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LETTERS FROM THE LITTLE FOLK.
Me*.t»: —We write fer the benefit of others, not for ounelves. M3T No letter to contain more than 450 word*. Dear Dot, — As a good many weeks have elapsed since, last writing to you. it is time I exerted myself to renew my acquaintance with the page. We had a splendid winter with but little frost and no snow. The weather at present is all that could be desired — in fact, it is more Mke human than spring. We have started swimming here again, Dot, so you will 'Tavo to excuse me if I don't write very rei ularly during the summer month?. Our ,\ew wharf is now completed,- and they are • •oing to hold ail opening ceremony when *.iie first ocexn "liner is berthed. I sup doe c you are aware .that the berthing of there ■ 'earners at the wharf will be the means '-' saving a lot of extra . expense incurred v merchants trading wiih England and ■>reijni countries. For instance. if tbe ■ :eaaser lies out m the roadstead they have i pay so ranch per ton lighterage as well as -'iarfagre, whereas if she is berthed at the /barf there will be no litrhters-ge incurred.. ! don't know what the other Napier" D.L.F. :ro doing;. I think it is about thee thsy ■•w*ker«sd irom their plumber. I have net • sen r letter frcm either Connecticut or ' '? Aomerama in the column for some time. '.Ie B.Xi.S. Proraethsus was in port fronj "i?i Thursday until « oVoc-k jesterday : sorn£ngr. when she "staled f'r Wellin' l o~> 'ta Sunday tbe veesel vras open for pubKc •ispi>cticm, but to the disaD.xnntoent nl 'Ho krgr crowd which congregated on the <yharf. the launches which usually carry '•:e pa=eengers to and from visiting cruisers <".id not turn out, fo tho r- ! «pie had io >>? <-,nteat«d with a look at her from a distance. The _ municipal baths are nearly fomplet«d; the oDen"n j ' (■"•*p— 'r>nv ts^i >3ace on Saturday, lGth of this month. There will be a gymkhana in the claytimc, !>n6 swimming races in the evening. Well, Lavinia, I am net detd. bur. n Hiilo fcrs'eifal. bo you will have to forgave ras if I have neelecied tlie pa?e for a whi!<?. Well, •dear Dot. I think I Imve told you all the news et present, so I will bring this leite*v> a -cloee. With kind rej-a/rds to all D.L.F.— Yours truly. AHUEIET. FA little word occasionally. Ahuriri. even though the deeps are calling yen.— DOT.] Dear "Dot. — As I am for once 'eft alor.e m -the hut. and nothiryr <o reed, I \n.l! try your patience with another letter Bui ness i« scarce, and so you will just have Io tako what come£. I was sorry to see that the Dunedjn Club had to close down, but I wish it every succpss when it starts again. lam back on the flaxmills cgain, and doing fairJy well reminds me that I promised yon a description of flax-
milling life -when I wrote last, so I'll make lain Attempt at it. As every mi^l-owneir •works a-ccording to his own ideas, particularly as regards washing the green fibre, I will merely describe the one I am on at present. The mill is built of corrugated j iron, and power is supplied by a 14-h.p. I engine. The machinery is simple, consisting of stripper, scutcher, washer, and centrifugal pump. In the stripper the blades Are fed into & mouthpiece, where they are gripped by the rollers, which carry them inwards through the ribber, against a strong iron "beateT-bar," where they come in contact with the beaters of the | drum. This drum is the main part of the J machine, and is driven by two Heavy belts | at a rate of 2000 revolutions per minute. ) The raised zig-zag bars on its surface drive j the bades downwards, at the same time crushing the outer vegetation, or gum, as it is generally called, out of the fibre, which comes down in a shower of flying; particles of gum. The flax is cut out on the sandhills between the mill and the beach, carted to the stripping shed, and classed into the various lengths, thus making it convenient for handling during the various processes. I will now give an outline of a day's work. About 7 a.m. we turn out of bed and make our way up to the cookshop for breakfast. That part of the business over, we dodge back to the mill, don our oilekin leggings and aprons, fill and light our pipes, and settle ourselves comfortably in the engine* room to wait for 8 o'clock while the driver oils up. "Start O!" comes | all too quickly I take my place under the I stripper, the scream of tie clrnm rises I Mgher and higher, drowning the beat of the j engine, and we are at it. The feeder is j jamming the flex in, *nd as a fairly long i blade only takes two or three seconds to • pa«s through the machine, it will be seen j that I have got to "go some" to catch the fibre neatly as it comes down,, especially in short flax. I catch with my right hand, . bringing the fibre down across my knee till I • have a hank, then toss it with my left ! hand on to 4 he water-scutcher or washer. Two men are employed on this machine, which in this mill- consists of a wooden drum revolving backwards with a constant stream of water playing on it from the top. The operator picks a hank up by the butts, j and tosses the toils into the machine, which j knocks the vegetation out and gives the water free play on the fibre. The tails are j then pulled out and the butts subjected to the same treatment, after which the hank i 3 thrown on a rail ready to be carted on to the paddock. With any other make of machine, however, the fibre has to go through several washings either in tubs or MraTiers. It is t^en taken to the bleaching pad&ock. where it is spread out to dry. After lying on the ground for a few days, the hanks arc twisted on to the wires to dry. or in pood weather it is "hanked up" oft the ground and sent direct to the ecutchmg shed. The dry scutdber consists of a strong wooden drum, built in. and it is about Bft lons and sft high. This machine revolves at from 300 to 500 revolutions a minute, and removes all the dust and waste fibre out of the hank, which, when the worker pulls it cut of the machine, resembles for all the world the tail of a well-oroomsd cream-coloured pony. This is the most dangerous work of all, and many , men have lost tfceir arms, and in more than , one cas?, even lives have been lost through , carelessness. The fibre is twisted as-d made I inrfo bsjes. usually weighing about 4cw<u , apiece and when a losd is ready they are i carted to the Tailway station and trucked ' -°, i 1 j final Well, this was intended for the- account of a day's work, but it is a m.ehty poor attempt at it Anyhow, it will have to suffice for the pre- ( ?ent. I started this letter last night, but i as it is too wot to work this morning, I am ' taking iko chance to get it finished. Well, ' I don't think I'll have much fear of suffering from swelled hoad this time. I could not get my hat on for a week after my last appeared But it's dinner t:me, go I mutt ; conclude, with best wishes to all my L.F ' inencts, — Yours truly, THE HELMSMAN EAs the days will be getting kot, Helnis- . man, 'you «uji need to wear ycur hat; so I I won't say anything about your letter this ; lime.-r-JOOT.] I>sar U-oc,— This is my first letter to your page. lam eight years old, and I uiu m the First Sstandara. lam taught J ai hovers; my sister Lorna is writing to you too. I have nine dolls; they are mailed i-ileen, Dome, Bnghje, Minnie, Rosy, B«3s.e, Suiy, Hilda, and Edith. Now 1 have written quite enough, seeing that it is my first, letter. 1 shall tell you mere the next • time. — Yours .ruly, WAIIHIN-GTON LASSIE. _[Nine dolls, dear l&s«ie'! They must surely j get their names mixed sometimes. You have wi-.tten a neat letter.— DOT.] j Dear Dot, — I am not old enough to write I v.itb. a pen, so my is writing for i me. 'am five years old, and Jam in the • Infant Raadar. I have five dolls, whose ; uamea are Nora, Maud, Un*, M-ar, and ; Daisy. — Yours truly, °LEASANT LASSIE. j lit won't be long before you write your : own letters, little gur!, but let us hear Ironi you iD the meantime, even though you have , to press your sister into ycur service — : DOT.] Dear Dot,— l have just finished reauiu" a : book called the "King of the Golden River," I which I will tell you about Theie once ined three brothers, whose nam-es wee Hans. Swart, and Gluck, md they were rich. The two e'dest biothers (Hans : and Swart) w-ere veiy i-u«a:i E»r., end they would not give the poor people who weie starving tnylbirsg to eat. One day the i two cde-i brothers -srei.t on a hunt, and j leii tfl?ir younger brother to mmd the I 'lcute. They tola Gluck not *o let. anv.-ni^ : enter the" house during their absence. When I , tLe brothers were gon; about half an hour, I j there came to the house a. iirtie man, who | (tod G-luck that, as he wag a good boy, l.a was going to tell him a secret, and he was ,to tell nobody but his brothers. He told j him that he vras to g«t three drops of ! , holy ivatai- and pour thsm into the "river ! I that Cowed pa?t the house, but if tbe j water waa net hoy they wjuld be turned ' into a black sione. So when (he brother? J c»nw home he told them, and Hans was ' , the first to m-ake the attempt. But tfcc I I brothers hsd been getting into bad com- • J pany, and had beoczue very lew. So wLen ' j Hi's asked the priest for seme holy water j jha would not give it '.o him, Hans made ', i up his mind to j4«?1 s:!E2. so at night I:<j j «role some, and hag at his journey, which j en'ied at tfie top of a mcun'^tr. He soon ' bega:i to ascend, and as tLc climate was ! I very h/»t. be began to g?t thir«ty. and he j 1 t'icuo'ht he would ha\e a chink of hoy ' ra'er Just as fcfi was raising tbe boit.'e < I water ;o his lip?, he happened to glar.ee 1-5 one side, and there ha saw an old nun <b,:r.2 of thirst, and the oM n:an asfoed Hans for a drink He would not give him an;. , and ha again began to climb He met other perro-i". who put the same question to him, but h« always answered in the | negative. He soon reached his destina-
it ion, iand threw the holy water into the •river, but with a cry he fell into the I river .and was turned into a black stone. Swart was the next to make the attempt, and he met the same gersons as Hans met, but he would: not give them any water. He also met with the same fate as his brother. Then Gluck thought he would go The priest gave the holy water to him without any trouble. G-luck encountered the same persons as his brothers, and gave them water. Arriving at his destination, he threw the water in, and the river immediately turned into gold. Because the brothers would not give these dying people water, the water was unholy, and, as Gluck gave the people water, his waß holy. Gluck became very rich, and th 9 poor were never wanting. I have no more news at present, and that is why I wrote about the book, so I will close with love to Chips, Cornet. Flag Lily, and Yankee Doodle, not forgetting yourself. — Yours truly, THE STAR OF BRUNSWICK. [Thank you for the little story. It carries with it a wonderful lesson. — DOT.] Dear Dot,— This is my first letter to your page, and I hope you will lei rco join your happy band. I often read the Little Folk's letters. We milk two cows every morning. I have two sisters, and a brother at home, and a sister away from home. Nearly every day Ido some work in the garden, but I do not care about that kind of work. We play hockey at school. One day some of the boys were playing vrith » tin instead of a ball, and the tin happened to striko one of the boys just above the eye. He had to get two stitches in the wound. The inspectoi came to-day, and all tbe children" were very excited. I have three dogs now, and I sometimes go out with *hem. The crops about here are nearly all u-p, so ycu can imagine how nice they look. I know Oxslip and Orange Blossom. As this is all I have to say, I think I will have to conclude, with best wishes to all the D.L.F.— Yours truly. DICK THE- DODGER. [I remember how beautiful the crops looked on the irrigated lands of Central Otago — such a wonderful contrast to the Lurnt-up plains just a few hundred yards away.'«£. Is St. Bathans anyf/img like Cromwell ?— DOT.] Dear Dot. — Thinking over old tdmas. it just struck me that it is ten and a-half years sinoe I penned my firs' letter «o the page, and I have only on© and a-half more years left to write. Though rather neglectful of writing to the page lately, I have always baan reading the letters. I was just thinking of my first letter, telling of all - my pets and asking for names- for a pet lamb and a doll. Now I have none of them but the remains of the^doll. My poor little dog was worried t<T death, a weasel killed one of the dovsa, and the oiher died of old age; while the lamb (Spring, because it was spring time) — I don't remember what became of it. Lastly, the doll Flora. I kept it, an dthen I gave j it 'to a little neighbour girl, snd whe-n I over playing on-e day it was hung up in the washhouae, -and then sbe left the district, and the doll remained. From then until now -it has hung in the washheuse ait home minus a les; and an arm. Well, Dot, since last writing 'to you we have had great alterations here. This is no station now. It i? divided into a great number of s-ectioss. We ha-d a large sale here in March. Talk ' about bustie! The sale waa on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we had the mill until the Saturday morn•insr. Then sfter it w& away we h«d over 200lb of meat to cook. That was ail we had to do towards the sale. There weTe a great crowd of people here: drags, buggies, riders, bikes, and motors ; and there were dozens of them. My word! we were tired after it was "over. Of course, we had all the drovers fox breakfast, and we had about 40 in Breakfast was from 5 till II o'clock. At' last everything was over, and the mill came again and went, and then about the first of May we bed a month's ho-ilia-y. We did not go away anywhere; we just went dowr home and did as we liked. While there, there was at bazaar and competitions I w«nt to tit, I and had a real good time. I went- in for some competitions, and I got first for lollies and won a nail-driving competition. After we came back there was a big ball m the woolshed, and everyone at it enjoyed thenwlves. We acre in the big house now, the other place being shut up. We have only four men now — a difference fcur from thirty. Quite a lot of 'the wsttlers arc building houses quite close to here. The river is looking nice now; all the willow 3 are grpen. and the kowhai is out in its rich golden hue. Everything denotes spring time — all tha life lambs frolicking about. The D.L.F. round this 3i=trict are keepinp «ilent. Orange Blossom made a ftart. bui there are Remember Me and others. Hurry ud, comrades' ] remember an instance of writing ~a letter to the pose while in school. Three of us wrote and signed ; Three Little Darkies. It wr* condensed ; and answered we "«hou!d have been attending to our les-90n?." It was in my book, ! and the niasieT <saw the letter and the ! names on tr-e back, «nd. mv word! didn't ' we get a. talking to, »o ;hat we revcr tried thp.t w«y of writinp again. Well. 1 dear Dot. if I don't goon stop you will be tfcf'nkinir I should, so I think I will. , With love to all my old comrades and your self, — Yours truly, INQISITIVE POLL. [It is just a little sad 100 kins; back all , ihofe \ea-rs. and thinking cf all the pets '■ tha 1 . ba.ro gone. Tho animate go so completely ; the inaninwttc have a longer life — , a touch of irony.— DOT.] '. Dear Dot, — I was very pleased to »cc my first let'er in your page, and will write ! often. I don't know many D.L.F yet but • hope to nieei some soon. We have been having very nic-o spring w-ea-ther till lately, but it has blown very hard for the last few days. We always get strong winds i*i October and March. Our school has been c!o?ed for mere than a week ; the ..eaeher has gone away, and no one has taV-ja his place. The people of the lis-tt-Vt <;£•>•<» the teacher a send-off in the schoolhousc on October 1. and I tbink all 'hose present enjoyed themselves very well. My brother goes cut rabbiting when ho has nothing -eTsa- to do ; he went out to-day, but the rabbits were too quick for him. Ths birds have smarted to build their nests a=;ci n I like ts gather their eggs, alfhough it is cruel to rob th-e poor )itt!e oird«. This is all I have to say this time, hct>ing to write a lontrer letter next t.'m-e. With love to all tLc htle folk,— Yours tru'.y QUEENIE. Deal Dot, — It i= a long time since I last wrote to you, and row I have some sad nerrs to tell you That is that my mother has pa3?-ed away, and now my brother and I are left wtith no father nor mother. My brother is staying with a kind lady called Mrs Adenis, and I am staying with a lady called Mrs Soutter, who is as good as a mother, now lny own poor mother has gone. We had our examination yesterday, and we won't know whether we passed until t
] Christmas. We went Cor a ipicnic to-day out to the falls, -and spent an enjoyable day. There were two D.L.F with vs — Ferndale and Nebraska. There was a. circus here called "Jones's Buckjumpers," and a great many went to see them. Well, Dot, I think this as all I have to say just now. Wrth loVe to Madame Philidia, Gipsy Queen, . and Bobbie Dear, — Yours truly, LADY NANCY. [We all as comrades must send you a message of loving sympathy in your great ! sorrow, Lady Ifaincy. That there is someone who can in a measure give you a mother's care I am. so glad to hear. Write to us again scon. — DOT.] Dear Dot, — I was very pleased to see my first letter in print. I know- a few D.L.F., and their noms de phftne are Sea Lion, Black Billy, Bunch of Violets, and Molly. Kirn and Boko are my toothers. I have a garden of my own, and it will be looking very nice soon. We are milking six cows now. I have three cats, and one has three kittens, but my uncle is going to drown them. I am ■very fond of animals, both large «nd small. Well, dear Dot, as • it is my bedtime now, I will say good-night. • —Yours truly. SIGNORA PATTI. i Dear Dot, — I was just wondering to-day ' if you have forgotten me; you will oe j wondering who it is that is writing, but ' you will soon remember me, I dare say. I used to live in the country, but we have been in 'town about a year. I left school at Christmas time, and Eaye attempted three things in the business tene, the 1 third beinsr miliinery. T like it very -well, but " at is ye._ trying on one's eyes. I was • always told I was colour-blind. Of course, 1 I did not believe it. but now I do. We ■ have a beautiful garden up here. We had j a lovely display of spidng flowers this ; spring, but the best part of them are dome, 1 I have not met msuny L.F. since I came down here, and I arp too shy to come to t<he meetings, but I will after I know two or three L.F. well. Isn't it sad, Dot, about '• Lady Nancy losing her mother? I had a nice letter from her the other day. A •few of my mates and myself* are, going to the Waterfalls on Labour Day, so we ar© all hoping for a dsy lika Saturday was. Now, dear Dot, I must bring my short note to a close. — Yours truly, . MADAME PHILIDIA. [You will ccc thai Lady Nancy has paid us a visit this week as well. The Waterfall* on Labour Day .vould have been beautiiful, I am sure, as the valley would be so sb/eHered, and the sun was so warm fo long aa you were out of the wind. — DOT.] Dear Dot', — The . farmers about here are busy getting the ground ready for turnips, and they aie tailing the lambs. I was at a social given by the draughts club theother niglii, and I enjoyed myself very much. One of our neighbours -has twodraught foals, which are very early. — Yours truly, JOHNNY FROM THE SHOTOVER. ' [So ycu have just looked in to remind us you are still in existence! That's right. — DOT.] Dear Dot, — It is a while suite I last wrote to your page. 1 have just got a lamb, but he is 90 wild thai I cannot catch him to feed him. We have four littlo puppies, and they are such comical little things. Our bose is very ill and in bed just now, so we are having bad luck. There was a church social in the town ' on Friday Blight, October 8, but I did not go. My 'sister went, a*nd she said it was very nice indeed. We are milking four cows just now. and they give us a gocd lot of cream. With love to Sweet "Marie, Inky Fingers, and th.» rest, — Yours trnlv, . SNOOKE. [I era afraid, Snoake, I must adhere to my rule of not suggesting names for pets. • Ycu don'v se-nd the answer to your riddle, t but I shall keep a cote >f ft.— DOT.] I Dear Dot,— We are having lovely weather • just now, and all the blossoms on the fruit trees are out. There are about 13 or 14 D.L.F. up here now. We are milkj ing two cows, and or 3 is- so qtviet that fws do not need to put it in the bail. We had our examination ' last week, and I ' passed. Out neighbour has r lot of panaies out in her garden, and they look vary pretty. Star of Brunswick has a little sister now, and fca is quita p'eved about it. There are such a lot o! D.L.F. up here that I suppose vouyhear the same ; news a lot of times. I have left fohool now, and so have no lessons at nights. j There are only two of us going to school ; now ; they «re two boys. One is five , and one seven years o!d. There is no ■ rcare new?. «o T will clo«e with love fo all the D L.F.— Yours truly. j THE MINER'S DAUGHTER. ! [It is a relief, don't you tlnink, to have *-> do no lemons at night. In that I can fuily synipaibi&e with you. — DOT.] Dear Dot — I am going to write you a 1 few lines, to let you know that I have j not forgotten you. We have been having i ' very fair wcxther up here. Our -white j i rabbit died tie other dar. We have a j little lamb. It had lost its mother, so we j tcok care of it. We h-av- tihree little ; foal°. My sOsier went in for a music exa1 rr'nation, and cot 9* nurks out of 100. ( She got a certificate. M v brother is col- j leotin? bircip' eg<"». snd he han 16. He found a chaffinch's nt-si. to-day with one ' egp in it. I will have to close now. — Yr.urs 1 truly, . DOLLY DIMPLE. | [Sorry to hee.r tbe poor Mttle bunny died, ! Dolly Dimple.— DOT.] ; Dear Dot. — I have just been looking at the page, and find a «*reaf many new writer". Everything is looking very nice - and presn just now. and all the fruit trees : are in blossom. It will be nice when ! nil the fruit is ripe again, won't it, Dot? , I like setting uniSer same trees eating goope- ! berrie? — "^ootearoirs." as we call fhem. Tbe ' farmers are all buey preparing (he srourd j for Feed-sowinjr. I hs^e iust finished | reading a book by name "A Bunch of ' Cherries " It is about* school pirls. I am very fond of school stories. I wonder if Bpno"emere received my post-rard. I J s*e Dol!" Daydream writes to tlie pa-jre I often. Kjtty has been telling you about I ber day in {own. so I thirk I v.-ill too. j ps I haven't much news. We arrived at Dunedin at 10 o'clock »nd, sftpr goin? through the streets, we took a car fron? the Post Office to Forbury corner. After bavin? dinn-er at a friend's house, we went i-o the G^rden-j, which are beautiful. We then went to~.Queen street, where my grandmother (Mrs li-orm) live*. We then went J to thp s+ation, sfter having a very enjoy- ! ablf> day. I eu4 close now. with love to ' all the Little Folk.— Yours truly. ' SAILOR GIRL. j [I hoce you saw the Winter Gardens, { Sailor Girl. They are very beautiful just ! now. — I>OT.J i Dear Dot — This is my first letter to you. and I trust you will receive me as one of ycur little folk. I live two miles from Lake Manapouri. I have one sister and four brothers. Three of us go to school. Mountain Lily is my cousin, and the only girl playmate I have. Two of my cousins came over last Friday and stayed till Sun- ' 1
T day afternoon.- - .W& had a.- grand iime. • On Friday night we had a. dance. Mid our dad a played the violin, fox us. On Saturday afternoon we went for a long -walk, and when we came back we had atternoon 1 tea cut in the garden. In the evening we had a game of scallywag. Mountain Lily *nd I played the three boys, and b6»t them. Dear Dot, have you ever seen the kidney ferns? They are very pretty^ and resemble a kidney lery much. Row I will close, with love.-^Youra truly, STELLA. [I have not seen a kidney fern growing in its native state for a very long time. You have not sent .your name, Stella. H found Lumsden on .lie postmark. — 3>OTj D-ear Dot, — 'This is my first letter to your page, and I hope you will have me *s one of your happy band. I walk a mile to school eveiy day. I am 12 -years old, and if I pass I will be- in the Sixth' Standard at school. I have a pet kitten- and a pet dog. I always read : the Little pott's letters in the Witness. I think I will cloee, with love to all the Little Folk.— Yours truly, UEAIDLA. [Welcome, Uraidla! I shall look for your next letter soon. — DOT.J Dear Dot,— My mats, whe writes to your pages, has been telling me about" _ your many tittle Polk, and I would like ." to become one of them. We -are having very fine "weather up, here. .We have a number of reserves, an dwe live" quite near to ihe Basin Reserve, where wt go to practi&o cricket. v We just go for pastime, as tho cricketer^ • belong to our lodge, -rcbich is the I.O.GSF. There '«re a number of lady cricketers, who have just begun a team, and they have created quite a sensation. They bave a number of eager spectators; it is quito a new thing ' tor Wellington. I would like to correspond with some of the D.L.F., as I have read seme of their letters, and judging by them I think they must Ibe very nipe. I have not much more to ! say, and I think 1 have written enough -for j the first letter, so I will conclude with, bert wishes to all your D.L.F. friends, the ! editor, and last, but not least, yoursell. — J Yours truly, LADY ATHLETE. j [Wellington seems to be leading tie I way in the matter of lacaes playing cricket. j I am afraid I doubt the ability of women 1 bowlers, though otherwise there seems no reason why cricket should bo exclusively a man's game. 1 ate pj eased to add another member to mj li^i. — DOT.] Dear Dot, — After many months cf silenc* , I now talte uip my pen to write ycu a few ! lines. My mate, who is writing to yoa : und«r the name of Lady Athlete, hecamp very much interested in some of tbe letter* written by D.L.F., and she has roused me up into writing to the dear old pages ag*un. I saw a girl with a DJL.F. badge on the other day. It's the first I have sees since coming here. I lost ray badge shortly after coming to Wellington, and that's the third one I have bad. I 3iope» I shan't lose the fourth wnen I get it. Hurry up, you Waikouaiti- D.&.F.! You seem to be as lazy as I am. I must apologise to Kippiehoe for not writing" to her. If this should ca,tch her eye, C hope she will write to me, ea I have Ios« her adi-ess. With very 'kind regards to C. A.. Queenie 11, L*3y of the LiUet, tmi all D.L.F. and yourpelf.— Yours truly, I PRISCILLA PEEL. I Dear Dot,— lt is three years since I I penned a letter to the page. We get the . Witnes3 every week, and just recently as I ! Was reading some of the" letters, I waa I Peiaed with a desire to write again. Am the'-e anj more L.F. up here, do you know* I have not come "in contact with anyon* ut> this way who ki-ow-s of the D.L.F. Page, ?.r.d we have been here over two years now. We are havdng very changeable weaihe.Hera just now. One iime •it will be quit<» hot. and another time it is cold and we.. 1 M'hile reading over tbe letters the other- . nisl-t I cfiuflit sight of a farrr.l:AT niune — Wild Rose; but I was disappointed when Z 'li«ooverfed somaone else had -taken -my o]<y whoolmaie's non- de plume. Sozn« time ago I noticed my name had been taken, so if yon have no objection, and no one olee has 3igned themselves Merry Widow, T shall change mine to the latter name. My eiaters Dolly Varder and Princes* Clementine will writ* soon. Princeso Clementine and I went to a bazaar last .night, and sh» went in for the n^il-drvstnst oompetition. She dicve the nail in wi+n four hite. and she .came first. She jrot * lovely table centre. If this letter should rceet the eye of any. of my Southland matee, woold they kindly tiurrv up and answer my letters. I«t is time I heard from you. Corporal U.T. I can't think of much newt, but I hope to have more next .ime. I will now close, -wiith fond love to all Lj.J\ — Yours tru!y, MERRY WIDOW. [There are three or four other Litt.'o Folk in PaTmerston North. I wonder vcu have not noticed theift* letters. 1 arr alrt-'.d th« difficulty with the names is ier creasing, for there are so many 01 us now. ! I find no other Merry Widow on my books. ! —DOT.] I Dear Dot,— This is my fir»t letter to your page. 1 art* 11 years old; and lam 1 »n the Fourth Standard. Our examination wall bs soon, aud I hope fo pass into tip Fifth Standard. The bush is begirning to look nice once more. Dear Do:. I have a flower garden of my own, and have sown a great many seeds in it. I love to watch tha little seeds grow intc flowers. Some d«y I might bring you a bunch of flowers from my own garden. 1 will write you a lon^ei letter next time, With love to youxeelf and all the Little Folk.— Yours truly, BLACKSMITH. [You must eive. us a word picture ol w>ur flower-garden from time to time, Blacksmith. There is something quite fascinating about watching the development of a olmni from seedling to the floweiing state —DOT.] Dear Dot.— This is my first letter to your cage, and I hope you will let n:e join your happy band. lam in the Sixth Standard at school. lam 13 years of age. I have a little pat lamb. My father has 86 sheep We have 15 cows nuilking, and we feed tho 15 calve 3. Our factory has not started' yet. Our examination is not over yet. Dea.r Dot, I tljink I, have written a lortg letter for the first time. With love to Potato Disrger and Sewing Machine and yourself —Yours truly, TOMMY'S ROSEBUD. [We will see tbat you are added to our roll, Rosebu. « Begir to Jiink of the subject for jrour next letter.— DOT.] Dear Dot,— lt is a dark, cold, stormy right, and the wind is howling oyer the roof of' our honse.-. l sb&"vrin& ie blowing everything into pieces, and the cabbage trees are dappinj? their arms together. «'s if crying out for shelter. My two brothers are out in a motor > launch mending the engine. We were all out on Sunday for • trip a wee lay up the river, and it was lovely on file calm, still water. We hare a small engine, too, which my brother bought. It is driven bjr steam. I only know one of your little -folk, and that it Mies Mignonette. I have not seen her
leiters in the ,Witn«fls for a iong\time. She ■e-nt van an auto a while ago, and I sent her one in return I have got seeds up in my garden , but the ben with her six shacks scraped most of them out. The stalks have beer out sit the ye*r,< and they do look pretty. Suck big bunches of pink, indigo, red, white, all double and ai&glo mixed- 1 have no', much news this
tim-3. Dot, but hope to have more Eext time Love to all the L.F and yourself,— Yours truly, MERMAID. Dear Dot, — I was \ery pleased to see my letter in tho Witness." I like writing to the D.L.F. Page, and I know four D.L.F. lam in the Fourth Class at school. We have got a good -many lambs, and we have one pet, who is a lat, strong little thing. I have five sisters and six brothers. We have two' pigs, six horses, two young horses, twenty fowls, and' four oata. We have got our garden finished at school, and we have all the seeds sown except the peas. We have got carrots, beans, mangolds, "parsnips, lettuces, »nd peas. With love to all the D.L.F.J— Youre truly, ELUE VIOLETS 11. Dear Dot, — This is my first -letter to 1 your page, and I hope I may become one of your happy band. I milk three cows night and morning. It will soon be Christmas, «rad Santa Claus will soon ba round. We are having good weather; everything is looking nice and green, and the flowers are all in bloom. The farmers are busy getting their crops in. There are not many D.L.F. where I live. Dear Dot, I • think thus is long enough for the first letter. With leve. — Yours truly, TWISTED EGLANTINE. [I wonder »f any of my little folk could describe the appearance of our New Zealand Santa Claus. We are so used to thinking of Shini all wrapped up in furs, and with the frost upon his long white beard; but surely he would be different wlien he visits us here in our summer Christmas. Wtill anyone try to describe him?— DOT.] DeaT Dot.— This is my first letter to the page, and I hope you will let me join your happy band. I always like reading the L.F. letters, as they are very interesting. I am 13 years oW. and I am in the Sixth Standard at- school. We have a football ieaxn -at school. We have 45 cows altef ether, but have only 29 milking yet. We aye ten pretty black and white calves. My brother and I have over 25 dozen birds' eggs. We have L. K. G. milking machines. We have a good deal of bush on our faorm, and it looks very pretty now. We have a good garden at school. I will now draw my short letter to a close, with love to all the D.L.F.— Youtb truly. l HAIR-TRIGGER. [I am getting quite a little army oi new writers this week. Look in again soon, Hair-trigger.— DOT.] Dear Dot, — I am all alone to-night, so I thought I would send you a few lin^s. We are having some very windy weather here lately; I do wash it would stop blowing. I simply hate the wind — one can't go outside but one's hat is blown off, and one is blinded with dust. I saw Connecticut's letter in last week's Witness. By t.he way, % whatever has become of Te Aomarama? I wonder has he forgotten Dot altogether? I had nearly forgotten to give Sweetbriar a pentle reminder re writing to our Queen Dot. Well, Dot. this isn't very interesting new*, is it? I fancy this is etoing to be a very good year for fruit. - The fruit trees were just one nm9<> of blossoms last week. It was a wonderful sight to see them., I don't believe I ever saw anything half so lovely. But, alas! the cruel 'winds came and blew the blossoms all away. lately I have been busy gardening, and' my hands haven't been fit to see since; but one forgets all that when one sees the lovely flowers. At present the daffodils are lookiner sweetly pretty, buti they, like "the fruit blossoms, will soon disappear. The usual Oddfellows' ball was held a few weeks ago. and I can tell you. Dot. it was a grand turnout. 'During the night several eonss were suns, ■ and dancing was kept up until tbe early hours, when all wended their wav home after a very enjoyable evening. We had about three miles to drive home, and ,it was so cold that our driver hsd to get out and walk. We have grand fun ridinjr horses this weather. Another girl aud myself went for a ride to Cambrians the othe v day, and had a grand time. Coming home, however, we met » motor-bike, and we did get a scare (at least I did), because tbe horse I was riding was in a reckless mood, and anxious to get home, so it took me all my time to hold him back I was reading the club paper written by Shafts about "The Respective Merits of fhe "Poa-lislnc and Idealistic Novels," *nd thought i*. very wood. 1 quite agree with lv»r about Charles Garvioe and A. J. E. Wilson* b->ok«. They we all alike, and all end fhe snme way. I think if Tou resd ore nf f^arviee's books you read them all. The fjT^t one or two I read I thoug-ht all right, hut at+er a while I got absolutely tired of tbem. With my kindest regards to C-->T>necHcut, Sweetbrriar, and all the L.F. — Ynurs truly, THE NIDDING NOD. [Both The Helmsman and Ahutiri have beaten you this time, Nidding Nod» so your little reminders were subjected to my blue ■neiril. Thank you for your kind wishes. — DOT.] Dear Dot. — It mupt be nearly a year since I last wrote to you. Our school examination wag lant Tuesday. but pa I am in {he Sixth Standard 1 will not be examined for about another month. We had a holiday from school the other day, so I went for a picnic with sonic of mv friends. We started about 10 o'clock, and reached our destination about 11. Then when the billy boiled, we had dinner. After dinner ws e.mu?ed our«elves by wading -in the cr.eek. although it was rather cev'd Then wp went lookiln:? f or birds' eego an* 4 fern« till tea time When we finished 01. r t#a we itart-cd for liom-e which we reached about G o'clock. La<Hv Nan~y is staying: 'vith us just now. ard wp do have scrap uvie fun Our <=chool teacher i» roingr to leave us next March, and I will ho vpry ■sorry, beoausa he ia a very nice man He has be>&n teaching for ever 40 years now, "o I suppose he will be thinking lit is time he had a Te^t. There is going to be a social for our church soon, and I supooso I will he there I will clo«e with lovo to Watprrress. TecTiseh. Lady Nancy, Young Wolf. Simon Ken ton. and Fernda'.e. —Yours truly. NEBRASKA. Dear Dot. — I am not proinc; out to-day (Labour Day;, as it is so windy, so I think I will write a few Hnes to 3'ou. We are having a bazaar at school in a week* time. lam making a few things for it. I have a chum at school wjio, I think, is going to write to you. She wanted to have Ice Crea-m for a N.D.P.. but 1 see there is <* writer of that name already. Really, Dot. I haven't got much news to tell you. co would you mind if I described a story called ."The Princess." which I have read lately? . A little girL who had no mother, and whose father was a colonel in the army in India-. •>vas sent to a boarding school in America. Hare she received great attention from her ' teachers. a>3 rter father was rich, and paid a crest deal Tor her board. The teachers did not warat her to be unhappy, and be taken away, as they made so much money by her. But when Sara — for that was the 1 girl's name — had been at the school for two
years, news cania thai ■ her iat>her had died, ' jeariiig no rao-ney .at all! Sara was made to heip the servants and do other dirty work, and, besides, teach some of the ' smallest pupils. She slepn in an atiic " at the top c<i the house, and one day, j going there, she found the fire lit and the . table set with many daini'ias. Sara won- j dered mho di-d it, and found out at last that the gentleman's servant from the next house had, unseen, broughi lha good things. Then it transpirsd that- Sara's father had once done a great servies to the gentleman next door, so the little girl went to lave in his house, and was fcreafced with great kindneas. The teachers of the school wanted to have the child back then, of course; but the kind gentlemap would not allow her to go. Sbo had a governess to teach her, a.nd she vras very h.a,ppy. Well, Dot, this is about all I have to say. I received your nice po^t-card, Bunch of Blue Violets. Now I must close, with love to all D.L.F. — Yovurs truly, CREAM PUFF. [Someone has forgotten the little rule about writing on one si<?-3 of the paper only, Cream Puff.— DOT.] Dear Dot, — We have holidays now, as our examination- was last week.* I passed into the Fifth. There is only one D.L.F. going to our school. The apple trees arc in blossom now, and look very beautiful. Christmas is drawing near, and I hope ' to go to some sports on New Year's Day. I have not fax to go to school, although I do not like going much, and will be glad wihen I have left. We have a lot of litUe lamb 3 now; two ewes had three lambs each. We have ducks, hens, and turkeys. My brother has a lot of turkey eggs set. He caught a wild duck two years ago, and iJt is quite fame now.' Sometimes other wild ducks come to the dam where it is. One came a few yards from the garden gate. —Yours truly, FAITHFUL. Dear Dot, — It ds a long time since I wrote to you, but I have never very much to write , about. We are milking two cows, and I am learning to milk one. Goldfinch and I are going to the same school, and we are going to save up «11 our money and buy a motor car; but I think that I will be a-svay from school by \that time, and G-old» . finch too. , ( I went up to the opening of the railway between Waihoaka and Tua'«pe.re. It was a fine day, and there were a great number of people tlrcre when we got up there. There was a man taking photos, so I suppose I will see them an ihe'Witness. With love to Goldfinch, — Ycurs truly, c. a. b. [When you have saved enough money for the motor car, C. G. 8., I think there wild ba .something else you would gather buy.— DOT.] Dear Dot,— This is my firel letter to yov,T pag-e, aad I hope you will let me join your happy band. lam ten years of age and am in the Thi*rd Standard at school. Dear Dot, my sister was in the Southland Hospitial. She is home now, and seems to be getting on very well. She had hip disease. Love to all the D.L.F. and yourself. — Yours truly, v MICKY'S CHUM. [All right, Micky's Chum, I am glad, to welcome you. Write me a nice long letternext time. — DOT.] Dear Dot, — The farmers Tound here have their crops nearly all in. I know a lot of D.L.F.,' and my brother and sisters write to you, so . I thought I would lfe'e to too. I am in the Third Standard.' There is only one D.L.F. sjc.ee to school with me, and tb»t is Wonderful. ' We, play hockey, tenniis, football, and cricket ai our school. We are going to have a school concert soon. Seeing that, this is my first letter, I. will not wi-ito much, bat the n'eifr time I write it will be a bigger letter. I will now close, with love to all D.L.F., hoping- you will accept me as one of your happy band. — Yours truly, SANDOW. tl wonder whiich .gams you like playing besfc. Sandow. Are you really a strong roan), orare you going to be some day? — DOT.] Dear Dot, — This is my first letter to your page, but «>s I know a lot o£ your Little Folk, 1 thought I would like to become one also. I read Workbox's letter about her visit to Wadnoni Park. I went there last Christmas when 1 was staying up at Springfield with my grandmother,' and I had &ix rides on the merry-go-round, but I liked Punch and Judy the best of all. The Herbert sports were held yesterday in Mr JRoss's paddock, but it was v very blowy day. A special train from Oamaru brought a lot of people. The North Ota go Pipe Band and the Maheno Brass Band were there, so Herbert was lively for once. At the end of the snorts the committee let go a. wild pig. which was caugihl on the hills the day before, and it was great fun watching the men trying to catch it, ac it was very wild. I think I have written enough for my first letter, so 1 will close 1 : With love to Une'-Pomme Rosee and yourself.— Yours truly, INDIAN QUEEN. [So the pig-hunt came off. Now. I was int.^-e>3ted- in that, item at this Herbert sport*, but you didn't tell me how they caught tbe pig. or whether they eausrht it at all. lam glad to hear from you, Indian Queen.— DOT.] Dear Dot, — 1 am poincr to i-ell ycu about the picnic we had the day of the op-aning of the new railway from Waihoaka to Tuatapere. When we "arrived at Tuatapere we had a look around to pee alj Oi-ere was to be seen, and then we took our baskets and billies and wended our way to the river. We had a while to wait before "we could cross the ferry, p. 3 there was a meat crowd of people croisinsr tkat day It was very pleasant, on tbe ferry, t.he <?ey was so fire and calm. Wli-on we landed or the oil^r pidp. wp mod» a fire, and boiled our Wily, £>nd Irad our lunch. We nlayed till it vir.n i-im-e "to sxi bmk aeain. There were 10 of ray mat^ and I can tp.ll you we did not feel the fi'me pa/*sin? when we were coming back. There were pevp.ral hordes and trans on the ferry but the horses did not seem to mind crossir>? at el! An our train started io whistle, it was time for us to ua-ck ud and «-*art 'or home. It took an hour'» travelling in the train beforo ire arrivpd home at 5 o'clock. TMs <*nd«»cl our IloHdav. So. you "-cc. wi2 enjoyed our day's outing very much. — Yours t-ruly. TE TUMUTU. [You must have liarl sl fine picnic that day. Tumntu, and n d<ay by which to remember the opening of the new railway. — DOT.] Des.r T)ot. — Once again I comfortably seat myself down at the table to write to you a few lines; Beautiful weather and glorioup roads have taken the r>lace of the mud which abounded during the winter, and when sorinertime comes " lit makes one feel nl* if 1;?« is worth liviap. Farm. 1 work is well advanced in this district, and the bulk of the wheat and oats are sown, while in (some of the earlier-sown paddocks a frreen tinge is noticeable. A bountiful supply of
grass is - seen - every where,, and in conse--qttence stock are in good* condition. Our lambing is just over, and we are fortunate in having a large percentage.; I _ have several .pet lambs, and sometimes 1 feel annoyed at the mischievous tricks thev> play, but when yo.u look at their pitiful expressions, one cannot help laughing at the •dear, wee, innocent lamba. Tho winter just past has been ten. .exceptional one in the way of amusements for the young, and as I am approaching womanhood I occasionally venture out at night* to indulge in the fascinations of the ballroom. I went to Ta-panui Oddfellows' anniversary, and enjoyed myself immensely. This was their thirty-ninth anniversary, and the halfyearly district meeting was also held- in T'apanui the same day, so you can imagine^ what a, gay time -was spent. About 300~ people alt-ended the diance, and the sight "was one I will not forget. The dainty dresses worn by tbe ladies, m&ngled with the different coloured sashes of the breiJiren of the M.U.1.0.0.P., mad« a display which has never before been witnessed in our district. The Orcckston hall' is going to be enlarged, snd it says a lot for the prosperity of the district when our Hall Coxnniittea can see its way cieax to erect two ante-rooms on to the present "building" for the convenience of the numerous crowds who patronise our local functions. It is .rumoured that a concert will be held at an ea-rly date in aid of the ball funds, and I would like to see c bumper house for such a deserving cause The shows wilf soon be coming off, and as niy fa.ther and brothers have a lot of valuable horses, I interest myself to a considerable extent_in the J)unedin. Invercargill. Gore. and'Tapaaud shows. In the long evenings .when my work for the day is over, I often take a walk tip Black Gnully, and view the natural scenic places with delight. Dear Dot, you have no it'oawhat a lovely place Black Gully ii; #r.d if a>t any time you have occasion to take a holiday from ycur duties, you shouk 1 not forget this picturesque plaos, waerj the s>ii is so invigorating, and with a h'.'o lahi-.ir could be made a pleasure resort thai", auy district would be proud of. I a.tte.id the church regularly, and listen attentivtly to : the impressive sermons delivered uy our popular minister, and often thank il 11 ust •, be encouraging to a preacher of the Gospel when he sees so many of the young people of his congregation taking an lintarest in the work of the Church. It is said if we are to keep the British navy at iho high standard it now attains, we must *'kec-p tlie cradle full," and I can inform you that many a cradle 'is being rocked in tisis district at present. lam extremelj sorry ! to hear that our local doctor met with * , nasty accident, and is incapacitate.!, frt.in his work, but I hope that mauy c'.-.ys will not pass before his pleasant h<nile will .again be visible at the bedside <~f the sick. Dear Dot, before I draw to a close I must say that I have lost my cousin Anthea. ! She is greatly missed by all us D.L.F. The fishing season has begun again, but really. Dot, I * have given "you enough news this time without writing on fishing. With best love to all the D.L.F.,— Your* truly. CRUCIFORM. I [I am glad to have such n long and interesting letter from you, Cruciform. You have been silent for some time. So poor Anthe» w«d your cousin. — DOT.] _ . DeaT Dot, — It is a long time since I wrote to you. The spring flowers awe coming, out mow. lam going to tell you the names of our horses. TheTe are Tom/ Grip, Bell, and Baldy. I have Tead a good many books, such as "Betty the Bold," "The Swiss F«umily Robinson," "The' Old I»oclr Fa,rin," "Olid Ghickweed," '*Odd," wad "The lelamd House." I know a good few D.L.F. about lx«re. We are hsTinr a Sunday school picnic on Saturday. We are milking 40 cows - just now. I think I shall close now, with I/ove to Mother Suzrshi'ne a»d Estreil*. — Yours truly, LITTLE BLUE EYES. Dear Dot,— This is my fi?.st letter to the page. I wish to join your ba-nd. lam ll years old. We have only got one cow. I rid* a Mttle pony, and I like riding down to school. "We have » few hens — some black ones and gome white. I will now stop, hoping to write a longer letter next time. Love to all the little folk, — Yours truly, STAR DREAMER. [We have evidently not yet exhausted all Maerewfoenua boys <vnd girls. , It must be ( nice to start your day with a pleasant pony | ride. Write again, little Star DreameT. — j DOT.] Dear Dot, — I would like to be one of your , little folk, ii I may My motheT is guiding mj hand, as I cannot write very well with <a pen and ink. Mother used to write"' to the pagr -about 20 years ago. Igo to school, and like it- very much. I have^ four brothers. I collect post-ear-ds, a»d.~ would like to exchange with any Arrow town Little Folk wilMng. I was born at Airrowfown. I know Longwood Blossom. 1 wonder if will know who 1 am, Longwood Blcsaom? The beach is close to where we live. Now, dear Dot, as my hand is getting tired, I'll close with love to you and all tho Little Folk. — Yours truly, SNOWBEREY [I am always proud to welcome tho second generation of Little Folk, Snowberry. I have put a notice in the Auto Column for you a* well with Tegard to your post-cards. —DOT.] j Dear Dot, — We are having just about the funniest weather you could imagine — beautiful fine evenings and foggy mornings. When the fog ripes ut is lovely and fine for a bit, and then about 10 o'clock it clouda over and threatens rain. It continues like that until about 4 o'clock, when it clears up, and is beautifully fine again. I don't think I have told you much about the country round here yet W«ll, I will make an attempt. We arrived at Inglewood from Wellington on a Saturday night about six years ago tfa'is month. We were going on to a farm to milk on shares about 10 miles from Inglewood Father came in to town on tTie Friday night, but we missed the mail train in Wellington, so we did not g-ct hero until Saturday Father did not coins in thai night, so we stayed at the Coffee Palace. He came for us late on Sunday afternoon, and it was dark when •wks reached our new home. Sly first impression when on getting up in the morning I had a. look around was that there w?jS nothing but bush and logs and standing skeletons of trees and hills as far as the eye oould &cc. One would think that there was hardly a level piece of ground to ' be found. Tbe bush was only about 909 yards from the house* Although it is so rugged out in the country, I 'love it none the leas. I went to see mv married eiiter yesterday (Sunday). She Tires about four miles out. Have you ever gone eeling; Dot? It is immensely good fun, esp-eaially when you get splaahed with water from bead to foot. Last Friday night & party of 10 of ue went eeling, and, jusi fancy! we caught two whole eel« between the 10 of us. We took provisions for supper, but when we got there the young man who was
to bring the billy to bcil had. I^* ifc a * hoitoe, so those who liked milk drank it, and those who didn't— well, they just had to go without. Nsxt tame we go we 'intend to see w'a have a' billy" "to boil at any wifce. The sno-v is quickly disappearing off "Mount Ecrnont now. The climbing season * begins about February. Wouldn't it te Hn if we could get together enough "Tf ranakf ©.L.¥. to make ft party to climb?" The Inglewood side is the easier to cliimb. vVith love to everyone,— Yorrs truly, "' - MOUNTAIN BELI/E. [Yes, fountain Belle, I have memories of eelmg, though -the event in cooneotion. with eels thai; I most clearly recall- is. when, once a conger got on my line. " Our party gp&wt almost a half an hour in trying to Jet it on to the jetty, but jusfe as (we 'bad him a foot from Itihe top. with enej mighty .wrd«Me he smashed lines and gafi and, »eiurned to bi« watery j home ont>e mor%. I hope he is .still ilwe^nd can , xaj.se ».«»*» when he tbilaks cif.how h« beat us. Ha deserved to live.— TDOT.] ' . Dear Dot,— Why ,-I have not written, for such ft long time is because Saturday week pnotheV and .1 went to Ohns^urch, Bund I thought I would wsut till F we } cam-e home, so that I could tell you *11 the njews We .arrived there on Suna&y, and ln.tha afternoon we wee* out to Sumner, anos ■sitayetl the day there, aaid in the ewsntmg we went up to see some friends. Then on Monday we went to see the Museum, and m the evening we went to New Brighton: c islao Ventto^see tbe Gardens., going to Dunedin, 'but we were preVtarfed from going because mother had to go '»>«<& to Wellington sooner than she thought. «c were four days altogether in Christchttrcc We came home in a lovely steamer' called the Mahie.no. She is a Sydney boat. We had the bes.t oabin in the ship, and had * lovely passage. Now, dear Dot, I think thais is enough for to-day. With love -co yourself and Scribbler.— Yours truly. DOLLY DAYDREAM. [I am sorry you were not able to visit our Dunedin, baoause I" should, like to ha\fo heard what you thought of the central stronghold of Bet's kingdom.— DOT.] "Dear Dot — It is a long time since I last wrote to you. We have « new teacher now. I son in the Second Standard at school, and lam nine years old. There are some very pretty ferns in tht bush. We have got two cows milking. We are having good weather down here just now, and the roads are getting very dusty. Summer will scon be tier*. I lllke going ' to school. *Ph« birds' neats are about now. The cherry blossoms ore in bloom just now. - This is not a very long letter, but I will write you a longer one next time. With love to Pretty Polly, Pretty Dolly, Curly Head, and Gum "Boots, — Yours truly, PtJSSY GRAY. Dear Dot,—^Sirice I last wrote to you we have had our examination, and I am now in the Sixth Standard. There was a .photographer here a week ago, and the school children were taken. We got the L.F. taken that weie at school, Mod The Fireman h»s got his head turned round. It was » wee bit •Ktindy, and my hair waa blowing over my face. There is no news ai preasn 1 !, so I will say good-bye, with love to ! Un« Pomsie Rosee, Ruby, and Scarlet Runner. — Yours truly, GRBENSHRUB'S SISTER. [I hope I am going to see one^of thos« photographs of Maer-ewhenua Little Folk. How 'would it do to have it in the Witness? —DOT.] Dear Dot,— This is my first letter to your page, and I hops you will enrol me. lam seven years of age, and I *m in the Standard. I know » lot of L.F. here, and I am in the came standard as Gold Duet and Martin Battler. W« _ha.ye five cows rriilking at - present, and their name* are Jessiej, Effie, Annie, Buttercup, and Ki*ty. We have also fivo calves, whose names ar« Nancjr, Nellie, Snowy, Robbie, *nd Diamond. Diamond has the shape of a diamond 1 on his side. This is all the news I have »t present.— Yours truly, STAR DREAMER. [I wonder whether you were in ihe photograph too, Stfcr Dreamer. I hope ao, because it would be a pity to have just 'missed it. • Write again. — DOT.] Dear Dot.— This is my first letter v to your page. Ido not know any Little Folk here, but I knowi Flukey She lives in Dunedin. We have a hen and 13 chickens, and they* are very, preedy littl« things. Tliere *r« four schools here, and a town hall, which is not very big. Gore is a very nice place, but I would like to live in Dunedin or Christchurch.-' A few weeks ago I had * nice trip to Christchurch, and we stayed at Timeru and Dunedin on the -way. W-ben we were in Christ-church ire went to see the Museum, tbe Picture Gallery^ and Sumner Beach. We also visited tbe shops, which ware very large. I thtink I will close now. With love to the Little Folk— You-rg truly, MOLI/Y RILEY. CYou would have » flno time in Chxi»tchurch, Molly. It is so different from our yiar' of the world,, though Gore fc a flat r>lace tao. H. 3uppose you saw the Oave Rock, and did you have a ride on the -donkeys?— fiOT.] Dear Dot. — I am writing to you, telling you about Riverton. Riverton is a pretty little fcownirihiip situated near the OrepukiInvercairyill railway line. There are several hotels in Riverton, and a very pretty Eohool, which has been built lately. There wre five grocers" shops and three fruit .shoos. Two -doctors live *t Riverton, Dr Trotter fiad D.r Gordon. There is % river -which runs through Rivarton, and many oeoole go up it for a. picniic. In summer time n>any picnic trains come to Riverton. 'Aa I have no more to say I will nvr »ood-bve. —Yours truly, PEACH BLOOM. Dear Dot, — I have always taken a' great interest in readinsr the D.L.F. letters!! wad hope you will allow toe x> ioin your , band. I have Jeft scKool n&arfor four yea>ra now, but I would Mk* to be back again. We are milhine about 10 cows now.- but next month there will be nearly twioe as many. TKe weather up here i» very fine, bui I wiflh it would rain. «md so relieve me of my task of watering the flower seeds. T think this is all I have eot to sa-y. ro I will olo*e. with love to a.ll the Little Folk and youreelf. — Yours truly. STARLIGHT .11. [Will you kindly send your name - next time you write. Starlight, and "then I shall be able to • e'nrot ..you.— DOTj , . .„. . Dear Dot, — I am just poiirg to 'write '^ou ' a few -lin«s to let -you know 'that I' have not forgotten you. -It is over a' year -*(jo since I last wrote to you. We har* h»<l a sad bereavement hktelv. I hare 'a : Kttle garden of my own, and it is looking ' very pretty mat now. an most of my flow*?*! axa out. Dear Dot, lam powg up Uy -try to t>ais the Sixth Standard with ' A vide. - 1 hope we both pass. I was up last' year,
but tailed. The teacher at Kaweku is getting a- .residence put up; it is going' to be a nice bouse, consisting of three rooms and a 'scullery. Mother's flower garden is looking njco just now, and lit will be prettier later , on, as the late flowers will all be flowering. Well, Dot, I had a great de«l of news to tell you when I began, but it has oil disappeared. I will close with love to Avice aid Queen Bess H.— Your3 truly, • .- ■ A LONELY VIOLET. [May I offer you sympathy in your trouble? ■ The change you have made is all right.— DOT.] Dear- Dot, — It is a long time since I wrote to my- friend. One of jny aunties died recently. We are having . --mcc meetings now.- We hay« had <our examination. The inspector was good to us this time. Our cow da in the ran now, and we are not milking it— Yours truly, OLIVE. [I 4m so sorry you have had bad news to tell "me? this tim«, Olive. — DOT.] Dear Dot,— l have got. a pet lamb. Its name is Daisy. I like reading the D.L.F. letters; ' T was up in the bush on Sunday getting- 'clematis and lawyers. My two brotieirs and my sister were with me. My brother" is thinking of -writing to you. This is jfll T think I have to say. With .love 4o TAlj^ Bell,— Yours truly, CACTUS. • [I aii wishing to see the* clematis' again, but lia'vfe not noticed any' on my walks yet — DOT.p- ■ Dear, Dpi,— This is, my-iust .letter to your pagA , /I taka » grez^ interest in reading the D.I/^ 1 . Page, and lihope-,you will accept me. as "one of your happy band,. We, live on a dairy farm 13 mdles from O&niaru. We are milking 22 -cows just now.. I milk seven cows every morning, but I do not J3 /k at night. We ha.va ,3& pigs. We had our examination at school about two weeks ago. I am going to leave school after Christmas. We bave a library at ' our school. Each child is allowed- to take a book home to read. The last book I read wes "Tha Old Cariosity Shop." It was is, very mcc book. I think I have writtenenoiVgh far the first tim®, co I . shall conduct. Wtth Icvo to all the D.L.F not forgetting yourself,— Yours truly, ,$. . BAYOU [TlTt-ry-gix pig-3 ds a large number to b.av« k .ibut I suppose they run out in the padd Jefc. lam gkd you have read "The. Old Curiosity Shop." Are you going to read ah> more of Dickens's?— DOT.] Dear Dot,— l am writing a line or two ]us« taa tell ye a/ ab^ot oor holiday or the 13£h_. . I think I tslt ye in my last letfeer tow we were longing for ths day tae come Vk^.l, t&? begin, we were a' up earlier than usu&L and each an© w&s busier than th© rest , At 9 o'clock a' was ready, and my big bfithar, togged in his kilfe, left for the sports., ground, accompanied by Queen ox the Vale, each mounted on their trusty bikes. • The rest of us drove, arrivrin«- at 11- o'clock. By that time' the trains had arrived, an 1 the ground F began to look ' "ay w! heaps o" kilties- and" ladies. There was a brasa band too. I didna, bother muck!* . aboot =racin' an' jumpin'. The bilre races ■ver-o- --good, but some cf them came awful ounap* .on tie ground.^ After a race or twe 1 got rohnd among the crowd wha ivtt^cnin' the pipin' and daneln'. My cousin ■,-ot c, prize for dancin'. and nfy briiher got' twa first prizes and a second prize. We wert^' very pleased at "their quid lud!: T-neiie w«« a prend concert in the eve-nin*-. but-.vpnly. imy brither went; ihe reai of u« came.iaoe very tired And resay for tea and oor beds as weel. I saw tome D.L.F., but nap* p' them had badges. on. Duncan Gr«y w«« there wi' his camera, snappin' everybody '.an' a * bodies.— Yours truly ,;'. • SCOTCH JOCK. Peer {pint,— This is my first- leiier to your page. .X thought I would like to write to you, e#,^l started to-day. - -My sister 6s r» DJjJE. i I have a good disla-nce f» go to £<*x>oL.,.feut I generally have mates to ec with. fWe have four horsee. and thc-V names are Srailer. Rasey. Prince, and Darkey. My sister hca a wee l*mb. 1 like l^^S the D.L.F. Mters. I know a few D.L.F. about here. We have four cats, snd <~ne of them has kittec*. I hay* K ot a iev • dolls.^ Our exam, is not* lon.qr p:i«--=€c. T aro nrpe, and am in the Saco'ncl Stan-Jar,.?! I live in the couniar. Summer will £c->n oe upon ua y.s-aiin. I like -when 'uirwr.'er C3U»33 although it is so hot.— Your-- truly, VIDA. [You write very clef-rlv for a Second S'..a idard girJ, Vica. Glad to welcome you — DOT.] Dear Dot, — Our -exsjnination was last Tuesday,, but as tl-e Sixth Sixud&rd examination is not till near the end of November I have to remain in the Sixth Scaad-srd for a. few weeks yet, until 1 knew whether I passed or not. Jones's Buck jumpers have been ' around lately, and they performed three nights an Arrow. There was a little donkey there called Jack, and all the boys were invited to go and have a ride, but I was Hot' allowed. It was great /un to sea the way that the donkey loaked «t the boys as they fell off. There wero.also several hecses and ponies, but the best fun of all was watching the bucking bullocks, as it is a vei-y uncommon thing to see bullocks bucking! A good many iuen rode them, but only a few man-as-ed to -stick on for any length of, time. They had a very good horfe there called Hastings Bobs, which is said to- ,be about the only genuine bucking hoirse in the Dominion ; "but no local men fried to ride it. One local man. who hes now joined the company, man-aged to ride p. spinning pony, Dingo, for 21 seconds. The n;en who travel with the buckjutnpers cs<n rids every animal there, from Hastings Bobs 'o the donkey. They trained several young local horses, that had n.2-ver been ridden before, within a very short sp-aca of time. Xo horse in Lake County could have any «ihow of throwing Mr Jones's men. Mr Jose 3 purchased a small roan pony from a. man who lives uw here. As the pony is .a good bucker, Mr Jones i= going to take it with him. Our hor^e, whose wme is Dulcie. is turned out at a sheep station rust now. The oilier d»v Mag cut her foot ' flightly, but at is healed now. The bird- : Testing 'is in again, and one day, while ?imon Kenton and I w«rc out looking for : •fhrushes' and sparrows' nests, we found a lark's nest with three eggs in it We were •mrorised, for we did not think that larks : 'aid so e'srly in the year. A few weeks ogo I rode Ma«f to Gibbston again, and . spent ' another enjoyable day like the previous one. Mag is -very tame now. and she never bucks 1 rt ' all, except when she is scampering } j>round th« paddocV." She 'displayed a bit - of. her bucking -powers in front of the buck■'um.r>eraw when .they passed our bouse, but it. the time I rather wished she hadn't, for 1 Mr Jones might have wanted fo buj hor. I Tndeei^ne did ask me how much I wanted for the :^ony, but I told him it wasn't mine, .wfrich was true, «nd rode on. The tennis -season is in Again, and we have- got oßir court, 'hoed, rolled, and lined, as also Nh». tb* town people. <!We played three
matches last year and the year before, two of which we played against the town, and one agiainst Gibbston, but aa we (the Hospital Tennis Olub) are all beginners, except my father, we were beaten every time. One Sunday afternoon, after Sunday school, Piomingo, another boy, and I went for c walk about a- mile up the M««etown roatf to a plaoo called Pincher'a Bridge, where there is * very tumbled-down footbridge over the Attow River. As this is about all the news, I will now siop, witt love to all the D.L.F.— Yours truly, TECUMSEH. tl should like to see the donkey at his ©ames. He must have a good chuckle to himself when he gets his riders off so easily. —DOT.] Dear Dot, — Having just finished reading a most interesting book. I thought perhaps an extract from it might interest you «md some of the Little Folk. The book, namely, "Naturalist's Voyage Hound the World," is written by Charles Darwin, M\A.,, F.R.S. The voyage started on December 37, 1831, ■and lasted nearly five years. I think I will tell you what Mr_l>arwin has to say about the South Anlf>ric«wi ostrich, which is common on the wild plains of Northern Patagonia. They live chiefly on grass and roots., but at Bahir Blanca be several times saw three or four ostriches come down to •the mud banks at low tide ior the sake of getting a few small fish. Ostriches can swiui, though, slowly, and will take to the •water both of their own accord and when driven to it , During hiis stay at Bahia Blanco in the months of Sep-tembeT and October their eggs were found in extraordinary nuuibers all over the country. A la.rg-3 number of them lie scattered and single, and are never hatched. These are called huachos by the Spaniards. Others a?ain are collected in a hollow excavation, thus forming a nest. Some of the?e nests contain from 20 to 70 and even 80 eg:rs. They are said to be laid by several birds. It is effinned that the male bird alone hatches* the eggs, and takes care of the . voune for some tim<* afterward". Even at a distance the mi'e bird can ba dUtin<rui"her! from the f°male, beinj. larger and d?.,rker coloured, and having a bigger head. ! Ostriches are canghf without much difficulty j by the Indis'i or Gaucho with the aid of the bo! as. There are two kind* of bolas. j lha on 3 used for catching ostriches con- ; sisf« of Uvs round stone.** covered ' with ' lecher, pnfl united by a thin plaif.sd iron" about Bft lons. The otter kir.d has three balls made either of wood, s>ione, or iron. The wondsn ones are pomietinsc* as frrge as a turnip, and (he stone ones about the size of an app'e. When usinsr them the thrower first catches the smallest of the three rails and whirls the others round hfs head. Then, taking aim. sends them revolving through -. the sir. When they strike ths obfect they wind round it. then cross each other and hscome firmly hitched. I must draw to a c!of«, with kinc]esf. regards to, yourself and the Little F^ik.— Youra truly HEATHER LASSIE. [A most interesting extract. Heather Lo&s'e. I have bean reading oarts of "The Voyage of the Eeagle ' recently. Ris a 1-ook that, a-11 {he older Little 'Folk should tw<3. They would enjoy it very much. — DOT.J Dear Dot,— l think it is about time I was aooearme aeajn, .Spring is here asain, with -its beautiful .coloured flowers and busy bhd<*. We had very few daffodils out this y-s-AT. Tee first one this year opened on the 31st Augfust-. wd las-t year's on the 3rd September. The . willow trees and hedges f.-e .t bcauiifuj jjreeu at present, the prigs hi«»wi«.e. The clematis, so nice and white, is to be wti on. the .tens of bu=hes. A few day<= ago it was terribly windy-, tbc wcr*t wr have evpr scetL. liere. When the wJisd w^s St its fiercst it, blew down «onie <re?s. rooik, and gate?, and tore nart of the stacks w. There are two kingfishers in our l--t'^h. theh neckn and brea«te are pure ■wbile, and the rest of their bodies are V lovel;' rvrple. -wbji'e their beaks ore very lone Tsiev make a pecu'iar sound, which rv<> hes • si! <lay lonjr. We have over 103 lamrn an.i five cct ones. Their names .srp Pat.. Denis, Larrie. Xonnie, and the M.ia'Vfi en is Killtj-ncy. Pat was born j-n tbp 1 3th of September, while' Killarnev >vr? )nrn on tho 13th Octnlur. Denis 'Is ray one. sr.d lio is -the grec-diept of all. Pat ; is ft jnuc-h biirgar than wea Killarney. A iV-.v days a°-o we took a wboto of fi\e of Ihcin. It took two of "s fo hod them, 1,->si«V, tyip.-r two -m. It is ■ntrh fun to «ep *h-.n t<-R=m<r thair heari-s ar.d mmping :>bout. Wee Killarney ha<? a big rover on. but w? hoce U f.:m» him grew of it «ron. T th'!«k I will atoi> 101-. lioaiae fo r "3 n leile v in froni K-iwdv Enrr- h H^artv Lassie, and Fancy Work «.~vn — "V,,,,. - '^u!y ' HAWTHORN BET.L."'' (T>i vr,i ? ec the kingfishers ieedirpr. Hawthorn BpI" It would he interesting to hear soraeihiK*? of their habits —DOT.] Df« Dct,— l think I will tell you about some birds this time. On«» day when my si=t»r ajid T wnre laving poison for ; rabbi f.s down the ?ide of tho bush, I v.as j a little bel.'ind my » ; .»-er, snd I saw a strange biirl which T had not seen before. ! I called out to my sister to c-orae bark and : F3e it. Rsfore 'he pot back asked what it was lik?, and I =a ; d it h-ad thi*i. Ion? le^g. "Oh." phe said. ";' must bp c robin. Where did you sec it'" Then I to ;k her to tho Dace whore I had saen it. When wo got there, there «!.« iha i>=oi lul'e thin"eating some of the poi^o.' I had put down! We drove it away, and picked "n the lest of ihe poison. Afier a little «hi!e r.ccihor robin came hopping up, and 11 ntc «cir>e too. We wee very porrv for tha ucor littlo thing? They nicked it un fo hungry like. We went 3o\ra tho bush a little ' fprthp'-. ard then can-; m the m-iddls of j if. They followed «" a little way, ard than | left us. We wont '.nek to look for them ! another <Isv, bit. saw no sigr of tiien^. I sur>pose thpv havp died wth eating the ! poison. The robins arp of a derk jrrfv colour, with a vhiti e h coloured breast. "It #? very much 'iko the femile tomtit. It v's about the size of a bell-Hrd. We have never found any of their ne=ts yet. but hope <o some d<ay. We Foniptimes see pigsons flvinv near our place. We can easily tell the flutter of their wings. They are such prattv bird c . Nearrly every night we see a ba<t flying round and round our barn. Wo throw un stones and sticks in the air, and 'it fi'ies down to get them. It thinks it is something to eat. but it is mistaken. I have not seen ono quite close, so I do not know what it is> like. With love to Hearty Lassie, Rowdy Enough, and Kowhai. — Yours truly, . LIXNET. [Little Folk may be interested to knowthere are two species of batp in New Zealand—the short-tailed and the long-tailed. The former is now almost extinot, but the latter is still plentiful in various parts. They measure about two inches in length, and xoay be seen sometimes fluttering through the air of an evening. The wings are very velvety, thus making their flight
i almost soundless. They make their homes for the most part in the trunks of hollow trees, and congregate in large numbers. A scientist in the North Island once found a , nest of them, and on burning a branch «.t the hole in the tree trunk he estimated tt/a/t : nearly a thousand flew out in one continuous stream^ — DOT.] •' Dear Dot, — May I become one of your Little Folk? I have always taken a great interest in the page, and 1 have had a des*rre to write to the page. I know a number of I Little Polks, and Bobbie Dear and I are •always talking about the page. I think . I will now conclude, with best love to Gipsy Queen, Sweetbriar, Bobbie Dear, and : Clinker, — Yours truly, HANDY ANDY. > [You may certainly become one of my Little Folk. Handy. WTite me a longer letter next time.— DOT.] Dear Dot, — I suppose you will have forgotten there is such a name as Happy Queen Bess. It is -a lovely day to-day, if it only keeps .like this for a while now. We liave had plenty of rain lately, but I suppose a shower now and again does good. The grass is nice and grean, and the flowers are bsginning to flower — the roses, lilac, wisteria, and many others. W© are milking 84 cows now, and have a lot more to ,come in yet. We -will have over 100 altogether. We have machines, so we are not so badly off. Nearly everybody is getting the machines nowadays. Christmas will scon be here again. With sports, picnics, and dsnee?, thiiifjo are very lively about Christma-s time, for it only comes once a year. I haven't any more news at present, so I will stop. With love to all the L.F.. — Yours truly. HAPPY QUEEN BESS. fWhat a task you would have if you were net provided with milking machines. I hoce Queen Bs-«=s is. still heppy.— DOT.] ; Desx Dot. — It is over two weeks ago since • I saw my first letter in the Witness. I was trying to get my little nephew to write tc the LV. Page, but he would not. We had a week's holiday ls>st week and I -enjoj-ed my=eTF~very much. We went up the bush on Saturday,- and v:s had great fuu. We left liorne about 11 o'clock, ?thl it took us about j half-an-hour to go up. I brought home some pretty ferns and pu' them into flower pots so I hope they grow after taking the trouble to carry them' to far.' My brother hv,s a big black hound, and ha calls it Tim. It has 1 been raining very hard thi? afternoon. T kr.«w eight oar nine L.F. up here. It i« aboi-t two weeks ago c inoe pent ycu p box of Vue viole'Ls, and after tht mail was away I just remmbsred that I did net send mv name with them. I must close now, as 't is near bedtime. With love to all the L.F , not forgetting yourself, — Yours- truV. SNOWDROP II [I thanked the unknown sender of thosp violeis a week ox two ago through the coluimu May I again add my jj^rsonal thanks to you, Snowdrop? It was very kind of you to send them, and I apprscinted th^in.— DOT.] Dear Dot, — How the time does fly! Why we are nearly through tl<e last mo»th cf spring. Several of the spring flowers are past, but niore are coming into blossom. Don't the daffodils make a pretty show when they are out? I have two geraniums blooming— two pink and two red. The fields about here fire looking nica and green now, as thfe oat crops are ' up, and the iann-ers are busy preoaring the- ground for the turnios.'^ The little lambs are frisking about quite .ia<ppily in the paddoqks. L««t, month a bazaar w>ps 'held here for three nights. It was in aid of the tennis club They had 'fine weaViJi'er for it and a good attendance, thereby ra'isin.g the sum they required. They are going 'to make . two 'psphalt courts. The bpchelors had" 1 their ball ■ here sima time back, and they had a grand turn-out. The footballers b&d a plain . and ■fancy dress ball last week, which br&Ught the Reason to a clo<-9. and 1 it i= cricket in ■ 6ioad. Tha otter Sunday two girls and myself went for a wnJk up the road, until we earce to one .of the coalmines. As no one is working at that mine at twcenl it has » very desolate appearance. The boxes of coal are bauled un a line by tun engine at the tou of the hill. The mine is -entered by a drive, but where the men Ufwd to work is covered with water. After having a look round for a while we left it and proceeded further on, and seeing a nice rise we were all about seated when our mete =aid. " Look ; out, there, are bid-a-bids there!" r-nd sure enouerh there was, so we had sonic -work to pick them 6ff our dress-es, and you may be sure we did not sit down again, but walked on through tlis manuka and past the other mi; 3'» until we cime to a FuV-did buch of <-crub. Hid thore we Feat-ed ourselves ami had a rest. Where we were the cotton plant was growi/i" in abundance. We th?n walked up a tr«-ck through the scrub until we , reached th* road, pnd when wp got to th.-> . top of a hill we had a view of the townshio, end looking to the west row ?fter rrw of hills. But bs raia wp* hovering on the top of tho Twin.'p.ws we did not w*ut to purvey it lone, , but hastened homewprd3. and ?o ended a ' very pleasant walk. I wonder what all mv correspondents ere doinf,, as I have not l>eard from thorn for a long time now. ! Hurry up and wrile, comrades! With | kindest regards to all the L.F.. and especLaJly , my correspondent:; and Dot, — Yours tru'y. ; A TELESCOPE. Dear Dot. — We are milking 23 cows and rearing four caves. I milk night and mornung, and I have the calves to feed. The flcwor gardens are 'ookmg nice. There sire plerty of little lan^bs to b? reen about here now. I have got a nice Bible for merit a.t Sunday School Snn<lav, the 17th, wa-8 the children's service Sur.dav. Tbis y^r hns gone round quickly, for it will socn be Christmas again. Now I will stov>. with love to a'l. Lazy Bill =aid that Killarney v.as a bad little girj. but he is worse than orr I know a good rhyme aLout Lazy Bill. Her it is : — " Lazy- Bill from Vinegar Hill Never works aud aever will." j Yours truly. FLOSSY FYcu can't mean that rhyme for our La7y Bill. I am sure Bill works hard. I j-hou'd keep niv name Flossy, aud I will attend to the other.— DOT.] Dear Dot. — Here I am again aftei a Jong ab c cnce. It is a most glorious day; the tun is shining beautifully I have jj e t been wondering what has happened to all my D.L.F. correspondent. Xo letters from them this long time. I wa.s at a danca last Wednesday, and enjoyed my self lip-top. There iB -o be a plain and lancy-dresa ball next Friday. I'm going in fancy costume, and so aro my flsters. Our orchard is just a mass of blossom now, Dot. It looks ever so pretty I like to walk through it, but the bees make me feel "shy." Our garden is not bad-looking now, but it will be prettier by-and-bye when the carnations are out. I think the camellia is a very pretty flower, don't you? We have the three kinds out. Did you go to the daffodil show in Dunedin, or have they held it yet? I suppose the town gardens are very pretty now. Juat fancy. Dot! — in two more months it w^ll be New YeaT., Hasn't this year passed quickly. Sly sister will be
down Irom the "West Coast by then I haven't seen her since May, 1908 — 17 months ago; — it seems a long time. In a Napier D.L.F.'s letter I saw this remark: "Inver.oaargill must be getting qudte a respectable little place now." I wonder what she or he meant? As far as I know it has always been a very respectable town, and it's not very) little at that either. A good few D.L.F. don't like Charles Garvice's books. I think that all the ones I've read have been perfectly lovely. I like "Kyra's, Fate" as well as any book I've read. Well, dear Dot, I can't think of anything eJse to write about, so must bm you bood-bye. Wtlth kind regiards to you and my D.L.F. friends — Yours truly, PRINCESS MABD. [I think, Princess Mabd, "quite a respectable little pla^e" is one of those phrases which mean a great deal more than tho words imply. I was not at the daffodil show, though I heard it wae very fine — DOT.] Deux Dot, — I saw by last week's Witness thai .Suowie had retired, and 1 was surprised to find he was a, friend of mine. When I lived in Dunedin Mother Goose was my chum, and one of ny? present schoolmates is a D.L.F. I know several D.L.F. in "this district. We have been having very wet weather here just now, but it is lovely tc-day. it w?s raining nearly all the time on Labour Day. I am very fond of reading, and I have read dozens of books. I Lave just finished " Three Little Maids," which I like very much. Ethel Turner wrote "In the Mift of the Mountains," "A Stolo<Voyage," and " The Wonder ' Child." AU these are nice books, but I did not like " The Wondar Child"" so much as the other two We have a hen with eight chickens and a goose with t&n goslings. They aie the first have hed this year. We are getting lo*s of eggs now. Mother sent away 18 dozen last week, and the next day the cowboy brought in tw-i dozen from the stables antl cowshed. With best love to Mozart and Mother Goose. — \onrs truly, QUEEN OF DEWDROPS. Dear Dot, — I ,vas very pleased to see my first letter in print. I went to church to-day. We have to cross the river on a punS. as tha church -is on the other side. We have a lamb with a crooked neck. Ali the spring flowers are in bloom now. There are 22 children going to our school. We have 25 fowls and two dogs. The birds are beginning to build their nests. The j nfctnes of our milking cows are Strawberry, Dairy, and Beauty. I must stop now, with love to all. — Yours truly, FLOSSY 11. [My dear Flossy 11, three letters back another Flossy . complains you have taken her rame. lam so sorry, but would you n.tind changing yours, or "will you have it as I have made it? — DOT.] Deair Dot,— Otir cow has got a. little black calf, and we are going (d call it -Darki* Our examination was on the Tuesday before last, but I was put on before the inspector carve round here. I went to the laat" Glee Club concert, and I enjoyed myself very much. I was not at the buckjumpers, but JL am g.oinj» to a concert on the fir&t race might. We are going to put Mag in tho show in December. — Yours truly. WATEBCEESS. Dear Dot,— As this is my firßt letter to you, I will tell you a little about- myself. - I*m nine years oia. Jhe Third Standard in the South School, at. which I attend, has 91 scholars: I ha,v«only one brother and no sisters. My brother is -eight years old«r than I .am. Our school examination is ». week before Christmas/.and "l am trying hard to pass into the Fourth Standard. I will close now. — Yonrs' truly. . • BUTTERCUP. CI wonder whether you are lonely,' being the only g'lrl in the 'family? lam glad to E«td another member r to toy Ipvercarglll list. Write again. — DOT.] Deal Dot,— lt is a -long tims since I last wroie to you, but I will" Wake a fresh start and try to write moTa cften. I "have left school now. We live quite close to the sea. I have a -flower garden, which his many pretty flowers in it. I like reading, and I have read a great many books. Ona of the books I read last w*a "Little Ruth's Lady." It was about a little girl called Ruth. .hie day wben her mother was away she was lonely. She went to see a lady whom she had heard the people say was lonely. The lady was very kind to her, and gave her a Persian kitten, and she asked her to c-ime again. There wss a boy whose molher and favjer died, and Lady Baion took him (o live with her. He did not L.ke it. «o he made up his mind to run away. One d-?y he discovered a trapdoor, which led to a hiding place, where hunted soldiers had hidden many years before. He managed to get a lot cf things stj\ve<l away, ard then on-e morning he got up curly and went to live there. He stopped three days, and then was found by Little Ruth. After that he never tried to run away. We are having fairly fine weather now. My sigtar has 21 young ducks. With love to E. M. G. and Candle Plant, — Yours truly, XEMOPHELIA. fit is very true that those who hunger forchan^e very cften only need to have their w:«h g.'alifWl and they appreciate their foriroi position.— DOT.] Dc3r Dot. — How many pc-t lambs do you thiVik my mother has? I don't suppose you cou'd guess, she has eight. I think ti.tit is a Jot. Now, I will tell you the naffiss oi our Jicrse3 and cattle- The horses are Print-2, F?nnsr, Bite, Dolly, Kate, E<ick, Nell, and there art three other young ones that have not cot nam^s yst. The cattle s.ie Strawberry, Dinah, Rosy, Beauty, Bonnie, John, Ginger, and a calf with no name jet. There are 93 in my class at school, and I th ; nk that there are a few too many. I am gcing to try and get my little sister to write to you wlien she comes to school. Every week when I read ihs Little Folk's letters I always find there are a dozen or nnre new writers. "Thi 1 ? afternoon the Middle School were playing rounders against the South, and I hope tho South won. With kind regards to all, — Yours truly. FLOWER GIRL. Dar Dot. — It is now two or three months since my last letter appeared in print, and I had quite forgotten about writing again until I saw Jack's letter of a few weeks back. She will have to be looking out for a license, eb, Dot? and so have something to fill in her time, and at the same time take a little of her sc'sm'ing fear out of her. Somehow 1 ca-inot imagine Jack running from a pcor httlo tront. She used once to bo the foremost to .fehow her fearlossneas or muscular ability. But perhaps 'a quiet life 13 changing an old pal of former years into a young lady sedate and proper. I have coinnxanoed my music lessons again,* and that tends to change the monotony of everyday duties. Our Band of Hope held their annual wind-up laet week, and itproved a fnir success, a goodly number attending. I contributed i c, musical -item, hut felt too- nervous to-do- -anything like
lustioe to the song. Chrysocoma is still grinding away at Buchd problems and Latin exercises, thanking of the ekanr. io h* held shortly I cton't. envy her either, for I know how 1 used to have to cram during the last month or so We arc losing a vary go->d teacher here, aa only a few attend th* High School, btxt we hope to get another equally as good There are only II or t-V-areabouts who go. lam now fres from t.io'se troubles, but now the fresh onea lor.ining in the distance are Christmas cleaning and all the fuss of visitors galore. I think I'll have to -gel Jack home to help instead of frightening trout — or waa it minnows? — out of pools. . -My -eyes are sore fforo the effects of reading: I read as many books as I get time or make time to read.
Now, Dot, • I musit close, -aa time clossn.'4 wsit, and bedtinic ia striking for -tbis child. — Yours truly, I WAYWARD EILEEN. D-aar Dot, —^This us niy first letter to you, •and I hope you will receive me as one of your ' ever-increasing band. So the North Pole has bean discovered «t last. Who do you think got 4here — Dr Cook or Lieutenant Peary? Some people think Dr Cook j did noi get there. I knotv a good few D.L.F. about here. Dear Dot, don't you think th© railway ought to have come hete? Most people think it sfcould. With love to all the D.L.F. and yourself, — Yours truly, WILD WILL. [You have open-ed up two mast important quesiribns, Wild Will. In the light of what Lieutenant Shaokleion says of Peary, it looks a.s though we shall have to acknowledge that both Cook, and Peary got veiy near to- tbs Pole. I hopa you get your railway before many years have passed. — DOT.] Dear Dot, — What a lo«jr time it is since I last wrote to you! We have got a nfew .eacher at school. I was at T«muka about I a month ago. At the ljotel where we were staying there were 120 eggs in the incubator to tie hatched the Tuasday following. Owing to some bad luck, however, only 58 wore hatched. One day wo walked up to tins gardener's place, and saw 32 ducklings. Two days before vte came home we went for a drive past the p*rk, and came home by Orari and Winchester. I collect post-> cards, and I have nearly a hundred. I must close now. — Youra truly. MOTHER GOOSE. Dear Dot.. — This is my first 'letter to the p»g«, and I would like to join your happy band and e«e this letter in print. My brother is at present writing to your page, so I thought I would like to write too. I am the second eldest of fire— three boys and two girls. We have one cow milking, but Ido cot milk yet. Our examination is £n about a fortrtiglit, and if I pars I will Lo in the Sixth St-acdard, which I think will ba hard. lam very fend of reading; the l*e>t book I read was "A Eiasfcet of Flowers," p.nd lit is such a nice book. There aite three dredges .and three claims here. I think I will close, nofw. Love to all this "L.F. and vcur&elf. — Youxs truly, CHERRY BUD. [There is son^thing fascinating aboui seeing your own letter in print, " is thcr& not.. Cherry Bud? I should be glad if you send your name along next time you write: j —DOT.] Dear Dot,— This is my first letter to your page, and I hope yoti will accept i»3 as one. oi your happy bantt I do not think there are" any more D.L.F. in this district. We have school gardens up here, and last year I got Eecond prize for m.y vegetable garden. The prize otfnsi&ted of a good bcok, the name of which is " The Three Midshipmen." I luvve • now a young library of 14 books, including two Boy's Own Annuals. We started a, school library up here, and estoli child was asked to bring a few books till the committee could raise funds enough to get books of their own. and th«n each child could take tbeir ?wn books home. I think that is all I have to s*y, fo I will now conclude. With kind regards to all the D.ta.F.. — Yours truly. A HERO OP LUCKNOW. [A small library of our -own is something to tak.e a pride in.' And. are^ you going to, -live up to your name in ordinary life, my. Hero or Lucknow ?— DOT.] * Dear Dot.— This is my first is.Uer to you. I «m writing to tell you of Dcme of the i things wo have at home. Tv*e have two little I calves and a lot of little pigs, and aleo three little lambs. My brothers and I have a little chick »nd also a hen. My ben sat on some eggs, and she has five chickens. I must tell' you bafpre I stop that I have a lbt of poßt-cji.rd«. I have also a garden with a lot of pesds in it. It is getting ne.-r tea Ihne, and I must get tea ready, &< I will any good-bye just now. — Your^ truly, OLIVER'S BRIDE. [You must tell m<? Jiow those seed 1 ? g^t on. Oliver's Bride. I am glad to enrol you. —DOT.] AUTOS AND POST-CARDS. Cream Puff (©are Mx R. Crawford. 181 Hiali straet, Rcslyn, Dunedin) would like to exchange postcards with 'Mother's Love. Tecmnseh (Jack Tbompon. care Dr Thomson. Arrow-town) would like to exchange autos ■with «xravel, Pelorus Jack, Chatterbox, ard Swet»tbriar. DL.F. AUTOS. At:ic? to Kiss-me-Qnick and TLe Lonely Violet.
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Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 82
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17,260LETTERS FROM THE LITTLE FOLK. Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 82
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LETTERS FROM THE LITTLE FOLK. Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 82
Using This Item
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Otago Witness. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
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