FOR LITTLE FOLKS.

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 1797, 18 May 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOR LITTLE FOLKS.

HEN AND HEDGEHOG,

It would seem that the hedgehog is well named, for hens are said to mistake the creature when its Erisftes are fully displayed for a bush, and to lay their eggs amongst them. One hen, after the manner of its kind, having given the usual victorious cackle, search was made for the precious egg. At first it could not be found anywhere, ~"but presently a hedgehog was seen with the egg on its back. TEDDY'S ILLNESS. Nurse thinks it's mumps, and a "common cold" Is the guess of niy Uncle Joe; But I believe it's a stitch in the side— Where he's come unsewed, you -now. But, anyhow, Teddy's quite unwell, And he finds it hard to bear; So I'll give him physic to do him good, And I'll tend to him with care! . , ROLLER SKATING. Roller skating is older than most folk imagine. Joseph Merlin, a Belgian born in 1735, a clever, inventive fellow, came to London in 1760 and exhibited his novelties at a museum in Spring Gardens, and afterwards in Prince's street, Hanover Square. Having made a pair of skates to run on wheels, he appeared with them at a masked ball given by Mrs Cornelys in Carlisle House, Soho. He was duly invited to display his skill. —Having put on the skates "he took a violin and began whirling about to his own music. One thing he had not studied, however, and that was how to guide himself and to stop quickly, and the result was that before the performance had lasted any time he dashed into an immense mirror valued at £500, smashed his fiddle to bits, and seriously injured himself. A LUCKY BARGAIN. After the battle of Vittoria, in which Wellington won a complete victory over the French (1813), the British nearly captured Joseph Buonaparte, the sham King of Spain. They actually- came up with him in his carriage, but he managed to take to horse and ride off. But he left behind him all the pictures and objects of art which had been stolen from the churches and palaces in Spain. This proved rare spoil for the soldiers. Sir George Collier found one soldier in the act of pickin out with the point of his bayonet the enamels of a Louis XV. gold snuff-box adorned with enamelled panels representing scenes from the novel of "Gil Bias." Three of these panels had already been extracted and could not be found; but Sir George induced the man to part with the box in exchange for as many guineas as would cover the lid. It was not a bad bargain, for when the snuff-box was sold by auction in London in 1904 it fetched no less than 1850 guineas—probably something like 130 times as much as Thomas Atkins received for it.