HAPPY COGS

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 41, 18 February 1939, Page 14

HAPPY COGS

SKILLTEST WINNERS It was impossible to separate the entries of Desmond Saywell and Jane Waller for this week’s skilltest so these two are the winners. SOLUTION TO “CODE” PUZZLE The goodwill wishes In last week’s puzzle were as follows: 1. Good Health (Code “A” against “U”). 2. Sunshine (Code “A’’ against “i”). 3. Happiness (Code “A” against “V”). 4. Prosperity (Code “A” against “K”). 5. Success (Code “A” against “A”). 6. Peace (Code “A” against “W”).

Kimbolton. Dear Hub, —How aro you getting on with the children’s letters? I am in 1 standard 2 this year. Did you like the j holidays? We did. We went for eight t swims this year with our school teacher. Snow White. Some of the Cogs must be still on holiday I think, as they have not yet 1 wakened up to the fact that a New t Year has begun. You are lucky, I have f. only had two bathes. ‘

Mangawjiata. Dear Hub, —I am very pleased to be able to write to the Page again. I had to write the skilltest on pad paper as I was not doing it the right way. I thought Uncle Peter’s Corner was very nice last week. I have passed into standard 6 and like it very much so far. I was pleased so many Cogs wrote last week. I have a diary which I have written in every day so far. I received many lovely Christmas presents from my kind friends. For the holidays I went to Marton and Waitarere beach, so I have had many swims. Coronation. Well, dear, everything seems bright for you and you have commenced the year in good spirits. It is fun keeping a diary and this will give you lots of laughs in the years to come.

Kimbolton. Dear Hub, —How did you like your holiday? I had a lovely time. We are practising for the sports to-day. As there is no more news I will cl^se. Winter Rose. I have not had my holiday yet, Winter Rose, and that pleasure is in store for me in the near future. I am going to leave you then in the care **of “Aunt Agatha” and “Uncle Bob.”

POWDER AND PATCHES SAYS “THANK YOU” Hukanui. : Dear Hub, Last Saturday uur paper man Forgot to leave again Our paper and I searched about The road, out in the rain. So I asked my neighbour To lend hers to me, For I thought there’d be a Cogs’ Page, I wanted just to see If I was mistaken, But there the Page appeared, And strangely like a message, By it I was so cheered. And more so, Hub, on reading Your lines so kind and true, And for their message, My thanks I send to you. I also want to thank, Hub, A person who thought lit To write and send some poems, And a specially lovely bit That I also had cut out. This person sent to mo ’Twas full of hope and courage, And loving sympathy. The days are full and busy, My books I never scan For unless I go out, Then bed is where I am. I’ve never been so glad before, Of sheets so cool and white, Of mattress’s comfort, All feathery and light. Oh! Jennifer is lovely now, She says anything you aslv, But looking after her I fear, Is quite a whole day’s task. She’s brimming o’er with mischief, And oh! I love her so, The world would be so very dull Without my niece I know. I am not in the rhyming mood, The time is flying by, And at the clock’s fast movements I very often sigh. Our garden has been rather gay, But wind and heavy rain Have started things all crookedly, But still they bloom again. We have a lovely purple thyme, It’s blossomed once this season, However it is out again For some lovely flowery reason. Our gladiolis have passed, And only two or three Are frisk and sprightly enough j To beam on P. and P. I’m hoping that this letter Is not boring you, For if it is I may as well Pen now my adieu. But first I must tell you, At the show I spent a day, And lost my sister somehow, Almost going grey Looking here and dashing there never to see her face, In the busy area Or any likely place. Had two rides on the merry-go-round, And lost my step a bit, But the horse was so minute I didn’t quite know where to sit. I saw one magician, The first I’ve ever seen, And after entering I was really glad I’d been. Snowy is purring round me, My lovely cat so white, Who bothers Chas quite often By pouncing on him at night. Where as I love to hear^ His purr and airy tread Asking me in pussy ways, For the foot of my bed. Well, Hub, this note I finish, My thanks to all of you, With wishes best for happy days .1 say “Au revoir” to you. Powder and Patches. RIDDLES Q: Which is the biggest rope in the world!—A: Europe. Q: What goes through a wood without touching a tree?—A: An echo. Q: What jam can never be eaten?— A: A traffic jam. Tom: “Dad, I have good news for you.” Dad; “Have you passed your examination?” Tom: Not exactly; I came top of those who failedl ”

THE STORY OF THE REGAL LILY Even if you have not seen Regal lilies you may have heard about them. These glorious flowers are very elegant, with the lovely white trumpets held high on graceful stems, and they pour forth a scent which pervades the garden. It is only during the last few years that they have been grown in New Zealand. The discovery of a new flower is as important and interesting to mauy people as a new invention is to others. Clever and resourceful horticulturists go to foreign lands on flower-stalking expeditions to travel by strange ways and by-ways to find new flowers. It was on one of these expeditions that the beautiful regal lilies were discovered by a great American gardener, the late Dr. Wilson. He found them growing on the banks of the Min river in Se-chuen, China. China i 3 also the home of many other lilies which grow in our gardens. The collection of new plants is an important matter to gardeners, for people are always wanting to hear of something unfamiliar and therefore exciting to grow. The men who go planthunting need a great knowledge both of plants and the country in which they propose to work, and its customs, climate, and geography. The visits have to be timed so that the plants or seeds may be successfully collected after having been first discovered in bloom. Very

often return visits to the locality have to be made. The collectors aro sometimes sent by large nursery firms or by private institutions, or wealthy individuals to whom the plants or seeds are usually dispatched for trial and acclimatisation. This sometimes takes years. No matter how beautiful a plant may bo in its native setting, it is only useful to gardeners in other parts of the world if it can be grown readily under ordinary conditions. This is the great advantage of the Regal lily; it not only seeds freely, but the seeds germinate in the open ground and bloom as a rule in the second year. The small bulb which has developed from the seed sends up a slender stem, which bears only one bloom the first time. The bulb goes on growing and makes offshoots, and as time goes on the stems become stronger and carry several flowers *nstead of one. It is then that they make such a glorious display. Dr. E. 11. Wilson was in charge of a great place called the Arnold Arboretum, in the United States of America, and he was a very distinguished collector. Although he found many other plants of great merit, the Regal lilies are considered one of his greatest finds, because besides being so beautiful they are less exacting in their needs than other lilies.

To be successful with any plant, * gardener has to find out the kind of soil and the general conditions which it may prefer. If you ever look at a pod of lily seed, you will find it is packed with flat brown discs, like tiny coins, piled one on top of another. This is the wealth of the lily, which it is ready to give to you. There are many other glorious lilies, of wonderful shape and colour, but few are more beautiful or effective in the garden than these, called Lilium Regale. The outside is marked with crimson, but the inside is creamy white with yellow at the base. It is truly called a flower with a heart of gold. BEAUTIFUL BRAZILIAN TOWN A VISIT TO MANAOS If you wanted to visit Manaos in Brazil you would find that there aro only two ways of approaching it—one by air. and the other by the mighty river Amazon. It is a city built in the heart of a dense jungle, and the only roads there go on for less than two miles and then stop. There are plenty of motor cars af Manaos, but the only pleasure their owners get out of them - is driving round and round the main square, while policemen complete with revolvers in whit© leather holsters,‘ regulate the stream of round-about traffic.

When the great boom in rubber was on this was one of the richest cities in the world, and one of the largest opera houses was built at that time. Nowadays there is less money, and the opera house does not often echo to the sound of fine music and wonderful singing.

As for railways, there is the tiny Madeira-Mamore Railway close by, a line that runs a mere 226 miles and starts and ends thousands of miles from the nearest civilised spot. It was intended that this railway should run right through the jungle to Lima, but the task was beyond the power of human hands and had to be abandoned. GIVE ME WORDS Give me words of simple length, Words of beauty, words of strength; Words to scatter error’s mist, Words of gold and amethyst. Give me words well-fit for song, Words with which to banish wrong; Words that smooth the rugged road, Words to lessen someone’s load. Give me words to suit the hour, Words of wisdom, words of power; Words that radiate new light, Words to lift men to the height. Give me words for daily need, Words a hungry soul to feed; Words that help someone to live, Words to bless and freely give. Give me words that glow with life, Words to vanquish human strife; Words that whisper tender love, Words endowed by God above. —Grenville Kleiscr. RIDDLES Q. Why is the letter T liko an island? A. Because it is in the middle of water. Q. What is the centre of gravity? A. The letter V. Q. What is that which is invisible vet never out of Bight? A. The letter S is in visible, yet never out of sight. Q. Why is coffee like an axe. A. Because it must be ground before it can bo used. Q. What trees flourish on every hearth? A. Ashes.

ASTONISHING PEOPLE THE MECHANICAL HOUSE Some of us may remember going to the cinema in its earliest days, and if so there may come to mind some crude films in which the mechanical house was shown. All that seems long ago, but long before the first mechanical house was shown on the screen John George Appold was living in one. An ingenious mechanic, he made his entrance to the stage of life in 1800, and his exit in 1865.

Son of a skin-dyer at Finsbury, he introduced so many scientific improvements into his business that in a few years he amassed a large fortune, leaving him free to enjoy his favourite pastime of inventing anything which seemed difficult to invent.

His successes were never brilliant, but he was for ever giving others good ideas. He rarely troubled to patent a notion, though he has an improved centifrugal pump to his credit. Ho preferred to help other engineers without asking for reward. But he did find pleasure in living In his odd house which was all levers and buttons. Everywhere in his house were engines, and you had only to touch a button and the wheels went round. As you approached the door and raised your hand to knock, the door opened of itself. You stepped inside, and the door closed noiselessly after you.

A queer house it was. There were shutters to the windows, but you never saw a servant closing them. Mr. Appold touched a spring, and all the shutters were drawn together. He touched another spring, and the room was instantly illuminated—long before electricity. He touched another spring, and darkness descended. There were gadgets of all kinds. "What a house for a boy to wander in! LONDON’S UNDERGROUND There is no “Underground” in the world more wonderful (or more efficient) than the one below the historic streets of the capital of the British Empire. To-day it is a vast network of tunnels, a kind of giant rabbit warren which is more wonderful than most of us realise. The building of these miles of permanent way out of sight, and the running of thousands of crowded trains every day means infinite exactitude in detail. So completely does mechanism command these hidden roads that the trains seem as if they are capable of looking after themselves. It is all mechanical from beginning to end. One need not walk up or down stairs—there is a lift, or, more probably, there are the escalators.

There is the automaticket, the comparatively new device for issuing tickets speedily in the booking hall. Worked by electricity, the machine delivers tickets through slots, and the complexity of its mechanism is something to wonder at. More wonderful

still (and fascinating to watch, unless you are altogether indifferent to meclianicle master-pieces) is the change-giv-ing machine, which lias an uncanny way of dealing with every problem presented to it.

Queer, too, are the automatic carriage doors—the double sliding doors which close of themselves just before the train starts. The train cannot start till the doors are closed. The air-pressure lessens slightly as the doors come within five inches of each other. Should a breakdown occur between stations, the driver has only to nip two wires in the tunnel to cut off power for the trains and to switch on the lights.

DOGS’ HIGHWAY CODE SAFETY FIRST MEASURES EDUCATING BRITISH OWNERS Britain’s 2,750,000 dogs now have their own highway code. It has beex drawn up by the National Safety-first Association and the National Canine Defence League in a joint campaign to reduce the number of “jay walking’ 1 dogs in London and other cities by educating their owners. No accurate statistics are available of dog casualties on the roads, but the t number killed an injured every year ■ runs into the thousands. Most of these • casualties, according to Mr. Charles ■ Johns, Canine League secretary, arise > because owners do not know how to l control their d.ogs. The new “safety-first” training

code, which is to be pointed on the back of every dog license issued in Britain, sets out the following five point programme for owners:— 1. Train your dog to come to heel instantly when bidden and to remain there. 2. Never turn a dog out for exercise . alone. 3. Whenever possible give.free exercise in the quiet byways, the park or i recreation ground, or in open country. [ Use the busy highways as little as possible, and when there keep the dog . under control. 4. On highways where there is no ! footpath always walk on the right-hand . side, facing oncoming traffic, and keep- [ ing your dog on your right. i Never call a dog from the opposite side of the road when traffic is , approaching. A special section applying to car owners states: “Motorists should not allow an undisciplined dog to interfere with the driver. If not in the care of a reliable passenger the dog should be . tethered by two leads, one on each side of the car, in such a way as to prevent either his jumping or falling out of the car. ’ ’ Motorists are reminded that they

> must report accidents to the police - within 24 hours. : The new code is not only intended ai i a safeguard for dogs. “It may save many human lives also,” says secretary Johns, “by reducing the number i of road accidents caused by motorists l swerving to avoid undisciplined dogs.” WINDMILLS IN ENGLAND j > It is not usual to think of England as l a country of windmills, yet there are i still over 200 windmills standing in f various parts of the land, and once England was second only to Holland in the > number she possessed. i Some of these ancient, and one would - think outmoded, mechanisms grind wholemeal flour, for the stones of wind- - mills arc especially suited for grinding l coarse meal, and others pump water to . drain marshy districts. It is for the * latter purpose that so many were con-

u structed and still stand in Norfolk and - Lincolnshire, the flattest of all Eug--1 lish countries. There is even one wiuds mill which has been used for generating * electricity, but the wind is so unreliable - that the scheme has been found imY practicable. - The oldest of all the windmills still standing is one at Outwood, in Surrey. e It was built in 16G5, and still its sails !i revolve patiently, turning the great mil! n stones. Another mill of great interest, e though it is no longer in use, is one that >- stands in Lambeth, which is in London n itself. It was constructed a year after the battle of Waterloo, and was used for n grinding wheat until, sixty years later, p its sails were taken off and it was allowir ed to remain idle. The years have not e affected it very much, for its timbers arc still in a sound condition.