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Otago Witness, Issue 2471, 24 July 1901, Page 74

Bixth Standard at school. Do you ride a Jbicytle, Dot? 1 used to ride to 6chool on one, (lout I do not care for riding at all. Was not "dl a shame it was such bad weathei for the {Royal visitors in Wellington. A great many toeople went from here, but I was not one of the lucky ones. lam another North Islander, 'i see there are not many writing to Dot from this island. Ido not know any of the L.F. yet, as lam only a beginner. I have been learning music for seven years, and I am very Bond of it. I have a dear little canary, and ihe sings beautifully. My sister had one also, ilaut ihe cat kiUed it, and we were all so sorry. .'.With love tc Dot and all the L.F.,— Yours %1V -' QUEECHY 11. [Why, we have alreach a Queechy wilting, ec i have had to put "II" "to yo-ir i.<^r cle clear, but perhaps you will select auothir n?-aie next time you write. —DOT ] Dear Dot,— After ar absence of about a yeai I have again started to wnte to >ou. How many times, Jealousy, have you and I said •we were going to start to write again to l Dot? But now I have started, I hope you jwill do sc too. What weather we are having just now! Cold, miserable days, and still coldei liights. Last week we had a fall of Vsnow, and in some places the drifts were pretty '■deep. My! what fun my sister and I had driving the cows through one of thc«e drifts. 'Later oa that same day my sifters ar.d 1 ivVlulgec l in a game of snowballing, and ye made 'pihe fun fly for a while. The sprcup oi D.L IT.1 T . ;was a great success, avd «Oiiie rre \ eiy distinct j'l think Piccolo and Boy the two best among ,the boys, and Tot" and Dunedinite among the girls. The editor quickly -solved your difficult {problem, didn't he, Dot > We are indebted xo Daisy Primio.se for many nice, interesting 3etters, and I thank the piece oi pcetiy, "My iouquet to Dot," exceedingly pietty. Agnn laldo has a veiy nice lettei in this week, and so has Rimbscco. Where has Cynthia gone? — not retired, I hope, for she was one of niy daxcurite wiitois. Marguerite does not write so often , in iact / none ci the old writers do [Dear Dot. my aunty has ;ust lately sent us a njlioto of herself, nr\ cousins, and a girl -who fcas a badge o.i her hat. 1 should very much Uike to know her norn dc p'.uuie, and I hops 'she will v.iUe and toll r.\e. The photo v '-- /taken at E., Oamaiu, c"d my auutv's name is Sirs W. Dear Dot, th's morning my «. = ter mid I were sitting in {rout cf the fire Tending, tmd as no one cl«e was up, the house w?.s pietty iquiet, when suddenly the door opsred. You 'may be sure we got a stirt, and on looking up uive'saw otir eldest biotli-r, whom we did not expect home till later on in the day. He 'anticipated getting home befoie anyone wps up, and giving us a fright, but we v. eie ioo 'early for him. What an interesting letter fljil "has in. I only regret that she did not /write sooner. Hurry up, my dear old sehoo lanate Jealousy, and write. With love to 'Jealousy, Cynthia. Lil, Aguinaldo, Boy, and a-cu" own precious self, — Youis truly, , HYACINTH.

[How like a big brother. Hyacinth. Hov9\st he did not get things ail bis own wpv that time. Ye*, dear, the editoi solved the problem, ibut you have no id-ja of the difficulty I am .experiencing in carrying out his »ohition. iFancy, just on 50 cenden^pd lettcis last week, r.nd i' felt all the time that ea.-'i one represented a disappointed D.L.F.— DOT.] ! .Dear Dot,— l Ihe m a bush countiy, a:id the toads are very muddy in winter. I go to school, and lam in the Infant Reader. Dear Pot, I have three dolls, and their names are teebie, Katie, and~ Mranie. I have aJso a Jblack smd white cat, ancl one morning it got In a trap and had its leg broken. We had n heavy fall of snow last week, and had fen-" fun out snowballing With best love to *~:i the L.F. and .yourself,— Yours truly, [Poor pTiE3, she has cause to take care of *i ps now, and no doubt she gives them a wide % rth.— DOT.] 1 Dear Dot, — At last all the excitement is over, tthe Duke and Duchess have come and gone, &nd things are now as quiet as before. The fouke and Duchess just got their visit over in jtmie (judging from the change in the weather), "don't you think so, Dot? We are having any )rf> mount of snowy weather, and the cold is intense; but I was glad the weather kept fine \ox the festivals in Dunedin. 1 was in DunWin on the Wednesday, and saw the Duke and BDuchess, and thought they looked "all right. ' tThe city was decorated beautifully ; the arches >uid everything else were perfect. I walked up 'pnd down the streets all day among tlie surging crowd, till I was tired of being squeezed tend pushed about, and was glad when tea hime came. After having tea I went along jto the Octagon, and while there I came across £3oy, Dr Jim, and Harry, and after a little Wlk with them, I pioceeded homewards, hayVn°- mads up my mind to be present at the greeting oi D.l/F., it having been arranged Hhiouoh the Witness that all, if possible, (E'lould meet at the office on the Thursday afternoon at 2.15. On Thursday, as I was pvalkina- along Princess street, at about 1.10, 1 ftnet Dr Jim, and while standing talking to lum Black Watch and Aguinaldo came up, and We went ifor a walk till it was time to go Co the Witness office. When we came to tlie jton of Dowling street, in sight o* the office, )what should we see but a crowd of girls, and >iot a boy among them. I can tell you we *,ere a bit scared at fiist, but we plucked up ieourage an<? went down tt make their acquaintance. We found them very sociable, md all seemed bent on getting as many autos. *s possible. At the appointed time the editor feame to the door and invited *s all into the Office. Ai ter having a look round, and all Kettinff their name oi auto, cast in the linotype we went to First Church, and had our photos taken. When the photoing was over we went back to the office, and the editor invited us to hate afternoon tea in the Cortee P«J»o«, which evexyone present enjoyed un-

inensely. After tea was over I parted from the happy "band, feeling very much indebted to the ciear old editor for having spent a very pleasant afternoon. I shall stop now (no doubt the editor will be thinking it is about time 1 stopped, eh, Dot 1 '), so with love to Dot and all the L.F., not forgetting the "dear old editor, ' —Yours ti fly, RED CAP. [You made *onic pleasant acquaintanceships among the big D.L F. even before you got to Dowlmg street. Red C.ip, and I don't wonder that you enjoyed youiself, notwithstanding the tiresome nam^ing oi the footpaths.- — DOl.] Dear Dot, — I daresay b. tin* r.me you will have iorgotten that 1 t ?: was one ot your co-respondents, but I ussU to write in the days of "auld lang syne." Wo ure luring dieadiul weather heie just now — laming, knowing, hailing, and freezing— perhaps not ail at the same time, .but it is cold enough to make one fancy so. There must be souk verj wor.deriul girls in Cathns, Rimbccco. J am not surprised at their being able to cook and bake, for I can do that, '.-it a.i To.- cutting fhewood— well, I have tiled that too, and succeeded m cutting mv boot twice — wasn't I smart, now? The roads are very muddy about here, but spring will poon bs lound again, and with it we can expect dry loads. I .suppose. I see tie floweis are bpgmmng to^ spring in the s;arden. but this rough weather will keep themback, 1 «m afiaicl. Dc:u Dot I think you have only three vutri- iicni '•'.— 1 shan't v>nte»tbe" rest— but 1 clpresj} yon think that i> innber quite suQieie.it. I have tued both the toothache and rhilb'am cuie one of the L.F. gave, and met v.-ith gieatci success than I expected. It <s such fun -watching the boys "Masting"' thoir chilblains, us they call it. When I first toM O'cm of th<* <urc non? of them hE>4 <be ph. *k it- i*y it, in.ti! o- c lwshfc J mustered v-> covras;" p.:0v,,1i io it", ;\ad 1 succeeded tco^ (Bo.it }ou xnuik I ccberve a v\C. for my great taiour. L.F. 9 ). What long even ings "Lorma must have, to be suie. When I indulge m a good lead, the evening is gone before J ha-ve fhiihhed, but Lorma can have a good read, a concert and d.uicc, and a scuffle to boot. It must pet cL'ik about the middle of the afternoon up tli..t -„.,y. Pleaser'on't >>p offended, lonna. "V; r Hoitens'a, aie your .u'iials il. M., and do ;cu ln-e rear here' If '•■bat is so, I know >ou. Are you M. W., Nc-uer.-' With love to all, — Yoius tru:y ' : a v.

[I hope both you and the boys will be cautious m using the gunpowder, A. Z., as an accident attanded with the most serious coiitrquercc? m^ht so easily happen.— DOT.]

Dear Dot, — S nee I last wrote to jou I have b.-en up to ChristchurcL with the local volunteer corps. This is a mountrd corps, and was ic.med about 15 months. -\go. The company to which I belong, aiid which for convenience I shall call the R.M.R., although that is not tfapir iea-1 name, left R. at 12.30 p.m. on Saturday for Dunedin. The mcvi were put into a. truck with a tarpaulin over it. This sort of truck has the advantage oi being very airy — a quality which is appreciated when a. bitterly cold wind is blowing, and in going through tunnels, when the smoke almost chokes >ou. The Railway department ought to be well satisfied with the accommodation it provided for the Otago volunteeis, as io doubt cattle trucks and meat vans are just the thing for a long journey in wintei. While going to Dunedin rain began to fall, and our rifles got in a terrible mess. We arrived in Dunedin at 7.15 p.m., and general leave was given until about 8.40, vrhen the R.M.E.'s fell in on the platform. There was a "push" of people gathered, and they weie somewhat in the way, but we got clear at last. One infantry qprps tiooped out of the meat vans just before the twin started. They were evidently dissatisfied at-, the "superior accommodation" offered by the* railway atithorities. The "superior accommodation" consisted oi' meat vans with improvised seats (very hard). Tlurroof of the vans was too low for a man to stand upright, and, to add to the discomfort, the door could not be shut. The doors were soon "doctored" that is, they were cleared of the offending stop. The places along the route where the tram stopped were, as far as I can remember, Port Chalmers, Palmerston, Hampden, Oaruaru, Studholme, Timaru, and Ashburton. The places of refreshment at these places were always packed, and many volunteers could not get in at all. The Canterbury Plain is a miserable-looking place in winter, and we were all glad when the train camt to a halt at Addington at 11 a.m. After our horses had been watered and fed, *ye had breakfast, and after that general leave was given. On Sunday afternoon I went to see the infantry drilling, and also to see the camp of the Canterbury Mounted Rifle Volunteers, at Addington show grcund. Tha Otago mounted men were camped in Addington saieyards. The yards were in a very bad state owing to the lam. The tents were oitched on a small piece of grassy ground, but the ground was very damp, ancl not fit for tents. Our horses were put in stables near the saleyard, and were pretty comfortable. The loads about Addington were very bad. The mounted troops took their food ("tucker," they call it) in a house, or shed, at the saieyards. There was plenty of food, but the quality was not what it ought to have been. The North Island men arrived on Sunday They looked "down on their luck," being travel-stained and weary. At the review on Monday the North Island mounted troopers, not having horses with them, had to march on foot. They were not nearly so good at marching as the infantry. The R.M.R.'s were the junior corps ot the mounted brigade. We were informed after the leview that the Duke was highly pleased with wha> he had seen of the R.M.R. The corps \va& paraded at Addington, railway station at 9 p.m. on Monday, and were left to cool their heels (which were already cold) for over two and a-half hours. I saw one infantry corps refuse the

trucks offered to them, but they had eventually to take them or wait behind. An Ashburton corps got carriage?, while we had to take meat vans, although we had much farther to go. One corps began shouting "We wsmt carriages. ' They groaned when the meat vans and trucks came abreast them, nnd cheered when the carnages came. They didn't get carriages, howe\er. Monday night was very cold, and it was not till we got straw iklo our carriage that we had any degree of comfort. On arrival at Dunedin we were niarched to the pai"k, arriving there about 4 p.m., alter being nearly 22 hours m the vans. Half-cooked food was plentiful at the park. The cook was not blessed with a mild temper, and relations with the mess orderlies were somewhat strained. We did not have a great deal of "off" time. The rain on Thursday made the roads and streets in a terrible me=s, and the mounded men fiom the park woae consequently veiy niudstamed. The II M.Tv. were in the procession, and on Thursday assisted to keep the streets clear. On Friday the R.M.R.'s left foi home. I was unable to be present at the gatheimg of D.L.F. on Thursday, as 1 had to go to tho Ciarri&on Hal), where theie ws a parade. I met about 40 D.L.F. in town. I also saw a trooper with a D.L.F. badge on his hat. I must now conclude a latiier lengthy letter. — Yours truly, ROY. fWhy, the tioorjer mu't have been Boy, I'oy. What a pity you were noi able to fraternise- Your experience in Chnsiclunch was s'j.ything but an agreeable Oi>e, but of cour- c a soldier should be prepared u> put up will; inconvenience when on duty. — DOT.] Dear Dot.— 1 leceived your badge yesterday, and I was veiy glad to get it, lor, ever snicc 1 sent foj. it, e\ cry day seemed a week. It was just exactly a fortnight and a day from the lime I =eat away for it till I recei\r<l it. >."cw, Dot, I may tell you that all the cLildien oi our school received a medal as ti fouvcnii' ot the visit of the Duke and Duchess oi Cornwall and York, and the badge and the n.e(?al look very well alongside one another. The medal has the Duke and Duchess's head on one side, and their steamship, the Ophir, oa the other, with a piece of l!ed, White, and Blue ribbon through a hole.ni it. Don't you think the. Duke must have had'an awful numb."i of medals if there was a medal for every f-chool child m New Zealand, Dot "> There was an awful crowd m Dunedin when the Duke said Duchess were there, Dot , but I did not manage to get down. We were havingfiiie weather for skating here till the other day, when there came a fall of snow and spoiled the ice. Our joy was turned into sorrow when we got up in the morning and found the ground covered with snow. Now there is no skating at all up here, because the ice is too rough for skating. I think I know about a dozen L.F. from here, but I stall not bother giving their 110 ms de plume. Dear Dot, do you not think Pup is getting too big now to be called Pup? I think he ought to try it a<* "Dog." Dear Kit, when are you going to write again. I ha\e not noticed a letter of yours for a long time now. Tfow, I must close, with love to all L.F., not forgetting yourpcif. — Youis truly, SWEET MARIE. [Pup has taken a better norn de plume, Sweet Marie, so there is no need for him to consider the change you suggest. — DOT.] Dear Dot, — We had a fall of snow last week, • and I made a snow man, and while I was making hia body, uncle made a wig oi brown, jjapfr, cut all round the edges to make it look as like hair as possible. Didn't auntie laugh at him \the snow man), for, Dot, you have no idea what he looked like, with brown hair, a white hat, Jjlack eyes, and a red nose. Now just picture to yourselves, L.F., what lie looked like* Dear I>ot, I was. m the Witness office about a fortnight ago, but I did not see you. My cousin had » bunch of violets for you, but as we did not see j'ou, we did not leave them. We saw the linotypes at work, and were greatly taken with them. I have just finished reading a book called "My Mother's Diamonds." It is a veiy nice book. What a nice group of D.-L.F. is in this week's witness. Harry does not look so shy this time. He looks veiy pioud indeed sitting beside Santa Cla-us. Do you know what I am going to do with the groap, Dot' ; Well, as there wasn't any space big enough in the album, we have decided to tack it up above my bedstead, where I can see it always. I think it is so nice to see such a lot of L.F. together. With love to Dot and all hei L.F., and kindest regards' to the editor, — Yours truly, MAID OF THIS MOUNTAIN. ;

P.S.— But I forgot to tell you how I got my torn de plume. Well, it is because we live among the moimtains. — M. of the M.

[That was indeed a capital snow man, Maid of the Mountains, and I am sure you would be quite sorry to see him begin to xnelt. — DOT.]

Dear Dot, — 1 must tell you what the weather is like up here. Well, there has been a regular storm of mow and rain for the last three or foui days, and now the snow is lying at a depth of 4ft or sft. I have not been clown th" 1 road since the snow began, but I have heaid ei'ough about it from my sister and brother, who have been down, and had to go all lour.d the paddocks to get on to the main road, so i must br pretty bad. (Dear Dot, I was not up at Dimedm on ihe Wednesday to =-cc the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, bscause 1 went up on Tuesday, but did net see them. I went up t> Dunedin acjaui on Thursday, to go t- the meeting of D.L.F. at the Witness office. I left home to go tc town by the 1] ]5 train, but when v\c got down to the station \vi found thai theie wa; nc 11.15 tram, and that the tram left at 10 minutes past 12, Sf we got to DunecliK at a quaiter to 1. Of course, you knew, I went ur to town with my bio'Jiev, Redcap. We went up past the Witness office, and go l on to Pnrccs stieet. We met Piccolo, asid bhc g«\c us iici

lat.tograph, and we went on and met Dr Jan, i>nd then we saw Black Watch, and then lAguinaldo and hi', sister Irene, who walked through the- street with us till it was time to Igo to the office. When we got there we found j that there was quite a number standing outi side. We soon made their acquaintance. ai:d at the appointed time the dear old editor came out and invited us iipstsuis to have a look round, and after we had a Icok loiuid we marched up to Firch Church, where we all got our photos taken, or "got the =km taken off our faces," as the saying is. Well, from there we went back to the office, and then we went to the Cofrre Palace and had aft<*rlioon tea, and iiom there v, e piocecded hoinewaids, having sad uocd-l\ve to the editor and the little folk. "With be=t love to all,— Youis tiulv, MILKMAID. [It wa'- a memo- able day, that, Milkmaid, p kI I have no doubt tint friendships weie mule then -which v ill last thiough life.— DOT.] COKRESPOXDE>CE CONDENSED. Duckie does not approve of the action of the tv,o little In\ eic.tigill boys walking all tho way to Dunedin tn see the Duke and Duchess. Indeed, she is \eiy severe, and thinks they deserve a thiashing tor miming away in that manner. Hei s-ister, who lives m Inveicprgill, often . cos the little adve:*tv.ici.-. Mol'KT Id*. \\<.s iii towi dining the Royal wool:, and enjoyed he'-rli lujineiibely. She hkeel the Chinese arch be-t, of the arches, but thought everything vcij gcod. She met Nancy 1 when m town, and she also knows Jim Uiown, whose initials she thinks aie M S., of A. Coast. Red, White, and Brrt; (I am sure we have at iwA one R. W. ai d B be^cie hei) has two little Shetland pomes, but they ?re too tricky for use. Her father has a good many po.iies, some -tnckv and some quiet, and among tb-se . the quietest one imaginable, whose name i=> Marquis. Ujjdixe do 2« not know many oor, r our covlesjxmclents, but Zikla. Ro=skee.i, and Euphro-syne go to school with hei, and Redstart and she aie great old chums. "I m Dunedin at the time of the Royal visit, apd had a splendid view. Dear Dot, don't you think the school children looked nice' 1 """ Kangaroo Jack has among his other pets three old pigeons, and two have young ones, just like themselves "I have also a ferret called Judy, and a black and white dog called Nell." He sent a couple ,of riddles, but neglected to forward the answers with them. Kester says the snow where she lives ha 3 been more than loin deep. The books phe likes best are those by Annie Swan. "I am rvarmng to knit with four needles, and my father says he will give me '2s for the fiist pair of stockings I knit." Young Hen asked bei pister what D.L.F. stood for, and &he saad, ''Deaf Little Folk. "I have a hen that sat on some eggs, and brought out six chicks, but they all died one after another. My two brothers are out making snowballs, and they told me to come and roli them for them.'

Mawhera writes from Greymouth — " I do not see many correspondents from this part of New Zealand, but I think that a great number take considerable interest m the page devoted to the D.L.F."

Two Jackasses explain how they got their names. — "We were having a hearty laugh iq ourselves, when a friend cam« in and said, 'There are two" laughing jackasses,' so it has stuck to us since. The most paiticular thing we are going to tell you about ..$ th« great snow fight we had. We were out two nights enjpying ourselves immensely, but, to our sorrow, deai Dot, we got very bad colds, which ended up with the influenza."

Vinetree, instead of writing a letter, sends some verses about the girls ol Xew Zealand. She further "-ays — "I have met a good few L.F. since I last wrote, among them bsing Sister, Milhceut, Rimbccco, J. O. V., and a, few others."

Dairymaid wishes to mystifj a l.umbei of cousins, ''ncluding Equibel, Sunflower, Hilda, Britannia, Mna.nda, Unknown. Queen Alexandra, and Flounder, and finishes, by saying • "I am sure the°e cousins are trying to find cut who I am, but I think they will have a hard job to find out."

Cowspankee has nine cousins wutmg to our page, but he does not know all their names. "It has been freezing very hard up here, aaid the ice is r«arly sin thick. It snowed up here last week, and we made a snow man, and had fine fun snow-balling. We are milking nine cows, and I have to be vi eaily in the morning to milk them."

Lady of the Lake lives clo°c to the lake, and that is how she got her norn d« plume. She was in the Witness ofuce on her birthday, and had her name cast in the linotype machine. She thinks it a wonderful machine, and she could have watched it all day.

Duke was at AVaikouaiti with his brother, when they met Koa ancl Tinknown. He was wilting on his twelfth buthday, aiid says — "My brother is just tryirff* to race my lister in knitting a stocking, but she iei c at the toe and he is, at the heel."

Piscataq"L'a went to liivcioarsiU tc =cc the lcturnmg troopei-~, and wt»s plea-cd with the decorations and all he say..

Tasma «ays the group ■>! D L.F. is veiy nice, and that it ii \ciy gcod of Koa. She says "I saw a £,ood deal of the Duke and Duchess, and they looked veiy lure. As I was in the Octagon, I could see them very plainly. I don't tin nk many could forget oui futiue Kirg ai"T. Queen when once they had seen them. I wuit to the Children's Demonstiaiion, \ huh I liked vei-v much. The conductor UiUsl kave u*d natienoc to uiuu &o

I many ohildien. It hmk the aiohes and the 1 illuminations were pietty, but I think the Otago Daily Times office and the Union Company's office were the b^st." I Kinb would like Shan and Laddie to "huny (up and write." Tkoopeb sends an account of the reception of the returned troopers at Invercargill, andl also of the terrible accident m connection with the rocket display. He says- — "Since last writing, I have found out who Cereda, Lily of the Valley, Vanity Fair, and Scotty are. The weather down my way just now is very miserable, snowing and raining almost every day. '

Black-eyed Susan has got three weeks' holidays from school. "There is plenty of ice and snew, and curling and skating aie the oider of the day. I was learning to skate, and I got a bad fall on vny head, and I haven't put on the skates since."

Enamelene tells the tale of a cunning htt'e n cuse which, with her family, came to grief: ' Have you evei heard of a mouse living nn a bceinve. Well, the othei da% my blather came running rou.'.ct to the back door with a bee-box turned upside down. He told me t.i call the cats, because theie was a mouse up tlw box. But the cats, could not understand what they were wanted for, so my biother caught the mou=e and then let it go again 'o that the cats coiild see it. I can tell you that incuse didn't reign Jon°. Then, when my brother was taking out the comb, he observed 1 a. nest of all soits of warm stuff, and ms:de the nest were s-ix little mice. 1 think thty ->veie the ugliest-looking objects that I evei «el ii e> on."

Bellbibd says if I were to come down \r Catlius lion- I should get propeily mudbound. She was to come down, to town to tee the Duke and Duchess, but her mother took ill, and she had to stay at home. "And now they are piol.using me to let me go the riext holiday time, but I am beginning to take no notice of them, for this is the third time they have promised' me and I have never got. There are between 6'J and 70 msn working on the railway now."

L*dy Patience, who ndes to school with.' her brothers, tells me about her cats and her <'olk, one of which is "'a great big one, with' brown hair and brown eves."

Lottie a=ks what I think of the two little boys who walked from Invercargill to Dunedm to see the Duke. "Do you think," she sajs, "that they could have walked all the way? I don't , I think they must have got into a tiuck and got a ride some of the way. They weio plucky to start at all ... I was looking at an eld Witness to-day, and I noticed a letter fiom a L.F., who said she had posted a letieawithout a stamp, and had to get it out of tha bo.x again. That reminds me ot a story mother told us of what &he did with a letter she was sent to post when she was a girl. She wasi piven the letter and a penny to get a stamp for lt, but instead of getting a stamp, she put the penny and the letter in the box and then, lan away. The editor has given us a good lot of room this last week. I think some of tie L.F. must have been coaxing him the day that the group was taken."

Herewabd the Wake did not see the Duke and Duchess, but he saw the Imperial troops. "They were very prettily dressed," he says, "weren't they, Dot? But I guess that they; vculd not fight any better in those fancy uniforms than they .vouid in the plain khaki. It was very sad about that trooper who died aboard the T..gus when she was in sight of his motherland. 1 know a good few of the tioopen by tho Tagns."

Wensa says.— "The ice out here is so thick that we have good times sliding on it. It is about three or four inches deep. My sister t^ll or the ice and bruised her foi-ehead— though not so rutich as to make her cry. At school it is roth ing but snow-balling. The boys make them as hard as anything, and throw them at u-5. We .have tc take it as fun. When I pick a snowball up I have no time to thiow it at them, because some of them are jusfe ready to throw one at you Did you get si.owLalled in Dunedin .' I suppose you did, because somebody would be always ready t». , give yor one."

Daffy Dill found it took twice as long to think of a signature as to write her letter. I am not a lover of reading (she says), but I like very, very interesting- pieces, such as Dot's page in the Witness. Now is ihe time for skating", Dot, but I do not care much for it. I'd ratier be sitting by the fire.

Boxa Puella, while in town, saw a good many D.L.F.. "When we were clown at the Caledonian ground, watching the children at drill, I kept a good look-out foi D.L.F. badges', and, sure enough, I saw seven or eight, ancl if I smiled at them they returned it (the Witness smile, of course). It has snowed and rained for over a week down here, and the pnow is still on the ground, so we have fine times snowballing each other I was sorry I did not get the chance of being in that group that was in the Witness , but I came away on the morning of the day they were taken, or I should ha'-e been in it."

T. P. got a good look at the Duke ancl Dttches«, as they walked up and down the local railway station.

Mauama went in to Oarnaiu to see the Duk& and Duchess. Her favourite writers are Harry, Hollyhedge, Daisy Primrose, Doughnut, Dilj.cdinite, and O Mimosa San.

TEr-UAi says- — ''We aie having terrible win* ter weather up here just now. The snow ha.