“On The Ball”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 192, 15 August 1931, Page 16 (Supplement)

“On The Ball”

I Hullo! Hullo! Hull-o-atisho! Ah! dear oh, dear, but old Mr ’Flu Germ has me fast within his grip. Atisho I Atisho ! A-tisho-o I Drat it, but I can hardly see to guide my pen across the paper for my eyes are full of j tears. No, dears, I'm not crying. Oh. no! It is just the cold. I can quite well imagine why Wendy always refers to a cold as "a wretched thing.” They are! Wei], never mind. I think T must have got it at the Police v. Press football match. Now, last Letterland Day I was to have told you all about it, but I was quite unable to. However, I will keep my promise to Wendy and do so, as best I can, to-day. Now, as you all know, I took "Bon” with ' me. At first I thought he was going to miss l it, but right at the last moment he came rushing along, quite out of breath, and looking tired and travel worn. He had h‘>d ‘n (literally move mountains to attend, for he ! had been assigned to duty elsewhere just before the great day, and it was a wonder he arrived at all. To make matters worse, our old friend had purchased a new umbrella, which—as we stood talking for a few moments outside the gates—blew unexpectedly inside out. TU-'-was the end of that. "Ben,” I might add, was rather annoyed with the wind, and as ! we trudged inside remarked. "Jim, that was i a bad omen Ido not like it. Our boys will ; lose to-day.” ! “Nonseni-e, ‘Ben,’ ’’ 1 answered, "you just wait and see. It will take more than an

umbrella turned inside out to vanquish them.” But, dears. "Ben’s” prediction came true, and I made 8 mental vow that never more would either I or "Bon” every carry an umbrella when attending the greatest match of all the year. Children. I cannot, with my poor pen. hope to do full justice to a description of 1 the match, but I do say it was the greatest tussle my old eyes have seen this many a long year. How those Bovs in Blue and our Knights of the Pen did. d> nalt'c. It re- ' minded mo of the days when ‘lootball was 1 football, and no half '.irk , oi'her.” Several ' times I thought old "Ben” imagined himself • back upon the field once more, with the ball 1 under his arm, making for the line. My arm felt quite sore when “Ben.” in his excitement, kept whacking me the while he ! exclaimed, "Did you see that ‘Jim,’ did you : see that ?” ; "No,” I would answer, “but I felt it.” : And perhaps it is as well that I might add ' here that poor old "Ben” complained about ■ a sore arm, too, that night. I had been ' whacking him just as much as he me, but I had not remembered it. • However, aches and pains soon disappear, ■ and it was a very happy old "Ben” and I < who fought that battle all over again, as we 1 sat by our fire that evening, while the wind 1 rattled the windows, and moaned among the < chimney tops. Vr r e guessed, or tried to, at the amount the 1 match would realise, and you can imagine 4 our joy when we learned what a huge sum < had been gained for the good work among « the Jess fortunates. "And to think,” I said 4 to Ben, that £5O will be handed to good Mrs Dexter on behalf of our Hut. That is i fine indeed ” c "Yes, ‘Jim’, ” said "Ben.” "a goodly I amount indeed. Will not many a heart be ' now made lighter that was burdened heavily t with care? I’m so glad. ‘Jim’. ” t And I echoed that remark, dears; echoed it with all my heart, for I know just how ■ urgent is the need, which prompted our Boys I in Blue and the Boys of the Inky Way to ’ do battle royal in so excellent and genuine 1 a cause; Bravo to them I say! * Well, my boys and girls, I must be off. I t promise a longer letter next time, ko in the s meantime just think of your old grandaddy t and wish him well. Cheerio. j "GRANDADDY JIM.” (

NOTICE BOARD * * * Could any Ite loan "Well-wisher” a copy of our Hut pages dated August 1 ? “Well-wisher” will return when read. — Wendy. Would one of the members of our Hut’« Bachelors’ Tennis Club please supply information to satisfy our “Kura-ki-te-Rangi’s” curiosity contained in her letter in this issue? “Occident.”—l have given “Rinty” your name and address, so in the course of a few days I've no doubt you will hear from our Taihape Ite who desired to correspond with you. _ _ s “Aunty.” "Madame X,” "Micky Drippen” and "O.K. Pal.”—“Mick” will be writing to you all in the near future. 3 "White Wattle.”—"Sybil the Witch” has 1 expressed her willingness to correspond with 1 [P£;VE>Y.

( "I TAKE A GREAT INTEREST IN , OUR PAGES,” WRITES “VAGABOND DUCHESS.” i Dear Wendy,—Just a few lines to let you , know that I am quite well and happy. The < weather has been terrible, but it is clearing . up now. We have started our exam, but I , do not. know whether I will pass. There must . be a lot of Ites in the Hut. now, and T take a great interest in our pages. I have not ; written before because I have been busy , learning my work for the exam. We played a game of basketball against Bulls and Bulls . won, 6—l, We did not know much about , basketball and they just showed us a bit more. ' It will soon be time to get some seeds in, there are net many flowers out now. I must , close now with love to you and all the Ites. — From "VAGABOND DUCHESS.” Sanson. So jolly to have your welcome letter, dear. I wondered what could have become of you ( this long while. Yes. the winter has been . a severe one. but we may now look forward ■ to some sunny days. It is lovely to think I Spring i* close at hand, ian’t it? Let me know bow you succeed, won’t you? I hope i you will p: ss. Our Hut now numbers over , 2500 It has grown, hasn’t it? One learns : from one’s opponents. With every game played much experience and knowledge is . gained. Yes, much is to be done In the gar- f den now. T suppose you will he planting quite a lot of seeds in your plot.—Wendy. , 1 AND 1 SAW ‘MADAME X,” SAYS “LUCY MINE.” Dear Wendy,—Once again I am writing to ; you. I like reading the letters in the pages. , I went to the basketball matches last Satur- ■ day and saw "Madame X.” We had ” few ; fine days, but it didn’t last long, did it, ; Wendy ? The Hunterville boye played football and won. My brother was playing, he is - 12 years old. Isn’t it nice to see all the lit- ] tie lambs in the paddocks? We have some hens and two ducks laying, and I like *to ( have an egg for my lunch. We have to go three miles to school, and it’s not very nice • these frosty mornings. I like the pen-name you gave me, Wendy; my second name is ] Lucy. Love.—From “LUCY MINE,” Hunter- < ville. How pleased I am to have your welcome let- ; ter, dear. I began to wonder just when I 1 should hear from you again. Oh, so you saw our “Madame X. ’ She is a jolly Ite, isn’t < she? Bravo! The Hunterville boys are f,o be congratulated. Yes, the lambs are dear, wee creatures. I love to see them playing in - the paddocks with their mothers. You are lucky to have eggs. I am glad you like the pen-name I gave you. Now, write again soon, won’t you ?—Wendy. “SCARLET MANUKA” OF OLD BRIGADE PAYS A CALL. Dear Wendy,—Just a few lines to let you know I am quite well and strong. I wonder if any of the Itcfi will exchange Bell Tea and Players’ coupons for Silver Fern ? We have three boys in the Manawatu reps, to go to Masterton to compete against other teams. We have a horizontal ladder at school now and it is good. too. You will have to excuse me for writing in pencil and making so many mistakes. As news is scarce I will now close. With love.—From "SCARLET MANUKA.” Sanson. How pleased I am to hear from you. dear. I wondered how you fared of late. I have had many requests of exchanges for coupons mentioned, but no responses have been made. They are, it seems, in demand at present. However, I'll see what can be done. What a distinction for your school to be so well represented in the matches against other teams. The horizontal bar is a splendid device for physical development.—Wendy. “WAYRACK LIZ” TELLS AN AMUSING DUCK STORY. Dear Wendy.—l’ve got the letter-writing feeling so I had better get a letter off to you before it is too late. There was a picture of

p. duck in our paper some little time back (and a very fine duck, too). Someone was asking for news of any other euch duck. T suppose I had better tell about some ducks we once owned. My father had invested in a farm, and of course, the ducks went with the farm to be sure. We had a beautiful creek on that self-same farm, needless to say those ducks had a wonderful time. (Do you remember "Madcap’s” hunt for eggs?) When we arrived on the farm the first thing was to arrange for making bread, so being the housekeeper it meant a serious thing for me. I had watched a friend making and baking her bread, and had the recipe in my book alright, but it was quite another thing to maka it all by myself. It was a sad loaf I turned cut the first time. Next day I tried again, but the wretched dough refused to rise. I: was dreadful, it had to he scones again for tea. and we would have taken on a scone appearance if I had waited for that dough to move. My brothers came in at tea time and said, "Scones again 1” I said, "Keep your pecker up. I’ll make bread before I’m done.” I had bundled the said dough out into the back porch behind the door, as I thought out of sight, til! I had time to throw it into the pig barrel. My young brother had to find it, of course ; he picked it up and threw it at my elder brother's head. I escaped at once into my room, but one of them •xalled me. I cautiously opened the door. He held the dough in one hand and pretended to «hrow it at me. It came at me like a piece ot elastic, and I shut the door in rather a ' hurry, cutting a piece of Ihe dough off. How they laughed and then tumbled on to the sofa <o get over it. If that bread wouldn’t rise it had at least caused a jolly laugh. Next day I noticed marks on the ceiling where that tinker had stuck the dough. They soon tired of their fun and threw it back into the pan behind the door. Would you believe it, in the morning that dough had risen to the top if the pen. How the boys laughed when I showed them. I was taking it out to put in the pig barrel when I caw the ducks, so I put it down and let them eat it. My, how those duexs absorbed it. After breakfast I heard a yell and a voice said, "Whatever did you put in that dough, the ducks are nearly dead and can’t walk?” We all went out and there the ducks lay; we got a pan of water and put them in, thinking it might revive them. One after the other the ducks would very

weakly hold up their head, and get awkwardly to their feet, then out would go their wings to try to keen their feet. One or two fell into the drain and, too feeble to rise, were pawing the air with their feet and wagging their heads from side to side. By this time we were seeing the funny side of the affair. I’ve never seen anything so ridiculous. Those poor ducks were properly drunk with the formented dough. In an hour or so they were waddling about the same as ever, but I was relieved to see them standing steadily on their feet again. Well that wasn’t the end of those ducks, either. They were great pets and would follow you about the farm. My brother used to get wild sometimes and chase them back, but they would just wait till he got over the paddock; then they would follow again. This habit proved their undoing. One day my brother went off to set rabbit poison, and he had gone nearly along one side of the paddock when he noticed u long string of ducks following up and picking up the poison he had laid. We lost a few ducks, but it was a lesson to lock them up when he was poisoning. Many a laugh we have when we speak of those ducks and when we think of how feeble they looked that day they ate the dough. I can tell you quite a few funny things that happened on that particular farm. Many a laugh we had at our own expense. I might tell you more about the funny little things that happened. We make pets of our animals and birds, and they all have their own funny little ways. They are very entertaining if you really care to notice them. It is wonderful how interesting God has made this world. Nature is its greatest wonder, and many lessons we should learn if we keep our eyes and ears open. I intended telling you of quite a different kind of bird-pet, but I remembered the picture of the duck, so my letter ha« turned out quite a duck story. I wonder if "Padre” has pouted a letter thia week? I suppose he has been very busy lately, but I expect him to shine forth one day soon. Well, dear 'Wendy, I must wind up, or I may go on and forget to stop. Love to al] in Letterland.—Yours sincerely. "WAYBACK LIZ,” Wanganui. Ah, and so you have a tale to tell of ducks. Why, goodness me, yea, I just do remember our "Madcap’s” adventures when hunting for ducks’ eggs. Dear me, but what an episode. The poor ducks! Yes, do tell us more about the days when you lived on the farm. Well, our “Padre” did not appear, but we must just hope. I'm sure, in fact I feel sure, we shall have him with us next Letterland Pay.—Wendy.

“WE HAVE HAD ’CORKER’ FROSTS,” SAYS “THISTLEDOWN.” Dear Wendy,—l found it impossible to neglect our pages this week when you were so kind as to award me two marks for my last letter. Thank you very much, dear. News is very scarce up these parts at present. I walked into town on Saturday morn•ng, and on my way home again I met "Miss Dickie Bird” with whom I had a friendly ennt. Last Thursday and Friday we had "corker” frosts. We have a tub full of water at our place and yesterday when mother went out the top of it was just a layer of thick ice. I got a piece of board and banged on it as hard as I could, even then it only spluttered like glass. Our rhododendron buah was very pretty a few days back, but row it has been frost bitten. While in town on Ftidny I made myself known to "Traveller.” I can teii you this making yourself known is no treat. Well, T will write more next time. Good-bye.—From "THISTLEDOWN,” Waverley. I am pleased, dear, that you appreciate the marks I awarded you recently, but I can assure you your letter deserved them. Your penship is neat, well formed and therefore very readable. We have had quite a ffw heavy frosts here also. Still they arc far more welcome than rain and cold winds. I am pleased you have now met "Traveller.” He is rather a truant at present.—Wendy.

“I AM SURE I SAW A FAIRY RIDING ON A MOONBEAM,” SAYS “THE HUGUENOT.” Dear Wendy.—l hope you are Quite well and all the Wendyites. I have liked our pages lately, especially our Kindness to Doggie’s Week. Wasn’t it a lovely story about "Kerry the Terrier” It show* us not to lose our tempers when our pets do naughty things. Oh, Wendy, mother allowed us to go out on I the lawn one evening to see the lovely full ( moon and I’m sure I saw a tiny fairy floating' on a moonbeam. We love to plnv with the ice, Wendy. It is nicer than such a lot of I rain, fer we cannot go out to play when it is so wet. Will the stamps buy r little tea ! and sugar for those who need it badly ? Love io yourself and all in *hc Hut.—Your loving Wendyite. “THE HUGUENOT," Marton. Many thanks, dear, I am quite well. 1 | hope you are also. "Kerry the Terrier” tolc u« a wonderful story indeed. We must always be kind tn our dumb friends. How lucky you were to see the fairy riding upon the bright moonbeam. Jack Frost is far bettor than the rain and cold winds. Usually ho always brings a nice sunny day with him, ■ doesn't he? Now, how can I thank you for your kindly thought for the poor children. It is so generous of you, and I hope the Fairy Queen will reward you. Perhaps the one you saw was searching cut your home before tho Quean came.—Wendy.