LITTLE BLACK CHICKEN.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1933, Page 6 (Supplement)

LITTLE BLACK CHICKEN.

At the crossing of two of Budapest s most crowded thoroughfares there stands with sedate gravity, week in and week out, a little black chicken. So close to the edge of the pavement it stands that sometimes it is jostled off by the passers-by; but it always hops back again, with an upward glance at its companion as much as to say: “I’m all right. Don’t bother about me!” For it is not a lone and unattached chicken—far from it. Its left leg is connected by a piece of string with the right wrist of a boy who also stands at that particular comer, week in and. week out, selling papers. But the string is only a formality, or at worst a precaution against marauders; nor nothing is farther from the little chicken s thoughts than to run away.. “That, Ma’am,” says the boy on being questioned, “is my chicken-dog. I used to have a real dog once, but he died, and maybe it’s just as well, for I couldn’t afford to keep him now. But my chicken is just as good as a dog. When I go home I take off the string and you should see it follow me about everywhere. It knows my voice, and it comes to my whistle. I’m not at all sure” —there was the tiniest twinkle in the boy’s eyes, but his face was grave—“that it isn t learning to bark on the quiet, so as to give me a surprise.” THE MERMAID’S FOREST. A forest of trees tens of thousands of years old has been discovered by divers at the bottom of the Baltic, between Rugen and the Swedish coast. The scientists have yet to report, but if the account of the divers is accurate here are trees twenty to forty thousand years old, some still standing erect, at a depth of from 100 to 125 feet. Down in these depths they are not shaken by the movement of the waves, and are safe from the destructive action of air. It has been known for years that the Baltic covered many a mighty forest, for one of the chief harvests of that part of the world is the amber cast up by the waves. Shops of Danzig are full of this fossil resin, in large uncut blocks or daintily shaped trinkets. Nowhere is amber more cheaply bought, and some of it may have come from this forest lately found by the divers, who hauled up their catch from among the branches where birds once perched,

LONG AGO STORIES. JOHN AND THE POOR BOYS’ SCHOOL Down by the river an excited group of boys were talking. Some of them were scholars from the grammar school, and John, who was only a poor scholar, listened eagerly. They were watching a great load of stones from the French town of Caen being unloaded from a barge, and along the banks of the Thames came rough carts bringing bricks from Slough. “The King’s new school is for poor scholars only,” declared one of the grammar school boys. “Of a truth I am poor enough, but I have sufficient learning to be chosen.” “Some are so poor that they cannot even go as poor scholars to the grammar school,” remarked John. “I am one of them! I learn what I can from the priests, but I do not know enough to be chosen as a scholar, Oh, 'twill be a most beautiful school! See—here comes the King himselfl’% Surrounded by richly dressed noblemen,' the young King Henry 6th had walked from Windsor Castle to see how his new school was progressing, and his gentle eyes rested affectionately on the strong white stones and the rich red bricks. The King was sad because his country had been at war ever since he was born, and his beautiful bride, the fifteen-year-

old Margaret of Angou, had not yet come to England to be his Queen. Henry preferred scholars to soldiers, and he was determined to found a school where poor boys could be taught wisdom rather than how to make war. When John saw the thoughtful, gentle young King, a wave of loyalty rushed through his heart, and, springing forward, he threw himself at the King’s feet. “Sir,” he pleaded, “Make me a King’s scholar! My life is. the King’s, but I have no learning to guide it properly in the King’s service.” “Alas,” replied the King, “I have already chosen twenty-five poor grammar school boys, and twenty-five poor lads. My new college will not hold more scholars than that.”

But John’s eyes so full, of bitter disappointment that the kindhearted King was touched, and he asked the poOr boy if he could sing. Then, standing upright, with his eyes fixed on the unfinished building across the river, John sang. His voice was so clear and beautiful that everyone was silent, and the rough men from Caen who were unloading stones thought an angel had come to earth! John sang with his heart and his soul, and when he had finished the King put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You shall be one of the six choristers to sing in my school shapel,” he smiled, “A kind and beautiful voice is always worthy of the best teaching and the best masters.” And that is how John became one of the first scholars of the College of Eton, which has since become one of the most famous schools in the world. A PHILOSOPHY. Somebody has written that to encourage talent is to create it. It includes giving courage, and to give courage is to impart an accomplishing force. Say to yourself: “I can,” or hear someone say “You can,” and the . thing is on its way to be done. A couple of birds built their nest near the window of a ranch-house in Mexico; the nest was lovely, little ones were born in it, and the mate filled the air with joyous songs; The people of the ranch were happy also, their harvest promised to be fine, and they, too, went singing all the time. Then a storm swept the plain, reducing! to nothing the promise of the ranch. Such discouragement so filled their hearts that they thought it useless to begin planting all over again. But suddenly a bird’s song was heard. How had the nest fared in the storm? The people looked and saw neither nest nor little ones left, but the parent birds building a new home in another tree. A sense of hope flashed through their minds, they yielded to the encouraging example of the birds, and had a plenteous harvest Failures have only the power we lend them, for in reality God never fails, therefore His creatures have not the power to fail if they keep wide awake to divine teachings. Encouragement is one of the precious activities of life, and it is an activity within the reach of all. A gentle smile, a word of appreciation, a cheerful look, a loving thought,;a kindly deed, an affirmation of good, are forms of encouragement. We share the benefit of encouraging in the same measure as we share the benefits of all good deeds. A USEFUL MISTAKE. Do you know that a great discovery was once made because of some workmen’s mistake. About 100 years ago some men were working busily at a paper mill at Haybourne, in Berkshire. They were making paper for Mr. John Slade, who supplied the best stationers with good handmade paper, and had found that the workmen had forgotten to put in any size. It is size which puts the hard surface on paper, so that it is smooth for writing. A little later someone picked up a bit of the waste paper and tried to write on it with pen and ink. The ink immediately ran into the paper, and the writing was all blurred. It was then that the great discovery was made, and the man hurried to the heads of the mill to explain his new idea. .Why not make quantities of this new paper, without any size, and sell it for drying people’s letters? Everyone was sprinkling sand over their letters in those days, and it was a slow and clumsy way of drying the ink. i

The mill owners thought the new idea worth trying, and soon they had to build new mills, because so many people were trying the new “blotting paper.” Now, of course, there are many mills specially for preparing this paper. We can blot our writing quickly, and hundreds of men have employment, all because those workmen made a mistake 100 years ago.