THE FLOWERS' GARDEN PARTY.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15894, 19 January 1924, Page 14 (Supplement)

THE FLOWERS' GARDEN PARTY.

(By "Hcvather."Of

Tt*e flowers were; going to give a garden party, so they invited all the butteaflies and bees in the; neighbourhood to come and spend, the day in their nAeasant company. But, alas, there was a arreat deal of dispute jamong the flowers as to who should receive the guests. "I should be the one," said the La. France Rose, "I'm moi>e beautiful -than: my sisters." "No, it ishould be me," said the big white rose. "You silly," said the first rose,' "your white dress will not attract any of the guests." The roses were not t!he only flowers) wlho thought that they sihould be hostesses, and the dainty sweet peas said that they would receive troe guests more charrrriogly than any o)f the others. "No, na," cried the Delphiniums, "we ha»e the prettiest da-esses of all." All this time the snapdragons had been laughing with wide mouths, but now it vras evident that they had something: to say for themselves. "We are jollier than any of you, though wfi may not be \so dainty, so you must let us receive <tbo guests 1" "And what about us?" said the daisies quiettyu "You will not be ■noticed," said the La France rose- And so the argument continued until a pank Hollyhock suggested that lots should •be drawn. Th&s was done, and the roses drew the winning number. Many of the flowers still grumbled and others sulked, bwt the decision was final and there waai no more to be said on the subject. Tbat evening after the sun had set the gardener came to give the thirsty flowers a drink. As he did so he noticed that the La France roses had green fly. "I'll have to spray them at once," said he to himself, and he fetched some spray. After he had finished he went on to 'the other flowers leaving the roses very bedraggled. "Never mind," said the rases to each other, "our frocks will be quite fresh and gay in the morning, and we will be the belles of the garden." They little thought that the old saying "Pride goes before a fall," was going to be proved onc6 more, and against them this time. However, that night the stars were blotted out gradually by big black storm clouds, and thunder could be •heard far away at first, and then growing louder as it travelled nearer and nearer. , ~ . . . " \ storm is coming," said one frightened rose to another, "but I hope it will not last long." The slight breeze which had rustled through the leaves early in the evening now came in gusts, and whirled twigs and dust in every direction. A few huge drops of rain fell, then with a terrific peal of thunder the storm broke in full force over the garden The wind had now risen to a gale and'was bending the trees down down, till it seemed as if they must snap It made the roses shower their | petals on the ground, roughly pulled the sweet peas from their tre hs\s, and snapped the stems of all the tall flowers, so that their heads fell, on to th Thc°flow'ers all. cried, "Good Garden Fairy please make the wind stop before" he blows all of us away. But still the storm blew heedlessly. Next morning the sun rose up smll-in-glv as if there had been no storm, but he saw in the garden a sorry sight, where the wind had worked havoc The rose bushes were almost stripped bare of leaves, and only a few miserable blossoms and buds were loft. The sweet peas were a tang ed wreck on the ground, and as for the hollyhocks, cosmos, snapdragons delphiniums, dahlias, Canterbury bolls and larkspurs-why! they were all broken to bits, and only a few poor stalks remained to show whore yesterday the {lowers had held up proudly their gay E "And what of our garden party?" asked the few sad roses. "We can t have it now because— Oh, nut -ves " said a sweet voice, and there, poised on a leaf, was the Good Garden Fairy. "But who shall be hostess? cried the flowers in chorus. "Ah," said the Fairy, "those you least thought of yesterday—the buttercups, and daisies, and also marigolds and marguerites!" "No, no, they can't be hostesses," said the rest of the flow-ers. "They are too common and their frocks arc so plain." "They are better than all of you proud boasting ones, and so I let the storm come and hurt you because I wanted to reward them and let you sec that the shy little daisy is a*S sweet as any one else among you. And now come along, pretty butterflies and busy bees. Come, be merry while this lovely day lasts. I must away to ether gardens." She flew away and left the flowers much sadder, yet wiser, and the better for their lesson. HUNTING WILD PIGS. EXCITING FIGHT IN QUEENSLAND. Hunting wild pigs is an adventure which requires great courage. In the great untrodden scrubs and lonely pKiins in the far north of

Queensland, the wild pig, shapely, healthy and fat, exists in vast numbers. His heavy hide and fat make 'him immune from 'snake bites, and he has no hesitation in devouring- any snake he encountersA fine boar was once discovered with the te.il end of a 'big carpet snake writhing and coiling round bis forefoot and shoulders, while the boar was calmly ©hewing and swallowing at the other. Probably the. boar caught the reptile napping, as it is most unlikely that the carpet swake, which kills by constriction, would have attacked so powerful an animal. A boar has never been known to attack a man, unless there <are dogs with him; then he will charge the dog, and it is a wise plan for the man to look for a tree.

Not long ago a man walking along with a dog encountered a mob of pigs,' which charged the dog, who then retreated on Ms master. The man leaped on a high rock to avoid the onslaught, and the dog was caught and terribly gashed. The man, infuriated at the sight, jumped down among the piss, and, being a powerful fellow, bo billed seven pigs with his knife before the others took to flight.

MILLIONAIRE BIRD-LOVER. HENRY .FORD AND 'HIS FEATHERED FRIENDS. Hery Ford, the maker of motor-cars, is a great nature-lover. One of his closest friendships was with John Burroughs, the famous American naturalist, and whenever he -can he sets' out into the country among the birds and flowers, and enjoys himself more than ■any millionaire of the city. "I like birds," he said recently. "I like the outdoors. I like to walk across country and jump fences." On his farm he has set up five hundred little houses for the birds, which he calls his bird hotels, and one of them, a house for martins, has 76 little rooms.

During the winter the birds are fed, wire baskets containing food being hung on the trees. A large vessel of water is also supplied for the use of the birds, the water being kept from freezing by an' electric heater. Thus food, drink, and shelter are provided for the birds, and they have come to look upon Mr Ford as their friend. Feeding the Birds-

Sparrows are a nuisance to the other birds, which they rob and attack, and so, for the protection of the more interesting and weaker creatures, sparrow traps are set to keep down their numbers.

Some birds, like wrens, prefer swaying nests, and boxes for their use are mounted on steel springs, which enable them to sway the wind. In the summer fruit is left on the trees and bushes, so that the birds may And plenty of pleasant food, and this they greatly appreciate. Attempts to acclimatise English and olher song birds have not proved successful. About five hundred were imported, but these have disappeared. The only instance in which Henry Ford has used his power and organisation to influence legislation was when he tried to get a Bill passed through Congress providing for sanctuaries for migratory birds. AN ALARM CLOCK OF 400 B.C. Over two thousand years ago Plato devised a remarkable alarm clock with which to awaken the students of his i famous academy at Athens. Such a clock has been recently reconstructed from some particulars given by Aristooles, and we have to-day a working model of the alarm clock of ancient times. Many clocks were made by the Greeks and Romans which told the time by 'means of slowly-runnins water. Such a timepiece is referred to to-day as a hydraulic clock, or clepsydra. In its earliest form Hie rippsydra -was a short-necked globe pierced at the bottom with several holes, through which the water slolu away (as the Grc.'k name implies). 171" 135 8.C., Ctesibius of Alexandriaalso constructed a truly wonderful clock, in which the movement of water wheels caused a little figure to rise up gradually and point lo the hours of the clay. It has been found from some j clocks quite recently discovered that tbV'hour has not always been a twentyfourth part of a day; often the day was only divided into twelve hours, each equal to two of our own.

The reconstructed alarm clock of Plato blows a whistle at a prearranged time- A quantity of water is timed to be released suddenly from £ l'fttle reservoir, and forces air ttu-oiurna pipe which is made somewhat on the lines of a modern factory "whistle. The ancient clocks were not always good time-keepers, as . may be imagined, but thy had a special use in setting a time-limit to speeches in courts of justice. Long ago Solomon wrote that there was nothing new under the sun, and as we get to know more and more of the ancients and their ways we must come to the conclusion that there was much truth in What he said. In essence many of the most amazing discoveries and inventions of modern times were found thousands of years ago, and hero wo find in 400 B.C. what may well bo called the first alarm clock and the first siren. NATURAL HISTORY. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. How Long Can a Dog Remember? No doubt in dogs, as in human beings, the period of memory varies, but Darwin mentions a'dog that remembered him after an absence of five years and two days. What is Yeast? Yeast is a yellowish substance pro-

duced during the fermentation of saccharine fluids, and consists of many mieute cells, each cell being a fungus plani. How do Climbing Fish Know their Way to Water? Instinct leads them in the right direction, just as it directs eels across the Atlantic to the rives of Europe and directs migratory birds from Africa to England. How did Queen Elizabeth Sweeten Her Tea? Queen Elizabeth never drank tea, as it was first brought to Europe by the Dutch in 1610, seven years after Elizabeth's death. That queen always drank beer for breakfast. Though sugar •was known in 'England in Elizabeth's time, honey was the chief substance •used for sweetening. What Is a Public School? In England this term is used to describe certain large classical schools, such as Eton, Rugby, and Harrow, which are used for the education of the sons cf the wealthier and more cultured classes. The term is, however, a loose one, and many smaller schools, like Lhe Perse School at Cambridge, are also regarded as public schools. What Causes the Wind to Blow? The sun makes some parts of the earth's surface warmer than others; the warm part heats the air above it, and this expands and rises because it is lighter than the cool air round about. When it rises other cooler air rushes in to fill the space, and so we have the circulation of the atmosphere which we call the winds. This is, of course, only a brief idea of the principle; the subject is very complicated.