Girl Guide Notes

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 48, 26 February 1938, Page 14

Girl Guide Notes

GIRL GUIDE NOTES SWIMMING SPORTS

It was a pity that we had to postpone them, when the sun came out so well in the afternoon, but never fear, we are having them “whate’er betide'' on March 5. That means you've all next week for practice. Beverley Stevens will be back from her holidays and able to help St. Pauls, and first Palmerston sound a bit enthusiastic, too. Takaro will be having a practice at 5 p.m. at Central baths next Wednesday. Save up March 5 and help your company win the trophies. There are prizes too,* for those who cannot be champions. Thinking Day Pennies. I do hope you put your penny to good use by making it a thoughtwave buyer. Next week you'll hear how much all your Guide and Ranger and Brownie pennies amounted to. They will be used in England to build the new hostel for the World Bureau. Rangers. Last Tuesday evening we departe-i from our usual routine by going for a supper hike to Bledisloe Park. Usually we hold our meetings on Monday evenings at 7.30 but we went on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and checked over our provisions, then off we went. The night was gloriously starry and tramping conditions were ideal, as we swung along to the tunes we all love. At the park entrance we used the light for copying out our Thinking Day Ceremony to that we'd all be ready when Captain started her part. It was great fun collecting our wood in the semi-darkness and building our fire, which blazed away merrily, soon giving, us a good ash for our cooking. The steam rippled happily past as bacon, cheese, tomatoes, apples and toast was cooked to a turn. Then we sang "Bobby Burns" grace, and enjoyed our meal together. Star gazing was so interesting we didn't want to stop but Captain has promised that if we've remembered and learnt Pleiades, Hyades, Orion, Big Dog, Little Dog, Heavenly Twins Southern Cross r.nd Muscat by next ■week, she’ll teach us some others, so we ’re practising hard. Do you know anything about the stars? Campfire, with all the old favourites, and a lovely new one "Peace of the River," was an inspiration to us all, and we made our new resolve with the boys in Captain’s story to make something worthwhile of our work this year. Prayers and Thinking Day thoughts were followed by the beautiful melody •‘Glory to Thee," after which vespers and taps ended a memorable evening. Church Parade was well attended and Mr Draper was ever so interesting in his story about the use we can make of eggs, even for building bridges. I hope you are trying to make bridges of friendship, even here among the members of your own and other companies. It was good to see most of your hats neatly brushed and turned up at the back and your ties clean and freshly tied. Do ydu keep a song-book for all the songs you learn so that you can g.j to campfire and sing all the words? Start one now if you've not already made one, and copy the songs in, then you can add these cuttings from the notes. Here is "Bobby Burn's Grace," to Auld Lang Syne:—•

For some hae meat and canna eat, And some have none that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat And sae the Lord be thankit. Takaro Guides.

We are very gay now in our summer scarves, bu.t you won’t see us down at

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CORNER China is full of surprises for ns all, so little is known of this vast empire of hundreds of millions of people. Here are a few striking things about it. The skill of the Chinese in river navigation is superior to that of any other nation. The compass is a Chinese invention of nearly 1600 years ago. Salt manufacturers in the province of Szechwan have utilised volcanoes for furnaces with perfect safety. For their mining operations the Chinese many years ago invented a torch made of sawdust and resin which burns brightly without flames and does not ignite inflammable gases in the shaft. The manufacture of porcelain is carried on, chiefly in the province of Kiangsi, under the most perfect system of divided labour. There are mountains in China which have been cut into terraces and irrigated up to their summits, which demonstrates the marvels and skill of Chinese industry. Outside the Imperial Family there used to be no class distinctions in China such as are known in Europ9 and other' countries. Respect for letters has been so profound and so deeply rooted in the Chinese character that it had never been found necessary to make education compulsory. Nor were any restrictions placed on the establishment of schools. Anybody who liked could open a school, without any interference from the authorities. THINGS WE ALL SAY "A baker’s dozen," you may know, means thirteen. In the olden days bakers were afraid of giving short weight in their bread, for the law punished them heavily if it detected them doing so. They therefore added one loaf to every twelve so as to make no shortage. When a person does anything that he has a right to be pround of, it’s a "feather in his cap." Long ago, in Hungary, when a man wore a feather in his cap it was a sign that he had killed one of the enemies of his country—the Turks. For each-Turk he killed he was allowed to wear a feather. The baker is also responsible for “piping hot." It was formerly the custom for bakers to blow a pipe, or horn, to let people know that their bread was baked, and therefore really “hot." Feilding. Dear Hub, —Here I am again. I hope you have not forgotten me as I have not written for so long. How did you like your holidays, Hub? I hope you enjoyed them. I am in Std. 6 at school now and I have the same good teacher as I had last year. What has the weather been like in Palmerston these few days? It has been showery here but last Sunday it was beautifully fine. Wasn’t that dreadful that cloud burst near Napier. The poor people who were drowned. I am lonely now because my best friend has moved away and there isn’t anybody around here to play with. I must bring this letter to a as it is tiino. for bod. Hub. Ramona. Of course we hadn’t forgotten yon Romona. I did enjoy my holidays—the sun was quite kind to me this week— Palmerston North has been very hot. Feilding. Dear Hub, —I’m going to Feilding High School now, and at present we are having a drill week. I went to the Y.M.C.A. camp for my holidays. I will close now as it is time to go to school. Weary Willie. The Den hopes you will like “high." Weary Willie and is glad to hear from you again.