THE PDSTIE’S BAG

Evening Star, Issue 23620, 5 July 1940, Page 3

THE PDSTIE’S BAG

It will be noted that some of these letters have been written for the letterwriting competition, but the prize winner wQI be announced next week. ; —Age 11.— 466 a Leith street, Dunedin, N.l. Dear Big Brother Bill, —While we were on our holidays at Brighton a baby sparroiv came round to our crib one morning and sat on the fence outside the door. He was a dear little fellow, and we named him Fluffy. In the mornings if he was not sitting on the fence waiting to be fed we would whistle and call “ Come off, Fluffy,” and he seemed to come from nowhere to see what we had for him. One day while we were having dinner we heard a flutter of wings, and there on one of the beds in the porch sat Fluffy eating some pieces of fruit cake. He wasn’t a bit afraid. ‘.He just sat there till he was finished and then he flew out of the window and perched on the fence. The next day Dad put a trail of crumbs through the porch and into the kitchen. When Fluffy came around as usual for a feed he saw the crumbs and started l to eat them. On coming to the kitchen door he stopped eating and had a look round. We.pretended not to see him, but all the time he was watching Us with his little black eyes. When the time came for us to leave we put a whole lot of bread out for him, and when we were packing our luggage into the'bus which was taking us home we could see Fluffy sitting among the roses, and we were very sorry at leaving him. On arriving home we found plenty more little Flumes waiting to be fed. Well, this is all just now, and I hope

it, finds you and all the bairns well and happy.—l remain, your loving bairn, Norma Scrivener.

[Thank you for your letter, Norma Scrivener. Your name is on the Honour Post, and you are winner of the best letter prize. Your tale of Fluffy is a • charming little story that will please all the bairns. It shows how the wild things are really not wild at all; they are afraid. ,'Once they discover there is no reason for fear they make friends at once. There is a fantail that visits Brother Bill’s place, and it is uncommonly friendly, even for a fantail. It comes through the open window, flits about the room, chirruping happily all the while. Little incidents in life, like Fluffy, are the happiest things, and they cannot be bought with all the money in the world. Write again soon.]

31 Allandale road, St. Clair. Dear Big Brother Bill,—l have not much talent at letter-writing, but I thought I would enter for your competition, as I have done previously. I am exceedingly interested in your pages and find them interesting. W e have a grey cat at home _ which is known as Tippy. He is a lively little fellow and never fails to meet me from school each day. I have tried your “ can you do this ” puzzle. It is very baffling until you learn how simple it is, isn’t it? I am going to see ‘ Tne Hunchback of Notre Dame ’ ni-»ior-row. I have been told it is a very ••id picture, so 1 am looking forward to seeing it.—Yours sincerely, Lenore Lawrence. [Thank you' for your letter, Lenore

Lawrence. Your name is on. the honour post for neat writing. ' You must have a happy time with Tippy. Brother Bill hopes you enjoyed your visit to the pictures. .The original story, by Victor Hugo, is a great tale, Lenore. You are old enough to read it and enjoy it, too. Brother Bill is glad to know you are interested in the children’s page. Write again soon.]

31 Sheen street, Roslyn. Dear Big Brother Bill, is the first time 1 have written to you, and as I am a regular reader of your page I thought I would like to write. lam 12 years old. and . am in Standard VI. at JLaikorai School, We havd ,'our pets—a canary whose name is Peter (he is a,beautiful singer, but has been moulting' lately); Winkie and Misty, two budgies, the former green, the latter a silvery colour. Smoke, the cat, is seven years old and is black. He is called Smoke because when a kitten he was a smoky colour,' but since has turned black. We have a crib down at the Spit, which is over the harbour from Harrington Point at the Heads. I spend' most of my holidays down there. I hope to write again sometime. I —l remain, Robin D’Helin. ,

' [Thank you for your letter, Robin D’Helin. Brother Bill is glad to hear from you and to know that you enjoy reading the page. With the new features it ought to become still more enjoyable. A canary, two budgies, and a cat make a mixed bag of pets, but very good. Do Winkie and Misty talk ? Brother Bill thinks that is a most wonderful thing about budgies; they talk as well as and even better than large parrots, and they are much more beautiful. You will be just as glad to see your letter in print as Brother Bill was to receive it. Write again soon.]

53 Calder street, St. Kilda. Dear Brother Bill, —I am entering for your competition. lam 11 years old. I should like to tell you about my holiday to Christchurch during the last term holidays. I left Dunedin on the Friday'morning, as mother wanted me to arrive there in the daylight. You see, Brother Bill, I had never been to Christhcurch, and it was the first time I had gone on a holiday by myself. I had a pleasant jburney. . Some ladies spoke to me, and a gentleman promised dad that ho would stay with me till my friends arrived. Well, they were there to meet me, .and all was well. The weather was very cold. On wet days we would go to the pictures, and made the most of the fine days visiting the different places of I was living by the electric train line. I was very interested, as I had never seen one before. • Don’t they travel along? I visited Lyttteltott and one of the batteries. I have an uncle stationed there. It was all very interesting. I visited the wharf, and touched the Rangitiki. I don’t think I should like to live in Christchurch. I was glad to arrive back home in Dunedin to see mum and dad on the station to meet me.—l remain, yours truly, lan Edwards. [Thank you for your letter, lan Edwards. Your holiday to Christchurch would be quite an adventure in two ways. It would be exciting visiting a place for the first time; much more so because you were journeying from home the first time, also. Brother Bill once met a boy travelling from home, and his mother had placed a parcels tag in his buttonhole. It had his name and address on it, and made it impossible for him to be lost. Brother Bill agrees with you about Christchurch, but he thinks it is too flat. The lovely Cashmere Hills, however, are as beautiful, especially in summer, as any place could be. Write again soon.]

Lethaby street, Green Island. Dear Dig Brother Bill, —How are yon keeping in health P I was sorry to hear that you have not been well. We are having very changeable weather lately, cold enough for snow. Last winter when wo had the heavy fall of snow 1 had good fun. making a snowman and helping to clear the paths, which had very thick coatings of snow. The drifts were eight feet deep at our gates. We had to wado with gnmboots through the snow to our car, which was held up at Green Island railway bridge. Wo had to drive up to Burnside grocery store to get our eatables. One day I walked up to our farm at Mount Grand with my brothers and my wee sister Noeline, and the snow was pretty deep in places. Wo have a budgio called Peter, and he talks away. He says, “ Peter wants a cup of tea,” “ pretty boy Peter,” and other words. We have two lovebirds, too, and they have red beaks. I shall close now, —I remain, yours sincerely, Gwendoline Bush.

[Thank you for your letter. Gwendoline Bush. It is very kind of you to ask after Brother Bill’s health. You will bo glad to hear it is much better again. Brother Bill wonders whether another big snow would be as happy for everybody as it is for bairns. It was quite exciting, of course, with sleighing and tobogganing, but what about the farmers and people who have to go to work in it, not to mention the poor animals

and birds? A big snow is good—once in a generation only. It’s a glorious thing to see the earth covered in white, but it is a trifle nasty, and can be quite dangerous when the white changes to running streams and black slush. Write again soon.] 28 Driver street, St., Hilda. . Dear Big Brother Bill, —Can I join your happy bairns? I am eight years old. I go to Forbury School and like it very much. We have two budgies, and one talks, but the other doesn’t. The one that talks is named Bluie and the other is named Oswald. They have lots of things to play with. We have a cat, and he sleeps in the sun porch and likes it very much. I have a tent in the backyard. _ It took a mouth to make it, but it is very nice. I will close now.—Your sincerely, Bert Westland. ' [Welcome to the family, Bert Westland. It was really splendidly printed for a fellow eight years old. Budgies do make splendid pets, Bert, but Brother Bill rather - likes the idea of that tent in your backyard. It must be well built if it took a month, but what gorgeous times you must have in it. Brother Bill’s father was a builder, and there was a big woodyard at the back of his boyhood’s home. My word! What wonderful times Brother Bill and his brother had among that timber. One day it was a jungle full of the wildest animals, another it was a rolling sea with Christopher Columbus’s little caravel in the middle of it. It was a desert with caravans, a fort full of soldiers besieged by the enemy, and lots of other exciting things. A little imagination and a backyard tent and there’s nothing in all the world that can’t happen to you. Write again soon.]

Waiwera South, South Otago. Dear Big Brother Bill, —1 am 11 years old and 1 am entering for your letter competition. On April 10 I went with a school group up to the Exhibition. We had a lovely trip up, although I was sick on the boat. When we reached Wellington we stayed at Newtown School for five days. After breakfast wo went to the Exhibition by tram. We did not go to Playland the first day, but next clay we went on the scenic railway and the ghost train. Next day we went to the zoo and saw many strange animals. The boys were trying to get the polar bears into the water by throwing biscuits into the water. In the . afternoon we went up Mount Victoria in a bus and saw lots of guns and soldiers. That night wo went back to the Exhibition and saw a lovely wee electric train in the Government Court. Then we went to the Waitomo Caves. I was not sick coming home again.—I remain, your loving bairn, Dorothy Tippet. [Thank yon for your letter, Dorothy Tippet. The winning letter of the competition will bo published next week. What an exciting time you must have had at the Exhibition in Wellington. It would be all the happier because of the school group being there. Brother Bill did nob go, but because he has received so many letters from bairns who did he feels as though he had visited it himself. Write again soon.]