FROM A WELLINGTON WINDOW.

Otago Witness, Issue 2387, 30 November 1899, Page 66

FROM A WELLINGTON WINDOW.

Then shook the hills with thunder riven, Then, rushed the steed to battle driven, And louder than the bolts of heaven, Far flashed the red artillery. — Thomas Campbell.

Dear Dot, — It is terrible to think of war; j to think of the cost of England's territorial aggrandisement, of man's inhumanity to man; that the largest empire in the"world must needs require the aid of New Zealanders, Australians, and Canadians, to crush the Boer, tc take his ', laud, and lower his little flag of independence, which, as Olive Schreiner says, shall have '_ placed a stair, upon our, own that centuries ' will not wash out-; to fight a brave and an industrious people, with wives and little children depending on them for, bread and life — a people who only ask for • freedom, while we cry "Pax in bello." ** ! Our egotistical Garrison Band has returned from the B^thurst contest looking very blue. | No demonstration was made, ncr was "See, the \ conquering hero comes" played. The champion band oi the colon y they may be, but I _ am of opinion that there is a better band both j in Auckland and Invercaigill. ' j Guy Fa-.vkes Day was kept up on Saturday and Monds y this year, with its attendant squibs , and crack^rsr" A Guy Fawkes .vas the terror of my younger days, and I used to dread the ; sth of November. A couple of enterprising . youths paraded the streets with a carjeatmo j of Kriiger, tho much pictured bell-topper and j all. Jir.goists found great pleasure in paying tribute, and the youths, so I heard, were liber- j ally rewarded. Monica made a guy for some , boys nrar us, which when finished she suspended by a string to the branch of a tiee. j As it was made with some of my old clothes, and she had procured a face that she said ' was like mine, I can tell you it was a rather hu- i lniliatmg thing to' see. Why Monica . hung it up, and then went lor a walk, I could not fathom. When she re- .' turned, however, it was minus a leg, which • she found on the ground.' The guy now . presented a hideous appearance, as if it had j been amputated at the knee. Whether Mo- j nica's sewing was insufficient to hold i the leg on, or someone pulled it off out ] of spite, the authorities of Glenmain have so f far been unable to discover. Monica says j that more will yet be heard of the matter, and at times I qunke with fear. ' j Dunedinite writes that she is on the eve of discovering who Miss Mufiett is. Well, Dunedinite, Monica and I think we 'have also discovered Miss Muffett. Let us compare notes. Miss Mufiett and Pauline are sisters, and the Missss D of W i. Does that tally, Dunefliiiite? What do the little folk think of B.O.B.? Jiist fancy seeing Dot, and not being provided with a camera to take a snapshot. What would not' the little' folk Tiave given to obtain a photo? 8.0.8., you have missed a fortune. I Cynthia, what a nice name you have. What , did you take it from? Was it after Cynthia j in the "The Flowers of the Forest" ? She is . such a beautiful character. It is only on ' account of your nice name that I ca.r forgive you for going bird-nesting. When we read your letter, Marguerite, how we did laugh! . Monica nearly died. You called Shan "she" ! Will Harry kindy supply Monica with the j following information re the Forget-me-not Magazine : How - and where published ; how or where obtainable, and the subscription. I j do believe she thinks she can emulate you, j and win a watch. ; I append, for the information of Pater, what : I believe to be the official proportions of the Union Jack: — The hoist (or width, the verli- j cal measurement), 30in ; the fly (length hori- j zontally), double the. hoist, 60in; the red cross \ of St. G eorge, one-nfth of the width, 6in ; the white border to this cioss is Sin in width ; the • white ealtire cross of St. Andrew, 3in ; the red , saltiro cross of St. Patrick, 2in. To this cross is j, added a lin white border, called fimbriation ; (L., fiuibri.itus, a fringe). A certain rule of \ heraldry forbida the placing of colour upon colour : hence the U3e of the fimbriation. Monica joins with me in sending kind regards to Dot, Cynthia, Dunedinite, Lamb' (the sad-eyed Wellington girl correspondent), Marguerite, Maisey, Miss Muffet, Pauline, 8.0.8., and Harry.— Yours truly, SHAN. Glenmain, Wellington, November 23. [Oh, Shan, Shan, how unpatriotic you are! And then your conclusions are all founded" ou wrong hypotheses. You should not take the shriekings of Mr Stead or the false reasoning of Olive Schreiner as a true statement of the case without reading the other side of the qiieslion. In the first place, Great Britain never sought the aid of the colonies, and the ful of troops sent by the whole of the colonies j are only a drop in the bucket, and their ser- j vices were merely accepted out of courtesy to Britain's dependencies. Then again, the Eoers have abused the trust placed in them by the British Government, who, in granting scmi-iudependence to the Republic, stipulated that all white races should be placed on the tame footing in the Republic. British subjects should have had electoial rights without taking an oath of allegiance to a subordinate State, and without all tho restrictions placed in their way. Then, again, it was the Boers who arrogantly declared war against the British, not the British against the Boer. Would you have Britain quietly sit by and see tho Eoers drive our countrymen out of South Aflica, at the instigation of a handful of Holbr.ders of the Dr Leyds stamp, without lifting a hand in defence of our fellow colonist? Fia, Shan, read and study the question thoroughly before condemning your own countrymen. For-get-me-not is published by the Answers Publiehing Company, London. It is obtainable at W. J. Prictor and Co.'s, Dunedin, the subscription being about Ss a year. lam not ! quite sure of the amount, but a specimen I copy, etc., will bo sent you by Mr Prictor if j you write to him. — DOT.] j

— "What a perfect idiot I am!" wailad Slumper. And. for the purpose of consoh.i^ him his wife absent-mindedly remarked : " >To one is perfect, William." — Teacher : "If one servant girl could clean two rooms in two hours, how long would it it take two servant girls to do it? " little Girl: "Four hours. Teacher : "Wrong. It would take only one hour." I/ittle Girl : " Oh, I didn't know you were talking about servant girls that wasn't on speaking terms."

Growers of Turnips for winter feed should not fail to grow "Standard" Swede. It is the most nutritious and handiest of Swedes, and keeps Bound into spring. Price Is per Ib..— NlJ£HO AND BLAIB.