FOR THE CHILDREN

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14776, 15 October 1921, Page 12 (Supplement)

FOR THE CHILDREN

i (BY PETER PAN.) j

THE DREAM-TOWN SHOW. (By Ella Wheeler Wilcox.) There is an island in Slumber Sea Where the drollest things arc done. And we will sail there if the winds are fair .lust after the s-'t of the sun. Tis the loveliest place in the whole wide world, Or anyway, so it seems, And the folks there play at the end of each day In a curious show called Dreams. We sail right into the evening skies, And the very first thing we know, We are there at the port and ready for sport . Where the dream folks give their show. And what do you think they did last night | When I crossed thdir harbour bars. j They hoisted a plank on a great cloud bank i And teetered among the stars. And they sat on the moon and swung their feet like pendulums to and fro; Down Slumber Sea is the sail for mo And I wish vou were ready to go. For the dream folks there on this curious isle Begin their performance at eight, There are no encores, and they close their doors On every one who is late. The sun is sinking behind the hills, The seven o'clock bells chime. I know by the chart that we ought to start If we would be there in time. 0 fair is the trip down Slumber Sea, Set sail and away we go; The anchor is drawn, we are off and gone To the wonderful Dream-town show. i ■ * STORY. THE WARNING. He was alone. Even Nancy ha J gone As she took care to explain to Jack, she would never be able to tell him how exciting a rat hunt could be unless she went to it! ' Cousiin Tom, who overheard Lie remark, called her a sport. After that Nancy could not change her mind, though she did half want to when she saw Jack's quivering lips. For it seemed so useless even to hope that anyone would call lame Jack a sport, lie was so very lame, and the progress he made on his crutches was very slow. lie was glad now to sit on the low parapet, of the bridge which spanned the river. His left arm ached. So dfld something else —was it his heart? Splash! No, it wasn't a water rat, though Jack was thinking of rats i<-t the time. It was a brick—Jack had always been an enthusiast over bricks and mortar. Goo! It didn't take such a very long time to discover what was wrong. It was so very wrong indeed In fact, even Jack could realise that the bridge was giving way. The storm last night must have done it—the terrible storm that had swept across the country and kept them all awake for hours: The iron girder had gone—the briickwork was going. Any heavy weight passing over the bridge would unish it up. Any heavy weight! The lane was not very much used. The chances were that no cart would pass this way to-day. 11, would be all right if he went up to Fordeu's Cottage and told. • That was just as far as Jack had decided when he heard the shrill shriek of a motor-horn. Then down the slope towards the bridge came a big grey car. Any heavy weight, and crash would .go the bridge! Not a brick next time. The bridge and the grey car swirling down the stream. And only a small boy, very lame on his legs, to prevent the tragedy. If only Cyril, or even Nancy, had been here they could have raced u» the slope, shouting a warning. But Jack could not even walk properly. All he could do was to stand stiill. And that was just what he did. But he stood in Hie middle of the road. It doesn't sou:;d very heroic, docs it? But it was! For Jack could not have moved I quickly to get out of the way had the car failed to slop. lie. heard the scream of the horn, the shouts, the cries. He saw the big grey car creeping j down the slope like some huge grey beetle. Nearer and nearer lit came The driver, seeing the motionless figure, jambed on the brakes. If they failed to respond the car would over lame Jack before he could move. Things buzzed in Jack's ears. H 3 felt ever so green, and he thought of everything— except moving! He never thought of that at all. For if he had moved, the car would have gone on the bridge.

covered that the human eye dues actually emit rays which exercise physical force and can be registered by a suitable instrument, even though they have no hypnotic or compelling power. In the course of his experiments Dr. Russ suspended a little bar of celluloid surrounded by a spiral of copper wire by a silk thread in a glass jar, and noticed dial whenever he looked at it the bar began to rotate, the end of tiie bar at which he gazed moving from his eye. IViystory of a Bloving Bar. Dr Russ us a scientific man, and he began to make a thorough study ot this strange matter. He has been working at it now for nearly four years, and has found that the movement'of the bar is not due to heat, but that it may possibly be due to Lie electrical changes which are known to occur in the retina and in the muscles of the eye, or to electromagnetic radiations from the eye. This very interesting and important discoverv of Dr. Russ may, perhaps, be put to practical use in various ways. It, is quite possible, for instance, Unit the rays may vary in strength with the health and energy of the individual or of the eye, and that their variations, as measured by Dr Russ's instrument, may alid doctors in manyways. The suggestion that has been made in some grown-up papers, however, that the radiations from the eye may have the power of transmitting a picture to another eye, and even of transmitting thought, is ridiculous. SNAKE CHARMER'S ESCAPE, COBRA SAVES HIS LIFE. From India comes the story of a startling adventure which befell a snake charmer of Nepaul while training a cobra in the Dhawalaghirt valley, Himalaya region. The cobra was caged in a large basket, and it seemed almost incredible that, the reptile would be the defender of his captor. However, that is what actually happened. The Indian suddenly found himseli confronted by a tiger, and his life was in imminent peril, when he let the cobra loose on Hie wild beast. There was a short struggle, in which the tiger was driven off, and he raplidly disappeared into the jungle. The snake charmer subsequently succeeded in getting beck into the basket the cobra which had saved him from certain death. This is the cobra-de-capello, hooded or spectacled snake, as it is variously known, and is, perhaps, the most notoriously familiar example of its section (of the third, or "frontfanged" group) of venomous snakes, being responsible for the greater moiety of the many thousands of fatalities that annually occur among.->t the natives of India from the bites of venomous serpents. The peculiar feature of the erectile hood that characterises the cobras is due to the circumstances that a certain number of the ribs in this region are independently movable, and can be elevated and depressed at will, the skin-fold that overlies them being loose and elastic.

Slowly the car crept to a standstill. A man— Iwo men —were oul of it In' a twinkling, and came running to where .lark stood, propped on his crutches.

At first they thought it must he some crazy joke. When Uiey saw it was a buy lliey began to shout.

Jack gripped his crutches. All at once hu began to feel queer.

"Tiie bridrfo," he stammered —"it's breaking. It will break —under a weight. I—l couldn't run to warn you. 1 thought if 1 stood still tin ttie middle of the road you would have to slop." Then the crutches suddenly slid away under him, and he fell all in a heap into the motorist's arms.

So that was how lame Horatius kepi the' bridge. It was the big motorist who gave him the name, and Cousin Tom said it was tine, and lie washed lie had been there! Nancy just squeezed Jack's hand, 1 tit how her eyes shone! "Being a hero is better than a spore, Jack," she whispered. "And you're a hero. Everyone says so." RAYS FROM THE EYE. WHVT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LOOK AT A THING. STIVVNOE DISCOVERY OF A LONDON SCIENTIST. Th,. nolion lias long prevailed that ll].-; rves 'iiiii mysterious rays, thai 11,,. ,-vent a. snake can paralyse its prey, ami that a man by Hie power of hi i e'y, can frighten animals or hypnotise and compel men of weaker will to i.liev his wishes. I'liere is probably no I ruth at all in Iha! nolion, and Ihc power of the eye in such matters has probably nothing to dn with rays, bul is merely a mat tor of expri ssion or suggestion. Nevertheless. I»r. Charier, lUISS, a wellknown London specialist, has din-

The back of the hood, in the ordin- | ary Indian cobra, is usually ornamented with two eye-like spots, connected with a loop-like head, which communicate to the complete pattern the fancied resemblance to a pair or spectacles, whence it lias derived its appellation of spectacled snake. The common cobra grows to a length of six ov seven feet, dimensions greatly- exceeded by the giant cobra, or hamadryad (the most formidable member of the whole family), a fortunately rarer form more exclusively confined to jungle and forest districts. This species may attain to a length of thirteen feet, or more, and, on account of its deadly bite and fiercely aggressive disposition, is much feared by the natives of the countries it inhabits, which include not only India, but Burma, Siam, ana the Malay region. NATURAL HISTORY. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Do Horses' Eyes Magnify? No; their vision is al least as correct as that of human beings. Have Snakes Ears? Snakes have no external ears and no tympanic cavity. They do hear, but not at all well. Do Caterpillars Drink? They obtain all the moisture they require from the vegetation they cat, for that contains much water. How Does a Dog Wag Its Tall? The tail of a dog, like the tail of every other animal ; has the muscles necessary to give it movement and nerves connected with the brain to set those muscles in motion. Do Fleas Fly? Not now; they merely leap and crawl; but once upon a time they did fly. The penguins have converted their wings into paddles; the fleas have let t.licirs to exist from lack of use. How Long do Snails Live? Some of the rare specaes, such as those that frequent desert countries, live a great while, even fasting for four years and then reviving. Our common garden snail lives, with luck, about live years. What do Woodlice Live On? There is very little they will not cat in garden or greenhouse. They seem almost equally attracted by growing and decaying vegetation, and where they abound Ihcy may .be sought, with certainty of success in rotting trees and damp wood. Can Elephants Lie Down? The old natural history hooks, more fable than fact, say No: hut, of course, elephants can and do lie down: tmt. il, is a fact, that they lie down much less than other animals, nnd can sleep standing, as some horses do. Do Birds Have the Same Mate Yearly? This varies with the species of bird. Some birds have a number of males al Ihe same lime —fowls and .came birds. I The. cuckoo has no one recognised mate. Some birds have one mate one year, and a fresh one in the year- following. But some, like the bulfinch and the eagle, male for life. How is Chalk Formod? Chalk, one of ihe wonderful manifestations of Ihe multitude of living i lliitms, is almost entirely formod from Ihe shells of creatures which one., lived in the water. Wherever we see chalk in a slate of nature we 1 know thai a sea or a lake once occupied Ihe site. How Long Should a Pineon bo Shut Up in a New Home? The breed mentioned, fanl-ails, have less of Ihe homing instinct Hem inanv oilier breeds, bill; Hire.-, weeks I or a month should suffice lo accustom j them I" new surroundings. The j safesl thins lo do is lo tie two or j ihree of the flight feathers on each | win-' for a time; then Ihcy cannot 11 y awa*