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New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20130, 15 December 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

|g, Sunny flmilea and happy faces, Merry play in grassy places, s{« This is how all through the ages Children grow to kings and sages. —From Nancy Jones, ' .$< Bennett St., Paeroa. W

.J)e'ar Boys and Girls: cri'Tho Christmas spirit of rush and excitement has now descended on us all. ' mid tho days are not long enough for all Vo have to do. Tho judging of the : Christmas Competitions has taken many t jiours of patient- labour, and 1 am sure , you will all bo eagerly awaiting results. ' Syhich I hope to publish next Saturday. ".Romo of tho winners' work will, perhaps, ibo used next week, but tho best will bo reserved for our special Christmas Supple inent, to be publishod on Monday, December 24. v. Pleoso read our Christmas outing notoa , to-day. Only a week to go! I hopo many of you have been working your hardest, and that plenty of donations will cfcme to gladden our heart? next week The Mail Bag has been very full lately, BO no more for now. ' Your Friond,

v . - t THE MONSTER EEL. •»_' Dear Miss Morton,—l had such on excit- , iu;: time last Tuesday morning! I went fishing with' my two sisters. You know ; how exciting fishing is. especially when you a lot like we did. We caught 2G;' lit tie rock-cods. When wo arrived we Waited our hook straight away and no sooner did I put my line in the water than "•I caught a fish! We caught 13 and then, just as I was baiting my hook we saw an eel in the water about two feet long. I .hurried and cot my line in the water but , just as the eel was going to bite it a cod "fish got on my line. After I hod caught '.vtthout seven fish the eel at last swallowed , the. bait. big pull brought him on to "dry land. You can guess how excited I ' as it was tho biggest eel I had ever vl ; iad caught 13 more fish we returned home. I very proudly carried rny eel, my little Bi3ter carried tho fish, and my big sister Carried the rods. We arrived home feeling well satisfied with our morning's work —With love from Sheila Lee, Parua Bay, SUMMER FLOWERS. Dear Miss Morton,—l would like to tell , soiwabout my garden, which is looking very KayJjiow with all the uummer flowers. 1 '■' nave a little plot situated on the slope of '•ofitr hill. It ha 3 a border of yellow and jmrplo. pnnsies and violas. Behind that. r are red, white and pink antirrhinums and jrcllow and orange marigolds, carnations, pi candytuft, coreopsis and other plants. At i -.tho side is a row of sweet peas which are profusely. . I gathered a huge bunch yesterday morning. I think sweet Jicas are jny favourite flower. They have :i nuch a delicate scent. In one corner of . ituy garden Is a beautiful scarlet geranium ii( whicU looks very bright with its muss of , .Bcarlel blooms. Yellow flowers do brighten •the roadside. I ppticed that when I went to Te Aroha the other day. In one place <;1-he roadside was a mass of yellow butter- , iiups for a few chains. They looked so pretty. I can imagino what a glorious Vftight tho golden brooms would be on the «' v.ay to IJotorua. As wo approached Te Aroha we passed some beautiful homes with gardens round them which were jußt a blaze of colour.—l must close with best wishes ■ ' for a Merry Christmas and a Ilappv New •.jiVear. from your loving Pen-friend. Nancy .Jones.. Bennett Street. Paeroa. (age 12). THE BLACKBIRD'S NEST. Dear -Miss Morton.—l am going to tell you. übont a very tamo blackbird tbat lias built three nests this season. The first aiest siio built-on tho fence and it was very interesting to watch her weave the straw into it. Then she laid four pretty, pale ~blue eggs speckled with brown, but before 'tney were hatched she left the nest, as we ~"Jiad a storm and the nest, w»s soaking wet. " About a. week later we found that she was another nest a li* tie farther along the fence and soon after ihe was sitting on „ ,lour'- pretty eggs. Then one-day. three •n weeks Inter, we found four tiny birds Vcrv ..soon they had their feathers and the blackafjbird would allow us to fee<l her with bread- ' crumbs. Sometimes she would hop down 1 'off the nest and sit on a branch waiting for •firs if she saw U3 coming with something vJfor her. One day we found that the birds Jiad flown away. Upon searching we found * Some of -them in a tree. When thev were ''Able to find food for themselves she built i<»hother nest in a rose bush just above the nest. Not long after she had four jnore tiny birds, which very soon flew aivay. -At the "present time she is sitting on the ■"* same nest on four more eggs. We have jisix little bantam hen 3 and tliey have all ,jbeen clucky this year. Two o f them have (pretty little bantam chicks. They are so and are verv quick.—l remain your loving Pen-friend. Olive Hyde, Puihi Street. Rotorua (age 15). . * FIRE! FIRE! ■ t T am going to tell you of one of the greatest fires I have ever seen. d«ar Miss Mor- , Palmerston North. We were rudely ■t'nwakened from sleep at about ten o'clock. ,*»nd. picture our amazemert when wo saw rom the front- verandah figures clad only pyjama iackets. running up and down 'Athe street shouting "Fire!" " Givo the ifajurml," and other similar expressions heard when a big fire occurs. A hundred . yards aw.iy a bookseller's shop had caught fire-and had already gained an upper-hand Jlielped on by the dry leaves of numerous and a strong breeze. Pieces of ,burnt wood were falling and nolice were busily engaged in keeping tho excited •:9ierowd- back (for by this time people from (■-".everywhere had come), when the ring of „ ( fhfi firebell fell upon our ears and tho giant fro _ engine drew up alongside the large K fitatinnery_ building iust as the wal' of the > ''neighbouring shop hud eanffht. Tho bri-.trade-was soon busy in trying to extinguish the soaring fire which was rapidly spreading its flames to the front portion of the next 'door'shop. At last, after two hours' of ''Worm work, the flames had all died down end the unfortunate owner of the once bookshop was left with a mass of ashes in olace of a good business shop. T then left for home and dreamed of nothing but mansions being burned down by that wicked destroyer—Fire.—From your Pen-friend. John Ilendle, Paparoa (age 14). GENTLE AND FRECKLES. >v Dear Miss Morton.—l am writing this i l/time to tell you about my pets whose names . >.ro Gentle,,' Freckles and Bluey. Gentle 'is oiir";old house cow. Wo named her :i Gontltf because she i 3 as quiet us a-lamb. 1 often play with her after school. I can ride on her back and pretend I am a cowboy, and I can make her lie down for me. Freckles is a little brown and white spaniel, I bad her given to mo on my birthday. which is a year ago to-day. Wo called • her freckles because her nose is covered with freckles. The cow and her are de--1 voted friends. Then there is Bluey. the cat She is a bluey grev colour so that is why we _ named her Blucv. I have a tongue-twister to put in:—Tom the tiller, took two ties to tie two tall tree*!—l remain, your Pen-friend. Itonald Cameron. Pukckuia (age 14) MY PET DOG. if Dear -Miss Morton.—This is my first to you. t really think it must be • very exciting to have a letter published ill Hkiiald. My snbiect that lam about (/•■to write is about "My Pet Dog." I wonder how rnanv of the children of nowadays have pets. Mv pet dog's name is Tiger. He is rcallv a pretty dog. having n ginger coat and dark brown, patheticlooking eyes. I play all sorts of games with Tiger and he <=cems to understand what game we nre playing. He is usually "''V>n our lorry with my two brothers. Jim 4?=find Charlie, r.nd he is grintly admired by nil the people around our district, espeei iilIV by the children, who always tind some thing nice about does. One thing about Tiger, he is a good watch dog, alway# on the alert for strangers when visiting our home. If T happen to be fooling with anv one and they incline to hurt mo he will »-give olio of his warning growls." I hear f.him barking for bis evening meal, so had abetter go and feed him at onco or perhaps J,there' will be trouble.—l remain, your affectionate Pen-friend. William Gordon. Ilongo Pal. Te Kauwhata (ago 15). THE THRUSH'S SONG. 'We-have just leartied The Thrush's Song at school, dear Miss Morton This ia it:— t • Did ho do it. did he do it? Come and Ree, como and seel \ Cherry Bweet. cherry sweet, : { l't iU> Knee deep, knee deep, ' • Pity you, pity you, ' ■ To me, to me. to me! js. from Robin Rabone, .-Arapnni (age