PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 80

PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS

-VO WISE MAN CAN BE A SLACKER.

'l'! la , ladder of life is full of eplintera; It hurts most when sliding down. “ l’ater ” docs not know who is the author of those lines. Perhaps some of Itts readers cat. tell him. They are evidently the words of some very thoughtful u riter who has been accustomed to think much about the strength and the weaknesses of will in the character of his fellow-men. in school from .Standards IV to VI are i,i’'ncat what Is the meaning of the words “ simile ” and •metaphor.” They are told they are figures of speech, hut that does not explain the ideas very clearly to juvenile ininds. Metaphors and similes are comparisons which make a mental picture to impress itself upon the njind and stay in the memory. Poetry is full of such expressions, and that is why poetry is easier to learn off by heart than prose, the ordinary reading matter. Such comparisons if well made give the beauty of real poetry. Take this metaphor, for instance, from Shelley’s poem “ The Cloud”: I am the daughter of the earth and water, And the nursling of the sky. This is a very beautiful metaphor describing a cloud. Clouds are born from the waters of the earth- in the form of vapour, which, when condensed into small watery particles, float in the atmosphere, and are carried hither and thither by its winds. Note the difference between the two descriptions, and it is given by the poet in a few words beautifully expressed. Similes in the written and spoken language are easily recognised. School children all know the line, “ The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold.” The simile follows the word “ like.” “As the bee lines to the hive, so shall I seek my home.” In this quotation the simile follows “As.” Similes, then, are comparisons introduced by the joining words “like” and “as.” Similes are often beautifully expressed. They are easy to make; but, again, often there seems a stiffness about them, and equally often they lack the neatness and brevity of a metaphorical saying. Boys know such expressions as “ Push your own barrow’! ” “ Keep your hair on! ” “ He made it on Shanks’s pony! ” and how such expressions say a lot with the use of the leas possible number of words. Most of our slang expressions, though not to be commended as language for polite society, are neat, very brief, and full of meaning. The two lines quoted at the top of this column are full of meaning, and contain much wisdom and good advice. The foot of the ladder represents the beginning of one’s life, and the top the end. The spaces between the rungs represent periods or stages of life, and each stage is full of the trials of life, of moments of gaiety, or of grief and pain. Painful or tedious effort to do things properly, and to cultivate self-control, and thereby develop willpporer,w r er, is the lot of man—one of the greatest purposes of life, and also the chief reason wliv we are here upon earth as human beings. What we do and how we do it is what is going to count at the end. There is no satisfaction at the end or, rather, in the last few years of one’s life like the satisfaction that comes from the life well controlled and lived in spite of all the troubles that were endured and fought, and also in spite of the meanness and, perhaps, cruelty and ingratitude of neighbours, and also those who we thought were friends. In struggling and labouring onwards and upwards the troubles one meets, and the hurt of one’s friends or neighbours are the splinters of the ladder of life. Going up the ladder one can see them, meet them, and either avoid or tackle them just as may be necessary; but sliding down, though easier than climbing up, is a case of not being able to see wliat is in the way, and the weight and speed of sliding down drives the splinters, big and small, deeper into the flesh. This mental picture of sliding down is, in the simplest words, the tale of failure, the weakening of the will, loss of self-control, and the power of making a stand against personal weakness of character, and the misfortunes or troubles that come in the wav to all men and women. Loss of will power or self-control is really insanity, and must lead to misfortune and misery. That is when the big splinters are met with that hurt so much. Never give wav when on the right road and on the right side. Every difficulty met and conquered strengthens the character, gives satisfaction, removes worry, and leads to contentment and happiness because it gives the sense or feeling of having done the right thing and of having “ made good.” The chief purpose in life of all boys and young men should be to “ make good” in the best sense of the termthat is, without hurting others, and in such a way that one will have the fewest regrets. There is no satisfaction in the evening of one’s days like that of a life well spent. More splinters are met with in sliding backwards than in going forward. We live In deeds, not years; In thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not In figures on a dial. .We should count time by the heart throbs.

INSECT PESTS AND VALUE OF BIRDS. It has already been mentioned that one good reason why we should protect and preserve our native birds is that so many of them are insect eaters, and Insects are the worst enemies of mankind. Were there no natural checks to the increase of insects, men Slid beasts would disappear off the surface of the earth. To-day, next to the danger of war, the want of employment, and the dafiger of loss of life by accident, storm, and flood, are the dangers of loss of life by disease and starvation. Insects and other small creatures, we know, spread disease or cause plagues, and we also know that insects alone, such as the locust and the malarial mosquitoes, may cause Widespread death and desolation. Many Governments paV great attention to insect pests, ana have set up welfpaid special departments for studying insect life, and for finding out the best means of either destroying or of controlling the increase and spread of insects destructive to plant life and the lives of men and beasts. Men who study insect life are called entomologists, and the study itself entomology. In the United States and in Germany entomology is considered of the greatest importance, and large sums of money are spent in maintaining entomological departments, and in paying experts to classify insects into harmless and hurtful classes, and to discover the best methods of dealing with the dangerous classes and species of noxious insects. All entomologists recognise the value to a country of insect-eating birds, and the great and good work they do. They all advise the greatest protection of such birds. In New Zealand the Government has not established an entomological department. It should do so; for, if it does, not, the increase of our own pests and the introduction of others from abroad may compel the establishment of such a department. It is also not yet very certain whether the members of the Government are fully alive to the great asset they possess in our native birds as protectors and spreaders of native flora (plant life), and of the work they do, and would do to a much greater extent if they were more numerous. As an instance of the good work one species of our native birds does, I give here an account furnished to the journal of the Native Birds’ Protection Society, by Captain E. V. Sanderson. The story is entitled WEKAS AND THEIR WAYS. The writer, desiring to experiment in growing native trees on sand dunes, procured half an acre of this class of land thickly covered with fern, flax, toi, lupine, etc., but found wood lice and snails eo plentiful that many seedlings were promptly stripped of all leaves, and some plants killed entirely by ring-barking. It had l een noticed on a sanctuary where wekas were numerous how well seedlings prospered, and it was surmised these industrious grub-eating birds were largely responsible for the good results. A permit to keep three North Island wekas in captivity was then obtained, the half-acre securely wire-netted to a depth below ground-level of nine inches and a height above of four feet. The result was that within a week ot the release of the birds the stripped seedlings threw out leaves, and thereafter prospered, and a snail or wood louse was rarely seen afterwards, thus demonstrating the inestimable value of these birds, which turn over all debris with their beaks. In Fiji, Samoa, and other South Seas islands there are some very troublesome insect pests. The introduction and spread of a few wekas would, if the climate suited them, work wonders. A few wekas would soon make short work of the rhinoceros beetle. Perhaps this may turn out “a wise” hint to the Government officials here and in Samoa.