THE CASTLE MAIL=BAG.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 2 April 1927, Page 16

THE CASTLE MAIL=BAG.

Kaupokon ui. Dear Smile Queen, — lam sending Jean’s piece of poetry. Last week at Guides some of us girls passed the signalling for our second class. The week before that we had some tracking and we had some red ink and pretended that two girls were wcundd and the ink represented blood. It has been* raining here. Well 1 must •stop now, Smile Queen. Yout loving Smile, Doris Dakers. [Thank you for Jean’s poem. Do write me moie about the Guides. It must he most interesting.—S.Q.] Ararat a. Dear Smile Queen, — L suppose you will be thinking 1 have forgotten you, but 1 have not. I hope you will forgive me. .Every time I go to write to ydu something always stops me and now I have really found time to drop you a line I have no' work to do only nurse baby. Haven’t we been having awful weather lately. Everybody was asking for rain, but they get more than they expected. You will see I have made up a poem, although it is not a good one, but I though 1 would try. We had our school picnic at Nguere Gardens. I went down the chute, and it was lovely. I I,ad a few swings, but best of all were the laughing minors. They did make everybody laugh. Have you ever been to Ngaere. Smile Queen ? Tf not you will have to go one day and see the beautiful gardends; the monkeys are funny animals, especially when you hold out a. nut and pull it away again. Well, as it is getting late 1 will have to close with a big smile from your loving Smile Phyllis Wood head. [You are fortunate Phvllis to be able to nurse baby so much. What is baby’s name? 1 too love Ngaere. Thank you very much for the poem. Your writing is excellent.—S.Q.]

Meredith St.. Paten. The Castle Pledge. 1 promise to smile every time 1 can, and to chase all the frowns into the dark cave, where the Smile Giant will kill them with his Magic Sword, Happiness. Dear Smile Queen,—l' have written the Castle pledge and 1 will try hard to keep it. 1 arn so pleased 1 can be one of your Smiles, and i will write to you -is often as 1 can. f go to school "very day and I also learn music, and have lessons twice a week. On Saturday mornings 1 go to theory lesson for an hour. I often go to Hawera on Saturday afternoons, L like the ear ride very much. 1 must close now arid go and practice my music for to-inor-ro w morning. Love to you Dear Smile Utieen, and all the Smiles Your lovi.ig Smile. Hinemoa Fairv,earlier. [You have written your pledge very nicely Hinemoa and we are delighted to welcome you to the Castle. You must be very busy with your music. Next week watch the letter .or some news of Beethoven.—S.Q.j

Austin Road, Normanby. Dear Smile Queen,—! thought ! would write as I had a little spare time. We have had bad weather lately and it seems if it is going' to clear up. My flower garden was badly blown about by the strong wind, i have a little, pony named Nancy that >uy sister and 1 ride to school every morning. I will close now a<s it is my bed time, wit.i a big smile to you and your lairies, from vour Smile, Thelma Nicholson. [lsn’t it a shame the wind plays such havoc with our gardens? Mine .is blown about too. Nancy must be love ly.—Smile Queen.] Hawera. Dear Smile Queen, —May 1 oecome one of your many Smiles? 1 am 12yrs old and in Standard 6. My birthday is on April 24. f have a mster Who is writing to you also. My brother and I'went to Auckland for our holidays and we had a lovely time. One day we went to the zoo and it was veiy interesting. We were just in tune to see the animals being fed, the h.ppos, belle and George, got a loaf ot plead each. The birds were a wonderiul si<dit. They were fed with cut-up banana and bread crumbs. There were some little black coloured birds with long tails twice as long as their bodies. They loked quaint as they fluttered too and fro. Some of the birds were nesting and there were tiny little ulnte eggs with coloured spots on them. The parakeets were most attractive too. talking loudly and making such a row. 1 was very sorry for the eagles. They looked so' lonely gazing longingly up into the sky,, wishing that they could be up there. Juinuua is a. lo\ely elo phant We had a ride on her. About 4 p.Tii. she lias her bath in her o.vn pond. She tries to splash everybody, but her master will not let her. If she is given anything she always says thank-you in a squeaky voice. The brown and black bears are very knowing. They stand up on the rocks and bo" for peanuts. The polar bears play at"chasing and at hide and seek in the water. As it is getting late 1 wi close.- With love to you and your Smiles. Joan Pinson. [A thousand welcomes to the Smile Castle, Joan. What a lovely holiday you have had. I think the Auckland zoo is even Letter than the Sydney one. Did vou hear the band play when you were 'there? Please write again soon. —S.Q,.]

DO YOU KNOW j WHY SAILORS WEAR BELLBOTTOMED TROUSERS ? So that they will roll up I easily when they are washing j the decks. j

Hawera. Deal Smile Queen, — 1. am writing to tell you about my holidays. J had a lovely time going over jVIt. Messenger and through the Awakino Valley, the scenery was beautiful, 'f rees and ferns waved in the sun, and birds hopped from tree to tree. At the summit of the mountain we got out and every where we looked up or down, we saw the bush and could hear the tuis calling. Mokau was interesting too. We had to wait nearly one hour arid a hall for our turn to cross on the punt, and it was great fun 4'atc/iing ail the cars being towed over, three at a time. Some of the hills are very long, tip we go and then down, then up and down again. We reached AN aitomo in time for tea, and then went to put on heavy boots because of the mud .in the caves. It is very wonderful to s.ee all the different shapes o( the stalactites, and stalacmites. In one place it is like a cathedral and in another an organ, and a lot of little ones formed like poached eggs. I liked the glow-worm cave best. There were thousands and thousands of them all formed into different shapes, like butterflies, crowns and castles. 1 think the fairies must live there. The guide took us in a boat and no one must speak or make a sound or the fairy lights go out. Next morning we 'started on our journey back, and came to Urenui and camped on the beach for a few clays, before coming hack to Hawera. I swam half a mile, and f am sorry it is getting too cold to go to the bathes. With love to the Smiles. 1 will close. Dorothy Pinson. [NVhat a beautiful letter. Dorothy! I could almost imagine I was enjoying the holiday too. I am sure the fairies live in that glow worm cave. I wish the Duchess had been taken to see it. I’ll tell you a secret. Once 1 actually visited the fairies in that- charming cave because it is necessary for the Smile Quen to know other fairies besides her own, then 1 visited other caves to find out about others. Some day I .shall tell you more about them in iny letter. 1 hope you will send me ft poem on “My Garden. ’ —S.Q.] Denbigh Rd., Midhirst. Dear Smile Queen,—l am sorry L didn’t write to you earlier. The inspector came to our school last Tuesday to examine us. 1 asked some of the Smiles to write to you and they said they would. Did you like the Duchess. I did. Mollie. Jean, .and 1 have got a lovely big doll, and we call her Mary. She has got lovely curly brown hair. We are getting swings put up at our school. J think they are going to be 12 feet' high. Well, this is all the news I can think of. Smile Queen. I will write to.- you more often. With love to all the other iSmiiles, not for getting yourself. 1 remain vour truly. Kittle Thoms.

[I. am looking forward to lots of letters from Midhirst. The Duchess lias really found a spot in all our hearts. We can all take a lesson from hor smile. What a beautiful name you have chosen for your doll ! Mary is one of my favourite names. I hope you have lots of fun on the new swing. K itr.ie.—S.Q. Eltliam. Dear Smile Queen, — 1 am very sorry I did not write to you sooner, but as if is raining very hard outside 1 thought l should write. I saw the Duke and Duchess, and thought the Duchess very pretty. The cows are going dry as the winter is coming nearer. Easter is also coming too. J shall write a piece of poetry and a riddle. 1 am going in for the composition this time. We had our picnic at Opunake beach. The road we go to school on isi repaired now. 1 am having my music exaj'iif at ion *x f: I v soon. We have a young plum tree growing under a leal of the rhubarb. Our cosmos are very tall and battered about by the wind. We have picked a few of our sweet pea. pods, and the liens are in the garden eating them as fast as they fall. How many fairies have you now. Smile Queen? Noel cannot talk properly yet, and lie is 2wx dm on ths three weeks 2 days old. We had our school test last Wednesday week. Well I think I must close now with love from Olive Simpson.

[Thank you for the riddle and poem Olive. I hope you are successful with your music. There are some hundreds of fairies on our roll now. I thi”k Taranaki should he famous for its Smiles, don’t you?—S.Q.]

Whakamara. Dear Smile Queen, —1 hope you and the fairies and Smiles are quite well. I like the picture at th top of your letter, I think it .is very pretty\ 1 am .sending in my poetry cm “My Garden.”. I look every Saturday to pee if there are .any letters from our distant Smiles in England. Everywhere lias been very muddy, hut then the sun came out brightly and everywhere is dried up again now. As there is nomore news, I will close with 10-fas of love to all the Smiles and yourself. Your loving Smile, Jean Davies. [1 am glad you like the picture on the top of our page. It makes us look rather important. Don’t-you think s o ? I also am waiting eagerly for more English letters. Thank you very much lor the poem.—S.Q.]

Dear Smile Queen,—' Thank you very much for the birthday card you sent me. J received quite a number of presents for my birthday, l think myself very lucky getting so many things. [ am very sorry the holidays are over, but I expect we will soon be having the Easter ones. 1 had an enjoyable holiday in Wellington. I had never been there before. I think it is a lovely place for a holiday. There are lovely places to go to, and lovely bays to bathe in, and have picnics. 1 learn’t to swim there. I am very sorry 1 have not written to you before this. You will think I have forgotten you. but 1 haven’t. I have been busy with .school lessons. I find them hard now I am in Standard 5. How are you and all vour Smiles keeping? I will have to close now. With love from your Smile, Reta. McNeill. I You are a lucky girl, Reta. NVhat a delightful holiday you must have had. Don’t he so long in writing next time. — S.Q.J