CHILDREN’S CORNER

Temuka Leader, Issue 10053, 12 February 1927, Page 4

CHILDREN’S CORNER

(Edited by "Wattle Blossom.”} AH letters to be addressed like tills s Cousin “Wattle Blossom,” earo Temuka Leader and Geraldine Guardian. Dear Cousins, —I wonder how you are liking school again? I used to love getting all the new hooks and' things, and meeting my school fellows again. Only one never appreciates the fun one has at school, .and all the good times, until one has left, as some day you will realise and, probably, you will think how you wish you could be as carefree as when you were at school. Well, well, we all realise that sooner or later, and no matter how often we are told, it doesn't matter. We think it will be just lovely to leave school, and grow up; I used to think just that way myself. What a lot of you are learning swimming these days! How far can you swim, I wonder? I would like to know. Now I .am going to start you on a new competition—you have from now till the end of June (that’s a long time), so I hope you all enter. I want you to get some 'strong brown paper and make yourselves each a scrap-book (of the brown paper). Bach book is to contain 24 leaves. Sew it down the back with strong thread and you will have a splendid book each. Now, you will have to the end of- June to fill them so don’t rush and put too many in at once, or you may spoil the, effect, but out of old magazines and papers choose the prettiest pictures, cut Ahem out, and paste’in your book. At the end of June, the hooks are to be sent in to the “Leader” Office, when they will be judged. There will be a junior and a senior section—the prize will he a hook in each section, and perhaps if the work is very good, there will he a second .prize in each section. Marks will he given for neatness, setting out and arrangement of pictures; for the way the book is made and for the way it is .kept (clean and tidy). Remember, books arc to be made of strong brown paper, sewn down the back, using a darning needle and strong thread' (or string), and each book is to contain 24 leaves, the size to be no smaller than an ordinary magazine, such as “Punch” or the Physical Culture magazine. The prize for the holiday letter goes to Cousin Joyce Swap. ;Tom Nicol’s was very good also. The juniors were lazy this time, and not one entered for their section. Isn’t that shocking? Well, I must close now.—Love to all of . you, COUSIN WATTLE BLOSSOM. LETTER ON MY HOLIDAYS. (JOYCE S;WAP, age 11 years). Dear Cousin Wattle Blossom,—d went to Otautau for my holidays. It is on a branch line from Invercargill. I had a lovely trip down. It being fine all the way. There was an abundance of feed in the paddocks, and the animals looked in the best of condition. The crops, too, looked well, only farther south they were later. One sees sonie very pretty scenery from a train window, the most picturesque part being between Oamaru and Dunedin. Coming into Port Chalmers, the native bush was very pretty with its tree-ferns and flowering shrubs, while the sea with its silvery ripple made a beautiful picture. The other side of Dunedin is Lake Waihola, which is covered with hundreds of swans. While at my grandmother’s, I visited the hush. It made me wish I was living there always. The mistletoe and rata were beautU ful with their bright red flowers. The manuka with its white, sweetsmelling blossoms, and tree-ferns .with bell-birds and tuis flitting to and fro singing their songs, made a very enjoyable day. Another day I paid a visit to a sawmill in the bush. Unfortunately for . me it was not working, hut every day we could see the timber being drawn along the tram-line in two trucks by a tractor. The timber was,put Into a HR which Avas worked with chains, ready for the lorries to take away. The lorry used to back under the lift, the chains let down and the timber Avas on without any handling. I used to and AVatch my uncles milking, the -cows, it being done by machinery driven by electricity, Avhich is quicker than being done by hand. They also did the shearing Avhile I ayes there. It was lovely to see the big Avhite coats on the table. How hot the sheep must be before their coats are shorn

off! Most of the fleeces Aveigbed j from 8 to lOlbs. On our return journey avg visited the Invercargill gardens. They Avere beautifully laid out with gardens of stocks, nemesia, clarkias and dozens of other beautiful floAvers. The lawns were like green carpets. There Avas a tennis ,court Avith quite a number of 1 young people enjoying themselves, testing their skill Av.ith their racquets. Beside the tennis court Avas a boAvllng green, where quite a number of men Avere playing, looking like big boys playing marbles. The Invercargill streets and pavements are nice and wide, but they are not as Avell formed as our Temuka street. I returned home last Saturday after having a most enjoyable and never-to-be-forgotten holiday. Well, Cousin Wattle Blossom, I could write quite a lot more, but will close or you will think my letter too long.—l remain, your loving; Cousin, JOYCE SW(AIP. (Your letter is very interesting, Joyce. You evidently notice all the things you pass, and when one does that, one gets a great deal of pleasure out of life that people avlio are unobservant always piiss.—iC.W.B.) Temuka, February 5, 1927. Dear Cousin Wattle Blossom, — At the beginning of the holidays, I did not have, much to do so I just had to amuse myself as best I -could. Before Christmas \A r e received a letter from my uncle from Scotland, who is engineer on board a ship, to say that lie Avas, coming to stay a feAV days. I"Avas very excited, because I had never seen him before. He was not able to get in time for Christmas, so he got here on the Monday. They had Christmas at sea but they did not enjoy it very uruen because the cook got drunk and did not cook -the geese properly. When he came he brought a parrot with him. It has been all over the world Avith him and is an excellent talker. It Is a Brazilian parrot, and' the colours of it are red, blue, yelloAV and green. When my uncle went to Lyttelton to join his ship I Aveni with him, and I slept on the ship all night. At night Ave went up toAvn and ha : d supper. They Avon Id have taken me to Auckland av itil them for a trip, hut they did nol like me coming; hack by myself. 1 Avas. up at five o’clock the next morning, and my un'cle took me all over the ship. It Avas very hot down In the stoke-room, but the firemen were Arabs, so they did- not feel the heat so much. If I bad been two or three years older I could have gone home to Scotland and learnt engineering. The ship sailed at tAvelve, and that Avas the last I saw of my uncle. I then Avent back to Christchurch and stayed, at a friend’s pla'ce for a little over a Aveek. While I Avas there I Avent to Nbav Brighton, Corsia Bay, and Diamond Harbour for picnics. When I came home I Avas asked by a lady If I would like a holiday at Milford Lagoon, I accepted ,it because 1 like ihe lagoon very much. I had the nicest holiday I have ever had. The time Avent all too quickly. 1 spent most of my time fishing. The day I came home I caught about 36 herrings, and I took them home. We came home on Monday night in time for school on the Tuesday morning, having spent about three weeks at the lagoon. I must close noAV. —Your affectionate Cousin, TOIM NIiCOL. (Your letter, too, is very 'interesting, and you evidently had a splendid- holiday, 'Pom. ;it must have been lovely-, seeing over the ship.—C.W.B.)

SENIOR PUZZLE. (Eleven years and oyer). ■ Three-iflfills of a peanh and half a plum give, -with a little rearrangement, the name of another fruit. What Is it? Prize of One Shilling for first correct solution opened.