TINKER BELL TALKS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 19 December 1936, Page 13

TINKER BELL TALKS

Hello, everybody—Tink calling! I have heard so much lately about sportsmen. and women that I thought we might have a little chat about sport—especially swimming. A friend from Malay has told me some interesting things about the way little children learn to swim in those parts where there are streams in which to bathe. It appears that the women go down to the streams to wash' themselves and their babies and, when the washing is over, they just pitch the tinies up stream and wait for them to come back! Even little tots of six or seven months old learn to swim in this way, long before they can walk. When they find themselves in the water, with their mothers a little distance off, they instinctively strike out, like puppies, the stream carries th.em down, and soon they are back in their motlA.'s’ arms. After only a' few attempts, I hear, the babies take quite readily to the natural swimming stroke and by the time they can toddle some of them can do marvellous things in the water. Pretty good? But I should be rather afraid to throw a small baby into a stream, even if I were there to see that no • harm came to him. Wouldn’t you?—Tink. j

A PRETTY NIGHTDRESS

Ask someone to measure your length from neck to toes, and buy twice this length of material, with two inches extra for the hem. Choose pretty washing material for the nightgown, and buy, also, a penny skein of stranded cotton in a pastel shade—

pink, blue, or primrose, according to the colour of the material you have chosen—and one yard of narrow ribbon to match.

Fold the material in halves, widthways and lengthways and cut as shown in diagram A. Perhaps it would be as well to prepare a paper pattern, which you can try on and

alter if necessary before cutting into the material.

The neck edge, front opening, and sleeves are trimmed with buttonhole stitched scallops, whichj you must work with the stranded cotton before the garment is made up. The front opening is a slit, three inches deep,

J cut down the centre fold, as shown at X in thfe diagram. To mark out the scallops, lay a halfpenny on the material just above one of the edges you are going to embroider—say on the sleeve. Pencil half round it, then move it along to the right and pencil half round again.

Continue thus till you have marked out the entire edge. Then pencil half round the coin again, this time placing it about an eighth of an inch inside each of the first set of scallops. Complete all in the. same way, and treat all the edges like this. Outline each scallop with two rows

, of running stitches, then buttonhole ; stitch over them, as. shown in progress l in diagram B, and work a small satin ' stitch spot above every curve, as I shown in diagram C. Press the embroidery under a damp cloth with a | hot iron, then cut out the scallops with sharp embroidery scissors, being very careful not to cut any of the threads.

Join the side and underarm seams of the nightdress and hem the lower edge. Cut the ribbon into two equal lengths and stitch one piece on either side of the front opening, to tie at the throat in a bow.—Wendy’s Dressmaker.

HEROES AND HEROINES OF LEGEND THE SEVEN SISTERS The seven lovely daughters of Atlas, the god who held the world on his shoulders, lived together in perfect happiness. They were the attendants of the goddess Diana, but when she did not require their services they lived in a magnificent forest. Now, there was a famous hunter called Orion, and one night he wandered into this forest and saw the seven sisters dancing in a patch of moonlight. Over their shoulders they wore floating veils of silver mist, and, as they threw these up towards the moon, Orion imagined them to be the wings of lovely birds. He approached them silently but when the seven sisters saw the hunter they were terrified and fled away. Knowing that he would soon outrun the beautiful maidens, Orion went after them, saying he meant no harm. After a frantic chase through the moonlit forest, he was so close upon them that he almost caught the golden hair of Merope. In their terror, the sisters then called upon Diana to help them, and, to his amazement, Orion saw seven white pigeons

fly away into the night as the maidens vanished from his sight.

Higher and higher flew the seven sisters, round and round they circled, not knowing what to do. Then Diana guided them to a certain part of the sky and changed them into stars. You can see them to-day—the beautiful little group of stars called the Pleiades.

But only on a very fine night can you see Merope, because she is still pale with fear, although she knows she is now safe from Orion the hunter. If you want to see the most lovely of the sisters, Electra, you must look for her elsewhere. She loved the great city of Troy, and she could not bear to see it fall into the hands of the

enemy, so she covered her eyes with her hands, rushed from her place in the Pleiades, and fled away through the sky with her hair streaming out behind her. To-day we call her a comet. The seven sisters were named the Pleiades by the Greeks because the word means to sail, and these stars guided the sailors for thousands of years, and by their brightness told them the best times of the year for sailing the perilous seas. COLOURS FROM VEGETABLES Since very early times, men have obtained colourings from plants and vegetable matter of all kinds, and some races still extract from plants the brilliant tints with which they dye their blankets. The tartans of Scotland were, up till the middle of the eighteenth century, dyed at home by the women, with colours taken from heather, lichens and broom, but the art was largely lost when the wearing of 'the tartans was then, for a time, forbidden. Indigo dye is produced by several species of plants in Asia, Central America and the West Indies. In the ancient East, this colour was said to rival the Imperial purple, which was actually obtained from a sea snail related to the humble whelk.

Before the indigo plant was introduced into Europe, the same colour

was extracted from a crucifer called Isatis tinctoria, the woad plant used by our forefathers in ancient Britain for staining their bodies blue. Nowadays, the indigo industry has di'minished greatly, owing to the development of synthetic or chemical dyes, which are much less costly. Indigo itself is now obtained mainly by synthetic processes from a substance called naphthalene.

A dark red colour is extracted from logwood, which also yields shades varying from deep purple to pale mauve, and this still has considerable importance in the dyeing of black fabrics and in the manufacture of inks. The madder, used to produce the Turkey red colour, is extracted from the roots of several plants native to Asia. SWEET-MAKING CORNER BROWNIES This is an American sweet which I am sure you will like. Beat the white of an egg with a whisk until it is stiff and stands alone. Have ready a small teacupful of brown sugar, and one of chopped nuts. Add the brown sugar 'gradually to the white of egg beating all the time. Sprinkle the chopped nuts with a little salt, and stir them quickly into the egg and sugar. Have ready a buttered tin or paper, drop the mixture from the point of a spoon on to this, leaving a good inch between each “brownie,” and bake in a moderate oven till light brown. TINK’S CROSS-WORD PUZZLE Solution to last week’s puzzle:— ACROSS 1. This number. (One). 3. Hands are at the ends of them. (Arms). 6. Three more than this number. (Nine). 7. Short for Edward. (Ted). 9. Mend stockings. (Darn). 11. A full stop is one. (Dot). 12. Two less than this number. (Ten). 14. A metal. ’ (Iron). 16. What you do in arithmetic class. (Add). 18. You hit it with a hammer. (Nail). 19. Level. (Even). 20. Not high. (Low). DOWN 1. Not at home. (Out). 2. The conclusion. (End). 3. Conjunction. (And). 4. You do when you have a book. (Read). 5. Dispatched. (Sent). 8. Always. (Ever), 10. Your house may be in one. (Road). 12. The clock tells it. (Time). 13. Not any. (None). 15. Nancy in short. (Nan). 16. Every one. (All). 17. Moisture which falls in the evening. (Dew). This week the puzzle is a little more difficult, but I think you will be able to manage it. Clues:— ACROSS 1. —— are you? 5. Possessive pronoun. 8. Girl’s name. 9. Call of a dove. 10. This girl’s name could be made into a road. . 12. Groups. 13. Also. 14. For. 16. Everything. 18. They may be trees or parts of the hands. 20. You have to open your eyes to do this. 22. A young goat. 24. A sailor, or something used in road making. 25. Before. 26. Historical period from the letters in 21 down. ■ ' 27. Wild beast’s home, brings Ned back. DOWN 1. Possessed. 2. Scent. 3. This means trouble and is raw coming back. 4. Belonging to me. 5. Something cold. 6. The whole amount. 7. Call for help. 11. Preposition. 12. Therefore. 14. It sticks, and may be a pest. 15. “A rope” changed in the theatre. 16. Invited. 17. Loaded. 19. Narrow road. 21. It should be a good listener. 23. Anger. TINKITES’ TOYSHOP

(Even (Low

NOVEL SPINNING TOY

You can make this interesting toy from two small wooden Jpalls, about one and a quarter inches in diameter, like those used for the game of ninepins. With a fine bradawl, bore a hole in each, about half an inch deep, as indicated in diagram A. Now get a piece of model aeroplane rubber, six inches long, put a little glue in each hole and press in the ends of the rubber, one in each hole. Fix with small wedges cut from a match-stick, as shown at B. To use the toy* hold one ball between fingers and thumb of the right hand, as in the first diagram, and whirl the other round and round, with a circular motion, on top of the kitchen table. The movement causes the square rubber strand to twist, as indicated by the arrow. When you have finished the whirling, place both

balls on the table and let go the toy, when the balls will revolve backwards and forwards around a common centre, as shown in the last diagram.

It is interesting to watch them rapidly revolving for several seconds in one direction, and then, after com-

ing to rest for a moment, begin to revolve in the opposite direction, unwinding and rewinding the rubber strand for a considerable time. The balls, besides being of the same diameter, should be made of the same wood, to ensure proper balance. The toy can be used on an uncovered table top or on a lino covered floor.—The Hut Carpenter.