WENDY HUT LETTERBOX.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1934, Page 22 (Supplement)

WENDY HUT LETTERBOX.

LETTERS to be Addressed: “WENDY,” Care Taranaki Daily News, Box 119, NEW PLYMOUTH.

“Eastern Star,” Ohura: Your bunch of lavender made all the letters in the bag smell sweet this morning. Did you pick it out of your own garden ? Baby Margaret made some pot-pourri when the roses were out at the Hut and she mixed some heads of lavender with it.

“Korbmiko,” Matau: Billikins thinks he is so clever because he has guessed your riddle, so we shall put it on our page and see how many of the Tinks can guess it too. The little “surprise” tucked down in the bottom of the envelope is smelling very sweet on my table now. “Flower Bed,” Rawhitiroa: Now that we have all of the Teddy-bear poem we shall be able to put it in our column. Thank you for sending it, little Tink. You have chosen a pretty name for your pen-name and it should . always make you think of bright flowers nodding gaily at you.

Alec Close, Rawhitiroa: Thank ypu for “Rosy Apples.” The Twins say it makes their mouths water when Tinker Bell reads it to them. Have ydu apples like that on your trees, and ; do you climb up after them? Baby Margaret is wandering round the garden now with a big rosy apple in her hand. ■ .

“Green Linnet,” Toko: There you are, Edna. No. other-Tink has that pen-name, so now it is yours, your very own. Yes; the birds like it when there is plenty of rain for them the worms are easy to be found. Blackbirds and thrushes hop about over the Hut lawns so much, that you would think there could be no more worms left for them by now! . Eileen Burkitt, Uruti: Two letters from you this week Eileen, and one with a piece of poetry as well. Yes; buttercups make the hills look very pretty.; Baby Margaret says she would love to play amongst them and pick the flowers and bring golden posies home to the Hut.

“Dawn,” Norfolk, Road: Yes; there are still plenty of flowers in the Hut garden. Tinker Bell's hollyhocks are nearly over, but' now she is taking great care of a bed of butterfly-delphiniums for they are all in' flower and make a lovely mass of blue. She allows no weeds' to grow in it and she' keeps the grass tidily, trimmed round its edges.

“Weeping Willow,” Kiore: Tinker Bell’s Book says that “Weeping Willow” is your name, Molly, so I expect that- is right. Holidays have ended, too, for the Hut family, and lessons have, begun once more. They are still able to go for swims, though, in the Afternoons, so they are not minding school very much. , Te Kiri: It is a little puzzling when a letter arrives from a Tink without a name for we cannot- remember the hand-writing of every one of our Tinks. Thank you, though, for the verses about the dog “dunce,” and .next time when you write perhaps you will tell us your name.

“Fay,” Te .Popo: There are two letters from you again this' week so we shall answer them both together. "The Elf s Abode” is a quaint little poem but its verses are not very even, are they. Perhaps you could try it again some day and make, the lines run to a regular, even beat.

Doreen Topliss, Waitara: Baby Margaret is laughing at a funny little sparrow that is trying to perch on . a very sloping, slippery post. Its little wings are fluttering all the time as it slips down and down and down. It is a young.one, not fully grown yet so perhaps it is having a game.

"Alpinist,” Pehu: Yes; Billikins helps Hut gardener weed the garden sometimes but he is not very fond of it because he is never quite sure which are weeds and which are plants. Consequently, as ■ you might guess, some good plants are sometimes pulled up and then Hut gardener is not at all pleased about it! “Gwen,” Matau: The Hut folk laughed at the funny drawings you sent us. Did you do them yourself ? Baby Margaret wonders if the little girl in the .widebrimmed hat is meant to be her! Thank you for sending the little piece of poetry but I am afraid, little Tink, it has been in our column once before. ' Alfred Want, Rahotu: At last we have solved the puzzle at the end of your letter! The words were all written back to front, weren’t they. Billikins was the first to discover that so now of course he is feeling very proud of himself. We hope there will be more letters from you now that you are home again. Valerie Bellamy, Strathmore: "Rippling Water” has already been used for a penname I am afraid, but Tinker .Bell has suggested "Ripples,” and that is as pretty I am sure. You must have Been a busy little Tink all the holidays with your three gardens to attend to. Have you some pretty flowers in them?

Max Bellamy, Strathmore: Of course you may join our Hut, Max. There is always room for more little Tinks to come into it—the more the merrier, as Billikins always says! Hut gardener found a nest of hedgehogs the other day and the Twins have been trying to make them drink milk out of a saucer.

Joyce Nielson, Midhirst: We are so glad you didn’t quite forget us, Tink, for that would have been a very sad thing to do. I wonder if your new dress is ready to wear yet. It sounds as if it is a very pretty one. Baby Margaret says she would like to see you in it. Hazel Macdonald, Inaha: How excited you must have been when the letter arrived from England. I wonder if you have answered it yet. Has Arthur found a correspondent in the United ■ States ? Billikins is running up and down the path now with his toy aeroplane for he says it is making a record flight.

Marjorie Dring, Waitara: Hut gardener •was cleaning up some rubbish this morning when he found a ball of Baby Margaret’s that had been lost for ever so long. The Twins say they think Bouncer must have run off with it and hidden it there. Thank you for the piece of poetry.

“Rumple-Stilt-Skin,” Waverley: There have been all sorts of guesses at the Hut as to what that necklace- is made of. They all think it is some kind of a seed pod, and Tinker Bell thinks it belongs to a blue flower that she has keen. Nobody knows the name of it, though, and sb we give it up. Will you tell us next time, please ? Ellie Lepper, Tuna: The beans in the Hut garden are growing nicely, too, and Cookie often gives us some for our dinner. Tinker Bell sometimes helps her cut them up for it takes Cookie a long time to cut enough to satisfy this hungry family at the Hut! Bell Lepper, Tima: The French marigolds in the Hut garden are still looking bright and gay and Tinker Bell often picks large bunches of them and puts them on the tables in the Hut. Then on rainy days they look like little patches of sunshine inside.

Phyllis Pope, Okato: Welcome, Phyllis. Tinker Bell has written your name into her great big book so that means you are enrolled as one of the Wendy Tinks. We are afraid another Tink already has “Mountain' Queen” for a name, so I wonder if you would like Rose Petal instead. And Billikins wonders if the black and white cat would like, to be called Fiffie.

Iris Lepper, Tuna: The Hut folk have begun their lessons again too, and the day that school began Cookie bustled round with her brooms and scrubbing brush tidying up. the Hut after the holidays- It is no use trying to keep, it spotless when little people are running in and out of it all day long through the holidays, she says.

Alan Lepper, Tuna: Cricket is a good game, is it not, little Tink. Do you think you will be in the Tuna team one of these days ? Tell Thelma that we should love to have her as one of our Tinks, and if she will tell us how old she is and when her birthday comes Tinker Bell will be able to put her name into her great big book. .

Melva Bootten, Rawhitiroa: We shall try and find, room for the-piece of poetry, Tink. It is an amusing, piece to read and the Hut folk are trying to say it through without stopping at any of the words. Billikins can manage most, of it, but the Twins say it in funny jerks as they gradually discover what the words are. Margaret Hurley, Opaku: We hope you had a good time at your picnic on Wednesday. ’ It was raining at the Hut that day but perhaps it was fine in your part of the world. The riddles you sent have kept all the Hut folk guessing, and Billikins has actually found the right answer for three of them!

“Chrysanthemum,” Tirimoana: The-Hut folk are all in love with Ju-Ju, and indeed, with . his little mistress, too! Does Ju-Ju let you pick him up anfl cuddle him, Baby Margaret wants to know. How are all the flowers in your garden after the rainy days there have been lately ?

“Nikau,” Kiore: Your doll must look very' nice in her new red dress. It is a good thing she has it for if she saw you in your new school dress and she did not have a new one herself she might feel very sad. Yes; your new standard will seem strange at first but you will soon get used.to it. . ."

“The Rats,” Kiore: Billikins found a cicada’s shell in the garden this morning so he put it on Cookie’s shoulder when she was mot looking, but when she did see it she got such a fright that she dropped a plate and broke it, and poor Billikins has been in disgrace ever since I So your letter for him arrived at a very good time to-day.

“Golden Shoes,” Mangamingi: Hut gardener has a bonfire in the garden today for he is burning off some rubbish. The Hut folk love it when he has fires, for then they get little potatoes and cook them in the embers undemeath-rand of course they say they are much nicer than the ones Cookie gives us for our dinner! "Waratah,” Tirimoana: Billikins always says he is sorry to go back to school but, between you and me, I don’t think he minds it at aIL Hut gardener wants to know if your salvias grew well, or did the horrid grubs and beetles eat them right down again. Thank you for the pretty story you have sent "Mother’s Fairy,” Uruti: What a sad little kitten you will have when the baby pig has to go back to its sty again! We wish we could see them playing together and following each other about. The Hut folk are wondering if you have found any mushrooms in the paddocks yet.

“One Little Gem,” Uruti: Thank you for the riddles and jokes for our page. There are lots of smiles at the Hut today. How funny the little silver-eyes must have looked when you found them in their nest. It always puzzles us how they can fit into the tiny nests when they begin to grow big. “Woody,” Mangamingi I wonder if you will still have''time to write to us now that school has begun again. When all the books arrive from Wellington there will be plenty of work we expect. Is this' going to be your last year at school ? ■Rillikins says he wishes it were his! "Fairy Feet,” Mt. Messenger: We have given you this name, Joyce, for although no-one has “Tinker Bell” for a pen-name it is the proper name of our Tink at. the Hut. We shall put your name'in our pen-friends’ comer and someone will be sure to write to you and be your penfriend then.

“Lilac,” Mt. Messenger: The nasturtium looked so pretty peeping through its leaf when I opened your letter to-day. Are they growing wild in , your garden? Have, you found any more “good luck” clovers lately ? The Twins look for them sometimes on the lawns but they have not found any yet.

“Emu,” Mt. Messenger: When you were learning to ride the horse did you feel you were a long long way from the ground ? Billikins says he feels ever so high up whenever he is allowed to ride. I wonder what he would feel like on an elephant!

“Leonie,” Fraser Road: The Twins have been very much amused this morning watching a minah standing on the Hut chimney and warming itself in the smoke. Have you ever seen one doing that? They ran and told Cookie that her fire was making a-bird nice and warm, and she could not understand what they meant SPAIN HAS AN IDEA. WHAT TO DO WITH SHIPS. In future a man in Spain who mentions casually that he has just been for a cruise may be met with rather suspicious glances, for it may be thought that he has just come out of prison. For some of Spain’s new prisons are floating ones- Her old prisons were being overcrowded with arrests under the new Vagrancy Act, so the Government chartered a few ships and put the superfluous prisoners in these.