and to whom the scientists gave the awe-inspiring name of Pithecanthropus erectus, cannot be counted as campers, because they did not know how to build a camp fire neither can we admit the ancient maker of stone implements, called eoliths, to be one of us, because he, too, knew not the joys of a camp-fire. But there was another fellow, called the Neanderthal man, who lived in the ice age in Europe and he had to be a camp-fire man or freeze as far as we know, he was the first man to build a campfire. The cold weather made him hustle, and hustling developed him. True, he did cook and eat his neighbours occasionally, and even split their bones for the marrow but we will forget that part and just remember him as the first camper in Europe. Recently a pygmy skeleton was discovered near Los Angeles which is claimed to be about twenty thousand years old, but we do not know whether this man knew how to build a fire or not. We do know, however, that the American camper was here on this continent when our Bible was yet an unfinished manuscript and that he was building his fires, toasting his venison, and building sheds when the red-headed Eric settled in Greenland, when Thorwald fought with the Skraelings, and Biarnis dragon ship made the trip down the coast of Vineland about the dawn of the Christian era. We also know that the American camper was here when Columbus with his comical toy ships was blundering around the West Indies.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Boat-Building and Boating" by Daniel Carter Beard. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Fairies and Folk of Ireland" by William Henry Frost. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.