FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 263, 5 November 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOR THE LITTLE ONES

HURRAH FOR THE FIFTH!

A TALK ABOUT BONFIRES AND CRACKERS.

IMy Dear Little Friends,— I x By the time the majority of my little readers receive their "Twinkles" everyone will be anxiously waiting for dark so that they can see the fireworks displays. The fifth of November Is always looked forward to by boys and girls, and I might whisper that many grown-ups are just as anxious for the great day to arrive a* are the yoyhger folk. • Those who live in the country are far more lucky than town dwellers on Guy Fawkes night, for where open spaces are. every where and brush- ! wood is plentiful, many may have their own bonfires. On Labour Day week-end I was away tramping in the country and saw quite a big pile of wood that some boys had gathered in readiness for the sth. There was still a fortnight to go, so if the pile continued to grow there will be a tremendous blaze when the match is applied. Of course there is usually a special fireworks display for the city dwellers to witness, sometimes 1 -with a bonfire in a- public place. - Even so- it is much more fun to have a bonfire all your own, and 1 cannot help envying country readers. Most likely you all know that Guy Fawkes was a man who was caught trying to blow up the English Parliament in the reign of James the first. Fortunately the plans of . the plotters were discovered and Fawkes and the others were arrested and executed. So pleased were the people about the escape of the King and his ministers that each year afterwards they celebrated the day with festivities and fireworks displays. .The Gun , Powder Plot, as it was called, was hatched in 160S, so you will see the memory of it has lived through more than three hundred years—and whilst there are rockets, pinwheels and roman candles, may it continue to Uve. , Pinwheels are, I suppose, the most popular firework among the little ones, because they are so very pretty and hold no concealed "bangs" that hurt small fingers. Catherine wheel is the real name for this firework, which is named after a saint who in the very early days condemned a heathen ruler for his cruelty and by him was ordered to be tortured upon a wheel. The story has it that the wheel broke and the poor girl was eventually beheaded. - As a ■ result of her splendid example many people became Christians, and so Saint Catherine did not die in vain. 1 can well imagine how anxious you are to get outside, and so will k close this letter with the hope that j) your crackers are the best ever, and f your rockets and squibs just as bright as one could wish them to be.