Children’s Column

Putaruru Press, Volume XII, Issue 563, 15 March 1934, Page 3

Children’s Column

■for young putaruru folk. ■ Motto for the Week : ■ To make men out of boys, and ■e-omen out of girls, there is no palace like home. ■Dear Girls ana Boys,— ■ The very next thing we will find Br.ght at hand will be the Easter Biolidays. 1 do hope the weather imBjroves. It rains just whenever it Bhinks about it nowadays. One gets Bust away from home minus a coat Be hen all of a sudden you are ■caught. It is so uncomfortable to be all wet and clammy. An umbrella is very useful, but do you know that when Jonas Hanway, the first man to- carry one in London, appeared on the streets using an umbrella the people threw eggs and cabbages at it! The umbrella is really thousands of years old, yet it was not until 1750 that Jonas Hanway en- | dured the ridicule of carrying one. As a young man he had travelled in Persia, and there they were widely used, so he resolved there and then to use one himself. It took a long time before they became popular, for Hanway had suffered so much jeering and rudeness that others were loath to endure the same. We carry them now and look on them as almost a necessity. Those letters are rather slow in coming to JILL, c/o Press Office, Putaruru, so do try to make time to write a few lines. Love from JILL. Puzzledom.

RIDDLES Q-: What has a lid, but no box? A.: An eye. Q-: Which animal cry is “no?” A.: A horse’s neigh. Q.: Why did the ink stand?. A.: Because it saw the paper weight (wait). Q.: When are broken bones useful .' A.: When they begin to knit. Q.: Who wears the largest hat in the world? A.: The man with the largest head. Q.: What coat never needs to be cut out to make it fit? A.: A coat of paint. Q.: What is still left when all the letters are taken away? A.: The post office. RIDDLE-ME-REE My first’s in skirts, as well as shorts, My next’s in towns, but not in ports. My third’s in trouble, and in need, My fourth is, too—a point to heed, My fifth’s in bits, but not in pieces, My sixth you’ll always find in creases. The whole of me all children buy, And grown-ups, too. Now what am

EDUCATCHES Rivers of the World Are you good at geography? If so you will be able to discover the names of the six famous rivers which are hidden in the following sentences:— The rivers are not English ones, but are known all over the world. 1. A game of tag uses up a lot of energy. 2. Can I let him go away without saying good-bye? 3. I seem to lose in every game I play now. 4. Couldn’t I be rushed over in a car? 5. Had our offer been sent in sooner it would have been better. 6. If we miss our interval for rest we shall be sorry. ANSWERS Riddle-me-ree.—Sweets. Rivers of the World.—(l) Tagus (Spain and Portugal); (2) Nile (Egypt); (3) Seine (France); (4) Tiber (Italy); (5) Douro (Spain and Portugal); (6) Missouri (America).

An Original Story. CHRISTMAS IN CANADA (By Jacqueline Caulfield, Morrinsville) Away out on the snowfields of Canada were two trappers’ huts. They were hundreds of miles away from civilisation. In one house lived Mary and Jean, and in the other Joan. Joan, Mary and Jean were the best of friends. You would always find them at one or the other’s house. Mary and Jean were going to stay at Joan’s for Christmas, and they were going to hang up their stockings at her place, too.

The day of Christmas arrived, and the three children were very busy decorating the house with sprigs of holly and paper chains and streamers. At eight o’clock the children hung up their stockings and went to bed and dreamed of Santa Claus.

When Joan woke in the morning she found that Mary and Jean were already awake and had found their stockings packed with toys. It did not take Joan long to find her stocking, and in it was the book and toys she had wanted.

Joan’s mother had cooked a lovely Christmas dinner. They had deer meat and thick slices of home-made bread, and last, but not least, a plum pudding, which Joan’s grandmother had sent out from England. After dinner they played games until five o’clock. They had been very busy playing games and had not noticed a storm rising. Joan’s mother said they would not be able to go home and that they had better stay the night. “ Father will go and tell youf mother and father that you won’t be home, and then they won’t be anxious,” said Joan.

Joan’s father put on his snowshoes and fur coat and took a lantern and set out.

Jean’s and Mary’s mother and father were very worried because they had not returned. “ Perhaps they are lost in the snow,” said their father. “ I will take the sledge and see if I can find them.” After he had been out for about 10 minutes he saw a figure lying on the snow. He went across to it and found it was Joan’s father. He was exhausted, and his hands were numb, so Jean’s father lifted him to the sledge and drove him home. Joan’s mother gave him some hot coffee, and he was soon better again.

Mary and Jean were in bed fast asleep, so their father said he would call again in the morning, and after wishing Joan’s mother and father the compliments of the season he started home again.

THINGS YOU CANNOT BUY A lock of the door of knowledge. Keys for the elephant’s trunk. Paste for the teeth of a gale. Rollers for the shades of night. Yeast for the sunrise. Crocheted edging for a blanket of snow. A negative for a footprint. Sails for the gravy boat. Saxophones for an elastic band.