LETTERS FROM LITTLE FOLKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2258, 10 June 1897, Page 51

LETTERS FROM LITTLE FOLKS.

Dear Dot, — A short time ago a friend of mine and I bad a bizaar for the Kindergarten Fund. We wrote s.nd told you aboub ife, calling ourselves " Snowdrop and Crocus," and you asked us for an accounb of ib. Wo live in the country, bub my sister, my brother, and three other friends, as well as myself, liva in Inveroargill and go to school. Ib was iv town thab we had the baztar. Ib commenced &b 4- o'clock. I had the fancy stall, ■which contained several pretty iitlle things, amougsb nhich were piacushious, nsedlebooks, I penwipers, aad fans. Ona of Ihe i>re'ufclesb pincushions was in the shape of a stmflowor. It vras mado of brown velvet asd yollow iiifc, aud had a loop of brown ribbon to hang it up with. There were also some little dolls — one dressed as a, bride, o'<e as a fairy, and one in a pink ) niJk dress. My friend had xnot-her stall. It [ was a round table, and in Iho midd!« was & i plaSe oi cakes, round whicb ware ha&keta of j cake and lollies, as well as some Kfcllw saxlor Uats ; made oi cardboard and filled with eocoanut ice ' and toffee. Soruo or our friends could nob ; cnine to the bazaar, bob they cams s, few days j afterwards and bougiib some of tho things thdi j were over. I hope my leltw is not too lowg. ; — Yours ttoiy, i Dorothy V?neu ("Skowdeop"). ■' Oc&karama, 53ay 31. ; [No, iitble Snowdrop, ib certainly is nob too I long, bub ib is most interesting. I( - waa a very ( nice idea iudeed, and maifc have given you as much pleasure aa ife did benefit to the fund. Did you ccc bhe report of ihe annual meeting o£ the Kiudergavben Association, iv which your Hbllo-bfczaar waa made special meution of ? No wonder, with such lifcfele friends as Snowdrop and Crocus, and numbers of others wiom I need riifc name just now, lhafc we have been able to raise £19 in two years for the Kindergarten, Fund.— Dot.] Dear Dot, — Thank you vsry much for your nice letter to me, J ought to have wribten before bo teil you all about tfaab dreadful Good. Friday. I am glad to bo able to tell you we escaped bhe water, though i« came very close to us, but ifc was in the houses loweu down. Mother and I went down the street s-b 10 p.m., and they had bo*ts going about along by the j houses. Ib aeemed so strange to see bhe big r boats there. We, tha school children, hav<s ! given tip our priza taoney to the relief fund I ! atn so sorry for the widows and little children ! of the brave mon who loat their lives trying bo s&ve others. Napier seems so different now. — Your loving little friend, Johnnie Corkill. j Milton road, Napier, May 25. 1 [I am very glad indeed thst you escaped so I well, Johnnie. Ifc rnusb be quite sad enough bo see tbe desbrucbiou caused wibhout being a. loser by the calamity. It is very good of the childrea to give up their prize money to the relief fund. Thank you for the stamps for the Kindergarbea Fund. — Dot.J Dear Dot, — I was so pleased to sea my letter in prinb the onhor week. lam nob sending you the bluebell flower this time, bub some day perhaps I will sand you a little buDch of flowers, and j some wild ones with them. Were you called j Dob because you were small ? My name is • Dot, too, but I am not a rlob now. for I am sft I 3in in heigh l ;. How tall areyan, Dot ? I hops 1 you don'b mind me asking you these questions. , There have been terrible floods here ; some of | tbo people had to sit ou iue.'r houses all night. i EJy little brother has such a dear little pony. j It's name is Pancake ; don't you think that is a funny name ? Dot, it; really seems a« if I knew j you very wt-11. lam sure I would like you if I i knew you ; you are ho good to the little folks. j Now, dear Dot, I must say good-byo. Wibh * love from I North Island, May 27. Dot. [Oh dear, namesake mine, you aro too fall | altoi;eth»r for a Dot, and I am afraid your name f will require to be extended to Dorothy. Five •feat three ! No, I really cannot tell you wy height, becauee io would seem so small compared with thab. I hope the pony isn't aa flafe as a pancake, bub independent of that I think the name a very good one. Ifc has the advan- ; (age ot origiuality ab all events. Thank you, ' de*if, for youc good opinion of your namesake. ; — Dot.] j Deak Dot, — There is snow on the ground up j here nt present, and ib ia very cold. Dear Dob, i I have a black kitten with four white paws ; ; please will you give me a name for ib. I have also a little prize topknot hen ; please will you give me a name for ifc aiso. Tae train does nob come aa far as this yeb. There are only 50 children ab our school. I bave two brothers, bub no sisbers. Ely brothers' names are Petar and Willie. lam sending bhree atampa for bhe Kindergarten Fund. — Yours bruly, Rebecca Johnston (aged 10 years). Kokonga, May 31 [White Sbep would be a good name for the kisten and Jeanuie Topknot for the hen. Thank you for the stamps, Rebecc3. — Dot.] Dear Dot, — May I bscome one of your little contributors ? lam in the Fifth Standard at school. I have a pure white kitten called Snowy. We are h&viug vtry bad weather down here jusb now, and the roads are very muddy. We are practising for a kinderspiel in the Winfcon School, c-illed " The Happy F*mily," and lam in ib. Mr Wyllie, the he*d master in the school, is going to a greab deal of trouble with ifc. — Yours truly, Violet M. Wilson (aged 12 years). | Winbon, Southland, May 29. 1 [I hope your kinderspiel will ba a succaafl,

Violet, and ihall be glad to geb a lottor from you telling us all aboufc ib. — Dot.] Deak Dot, — Since I lost wrote we have had the addition to our township of a large school and teacher's residence, which greatly add bo the ornameubabion of the bownship. I think I told you before that the Taieci River aud bhe Cenbral railway run parallel through here, and I am pleased to say thab the railway is going on towards completion. They have been ballasting aboub a month. When bhe engine came here first I happened bo be setting rabbit traps, and when ib whisbled, for a moment I thoughb one of my dogs had gob inbo a trap. This engine has a peculiar whistle, different by far from those we hear in town. I still have bhe black pot rabbit. When ib stands on its hind legs with its white forepaws over eaoh other ib muoh resembles a policeman in bhe street with his gloves on. I like reading " Eight Years' Travel in Australia." There is one question I would like to ask. We are taught thab the moon it the nearest solar body to this earth, aud sometimes we geb an eclipse of the moon. Bub if the moon is the nearest object bo the earth, what body is there bo come in between the moon and the earth to cause an eclipse ?—? — Yours truly, KokoDgs, May 29. Garfield Smith. [A very thoughtful question, Garfteld, and one which ib does you credit bo put. There is no body to como between the moon and bhe earth, the eclipae in such a case being caused by the relative positions of the earth and the moon causing bhe shadow of tho earth bo bs casb upon tho moon, resulting in bho eclipse, or rather patbial eclipse, for bho moon is nob totally eclipsed, simply appearing as a red ball insbead of with its usual silvery face. — Dor.] Dear Dot, — I lire aboub half a mile from the school, bub that is nob much compared nitu the distance some other boyo havo to walk — namely, three and a-half miles. Some other boys ride bo school often, and the? go three and a-half miles also. One day Miss Can on, our teacher, and some more peoplci got up a picnic to go up a stream called the Clear River, and I was asked to go with them. When we gob up bhe river a good distance some of th young men went j shooting and some of them boiled the water ' and made taa. After a while we wtnb further ' up the river and got a lob of ferns, bhen wo ! camo demu tha river again, and a3 some of us I were making stonea skirei across tho river a I photographer yook a snapshofa ab uj). When we i were coming home again some of ua fired sfecks j at poDts. When I was coming home I I'elb I had | apent a very happy day. Livingstone is a very \ old gold-raining torn, and the fii-it mining was | worked by water flowing over the face of tho | claim ; bub now the people geb a hose wibh a ! nozzle at the end of it, and so bore bhe face aud j make the earth fall. A long time ago one of my uncles was killed in a claim when a big slip camp. ( down. Some more, inea have been killed or hurt I vttty much. Dear Dot, I have boen through j O&nzia'a Paaa twice. Ib is vary cold over thero | io. wiofcer, bub if you v?enb over in summer you I would enjoy yourself, I think. My brother a*s I a dog, but he cannot catch rabbits as he is too old, bub he is a good carrier and is a good dog after pigs in the mountains. Oaoe when my father and brother wenb hunting bhey raw guoh a big pig, aud the dog ran after it, and ib ripped ! him on biin side and in the ear, and evoa now j you oan see a hole in his ear, which will never geb better. When he gob ripped so much my father lef b him in the mountain bo die «vj he was fo weak and they had no horse to carry him '. home on. Tho next day we found him lying \ beside tho fence, rou weak to gob over ib. We | got him over, and gave him a hear by welcome, j and after » lob of good treatmonb he gob well, ; and is alive to this day. — Your.* truly, Bisimn Neale (aged il years). Livingstone, May 29. i [Poor old dog, he had a very narrow escape, j Bertie. Whab a pitiful journey lie would have j all the way home. He deserved your kind traat- ! naenb, and I have no doubb he appreciated ifc. i Whab » wild country ib seems to be over bha | pass. I should think very f«w people try ib in winfesr. — Dot ] ! Dkar Dot, — I am old Goose, and I am aboub 22 years of age. My parents came through Danzies' Pas? about 23 years ago in a bag. My father died ab a good old age, bub my poor mother weub nvtd after the lost of my father. I fimt lived aboub two miles from i Livingstone township, bat when my master and , ! mistress shifted they took me with thorn. The placo I nexfe lived ab «-as about 50 yards off the ' township, aad I lived there a good many years. I was next; living aboub half « mile t'rem the township, near some dams. This was good for me, as I could go and have a swim whenever I 1 pleased. I had a lob of children, bub they were ' taken from me aud sold, ou killed in soma way | or other, and I am left a poor widow wibhout ; friends or relations bo comforb me in my old ags. . I My mastar and mistress weuls to Naseby aud ; left me behind, and I am now fossicking tor my < living aa best I can. My master's f rionda think | ib a shame to kill me, because I have been such. 1 a faithful servant for so many ysata. Daar Dofc, I can you tell me to what age xeesa generally Hva j j whea left to themselves, for I find ifc very diffi- j ! cult to make a living these lurd times, — Yonra i truly, A Wears Goosk. j Livingstone, May 31. i [Poor old Goose, surely the neighbours might j throw you enough to liva on wibh fcb.fi gra«s you ) ger, bus apparently they don'fc when you are so woary. I hay« he*rd of a 25-year-old goose, • bub whether they livo longer thau that I don'b kuow. — Dot.] i Deak Dot, — Every week I fly bo the Witness '( i to read your letters, bo I thought I woald write j '■ one myself. I attend school her«, aud am in ' the Fifth Standard. My teacher ia Mr Valentiae.^ancl ho is well liked by his scholara. I have a little dog, and its name is Dob. She has four pupa jusb now, two of which we aro goiug j. to keep* 1 ; would you mind giving ma nurses for ! them. — Youra truly, Albert Chirnside j • Balclnbha, June 1. (aged 13). ) [Call fche pup 3 Spot and Tot, Albert.— Dot. | I Dear Dot, — I have four sisters and four ' brothers ; their names are Eliza, Jessie, i Florence, Sufcb, Ernest, Herbert, Pearce, and Wallace. We have five ca.fs ; please give me r , names for tyro of them. We have a paroquet, i and it is learning to talk nicely. We have a | j duck aad a draks, and &ho a pig. — Yours | truly, Maktha Bkidqman j (aged 9 years 2 months). I Mabel Bush, June 1. [How am I to know what the names of the obners are, Martha ? However, call them Nip j , and Tip.— Dot.] I Dear Dot, — I have nob seen any letters from I Kokonga lately, so I thoughb I would like to ' write to tell you thab the school opened on March 22, and that I like going to 3chool vsry much. Mr M'Lean is our teacher, bub we ara going bo lose him. We are all sorry he is going away, and I hops he has gob a bebber place, and that the next master will be as kind and good to U3 as Mr M'Lean has been. I enclose 6d for the Kindergarten Fund. With i love, — Yours truly, May H. Kealy (aged 8 years). Kokonga, June 2. [I am sure Mr M'Lean will be much gratified &b the lovejie has instilled in his oudUs, May,

and if any boy or girl in the school- to which h«. is going reads your lebter, they will look fof« ward with pleasure to the coming of such a kind!', teacher. Thank you for your contribution to" the fund. — Dot.] Dear Dot,— l like reading- the little folk** letters very muoh. I live five miles from th« township, the place I Hyo at being called Winding Creeft. I have two^dogs, and their names are Smut and Keep. Smut is % black dog, and Keep is a white and brown one. They are both good rabbiters. I have no other seta to bell you about. I send three stamps tor the fund. — Yours truly, - J. Radford. W&ikaia, June 2. [I suppose you have great fun with Smut and Keep on Saturdays aud holidays. Have you bo go five miles to school ? Thank you for the stamps. — Dot.] Dear Dot, — I live at Livingstone, a small township situated about 30 miles wast of. Onmaru. I have four miles to walk to tohool, and lam in the Third Standard. We have four cows, and their names are Lady, Lily, Kate, aud Maria. My brother has a pony ; will you please give him a name for ib. Ib ie very cold and frosby up here just now. Wa are going bo have an Atbor Day soon. My father gets tho Witness every week, and I like reading the little folks' letters. Good-bye. — Your* truly, James Molholland (aged 10 years). Livingstone, May 30. [Thab is & long way to walk, James, and t have no doubt you got bo school bired and hot, even though the weather is frosby. I suppose you geb a lifb iv a passing trap now and again, though, don't you ? As we are nearly on tho Record Bsign celebrations now I think you might call the pony .Record. — Dot.] Dbah Dot, — I have six brobhers and five sisters, and fcheir names are Gavin, John, Henry, Philip, Norman, Thomas, Elizabeth, Annie, Catherine, Agnes, and Isa. I like going bo school, and I am in the Third Standard.—Your* truly, Francis Amos Mabel Bush, June 4-. (aged 10 years).