LETTERBOX CORNER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21616, 7 October 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

LETTERBOX CORNER

A DEFINITE DUTY

Dear Miss Morton,—l noticed a short •while ago a discussion in the HzrJiLD about ■vrhether the money collected by the S.P.C.A. ior a new home for stray animals would not 'be better spent on needy human beings. I do .not want to revive the " Cats cr Human Souls " agrument here, but I do think we have a definite duty toward domestic animals. They have been taken from their natural surroundings and tamed' for our own purposes, and in many cate3 havfi lost the power to support themselves, or have been put into surroundings where thci:r natural talents would be almost useless. In the country stray cats and dogs, though not e.s alert as wild animals, would probably Jiot {ind'much difficulty in supporting themselves. But in a city, how can they posnibly be expected to fend for themselves? They would not bave been there if had Hot been brought by humans, so it is clearly our duty to look after them.—From your pen-friend, Patricia Gillespie, Moirinsvillo. SINDA Dear Miss Morton,—When my father was quite a small boy he came with hii; parents to live on a farm in Whitford and bis father bought him a little pony which was to serve him bo faithfully for many years. Bay in colour and scarcely bigger than a Shetland, Sinda was a great favourite of nil the children in the district, who used to pet her and bog rides on her, rides which were not always enjoyed, for she was very knowing and, whenever a stranger went to ride her, she would gallop off at a great rate, although with dad on her back she was always perfectly reliable. When dad got older he used to ride Sinda back nnd forth to hin work, sometimes many miles away. Years afterwards when my Bisters were small Sinda would follow them about and eut grass or hay out of their hands, but she ■would never allow them to cafxh her. .Imagine dad s grief when one morning, on going to bring in the horses, be found Sinda lying in the paddock with one of her logs the result of a kick from one of the working horses. Very shortly her Jeg was made comfortable in splints, but this faithful creature's age prevented the leg from mending and so a man had to bo hired to destroy her. We have another pony now, a pretty small white one, and although we are all very fond of her, she can rever ■tako the place of Sinda, who served the family so faithfully and so well for nearly thirty years.—Your loving pen-friend, Betty M. Ray, Whitford (age 12).

QUEER PUSS Dear 'Miss Morton.—Here is a strange little fitory about a pet kitten of ours which ■eem» to enjoy his milk equally as much from a bottle as from a saucer. "Whon he ■ees me. bottle in hand, going to feed the lambs, he follows me crying the while, apparently asking for a drink, which, of course, ho gets. Hp does not suck but laps in tho ordinary manner. I hold the bottle with the teat lightly resting on his tongue while Jio sits upon hi« haunches with his two front paws on the neck of tho bottle. It is, as you can imagine, a comical sight, but Kitty laps away as unconcernedly on though ho "was drinking from a saucer.—Your sincero pen-friend. Joyce Lctford, Puketahn, li.D., Hamilton.

TOM

LUCY FYERS M.B.G. Lake Road, Te Kauwhata. (Age 19). Original. • When ho first arrived at the homestead,"all he had was his horse and dog, and a lumpy, bumpy pack that suggested frying-pans, camp ovens, billies and a blanket or two and little else. He told us his name was Tom and he asked tho " boss " if he could dig gum like tho other Maoris. He was only a small Maori, with a hard, scarred face, but kindly eyes, and not at all young for his hair was grey at the temples. lie was offered a cup of tea and something to eat which he thankfully accepted. He took the bread from the plate and walking back to his horse, divided it into three. One piece he gave to the dog, another to the horse and the third he ate himself. For months and months, he dug kauri gum; he lived in a camp of his own alone with his horse and dog. Every now and then he would go away for a day or two, and then come scalloping home again. On one of his trips he begged or bought a brown leghorn rooster and two hens. He treated them in just the same kind-hearted manner that ne treated his horse and dog. Where he came from, and why he came, were things we never knew. He just grew into our lives and we respected his thoughtfulness for the dumb creatures. He did odd jobs about the farm, there was hardly one thing that he could not do. One day he came to the " boss " and said: " ' Boss ' I am going away. Can I leave my horse, dog and hens here? 1 don't want to leave them at the pa, the other Maoris will ride my horse to death, they arc cruel people. Please, Boss,' don't you ride her you are

too heavy—but the kiddies can. {She likes the kiddies. Some day I'll come and pay for the grazing, but never, 'boss,' never you let anyone take my horse or my dog away from here till 1 come bank." So Torn departed. That strange, kind man. That was years ago; the hens and rooster have died from old age. Yes! the dog too. The horse is still alive, but old indeed! Tom has never come back. Wo have been told that he is dead.