PRIZE ESSAY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XV, Issue 167, 20 June 1925, Page 10

PRIZE ESSAY

BIDE IN A ’BUS. Dear Chief Kiwi, —This week 1 am writing about a ride in the ‘bus. M is Nimon's 'bus going fiom Havelock to Hastings. 1 really did not hear the people talk ing, but 1 have made it up. 1 think a ride in a ’bus is most in foresting, if one keeps ones cars ope*, and eyes observant. The conversation is often very amusing and the gosa p one hears about ones associates, tu though never correct, is quite interesting to follow. One day the car was in the garage, and I was obliged tu go by the 'bus. j had not ridden in it for some time and had forgotten its charms. On my right sat a large old gossip with. tv\o small children, she was talking to the sort of person one would can a “body.” They were talking of their friends, or rather 1 should say gossiping, they seemed well acquainieu wita everybody’s business but their own. “An’ after *e ’ad sed tnat, 1 just, answered ’im proper, an’ I saw ’o was squashed although ’e wouidna own it. Yes, I says that’s the way to treat ’em w’en they gets stuck up an’ the like, 1 does the sinie to my 'usband. It does puts’ cm in the right place it do.” “Want a biscik mum, want a biscik, gimme a biscik,” chirped in one of tne youngsters. ‘ ‘ Wait a minute sonny. ’ ’ “Want it now, yah-ah-ah-ah ah,” he yelled. To stop this noise the mother nunted for the wanted article, and hurriedly crammed it into the youngster’s mouth. He was instantly satisfied and stoppeu yelling. But the other child woulun i put up with this, and put in his • ‘ spoke. ’ ’ “Gimme a choccy, mum. I wants a choccy.” “I ain’t got no choclate (nor lollies neither, responds the old gossip, cross at having her conversation interferreu with.

“I wants one, I wants a choccy, boo boo, yah-ah-ah-ah. ” This time the mother had not the ru quired article, but she was not at a loss. ‘ ‘ Look ’ere yer little rascal, w ’on w * gets into town I’ll might, jus’ might, give yer a ice-cream.” This satisfied the child completely, and he took to sucking his tnunib iui me rest of the journey. “An’ as 1 was say in, ’ w’en 1 ‘earu ’im sayin’ those monsius things abut., me, 1 jus’ popped me ’ead hover tne fence an’ gived ’im a bit o’ my mina. J did, an’ ’e didn’t ’alf like it Dither.” •‘Well I aven’t ’ad quite such a nawful hcxperience as that, 1 ’ave ’au something’ similar.” At this moment the ’bus stopped a my destination and 1 had to get out. J must say 1 was quite sorry for the gos , sip was most interesting and amusing. I —i. uz.c ul 2/u lu ileiilu Ecew, years, “Kanmure, ’ Luuri road, liav* | lock North.

I illfi N UEiiLEY x I/xjajJS vTSI'X. I Dear Uuici Kiwi, — 1 aiu lu u » -you ui llie Uip tuu luik hud t ■ I die Hasi.mg.l ••Tribune, ’ the uthei | week, llicy ieii luiiyiunu r.y ui..hi. - ’ and after a lung ride thuy arnvcu ut nugu building wnu ••'iribuuu uniteover it. .Little Jack Homer su-u. | “Let us go in anu see wiial n is like. | “ les, ' said Bu-Peep. They went in and ( they opened anu suul many duurs, an» i al last they came to a luum where tiiui* | was a nemeadous noise wuich waa inuou |by the priming machines. “ Let us ge. i out ui nCiC,” says iiinu 80-Feup, *'us the noise is simply terrifying. ** Bo uv» i,‘ I they went uanueriiig about until tm j came to a place where there were twu or three doors. They went in and ail was quiet, but all of a sudden there was such a terrifying noLe that .lack Horner dropped his liltle dish and broke it, ano little 80-Peep’s sheep ran away. Then they had a good look and they saw a backed dragon tied up in the cor ner looking so tierce. In the room by la table tneie sat a big Kiwi with 10-. I ul‘pink, blue, red ami orange cards. Be siues these there were postal notes oi I 10, 2s 6d and ss. Behind there, were standing a lot uf little Kiwis handing him letters. He read them and put them down until he came to one which he shook his head at, and said “No,” am* he gave it to the dragon. 'Hie dragon thought it very nice and he smacked fits lips. The Kiwi went thorough the other.-, but there were no more for the dragon, and it began to cry, “What is the mat ter” asked Mother Hubbard. Thu big Kiwi then said ”He only got one letter to cat this week and he is vei-j hungry.” “Oh,” cried the Fairy Folk, “what a shame.” Jack Horner took c.T his hat and went to all of them for a penny. He then ran to a pastry cook s shop and bought a bag of buns for the dragon. The big Kiwi said, ”Thank yen.” The Fairy Folk said it is get ting late now, and we must go. They went outside. The sheep were in the airship waiting for them. They arrive! I back to Fairyland very tired indeed, but; they had spent a lovely time. With fondest love to you and you?Kiwis, 1 will close. - Fink certificate to Marjory Ed-1 wards, age 10 years. Victoria street} Hastings. £ ® & A MASON BEE Dear Chief Kiwi, —I am sure you wound like to hear somettilng of t».< life history uf a mason bee >o 1 will tel! you a true story my mother told m< , Hiuc timo ago. $

The mason bee as you know has a j very clever way of building its clay ne»< and it finds many queer places in whicti tc build. Every year a mason bee builds it., nest in the keyhole of our front door. Another builds in the washhouse, and one day when I want out to our playhouse, 1 found to my suprise that one of these clever little insects had built its nest in a little china elephant which; had once contained sweats. Now 1 will tell you how my mother and her sister (when they were littie* girls) watched the bee build its nesr. ; Aly mother and her sister were sitting j up in their room sewing when they heard a mason bee buzzing and buzzing, they looked up and saw that the bee was ; building a house and had its mouth full of clay. When it had built one little cell it flew out of the window and brougtr back a little fat juicy spider. The mason bee was buzzing all t*.e timo to hypnotise tho spider which was not dead. This is done so that the spider will not dry up, but will still be fat and juicy for the young mason giubs to eat when they hatch. When the mason bee had tilled the cell with spiders she laid an egg in it and scaled it up with clay. She repeated this till she had built about eight cells each, filled wn<i sleep ing spiders and opch containing one egg. She then flew away and did not return. The little girls took the nest can fully off the wall—they had to take some of the paper with the nest—am? took it to school to show the other gins. The teacher put it in the little schoo museum with other wonderful things. A few weeks later when they went r. place something else in the glass ease, they found tho little clay house all broxen, spiders legs lying about, and save", or eight beautiful mason bees flying about in the case. Tho teacher T ? them out ami away they flew to mane little clay homes for their c.Tflldren. With love to you and the other Kiwis from, —Pink certificates to Ruth Small ape 11 year, Te Mata road, Havelock North.

MAIIORA SCHOOL SHOr.

Dear, Chief Kiwi, —Thank you ve» 5 much for awarding me a certificate, was very pleased. This time Jam go'T” to tell you, about our school shop. ?*r Chaplin told us one day that we worgoing to have a school shop, to raise t • raise some m»>nev for the baths. Ho-s ovc'tod wo nil were. The very box* day, w started to bring pumpkins. ea« ' ■ )■'. 'p.to.'S marrows, flowers parspips and, oh, such a lot of other things. •-? Friday the porches wore full wi f h buckets of potatoes and sack* of numn kins. Wo could hardly get out of the door. Mrs Wisp, a very kind fnny, offered n prize, tn the child who took most things to the bran tub or jnne* And another kind ladv Mrs pen. • offered a prize for the best sponge caKc nnd pinto nf tonnes, shnn wn ■ hc-hl was held in Mr Barley’s shop the corn , c ?*rpo». Mother tonic m-. 1 little brother nnd mo Wo *n<T a fi • •*' f«n pond, nnd bnn<rht p «xnonrv basket nf enroots Plenty of nennlo wore there, hustling hero n>then haviner n innl< nynr there. Tn look in yon would think i* was n he n h’Vn. T hope it was a success, ps ovnr T ’hndv nt the school helped and many other people. Were some of the Kiwis there? I suppose some of yon worn <hom weren’t you. Now you all know sown thing about it, so I Will close with Jovn to all Kiwis. —Pink certificate to Joan Martin. ann 10 years, care P. 0., Hastings.

WkHS RABBIT’S PARTY.

Dear Uniei Kiwi, —This week 1 am going u> ceil _yuii aouai “Mrs Rabin is x'ariy.” ip was her birthday, so she thought, she would hold a garden party ana invited all her jrituUs she knew that lived in the wide forest. On too party day, an her iriends were present, ilieie wa s Jonny tn© U easel, Lummy rJephant, Mrs Mouse, as wed as many others. Ad of them played about in the garden until tea-time, except, of course, the ladies, who stayed inside to help .Mrs Rabbit. Tea-time came, and in the door trooped all her small friends, and oh! what a sight met their eyes. there was a table with a white cloth on it, all spread ready with dainty plates on which was cheese, for the mice. The mice could not sit on the chairs around the table, so they jumped on to the tablecloth, and then on to the plates where the cheese was, and began nibbling the cheese with their sharp teeth. You may be sure that when they had finished the tablecloth was very black. Underneath the chairs there was lettuce and cabbage leaves laid lor the rabbits. Just as they were to l»egin their feast, they heard Tommy Elephant calling “I can’t get in! I can't get in-’’ Mis Rabbit sighed deeply, bcauso she did nob want Tommy to lose his tea. Picking up his feed of melons, she ran to the door and laid them on the doorstep. Tommy was very pleased and after throwing the rinds of the melons away he began eating the juicy parts, which would have madr my mouth water, to look at. Poor old Jenny the Weasel left early, because she did not like the lettuce and cabbage. Mrs Mouse <ame late, because she could not find her hat. Of course she lost her share of cheese, but was given a piece of wheat instead, so all went well. The afternoon went on bringing more fun. but hist ns they were finishing up and Mrs Rabbit was saving good-bye to her friends something hap. pc nod.

It was all caused by the fox who had not been invited to the party. Now, as ho was cunning, he had learnt all about it. He had crept up after the amimals until ho arrived at Mrs Rabbit’s home. Then he hid behind a bush in the garden while they were outside playing, but when they went inside he left his hiding-place and crept around the back and peeped in the window. As ho saw they were leaving for home, bo jumped out and seized some of them. Those who were caught were eaten up, but th© rest escaped and ran home. Now from that day to this non© knows where Mi’s Rabbit is. Tt is believed by tho forest folk that she is still running away from the fox, but by this time 1 believe she has found a safe hiding-place. Thanking you for the, 2/6 you awarded me last week. 1 will close. —Blue certificate to William Laws, age 10 years, 503 Miller street, Hast-

ENJOYABLE SCHOOLDAYS.

Dear Chief Kiwi,—lt is cold enough for snow to-day, and we ar© frightened to put our heads out the door for ftar the wind blows it off, as we would not look very nice walking about without a head.

Before Friday, however, about five or six children got to know what the surprise was. Although I was one of them 1 kept the secret to myself, but told Mum and Dad and my brother, as 1 knew they would not tell. Well, what do you think it was? Tt was dancing dollies—two were dolls boxing and the others were dancing.

Lt was funny to see them jig and bob up and down and quite amused my brother and mo as w© had never seen them before.

Now I must close ns we have nol much paper, Lxive from your Kiwi. —Blue certificate to Maud Jone age 12 years, P. 0., Havelock North.

“MEET MR. DUSTMAN.”

Dear Chief Kiwi,—l am going to tell you about the dustman, lu-mght, n. thousands of homes, when the little ones begin to get sleepy, and chubby fists rub eyelids that want to close, mother will smile and say that “the dustman has come.” Tho expression holds a pretty fancy, and provides Tommy or Elsie with a. iiipn what it is that has got into their eyes. But do you, wh< use the expression, know its origin? Ln the old pagan days each God had a special function. “Mars wag the god of. war”; “Morpheus was the god oi sleep.” Our fore lathers always pictured him as going about with a bunch oi poppies in his hand, and “dusting” th eyes of the weary. So gradually Moi pheus was referred to as “the dust man,” and the term has survived through thousands of years. There ar© traces of it in pra■■tie-ill’ every country, although in German} instead of “dustman” the term “sand man’’ is used. —Blue certificate to Ida Taylor, ago 11 years, 602 Victoria street, Hastings.

FUN IN THE BUSH

Dear Chief Kiwi,—This week I am going to tell you about the fun we had in the bush when we were up the Main I runk line. I got four other boys besides myself and every Saturday we | used to go for a roam in the bush about a mile away from where we were living. On one occasion we found an old woodcutter’s hut, that looked as if it had been there for years, and we got a hammer and nails, and started to make it strong. When we had made it comfortable we math* a table and sonic (hairs. One Saturday we went up and took our lunch and when we had eaten our lunch and tidied up the hut we went for a roam over the hill and into the bush. We did not notice a big hull until we were chased by it and then we at once made a dash for the hut and locked ourselves in. The bull stamped around the hut for about I ten minutes and then, seeing he was beaten, he ran away, and wo camo out again to have a game of hide-and-seek. Another day we were chased by a wild pig and we rapidly climbed a tree till he had passed. Many times wo used t»> hoar the tui’s and the bellbird’s musical note, and although wo never caught a good glimpse of it we knew that it was not far away. Well, Chief Kiwi, 1 think that birds and tho bush are two of the loveliest things that Nature has given us. I remain, yours faithfully, Blue certificate to Mervyn Rateman. a-'e 13 years. Paki Paki.

SOME OLD FASHIONED TREASURES.

Dear Chief Kiwi.—l want to tell you of some little treasures I have. There is a little pure gold locket and a little gold box in the form of a book. There is a little ebony box with beautiful inlaid woodwork from Tunbridge Wells, England. All these things my grandmother sent out to me from England. The locket is very old. indeed. It belonged to granny when she was a little girl. Before her it belonged to

some old relative of hers. There is some of this old relative's hair in it, which makes it all the more interesting. The little box like a book also belonged to granny. It is wonderfully chased with flowers and I think it is meant to be a Bible. I do not know much about this little wonder aS mother did not tell me all. The wooden box is not so very wonderful, but it is nice to have because it is so old. I must close now with best wishes to you and all the other Kiwis.

—Blue certificate to Honour Boxer, age 11 years, Southland road, Hastings.

BEAUTIFYING HASTINGS.

Dear Chiefl Kiwi, —We all like to take a pfiide in our town and home gardens. Now that the Borough Council is making beautiful footpaths, we all have the opportunity to make our town more beautiful than it is at present. When the path is on our side of th© road the least we can do is to make it look nice, bv planting grass between the fence and the path. The green between the fen©e and the path makes a very prettv effect, if you keep the grass mowed, for if you kt the grass grow longr it lnnk« untidy. Ln some countries there are no front fences. and the people plant prettv gardens, and thus the city looks beautiful. For this kind of thing, ifichildren would hav© to he taught not to touch other people’s propertv. Mo«t people that plant these kind of gardens not onlv plant them for their pleasure but for the pleasure of passers-by. For when tourists or travellers rome into town, it impresses on their minds how prettv the town looks. A dull city can be made beautiful by flowers and bright words. Cornwall Park, with its palmbordered drive, together with its picturesque entrance gates, is a credit to any town. Best wishes to Chief Kiwi and all Kiwis.

—Red certificate to Doris Cocks, age 11 years, 101 S Park road, Hastings.

LONDON.

Dear Chief Kiwi,—l would like to ' tell you about London. l/ondon is divided into three parts— West End, City, and East End. Through 1/mdon there rolls a great river, tho Thames; close to this river is a. place where the Archbishop of Canterbury lives. One of the great sights on the river is the Tower Bridge. It is a new bridge and has two great towers rising one on each side. Close to this is the Tower of London, where so many people who were not guilty were imprisoned. Some of them were beheaded. The two wives of Henry VIII., Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, were both beheaded because Henry was tired of them. The Tower of London was built during the reign oi William the Conqueror. It is a very’ fine building and when anybody was imprisoned there they very seldom escaped. The windows, too, were made very small so that arrows could not get into them easily to wound the people inside. Westminster Abbey is on the west side of the City, and inside the Abbey there are the graves of kings, queens and poets. There aro huge statues larger than life to the memory of those famous men on every side. Well. Chief Kiwi, I will close. Love to all the Kiwis. —Red certificate to Marah Chilton, age 12 years, Willow Park road, Hastings.

MY VISIT TO THE ZOO.

Dear Cliief Kiwi, —On© day in my holidays 1 went to th® Zoo. We were staying out of town so we went by train to Wellington, and took a tram to tho Zoo gates. 1 bought some nuts and biscuits. The brown bear was happily climbing an old tree, but enjoyed on© of my buns. Ln a large cage were noisy parrots and other pretty birds. A happy family were living together, consisting oS cats, rabbits, guinea-pigs and pigeons. One rabbit was having a great game by chasing th© guinea-pigs. We fed the ducks and when they scrambled on to the side of the pool th© penguins pushed them in again. A peacock spread his tail and strutted about. There were many kinds of owls. One was a delicate owl and was white with black spots. Lt looked very sick. We saw the lions and tigers fed with meat. 'They roared loudly. The sealions wer e very funny flopping along by tho rails waiting for their fish. The white donkey made a loud noise and his brother answered him from the field above. The deer were very graceful leaping from rock to rock. We asked a man where the camel was and he said “Ln ’eaven,” and the king penguin died three days before. It was very amusing to watch the fish as they swam about. Thank you for my red certificate. —Red certificate to Frank Tearle, age 9 years, 503 French street, Hastings.

THE WEATHER.

Dear Chief Kiwi, —I thought I would writ© about the weather, which has been very unpleasant this last week, although it has been quite a long time sine© we had any rain. When it first started to rain the grass soon began to look very nice and green, which was so nice for the animals to eat. as they had eaten almost every blade that grew in the paddocks, so they must appreciate the lovely grass. Me get plenty of mud about the place, and to go to school we have to cross over where the men ar© working at the sewer, and there is mud. inches deep, as the ears all have to go along each side of the road. And after it has rained for a day or two, you should ; see tie mud hut wo Lave to get through somehow to get to school which is just round the corner. .Wo are having a. school shop next Saturday, the 13th June, in aid of the school , funds, so I hope it will bo a fine day and that they will get quite a large sum of money together, as out school looks very nice now. Pest wishes t<> all the Kiwis. — Red certificate to Raunia Godfrey, age l(> years, 1006 Wai puna street. Hastings.

NEW ZEALAND.

Dear Chief kiwi. Thi* week I am going to tell you about New Zealand. New Zealand consists oi three islands. North, South and Stewart Islands. Iliey li,. in the well-known Pacific Ocean near the continent of Australia. Alwl Tasman, a Dutch navigator, was th© first to take a hird>eye view ©I this country and named it “Staaten Land.” A few years later Captain Cook was sent to explore the land. A shin called the “Resolution” sailed on this voyage. New Zealand has an equable or teml>erate climate. The northern portion is very much warmer, being nearer the equator than the southern part. Its people ar© emgaged in coal and goldmining. cattle and sheep-farming, and fruit-growing. A little tropical fruit is mown in North Auckland.

New Zealand is noted for its magnifi©ent scenery, amongst which are tho Cold Lakes ©f Otago, th n Hnt Lakes

of th© Wonderland of Auckland, the benntiliul glaciers or th© Southern Alps, aud many beautiful native bush-clad

gorges. Rotorua, near Auckland, i» given th© name of “Wonderlaiud.” Ther© w e see geysers, large and small, boiling mud pools, hot springs, and man K Maoris who cook their food and do their washing in tlie boiling springs. The chief animals to be found in this Country are rooreporks, rabbits, hares. cqa’s* deer horses and sheep. The beautiful Tush-clad land is filled with th© songs of the merry birds. The tui, huia, kiwi, and the moa ar© all native birds, but they are now nearly extinct. Ln the bush ferns and shubs of all varieties are to be found. New Zealand’s national plant is the fern leaf. Well, Cliief Kiwi. I know that if I exceed the word limit my essay will go to the dragon, and I don’t want that to happen. With love to the other Kiwis. —Red certificate to Jean F.bbett. agt 12 years, 204 Townshend street. Hastings.

A JOURNEY ON THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS. Dear Chief Kiwi,—l would like to tell you about a journey we had on th© Main Trunk express. We lived in a place called Okahukura, eight miles north of Taumarunui. We le'it Okahukura at half-past six and we had to wait in Taumareui till the express came at about a quarter to two in the morning. We spent the evening with friends, and left them at about twelve o’clock to walk to the station, it was a beautiful night, but very frosty. Chir train soon arrived and as we had booked seats we had no trouble in finding them. We handed our tickets to the guard and he showed us our seats, and we were soon settled very comfortably for our long journey. It was a ver v bright moonlight night and we could see the country around us. When we were coming over the spiral between Raurimu and Waimarino Dad took us out on to the platform and it was a great sight to see. Away below us we could see a lot of lights hist like a string of glittering beads. When we got down near Ohakune we got a beautiful glimpse ofi Mt. Ruapehu covered with snow. Although it was cold and frosty we enjoyed it very much and arrived at Palmerston North in beautiful sunshine. We had three hours’ wait in Palmerston, where we had lunch. At half-past on© we left Palmerston and arrived at Paki Paki at half-past five, verv tired after our lohg journey. Thanking you for tho certificate you awarded me last week. Best wishes to yourself and the Kiwis. —Red certificate to Marjorie Bateman, ago 11 years, Paki Paki.

THE SNAIL HUNT.

Dear Chief Kiwi,—l wish to tell you about a snail hunt we had last year. Ono evening my father was walking on the lawn and he heard something crunch under his feet, and thought that he would like to see what it was. A candle was found and everyone went to look. I wonder if anyone could guess what it was. Snails, and there were many of these creatures there. Then commenced a hunt to seo how many could be found. As we collected and counted them we put them into tins. When we were finished, to our surprise, and dismay we found that ther© were three hundred and sixty large snails. What a picnic they would have had with those young plants. Father said th© garden would have been a wreck by the end of the week. Insted of the snails having a picnic, the fowls had one.

—Orange certificate to Laurel Curry, 108 Stortford street, Hastings.

THE LIFE OF A SHILLING.

Dear Chief Kiwi,—l am going to write to you this time about the adventures of a shilling. I am an old shilling and I will tell you th© story of my life. At first I was a piece of silver in a rock at Broken Hill. On© day a man cam© along with a pick and dug me out of the rock. I was olaced in a truck along with some other pieces ot silver and after a while I beard the noise of machinery working. Rounding a bend I saw a number of iron stampers crushing the rock away from the silver and presently my turn came. Then 1 was made round and stamped and was placed in a bank. One day a man came in and I was. handed over to him for change, but I did not stay with him long for as he was walking along I dropped to_ the ground. I was covered wnth mud at first but a shower of rain washed me clean. A little boy picked me up and took me into a shop and spent me. Tt was very pleasant in this shop for there was a nice smell and T cnuld hoar tho people talking. After a while the grorer eave me to his bov. It was very uncomfortable in his pocket for there was a lot of string, marbles, and paper in it. At last he snent me in a fruit-shop. My new owner gave me in exchange for some “Hawke’s Bay Tribunes.”

—Orange certificate to Jack McDougall. age 11 years. Otane.

A MOTOR TRIP.

Dear Chief Kiwi,—l am going to tell you about a trip to Patea. One cold ‘morning we all got up at four o’clock and got everything ready. By the time we were all ready to start it was half past six. We went through Paki Paki. Opapa, Otane. Waipawa and Waipukurau and m ro.-s the Takapau Plains and then on to Ormondville. We saw all the blackened tree trunks where there was once bush. The scenery was very beautiful all the way. We stopped and stretched our legs a Dannevirke for a little while as we felt rather stiff. From Dannevirke we went to the Manawatu Gorge. Several times 1 thought we would go over the side of the road. When we reached Ashhurst we stopped and had lunch. By tho tmio we reached Wanganui we were hungry so we had some afternoon tea at a shop. After Wanganii’ w© went through other towns and saw some beautiful bush scenerv. When we reached Patea we were not at ajl tired* I enjoyed myself very much as my cousins had a pony each, so we had some lovely rides. We did not stay long; only fur four days. Give my love to al| the other Kiwis.

Orange certificate to Myrtle Petersen, age 10 years, 100 Townshend St., Hastings.

THE SNAIL.

Dear Chief Kiwi. This is thu first time I have written to you. 1 would like to become one of your Kiwis. I am going to write about the snail. I wonder if anv of your Kiwis have ever found a stone in the garden with a great number of snail shells round it. They will know that a thrush has been at work there. Thrushes are verx fond of snails and will spend hours hunting for them. As soon as they have found a snail they will hop away with it to a stone and knock the shell on it until th© shell is cracked all over, then they pirk off th© pieces of shell and swallow the snail or take it away to the young thrushes. The snail is a ver” harmful creature in the garden. It is very slimy so that *t can crawl along easily. I must close now wishing all other Kiwis good luck —Orange certificate tn Roh Ander- I son. age 9 years. 611 Willow Park ’ road. Hastings.

A FISHERMAN.

1 thought this was my best opportunity to write to you. When we went back to school after our long holiday our teacher told us that We were going to have a gramophone sent to us. We were looking forward every day tor it to come until to our joy we saw it standing on the piano. It is a beautiful varnished oak gramophone which has come all the way from England. We very pleased when our teacher told Us that we could hear it every morning if we were good. The songs are lovely ones apd we enjoy them very much. Last week we were told that we were going to have a lovely surprise—something to do with the gramophone which we were to have on Friday if we were good and worked hard.

Why is Satan a gentleman?—Being an imp-of-darkness he cannot be imp-o'-litc. —Majorie Bateman, age 11 years, Paki Paki. What town in America han fpursevenths of a chicken, ♦wo-thinls of a cat, and half of a goat?—Chicago. —Joe Hodgson, ago 9 years, St. George’s road, Hastings. What comes with a train, goes with a train, is no use to the train, and ret the train cannot go without it,— A noise. —Colin Martin, ago 6 years, c/o P. 0., Hastings. What is a button ?—A small event that often comes off. —Kauma Godfrey', age 10 years, HJOC Waipuna street, Hastings. What is always in visible yet never never out of sight?—The letter I. —Margaret Heasman, age 9 yean, 809 Frederick street, Hastings. Do you know the quickest way dor thin people to get fat ?—Go to a butcher and buy it. —Guy L. Smith, ago 9 years, 60(1 Grays road, Hastings. Why do hens always lay in the daytime ?—Because they are roosters at night. —Thelma Bateman, age 10 years, Paki Paki. To what port is a man bound on the day of his wedding?—To Havre. —Joyce Bateman, age 7 years, Paki Paki. What was the first thing that Adam set in the Garden of Eden?—His toot. —Walter Bateman, age 5 years, Paki Paki. Why would lawyers make good eoldiers “—Because they are always rqady to charge. —Mervyn Bateman, age 13 yean, Paki Paki. From house to house he goes, A messenger small and alight, And whether it rains or snowa He sleeps outside in the night. "—The path. —Honour Boxer, age 11 years, Southland road, Hastings. In what month do ladies talk the least.—ln February, because it’s the shortest. —Rhoda Graham, age 12 years, Lucknow road, Havelock North. What lady does nobody like?—Miss Fortune. —Phyllis Petersen, age 10 years, 400 Townshend street, Hastings. Why did the tap run?—Because it saw the kitchen sink. —Frank Tearle, age 9 years, 503 French street, Hastings. Why is a selfish person like the letter P?—Because ho is the first to pity and the last to help. —Winnie Laws, age 8 years, 503 Miller street. Can a man’s pocket bo empty when he’s got something in it?— Tee, when he’s got a big hole in it. —William Laws, ago 10 years, 503 Miller street, Hastings. Why is the letter E one of the moat unfortunate of letters?—Because it is never in cash, always in debt, and never out of danger. —Renata Walker, ago 13 years, 907 Albert street, Hastings. When are policemen like balloons?— When they take people up. Vera Edwards, age 5 years, 604 Victoria street, Hastings. It sometimes gets bigger, it some times gets smaller, it has no legs or arms, but is always moving. What is it?—A cloud. —Joan Wood, age 9 years, 313 Pros■/vt road, Hastings. A FISHERMAN. Dear Chief Kiwi,—Tn a picture one day I saw an old fisherman and two boys. One of the boys has a bucket and the other one a rod. The fisher, man is smoking a pipe. Perhaps he us going out to set to catoil some fish and 1 hope lie comes back with a groat many. One stormy night the sea was very rough and the boys were drowned. A few days later the fisherman ret uni <'d very unhappy. —Winnie Laws, age 8 years, 503 I Miller street. Hastings. « « » THE TWINS. One day there lived a little girl named Barbara, and I lived .in * big white house with her in a vilhgo. I had l a bweet wee puppy iwuiel Piny. She was the sweetest wro puppy you ever saw in your life. It was little toy terrirer. Barbara had a sweet wee kitten; it waa her very own and sho named it Tiffy, and he'd run up her legs in the morning and evening. And now a year had paaaed by. It was my birthday and Barbara's too. We had such lovely things—fruit - salad, and grapes, and a beautiful big birthday cake, and soft jube jubes. Then we had a fancy dress party and it was called tlx* pansy dance. Now I was ton years old. Now I must say goodbye to you and all the other Kiwis. —Margaret Boxer, age 6 years, Southland road. Hastings (Continued on next page.)