THE CASTLE PLEDGE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 4 June 1927, Page 18

THE CASTLE PLEDGE.

I promise to smile every time I can, and to chase all the frowns into the dark cave, where the Smile Giant will kill them with his Magic Sword Happiness.

My Dear Smiles, — If I were to ask my Smiles which town had streets of water and was also noted for its wondrous beauty I am sure you would all immediately say Venice. Venice is one of the most delightful places I have ever seen, but I thought this week would tell you about two other much smaller towns which are also very beautiful and which use waterways instead of streets. Nestling in an obscure corner of the French Alps is a most charming little lake, and on one end of it is built the quaint old-fashioned town of Annecy. This village, ibr it. is hardly big - enough to be called a town, is sometimes spoken of as the Venice of France. The lake branches out into many little forks, and it is these forks which form the streets of Annecy. Seen on a fine day,' I think it must be one of the most beautiful spots on fhe earth. Can you imagine, Smiles, that the blue lake is the bottom of a .basin, the side of which is towering snow : covered mountains. In the bottom at one end is the wee town with paving emerald green trees, green grassy plots, where the people all congregate to gossip, and. among them such a lot of gaily uniformed soldiers. All this, with the vivid blue sky overhead, makes a wonderful colour effect. I should love to tell you about the beautiful places near Annecy, and espeeially the magnificent viaduct called Lc pont de la Caille, which one crosses on the way to this miniature Venice, but I promised to tell you about another town, and this time you must take your thoughts away from France to Asia. _ In the far north of India is the State of Kashmir, which is a popular holiday place for Europeans during the Indian hot weather. . The capital of Kashmir is- Srinagar, and just as Annecy is sometimes . called the Venice of France, so is Srinagar often called the Venice of Asia. The waterways here are formed by several picturesque lakes and the river Jhelum. They are usually crowded with boats towed by strings of coolies and fishermen casting their nets. The surrounding scenery is very fine, ranges of snow-capped mountains, stretches of rich green country, gardens and grassy lawns that extend to the water’s edge, all help to make a beautiful effect. Perhaps the greatest beauty is at eventide, when the shadows fall on the water, foliag r e and distant mountain tops. Although we Europeans like to call it Venice, the Hindus have a much grander name—they call it the “City of the Sun.” These pious people of Srinagar have a temple on the very summit of a rocky peak called Takht-i-Sulieman, and here they journey to worship their gods. ' Now, Smiles, I hope you will be able to pronounce all these terrible foreign names, but I hope most of all that some day you might have an opportunity of seeing the places. With much love to each of you from your loving SMILE QUEEN.