FOR THE CHILDREN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16918, 18 December 1922, Page 3

FOR THE CHILDREN.

THE WHITE BULL OF VANISI. (Written for the “ Star ” b,t M. E.) Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had no children. When length a little daughter .was bom to them they christened her Enid, and with great joy invited, three fairies to be her godmothers. The first- of these gave her god-daughter beauty, the second wit and good sense, and the third three little crystal balks, small enough for the baby to hold. These, she said, together with her good sense, would bring the young princess safely through all her life’s troubles

As the child grew these little balls grew too, and it was her greatest pleasure to play with all three at- once, rot letting one touch the ground. Besides being very beautiful, she was clever and good, so that she led a {happy life until she had celebrated her eighteenth birthday. She noticed then that her parents had become very sad, although they would not tell her the reason. Then one morning she was told that she must stay inside all day with tho blinds drawn. When she wished to put on a pretty frock of silver brocade she found that- it had disappeared, but although she was puzzled she asked no questions. Time passed on and tlio same thing happened again. This time Enid peeped out- of the window. In the courtyard below she saw a lieavily r veiled maiden dressed in a gold tissue gown of her own and seated on a huge white bull while all the court stood by weeping. Next day when the princess was with her mother, tho King entered the room much disturbed and burst out; “ All our plans are in vain. Both maidens have returned bruised, and badly hurt, and the bull demands the true princess, for if we do not give her to him lie says he will ravage the whole land.”

When her father had finished speaking the; young princess cried : “ Why was I not told before? Am 1 not ready to give myself for the, happiness of my people?” Her parents objected, but she persisted that- no one should suffer for her. Two days later the white bull once more appeared. This time tho princess, robed in black and unattended, descended the broad oak staircase and climbed on to the animal’s back. Slowly and gent-ly lie moved off down the avenue, out of the city and across plains, hills and valleys, stopping once near a farmhouse for Enid to obtain food and drink. Then on they went again through a gloomy wood, across a, deep river, but the girl noticed, none of this, for, wearied out, she was fast asleep.

When she awoke she found herself in a strange room hung with wonderful silk curtains and beautifully furnished. 'Silk and velvet cushions were flung carelessly here and there; a thick, soft carpet covered the floor; and above all there were dozens of more beautiful dresses than she had ever seen, before, evidently for her use. Invisible hands dressed her hair and robed Tier in an exquisite satin, frock the colour of halfopen apple blossoms. In the next rodm a dainty supper was laid for two, and, as the princess seated herself, wondering who was her host, another door opened and in came a handsome prince. Having begged her to refresh herself after her long journev, lie told her his story, which was as follows:

His parents had offended a witch who, in revenge, gave him the shape of a white bull until a princess should willingly give herself to him. Through Pi in cess Enid’s kindness and unselfishness this spell had been weakened, in form for four hours each night, but two years must elapse before the spell was i tfcerly broken. During that time -she must live in the palace, which was enchanted, and where every wish of hers would be immediately fulfilled.

As they came t-o know each other better the two often played with the crystal balls, and Enid found that she bad at last found her match. Thus the time passed happily for eighteen months, and then one day the princess became angry that the prince should be away from her so much and wished that the white bull might disappear for ever.

Scarcely had the prince time t-o say ; “ You will find me in the land beyond the great sea of ice ” when be was whisked away, and the maiden found herself in her black frock, alone in the middle of a vast desert place. She remembered the prince’s words arid walked on and on for four days, until her feet were blistered - and her dress torn with brambles. Oil the fourth, day she helped a lonely old woman to carry some wood. Tho old woman, who v. as a fairy, after hearing her story,

gave her some queer shoes and a tiny hr.Zel nut, which she tokl-Enid .to-open when she needed help. Then she disappeared. j When the'princess reached the frozen sea the shoes carried her safely across and soon she reached a. large city where everyone was having a holiday As all the people were going towards the same pnice she thought she would go too. As slie walked along she heard that the prince of the land, having been released, from a spell, was expected to marry one of three princesses, but, because he refused to marry anyone who could rot play with three crystal balls at once, these ladies were to have a _ contest to decide which should be the bride. This was to take place in the groan hall that day.

Never doubting that- she had found her prince, Enid hid herselfun a quiet corner where she could see all. Soon the prince, accompanied by three young ladies, entered the room and walked to a raised dais at one end. First the "rincess of Casala, in a wonderful pink "iwn, tried, but she dropped the balls Then came the turn of the Princess of Wisteria, a fair beauty in a pink frock, arid she too was unsuccessful. Last of al came the Princess of Daritium, tail

and splendid in crimson and gold. Withcut waiting to watch her Princess Enid hastily slipped behind a marble pillar where, unseen by anyone, she cracked tlie hazel nut and drew forth a. vondious gown of shimmering white silk. With trembling fingers she took off her torn dress and put on the new one. Never before had she dressed so quickly, but never before had she looked so beautiful. Then slowly she walked along the hall, to where the unsuccessful princesses were standing. Her prince knew her at once, but she must take her turn like the rest. But, unike the rest, the balls did nob slip from her fingers, and before long all rhe people called out: “ There is our princess! We will have only her.”

Then the prince told how she it was vho had broken the spell, and how, therefore, she was his true bride.

Before very long the people of the city and all the country .round about were gathered together once more, but this time it was for tlie marriage of their prince. At the wedding there were, too, the father, and mother' of the Princess Enid, who were full of joy to find their daughter the happy bride ox suoli a fine prince. MANY WAYS OF SIGNALLING. Do you know what a semaphore is? Perhaps not, as it is not ft word that one hears often, and does not sound as interesting as it really is. We all Know how important it is to he able to send news from one place to another as quickly as possible. If we were to find, one fine day, that there was to be no more wireless, that telephones and telegraphs had stopped, too. and that we were not going to have them any more, how much we should miss them. Now. for hundreds and hundreds of years people lived like that. They were trying always to invent some system of signalling, so that news from one place could be passed on to another. Semaphore signalling was one of these, j,nd it was in use for centuries.

The semaphore itself is a tali post, with one or' more movable arms, and by means of i: code, it was known from the position of the arms what the people working it were trying to say. We have all seen them so often that we could not count the times, only we did not know that they were semaphores. When railways first began to run, that was the system which was adopted, and railway signals were practically the same semaphores which have been used for ages. As we all know, when tlie arm i.* straight out, the line is closed, and the approaching train must pull up and wait; but when the arm is hanging down, then it is clear and tlie train, can go straight on. Sometimes there is more , than one arm, and, on different railways and in different countries, the details of the system vary, but this is one of the points on which most of them agree.

THE SIGNALLING SYSTEM. It is interesting to look at- a railway signal and to think that, in the long years before the discovery of electricity, that same system was one of the best they had for passing on. news. Night signalling was comparatively easy, for they could always use lights; in clear weather a flash of gunpowder caii be seqn for 40 miles* and a rocket, fired at. sea, for 50 miles or 60. But it was much more difficult during davlight. Nowadays we use the’ heliograpii. That is a clever arrangement of mirrors which flashes messages by sunlight. It is believed that, in ancient days, the Greeks did something of the same sort, but ip a very primitive way. They used their shields l : or v flashing messages to one another across their battle lie-ids. I lags were often used as signals in the ancient navies. 'The famous ships of ancient Venice used them. Some of the native races on the northwest frontier of India have a peculiar method with different coloured lights, and they flash mes-sa-ges in that way over long distances. The methods of past time sound rough and ready to us, but the character of the tunes was so totally different then. Tor instance, once before the Norman Conquest, when a French king who had been in England was about to return to lus own country, several of his nobles, who were to form his escort, stationed themselves on the French coast near Boulogne, and set fire to some cottages close by, just to show that they had arrived. King AtheJstan. who was waiting with the king on the English shore, opposite, did the same thing on his side, it was the pre-arranged signal, and, when the Irene Linen saw tlie blaze, thev knew that their king was about to embark. One would really like to know howmany houses they consumed between them over that one -signal. Imagine anyone doing such a thing in these day:-. But these houses were oulv bin it oi wood, arid, as there was plenty eonstrurt ofherf ifc w »* *> WHEN SEMAPHORES WERE KTRS' USED. Ot just exactly hoiv semaphores were hrst used we know very little. They must have been placed fairly close together: tor tlie movements to have been visible. There must have been a long hne Oi them from one given point to another. When telescopes were invented fewer would be required, as they could be placed so much farther apart. But although telegraphs, telephones, and wm re less have put an end to semaphore signalling across long distances on mud, if is still used in most navies tor short distances. Sometimes it is a regular wooden semaphore, moved by levers, and sometimes it is a human being. In the last case, the man’s body takes the place of the wooden post, and by holding flags i n his hands i* “ to , see how he is placing his arms. Ue have ail often seen this kind, of flag signalling, hut many of us did not realise that we were looking £mapL”° dern f ° rm ° f thß WASHING DAY. There! I think that’s clean at last— Children do get dirty ! My three youngsters really make Work enough for thirty ! . I must wring my washing out, Hang it on the line, Iron. it. air it well —and then Won't my do! is look© fine I