The Boys’ Champion (1881-1883)

The Boys’ Champion, an Instructive and Entertaining Journal for Young America, Oct. 1, 1881 to Feb. 17, 1883, 8 page weekly. The Boys’ Champion was absorbed by The New York Boys in 1882. This may have originally been a Frank Tousey publication, although only by the 32^nd is the publisher named: Leon Leroy.

Five solid silver hunting-case watches were given away every week. Coupons were cut out and sent to The Boys’ Champion, and those with a private mark known only to the Prize Editor would win a watch. This allows a fascinating look at just where the paper was sold. Albany, N. Y., St. Louis, Missouri, Newnan, Ga., Danville, Va., Charleston, S. C., Pittsburgh, PA., Lacrosse, Wis., Dubuque, Iowa, Kansas City, Denver, Atlanta, Connecticut, Michigan, Boston, Mississippi, Maine, Kentucky and Nebraska.

In Canada it was sold in Toronto and Winnipeg. The news dealer who sold the paper also appeared on the coupon. One example; “On Coupon No. 18. John F. Gonin, 20 Notre-Dame street, east, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Paper sold by George Dickson, Winnipeg, Manitoba.” Like Huck, the city boys wanted to light out for the Indian Territory, while the farm boys probably dreamed of becoming metropolitan detectives or firemen.

Captain Hal; or, The Rival Fire Companies, was the first serial and was written by Howard De Vere, a pseudonym used William Van Orden, Francis W. Doughty and others. Doughty was the writer of Old King Brady. American Firefighters were all volunteers until after the Civil War. In New York the Firehouse was an informal clubhouse, and membership was by invitation, members often being precinct captains and ward heelers, getting out the vote on Election Day. Fists and brickbats were weapons of choice as rival German and Irish firefighters warred at the scene of a fire.

Steam pumpers were painted scarlet, and covered in brass fittings; they were pulled by teams of charging white horses, smoke pouring out from the engines, and followed by howling mobs of newsboys and bootblacks. The popular stage fireman, Mose, became as legendary as Paul Bunyan. Howard De Vere wrote Hook and Ladder No. 2, Locomotive Fred, and The Boy Firemen. He also wrote The Storm King: or, the Young Pilot of Lake Erie. This involved another genre, the steamboat race, and the hero was Ralph Reckless, father of a four year old boy, and pilot of the Storm King.

“In spite of the foaming a head of steam was run up to nearly as high a figure as the cylinder could use.

Opening the valve and gauging it so delicately as not to run down the head of steam and yet to use every ounce that was made, the King’s speed was perceptibly increased.

Nip and tuck the two boats had been running now for nearly half-a-dozen miles, and the passengers had begun to believe that the two boats were evenly matched, when the dying excitement was once more aroused to a pitch even higher than it had first been by a ringing cheer that went up from the hurricane deck of the King.

In a second, the cause of the cheer was apparent to every eye. The King was forging ahead.”

Steamboat explosions often resulted from these rival boat races, results of exploded boilers. In 1838 the Oronoko blew up on the Mississippi killing 130 odd passengers. In 1859 the Princess was blown up near Baton Rouge, out of 400 passengers over 200 were killed and 100 more were injured. Fires were common from the sparks that flew out of the furnaces. Wood was used as fuel until coal replaced it in the 1840’s on the Hudson River and Great Lakes. Steamboats left dock with calliopes or small bands playing music.

This editorial comment started off The Boys’ Champion No. 1:

“Salutary.

It is customary for new publishers to start off with a grand flourish of trumpets, and with rosy promises by the wholesale as to the high place it is intended that journal shall occupy, promises which frequently are nowhere near fulfilled, and which are so “thin” that very few are imposed upon by them.

We do not intend to make any promises, and will only ask this favor -- that you buy and carefully read our first number. If you like The Boys’ Champion, recommend it to your friends: if you don’t like it, don’t buy it again, and then we shall soon learn whether we have aught of merit to commend us and make us popular.

Allowing us to give just one modest “toot” on our horn, we wish to say that we have spared no expense in the procuring of a staff of the most talented and popular writers in the world of stories for boys, as evidenced by the following list.

Howard De Vere, Paul Braddon, Nicodemus Dodge, Police Captain Howard, Major Mohawk, James Brougham, Lieut. E. H. Kellogg, Orrin Goble, Mark Bradley, Phil Sheridan, “Pickle,” “Texas Joe.”

A host of other equally talented authors compose the most able corps of writers ever gathered in one boys’ paper.

Having thus announced ourselves, we make our bow, leaving it with you to decide whether The Boys’ Champion hits the bulls-eye or misses the target altogether. Sincerely yours. Champion Publishing Co. 194 William Street, New York.”

The following letters appeared in the first issue of The Boys’ Champion:

“Editor Boys’ Champion:

Dear Sir- After due consideration, I am so impressed with the idea you have of a paper for boys, that I have concluded to accept the very generous terms you offer me, and you may state to your readers that here after I mean to write exclusively for The Boys’ Champion. Sincerely Yours, Howard De Vere. New York, Sept. 14, 1881.

Author of Captain Hal, Fighting Fred, The Little Demon, Boy Pilot of Lake Michigan, Rival Boat Clubs, Hook And Ladder No. 2, Locomotive Fred, The Moonshiners, On Deck, The Young Engineer, The Boy Firemen, Fiends of the Sea, Trip To The Centre of the Earth, Island of Mystery, Demon of the Deep, Satan, Lightning Flash, Old Sixty-Nine, Torpedo Tom, etc., etc., etc.”

(Satan had appeared in Munro’s Boys ’ of New York.)

Nicodemus Dodge also had a letter; his “Tony Bangles: or, The Biggest Dare-Devil In New York,” serial began in the first issue. Bangles was a boy ventriloquist and all around wiseacre, who declared war on the New York Police Department after being clubbed senseless by a beat cop.

“New York, Sept. 10, 1881. Editor, Boys’ Champion:

I am surprised that you should ask an individual of my known lugubriousness to write a funny story. Why, I am shocked - actually shocked! But I have recovered from my surprise somewhat, and herewith send you a serious story relating to an old friend of mine, Tony Bangles by name, whose adventures - comical and otherwise -= will appear only in the columns of your paper.

Can’t spend the time to write you a longer letter, for I’m off to a funeral -- wedding, I mean -- in just three seconds and a quarter.

Yours sadly,

Nicodemus Dodge.”

Excerpt from Tony Bangles: or, The Biggest Dare-Devil In New York:

“Three months before the opening of our story, Tony Bangles was standing on the corner of Goose and Spruce streets, opposite the feather foundry, when a copper ordered him to move on. Tony did not move fast enough, and the cop banged him brutally with his club. The boy was taken to the hospital, and there he swore to make it hot for the coppers as long as he lived. When he was cured he went to work at his revenge, and the result was a series of practical jokes that stood the police on their heads for months. We have seen how they were attracted to --- street by the cries of murder, and we left detective Nipper with ten men watching the house from which the shouts seemed to come.

Tony was on the roof of that house, armed with a long piece of rubber garden hose, one end of which he let down and through which he yelled without fear of detection. The cops could not see the hose in the dark, and they stood around pale and trembling, while the cries for help and moans seemed to come from one of their number.

At last, with one fierce shriek, Tony drew them closer together, and fastening his hose to the plug of an old tank that stood on the roof, and was half full of rain water, he turned a stream on the cops, who left without saying good-by.”

Dodge‘s letter was followed by an advertisement: “Tell The Good News To Your Friends! PAUL BRADDON Will Soon Make His Bow. To The Readers of The Boys’ Champion.” Braddon had written “The Black Ring” and others for Munro’s The Boys ’ of New York. De Vere had contributed to Munro as well.

Issue 2 had more letters:

“New York, Sept. 20, 1881. Editor Boys’ Champion.

From advance-sheets kindly furnished me, I must say that The Boys’ Champion is what its name implies -- the champion boys’ paper. All must acknowledge that it is entitled to the belt. It gives me great pleasure to be enabled to connect myself with a journal so excellent as yours. To all enquirers say that hereafter I will write exclusively for The Boys’ Champion. Yours to command, Paul Braddon.

Author of: Nemo, the Black Ring, The Mark Of Mystery, The Red Circle, Tracked, The Blue League, Thirteen, Mystery of the Red River, Daniel Boone, Arkansas Scout, Red River Pilot, At 12 O’clock, The Detective’s League, The Unknown, etc., etc., etc.”

Excerpt from The Black Ring in Boys ’ of New York:

“In silence he was conducted before No. 1, who sat in his chair of judgment, and who bent on the captive a stern and fixed look.

Underhill wanted to ask if he had been brought out for the purpose of being set at liberty; but awed by the silence, he preserved it himself. Not a sound was to be heard for a couple of minutes other than the breathing of the six members of the Black Ring, and that of Underhill. The six black- robed men breathed expectantly, but the captive’s breathing was slower and labored.

The first break of the silence was by No. 1, when he struck the palms of his hands together.

Immediately, and with cat-like tread, the five black robed figures advanced and arranged themselves in a semi-circle around the prisoner.

“Now,” said No. 1, speaking for the first time, “we are ready. Mr. Underhill, fortune favored you in that you drew the blank slip, which grants you life and liberty. But of course, your common sense must tell you that we cannot permit you to leave this place without first having bound you to keep our secrets. Our way of thus binding you is to initiate you regularly as a member of the Black Ring, leaving it to yourself whether you remain only an honorary member, as it were, or become an active member. Are you ready for the ordeal?”

Excerpt from The Pirates of New York Bay in The Boys’ Champion No. 22:

“A vault that is filled with a somber gloom, with it’s atmosphere reeking with moisture, and laden with a peculiarly sickening odor, with a wide marble slab occupying a position against the entire length of one wall, on which slab there continually falls small streams of water from faucets projecting from the wall - streams of water which splash down on the stone with a sullen and muffled sound that is magnified by contrast with the otherwise intense silence of the uninhabited vault.

Uninhabited, did we say?

Let us correct ourselves, and say uninhabited by the living, inhabited by the dead.

Stretched on that marble slab on which the water falls with sullen sound, covered from sight by a large sheet, repose the “cities dead,” being the bodies of people who have been killed accidentally, or picked up in the river, or fallen dead in the streets, and having nothing in their pockets by which to identify them, or say who they are and where they have lived, have then been brought here and placed in the vault; and if not recognized within a certain length of time by searching friends or relatives , are then to be consigned to pauper’s graves.”

The keeper of the vault is describing the dead to a reporter:

“How did she come here? Why a cop found her curled up behind some hogsheads on the dock where she’d laid down to sleep and never woke up. He called her but she didn’t answer, and it was only when he took hold of her that he found that she was dead - poor thing - she died of suffocation.

Cryin’ hey? Well no wonder; it is awful.”

Paul Braddon was a house name used by Francis W. Doughty, William Howard Van Orden, and other serial writers with a taste for the dark and the dreadful.

“Next Week!

Next Week!

Next Week!

Nemo: Or, the Mysterious Unknown. By Paul Braddon.

This is the grandest and most exciting story that has ever flowed.

Two more writers are heard from:

“Editor Boys’ Champion: You can depend on me to write exclusively for The Boys’ Champion.

Respectfully yours,

Mark Bradley.”

And:

“Editor, Boys’ Champion: I am happy to be placed on the staff of The Boys’ Champion, and accept the condition of writing for it exclusively.

Respectfully yours,

Orrin Goble.”

In The Boys’ Champion No. 3:

“This Week! - This Week!

Nemo; or, the Mysterious Unknown.

By Paul Braddon.

Don’t Fail To Read It -- You Will Miss A Rich Treat If You Do.

“Ne-e-e-mo! Nemo!” Who was Nemo? Can you tell?”

Police Captain Howard wrote a letter in No. 3. His feelings about Tony Bangle are not recorded.

“New York, Sept. 30, 1881. Editor Boys’ Champion.

Dear Sir: - My name has been pirated by unscrupulous publishers to such an extent, and so many stories, and also poor ones, foisted upon me, that I fear your readers may begin to think that I am something like a cat- which is said to have nine lives- while I am credited with being almost as many persons. However, as you are well aware, I am the original Police Captain Howard, and as such you may announce me to your readers. At the same time you may say that, in future, my pen will be wielded exclusively for The Boys’ Champion.

Yours Truly,

Police Captain Howard.”

Police Captain Howard wielded his mighty pen in : Old Sagacity, Shadow, Life And Adventures Of Mole, Old Wolf, Old Crafty, Young Sleuth, Young Vidoq, etc., etc., etc.

Excerpt from Black Bob: or, the Negro Boy Detective:

“Black Bob lay perfectly still for some moments after his would be murderer had fled, and then he slowly crawled out of the gutter and dragged himself into a neighboring passage-way, where he dropped , completely exhausted , upon the floor, his back resting against the lower steps of a flight of stairs.

“’Pears like I’s hurted drefful bad,” he muttered, lapsing into the negro dialect, which usually he sought to avoid, excepting when he was with his aunt and certain others of his own color. Then he slowly raised his right hand to his left shoulder, where he felt the most pain, but quickly withdrew it again, with a start of alarm, saying:

“That’s blood! an’ may be I’m gwine ter die right heah.

“But I won’t,’ he added, after a moment, with great energy, “No, I won’t,; I’ll live, an’ I’ll see them as killed poor Miss Laura an’ old black Sophie die fust. Yes, an’ p’raps I’ll kill ‘em myself.” then he attempted to struggle to his feet.”

Black Bob enters a nearby saloon for help, and his manner of speaking changes:

“Well, what’s wanting, smoked beef ? “ asked the bartender with a grin.

“I want a glass of whiskey,” responded Black Bob in a faint tone.

“Whiskey! we don’t sell whiskey to niggers here,” rejoined the high-toned dispenser of liquors, with a sneer.

“I’m hurt, and very faint,” gasped Bob, “And if you’ll let me have it I’ll be very much obliged.”

“Oh, gammon,” growled the bartender.”

Bob does get his whiskey and brings the killers to justice as well.

There was one final letter:

“New York, Sept. 30, 1881.

Editor Boys’ Champion:

Dear Sir: - The appearance of the initial numbers of The Boys’ Champion pleases me greatly, and, taken as a whole, I must say I consider it the BEST boys’ paper that has yet entered the field. The position given me on your staff gratifies me exceedingly, and you can depend on my writing exclusively for your paper.

Sincerely yours,

Major Mohawk.”

Major Mohawk was author of Dashing Nell, the Female Road-Agent of the Black Hills, in The 5 Cent Champion Library.

There was plenty of Detective stuff in The Boys’ Champion. Fossil, the Chicago Detective: or the Man of Many Mysteries. By Clew Finder, (A Pinkerton Detective). This serial begins abruptly;

“Chapter I.

The Offered Reward.

$1000.

The above sum will be paid as a reward for information leading to the discovery and conviction of the murderer of the late Ephraim Anderson, of No.76 -- street.”

An advertisement for this serial (the week before it appeared,) is howlingly funny; “It is full of excitement! Every chapter teems with interest! It is the most thrilling history of detective life ever published! It is not a purely imaginary story, as it recounts the experiences of one of Pinkerton’s most famous detectives in unraveling a web of crime that was appalling in it’s intent. “Is he a boy?” “Is he an old man?” “Is he a Dutchman?” “Is he from the Emerald Isle?” “Is he an American?” “Is he a Chinaman?” “Is he a human being, anyhow?”

In 1881 you probably couldn’t get on a train from New York to San Francisco without newsboys peddling you a yellow backed copy of “Claude Melnotte,” or another of Pinkerton’s ghost written semi-fictions.

Clew Finder returned with Old Puzzle; or The Keenest Detective in New York, and this one has the coolest first line in pulp fiction. Chapter I. A Mysterious Murder. “A human hand lying in the snow.”

The next line gives a description; “Evidently it was a woman’s hand, for it was small and exquisitely formed ...” The man who sees this under the streetlight thinks he’s had a bit too much alcohol. It comes with a large picture depicting the drunk in a snowstorm, stupefied at the delicately bent hand. The engravings in the paper were filled with solid blacks, which added to the mysterious look of its pages.

Police Captain Howard wrote a detective story featuring Lynx-Eye, whose real name was John Ireton. A safe is robbed and the wrong man suspected.

“The plot thickens,” muttered the detective. “I could almost have sworn that she meant what she said when she called him a thief. Was her indignation genuine, or is she a most accomplished actress? My theory is correct, so far as it goes, but it does not explain all. Well, the deeper the mystery, the greater the satisfaction of penetrating it. I feel that this case will prove one of the severest tests to which my abilities have been subjected; but I will not rest until I have seen the wrong righted and the guilty ones justly punished.”

A secondary serial detective was Police Patrol Bob; or, The Boy Detective of Chicago, by Barton S. Kepler, supposedly of the Secret Service Corps of the Metropolitan Police Force.

The boy detective was Robert Adams and he was a dashing lad :

“Within thirty seconds after the sounding of the alarm the horses were in place, the detective had leaped into the wagon, and a form came flying down through the open trap with the rapidity of lightning upon the driver’s seat of the vehicle - Robert Adams, the boy-driver of the police patrol.

With the same clock-work system which had marked every previous movement, his foot kicked the brake-lever clear of the wheels, his hand grasped whip and reins, and as the sharp crack of the lash started the chafing horses, they dashed over the threshold and out into the street as though driven from a cannon.”

They were off! “With body erect and firm on the high seat, eyes fixed on the road ahead, and his long dark hair flowing in the chill morning wind --”

The villains were colorfully named; there was Liverpool Jimmy, the Spider, Anton Rignold, and Billy the Greek.

Fred Hazel supplied the SF in The Electric Horse; Or, The Demon Of The Plains and The Flying Marvel: or, the Emperor of the Air. Fred By the author of Nobody’s Child, Lotta, the Young Lady Detective, The Electric Circle, and Lost In Cloudland.

The mysterious “something” that Ike Anderson is building in his parlor is the talk of the town. After the death of his father a German American boy, Bob Stump, comes to live with Ike and his sister, Maggie. Ike shows him the secret of his “something.” “By shiminy Christmas! It is made of iron isn’t it?” asks Bob. “It is a horse,” said Ingenious Ike, slowly and with emphasis, “It is an Electric Horse!”

A description follows:

“During this time the wooden skeleton of a horse had been completely enclosed by plates of iron- or, more properly steel- shaped so as to conform to the out-line of a well-formed horse.

The upper edge of each plate was tucked up under the lower edge of the plate above it, and ingeniously riveted together, and by the joining together of many plates, the horse was formed.

Then the wooden frame-work or skeleton was removed from the interior.

The horse was a giant in stature, and Bob could walk right under his belly without scraping his head even if he stood on tip-toes.

In the horse’s belly was an iron flap or door, which, on touching a hidden spring, dropped down, leaving a sort of door up through which a person could climb into the interior of the body.”

Two powerful electric batteries, connected to wires, and magnets powered the Electric Horse. Now it was time to put it to the test:

“Ike touched a spring in the horse‘s belly, and the moveable plate falling, left an opening into the body, from which a short rope ladder fell simultaneously with the moving of the plate.

Up into the body Ike went.”

After a successful test, Ike and Bob pack food, guns and ammo. “Then one night, just after the clock had struck the hour of twelve- Ike- climbing inside the Demon caused it to advance toward the door.”

The hired man wakes up and flees at the awesome sight, while Bob and Ike say their tearful farewells to Maggie.

“A couple of minutes later the road was reached, and as Ike turned the electric steed’s head away from his home he muttered:

“Off for the plains!”

Howard De Vere contributed The Ocean Mystery: or, The Cruise of the Octopus, not science fiction exactly, but an undersea adventure of the Jules Verne style.

Westerns were well represented as well, Nemo was one of them. Who was Nemo?

“Joe glanced with admiration at the girl, and greedily looked at that rounded right arm, on which a moment before he had seen the muscles grandly swelling, and his heart bounded as it never had before in the presence of any woman.

“It is the same figure,” was his mental exclamation. “And the voice- the voice- there can be no mistake- I would wager my life upon it.”

And then, in an excited manner, he sprang closer to the girl and thrust out his hand.

“Let me shake you by the hand,” he cried, “At last there is one who has solved the mystery. You are Nemo, the Mysterious Unknown !”

In No. 34 an ad appeared for The Life, adventures and Death of Jesse James in two numbers for 5 cents, and a notice: The Champion Forever! Into this number of The Boys’ Champion will be merged the publication known as Leon Leroy’s New York Boys. As the staff of the New York Boys will be retained. The Boys’ Champion will have the LARGEST and BEST corps of authors of any boys’ paper in the World!

The last cover serial to appear was Young Sullivan; or, Knocked Out In Four Rounds by Harry Enton, writer of The Steam Man, Frank Reade and his Steam Horse, Frank Reade and His Steam Team, The Flying Ship, Billy The Boxer, William Tell, the Deadshot of the West, Water-Duck Jim, and Sleuth The Detective.

“Then something equally unexpected and astonishing took place.

A wonderfully rapid motion of the stranger’s left hand blocked the cowardly slap, and another equally rapid movement of his right hand sent five hard knuckles with great force against Shannon’s nose.

Up came the tinker’s heels, and down he went head first into the grimy depths of the coalbox.”

It was a promising tale of the mean streets, and ended with Chapter III. with Young Sullivan breaking into Dr. Bloomer’s private asylum for the insane to rescue his “mash,” Mary Blane.

“Don’t try to cry out,” said the voice of Young Sullivan to the gasping man, who was terribly choked by the strong grip on his windpipe, “but just put the key into the lock and open the gate. Do it, or die!”

It was “To Be Continued.”

I believe this story was later serialized by one of the Frank Leslie or Street & Smith story papers, I have seen the same illustration used in one book or another.

A last ad was for the next issue, which never appeared:

“And they called him their hero, Their Wild Irish Boy.” In No. 74 of The Boys’ Champion will begin a story of Rollicking Adventure, entitled: The Wild Irish Boys: Or, Dan and His Mate. By Major Mickey Free. The great Irish-American Writer now engaged for the BOSS of all boys’ papers, The Boys’ Champion.

The Boys’ Champion, an Instructive and Entertaining Journal for Young America. Oct. 1, 1881 to Feb. 17, 1883. Absorbed The New York Boys in 1882. Edited and published by Leon Leroy from no. 32 on. 8 page weekly.

1. Captain Hal; or, The Rival Fire Companies. Howard De Vere.

Tony Bangles; or, The Biggest Dare-Devil In New York. Nicodemus Dodge.

2. Captain Hal; or, The Rival Fire Companies. Howard De Vere.

3. Nemo: or, The Mysterious Unknown. Paul Braddon.

4. Nemo: or, The Mysterious Unknown. Paul Braddon.

5. Nemo: or, The Mysterious Unknown. Paul Braddon. Old Sagacity. By Police Captain Howard.

6. Ninety-Six; or, The Boy Partisan. Leon Lenoir.

7. Ninety-Six; or, The Boy Partisan. Leon Lenoir.

8. Dynamite Dan; or, The Young Irish-American. Bernard Wayde.

9. Dynamite Dan; or, The Young Irish-American. Bernard Wayde.

10. Dynamite Dan; or, The Young Irish-American. Bernard Wayde.

11. Fossil; The Chicago Detective; or, The Man Of Many Mysteries. Clew Finder. (A Pinkerton Detective.)

12. Fossil; The Chicago Detective; or, The Man Of Many Mysteries. Clew Finder. (A Pinkerton Detective.)

13. Fighting Fred; or, an American Boy In Cuba. Howard De Vere.

14. The Modern Robinson Crusoe. Mark Bradley.

15. The Moccassin King. Marline Manly.

16. Tony Bangles At School. Nicodemus Dodge.

17. The Electric Horse; or, The Demon Of The Plains. Fred Hazel.

18. The Electric Horse; or, The Demon Of The Plains. Fred Hazel.

19. The Texan Tiger; or, The Black Riders Of Shasta. Anon.

20. Black Bob, The Negro Boy Detective. Police Captain Howard.

21. Black Bob, The Negro Boy Detective. Police Captain Howard.

22. The Pirates of New York Bay. A Story of Fact and Mystery. Paul Braddon.

23. The Pirates of New York Bay. A Story of Fact and Mystery. Paul Braddon.

24. Trackless, or The Phantom Scout. “Texas Joe.”

25. Trackless, or The Phantom Scout. “Texas Joe.”

26. The Ocean Mystery; or, The Cruise of the Octopus. Howard De Vere.

27. The Ocean Mystery; or, The Cruise of the Octopus. Howard De Vere.

28. Old Puzzle; or, The Keenest Detective in New York. Clew Finder. (A Pinkerton Detective.)

29. Hickory Hand; or, Kit Carson’s Last Shot. Marline Manly.

30. The Flying Marvel; or, The Emperor of the Air. Fred Hazel.

31. The Flying Marvel; or, The Emperor of the Air. Fred Hazel.

32. The Young Don Quixote: or, The Adventures of Titus Strap and His Master. “Nameless.”

33. The Young Don Quixote: or, The Adventures of Titus Strap and His Master. “Nameless.”

34. Roderick Of Kildare: or, The Young Irish Chieftain. Bernard Wayde.

35. Roderick Of Kildare: or, The Young Irish Chieftain. Bernard Wayde.

36. Roderick Of Kildare: or, The Young Irish Chieftain. Bernard Wayde.

37. Montague Mumps. Nicodemus Dodge.

38. Montague Mumps. Nicodemus Dodge.

39. The Mysterious Mazeppa : A Wild Romance of Early Texas. G. Waldo Browne.

40. Little Silver Spur, The Boy Sharpshooter : Or, The Phantom Princess of the Blackfeet. A Story of the Far Northwest. Marline Manly.

41. Little Silver Spur, The Boy Sharpshooter : Or, The Phantom Princess of the Blackfeet. A Story of the Far Northwest. Marline Manly.

42. The Storm King : or, The Young Pilot of Lake Erie. Howard De Vere.

43. The Storm King : or, The Young Pilot of Lake Erie. Howard De Vere.

44. In The Gorilla Country. Mark Bradley.

45. The Flying Dutchman; or, The Haps And Mishaps of Hans Hopper. Nicodemus Dodge.

46. The Flying Dutchman; or, The Haps And Mishaps of Hans Hopper. Nicodemus Dodge.

47. The Flying Dutchman; or, The Haps And Mishaps of Hans Hopper. Nicodemus Dodge.

48. Police Patrol Bob; or, The Boy Detective of Chicago. Barton S. Kepler.

49. Police Patrol Bob; or, The Boy Detective of Chicago. Barton S. Kepler.

50. The Irish Jonathan Wild; or, The Man For Galway. Lieut. Carleton.

51. The Irish Jonathan Wild; or, The Man For Galway. Lieut. Carleton.

52. Hurricane Harry, The Road Agents Nemesis. Marline Manly.

53. Hurricane Harry, The Road Agents Nemesis. Marline Manly.

54. The American Monte Christo. Mark Bradley.

55. The American Monte Christo. Mark Bradley.

56. The Iron-Bound Brotherhood. Paul Braddon.

57. The Iron-Bound Brotherhood. Paul Braddon.

58. Diableto; or, The Terror of the Gulf. Don Jenardo.

59. Diableto; or, The Terror of the Gulf. Don Jenardo.

60. Chiquita ; or, The Pride of the Golden Mines. Ralph Royal.

61. Lynx-Eye, the Detective; or, Under Suspicion. Police Captain Howard.

62. Lynx-Eye, the Detective; or, Under Suspicion. Police Captain Howard.

63. Redmond O’ the Hill; or, The Spy of Mallow Town. A Story of the Green Isle in the Days of Patrick Sarsfield. Bernard Wayde.

64. Redmond O’ the Hill; or, The Spy of Mallow Town. A Story of the Green Isle in the Days of Patrick Sarsfield. Bernard Wayde.

65. Sam Smart: or, The Scrapes of a Scapegrace. Bob Racquet.

Volume II.

66. Dandy Dick; or, The Young Outlaw Hunter. Arthur F. Holt.

67. Dandy Dick; or, The Young Outlaw Hunter. Arthur F. Holt.

68. Monte Christo’s Revenge : A Sequel To The American Monte Christo. Mark Bradley.

69. Monte Christo’s Revenge : A Sequel To The American Monte Christo. Mark Bradley.

70. Cool Burke; or, The Angel of Bolton Bar. Col. Dimon Dana.

71. The Death Angel’s of Arizona. A Wild Exciting Story of the Mines. Clew Finder.

72. The Death Angel’s of Arizona. A Wild Exciting Story of the Mines. Clew Finder.

73. Young Sullivan; or, Knocked Out In Four Rounds. Harry Enton.

Next Week. The Wild Irish Boys: or, Dan And His Mate. Next Week.

The 5 Cent Champion Library.

Out Every Saturday In The Year.

Read The List.

1.Tiger-Heart, the Boy Chief of the Seminoles. By Zack Brewster.

2.The Witch of Snake Hollow. by Jim Jarley.

3.Frontier Fred. By “Texas Joe.”

4. The Skeleton Sentinel. By Lieut. E. H. Kellogg.

5. Captain Crossbones, the Terror of the Seas.

6. The Queen of the Road. By Major Mohawk.

7. Daddy Brush. By Nicodemus Dodge.

8. Shamus O’Brien. by Lt. Carlton.

9.Dan, the Danite. By “Texas Joe.”

10.Happy Jack. By “Pickle.”

11. Boston Bill; or the Mad Mountaineer. By Col. Dimon Dana.

12. From the Atlantic to the Pacific in a Balloon. By Mark Bradley.

13.Tom Tit; or, the Comical Adventures of a Scapegrace. By Nicodemus Dodge.

14.The Man in Buckskin; or, the Cache of Gold. By Col. Dimon Dana.

15. Shawn the Vagabond. By Lt. Carlton.

16.Lunatics on the Warpath; or, Our Social Club in the Woods. By Phineas Budge.

Kit Lightfoot; or, The Young Gold Hunters. A Story of ‘49. By Phil Sheridan.

The Brigand’s Secret; or, The Adventures of Two Irish Boys in Spain. By Lt. Carlton.

Royal Kangaroo Social Club. by “Pickle.”

Bloody Hand. By Phil Sheridan.

Dashing Nell, the Female Road-Agent of the Black Hills. By Major Mohawk.

The Red-Headed League. (Comic.) By Nicodemus Dodge.

One Million Dollars; or, The Cave of Death. By Zack Brewster.

Mexican Matt. By Paul Pryor.

Tom Trix. (Comic.) By Nick Nipper.

The Jaguar Slayer. By Lt. Carlton.

Mystery of One Night. By Capt. Howard.

The Traddles Twins. (Comic.) By “Harry.”

Hotspur Harry. By Arthur F. Holt.

Gallant Sarsfield. By Corp. Morgan Rattler.

Paddy Mile’s Boy. (Comic.) By Nick Nipper.

Wild Warlock. By Paul Pryor.

The Bushranger’s Secret. By Ralph Royal.

The Spilldyke Spasms. (Comic.) By “Harry.”

Flash Jack. By Leon Leroy.

Mat Markley’s Oath. by Irving M. Sedgewick.

Hanz and Franz. (Comic.) By Nick Nipper.

Young Vidoq. By Captain Howard.

The Zulu Spy. By Hercules Robinson.

The Forest queen. By Arthur F. Holt.

Blundering Barney. (Comic.)

Bryan O’Lynn. By J. J. G. Bradley.

The Middy Spy. By Paul Pryor.

The Texan’s Vendetta. By “Texas Joe.”

Tripp, the Tramp. By Howard De Vere.

Lunatics Afloat. (Comic.) By Phineas Budge.

Light-Horse Harry Lee. By John F. Cowan.

The Royal Renegade.

The Shorty Twins. (Comic.) By By Nick Nipper.

A Hunt For An Assassin.

Egyptian Tom; or, a Bedouin’s Vengeance.

Young Marcus O’Mahoney. a sequel to “Gallant Sarsfield.” By Corp. Morgan Rattler.

Fritz In America. (Comic.) By Oofty Gooft.

The Girl Detective. By Police Captain Howard.

Tom and Jim. By Launce Poyntz.

The Fakir’s Curse. By Paul Pryor.

Joe Racket’s School Scrapes. (Comic.) By Nick Nipper.

A. D. T.; or, The Messenger-Boy Detective. By Police Captain Howard.

Harry Howard. By Ralph Royal.

Val Vox, the Ventriloquist; or, Fun By The Bushel. (Comic.) By Nick Nipper.

White-Eyed Bob. By Sam De Vere.

The Wharf-Rats, and Other Stories. By Falcon Penne.

The Circus Boy-Wonder; or, The Miracle of the Ring. By James L. Hutchinson.

Jack Slasher. (Comic.) By Nick Nipper.

Cordova The Outlaw. By Lt. Jameson Torr.

A Christmas Legacy. By Philip Shirley.

Around the World in 75 Days. By Paul Pryor.

The Captive Middy.

Lynx Eye. By Police Captain Howard.

The Haunted House. By Philip Shirley.

That Black Imp. (Comic.) By Phineas Budge.

A Profound Secret. By Lieut. Jameson Torr.

Special Notice.- For 25 cents sent at one time we will send any six ( 6 ) numbers you may wish to select from the above list.