COUSINS’ CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 15, 13 April 1910, Page 58

COUSINS’ CORRESPONDENCE.

Otahuhu. EAR I*o US IN KATE,—I hope you I B are quite well. Did you see all I F the cadets when Kitchener was J here? My two big brothers were x ‘——there, but I am too little, so I had to look on. We are having Easter holidays now, but I have had a month, as I bad whooping-cough. Wo gave our dear little kitty a dead little bird to oat, and the poor little thing died. We think the bird was poisoned. His name was Kitt iwee. — From your loving cousin, GUY. I Dear Cousin Guy,- Yes, I saw Lord Kitchener review the cadets, and thought it was a grand sight to see all the boys marching so well. I am sure you must have wanted very much to be big enough to be among them. 1 hope your whooping-cough is better; it was not much fun having a month’s holiday if you had to stay in, but perhaps you were not very bail, if was sad indeed to have your dear Ki'ttiwee go off like that; but, of course, you would never think of such a thing as the bird being poisoned. With love. —Cousin Kate.J * £ £ Otahuhu. Dear Cousin Kate,- I hope you are quite well. Did you see all the cade'ts march at the review. I went, and I think il was very nice. My old cat had seven litt e kittens, and my mother put them into a bag and drowned them. My brother has two rabbits. One of t hem had four little ones, and they all died, because it was too cold for them. Then? is a place where some waterworks are going to be put up, and Guy and I go and watch the men digging the well. They have an engine to pump *the water up. Witli love from your loving cousin, ERNEST. I Dear Cousin Ernest, I don’t wonder your mother put the ki'ttens Into a bag ami drowned them. Seven kittens would be far -too many to keep. It was hard luck losing the rabbits as well. You must have great fun watching the men pumping the water up. I expect you feel you would like to help them. With love.—-Cousin Kate. J 4 14 Awn. Dear Cousin Kato. 1 am very sorry that 1 could not write before. I thank you very much for that badge you sent me. I have finished my hop picking holidays, and started school again. I had three days for East, er. We have three little kittens, and I want you to give them names. There are two tabby ones and one black and white. We tad three little pups. One got killed, and I want you to give the two names. Wo have a new post office now, and it is a lot Hearer to our place. 1 go quite close to it When 1 go to. wboel. I must say good-bye. With lovd From Cousin WIN.

[Dear Cousin Win,- I am glad you liked the badge. Do you use it tor a book-mark-er? I think it would be rather a good idea, don’t you? Do you know, I have never seen “hops” grow. That will seem funny to you, no doubt. I think it must be great fun picking them. I think good names for your puppies would be .Jack and Jill. With love. »—Cousin Kate. ] £ £ i Ma puna. Dear Cousin Kate, It is quite a long time since 1 wrote to you last. We have been having nice weather up here lately. Yesterday we all went with father in the launch to Dargaville. 1 don’t think I have ever told you the name of our school. Well, it is Paradise. Now, don’t you think that is a good name. Many people wonder why it is called that. One of our cousins has spent a week with us, and went away yesterday, Irnt her brother is still here, but is going away this afternoon. We have a new teacher now. I went to a picnic the other day, and had a good time. Our little brother Fred is growing very fast. 1 will close with love. —Cousin ALLISON. [ Dear Cousin Allison, — I am glad you have had nice weather up your way. Here in Auckland it could hardly have been worse, and quite spoilt the Easier Monday holiday. It was sad to see the people returning home from various holiday resorts, dripping wet. I think the name of your school is very quaint indeed; you think it is a good name, so that looks as though you were happy. Many girls think school anything but Paradise. I hope yon will like your new teacher. It was jolly for you having your two cousins staying with you. I have once been to Dargaville, and I thought the river was beautiful. I only spent one day there, but I thought Dargaville so much larger than I expected that I was surprised. 1 hope some day soon to come up to Dargaville, and. when I do, I shall look you up. With love. —Cousin Kate] 4? 4? 4? Gore. Dear Cousin Kate, I am sorry that I have not written to you for such a long time. We are having our Easter holidays now, and I am very glad. Our apples arc ripe, and w * are having a great feast. I am in Standard IV., and I am elevon years old. We have had such a lovely show o.f flowers in our garden this summer, and just new the cosmos are at their best. At the flower show last month I got second prize for a decorated (basket of flowers, and I got such a nice book.—With love from Cousin CLARIS. [Dear Claris,—You are one of the few people who seem to have had line weather for Easter. I always thought that Gore was rather a cold, b’eak place, but it can’t be if you have cosmos out now at their best. Here, in Auckland, cosmos have only ju«t started to bloom. 1 am glad you got a prize for your table. What flowers did you use? —--Cousin Kate.] £ 4r 4: Auckland. Dear Cousin Kato, As we get the *• Graphic ” nearly every week. I read your letters, which are very interesting. I always look at “ Buster Brown.” and I discovered on the opposite page, “ Children's Page.” typed very large, so I thought I would read tile news on there as well. I hope you will accept my letters, and have me for one of your cousins. Did you enjoy yourself at Easter? I hope you did, but I did not

because of the rainy weather, and I did not go away. I must end my . letter now; so good-bye for the present, Cousin Kate. —I remain, your sincere Cousin, ESME. [Dear Cousin Esme,—l am very pleased to have you for a new cousin, and will send you the badge at once. I am glad you have found the letters interesting. You will have to write nice letters and do your share to interest others. Yes, the Easter holidays were horrid, and I can’t say I enjoyed them, very much, although I went to the races. With love, Cousin Kate.] 4? 4: 4: Kainul. Dear Cousin Kate, —:Will you please accpet me as one of your Cousins? 1 have 5$ miles to drive to school of a morning; 'but it is a very pleasant drive except on a very cold or wet morning. Will you please send me a badge, as I should like to have one? I will write a longer letter about my pets next time.—From Cousin MARATA. I Dear Cousin Parata,—Please send me your full name as well as your address, and 1 shall be glad to send you a badge. It would be nice to have a pony, and ride sometimes. It must be very nippy when the wind is from the south.—With love, Cousin Kate.] £ * £ Kainul. Dear Cousin Kate, —May I become one of your Cousins? I am eleven years old, and I am in the third standard. My sister, brother teacher and I drive 5* miles to school of a morning, and home at night. The drive is a pleasant one, as it is along the edge of the ocean. We find it cold when the southeast wind is blowing. Horses are my greatest pets. At the A. and P. show at Kaikoura, last week, I took first prize in jumping the hurdles. Hoping that 1 may become one of your cousins, with kind love to you and all.—Cousin ELLA. Dear Cousin Ella, —Yes* of course you can be one of our Cousins, blit though you have sent me your address, you have not written your full name. So I cannot send you a badge. I suppose your teacher lives with you as you all drive into the s-chool together. It must, indeed, be a lovely drive. I am so fond of the sea; I envy you your drive. Does the tide ever come up over the road? 1 don’t wonder horses are your greatest pets, when you can ride so well at eleven years old as to win prizes at a show. You must toil me more about your pony when next you write. Horses and dogs are my pets. With love.—Cousin Kate.] £ £ £ Dear Cousin Kato. — My little nephew, Mervyn, is staying with us at present, and wp get a lot of fun out of him. Do you think Mervyn a nice name? I will be eleven on the 27th of this month. I.t has been very •bad weather lately. We have all had very bad colds.; 1 have not got rid of mine yet. Do yon collect P.Cards? I do; I have 137 now. Well. I will say good-bye, with love, Cousin IDA. Dear Cousin Ida,- T quite envy you having your little nephew Mervyn with you. and I expect he says very funny things. I think little boys are such fun. I am very fond of them. I like the name of Mervyn very much; it is rather a big name for a little chap, though, and you can’t very well

shorten It. The chances are he wHT get some very funny nick name when he goes to school. I see your birthday is on the 27th: of this month. Mine does not'come till the 7th May, and I nearly always forget . It; that comes of feeling old. I shall send yon a post-card some day, scon, to add to your collection. With love, Cousin Kate.] 4 4 4* Grey Lynfl. pear Cousin Kate, —I hope you do not think I did not write to you since Christmas, but I did write to you, and addressed it, and even put a stamp on it, and left it to be posted, and I wondered why it was not put in the “Graphic,” and this afternoon I found it in the dining-room, and I was very cut up; so I at once wrote again, and I hope you will forgive m© for being so long about an answer. Dear Cousin Kate, thank you for that lovely book-prize that I won at Christinas, for the stories are simply lovely. I am very glad to be able to toll you that I got proficiency and a scholarship at Christmas, and I now go to the Technical College. I learn typewriting and shorthand, and I hope some day that I will be able to type you a letter. —Your loving cousin, MOLLIE.

' [Dear Cousin Mollie,—l was glad to hear from you again. I can quite imagine bow wild you would feel when you found your letter had not been posted. And I suppose you were thinking that we had Overlooked it. I am glad you enjoyed the book. Did you read in the papers about the “Victoria League’’ and Miss Talbot's visit? Well, little girls can be members of It, and help, even if it Is only by being kind and nice to some little stranger who comes from overseas, and, perhaps, goes to Jour school. I am so glad you did well

at school. You must have worked hard, and you deserved success. Typewriting seems a difficult thing to me, but, like everything else, easy when you “know how.” With love.—Cousin Kate.] 4*4: Neudorf. Dear Cousin Kate, —Now that T have been reading the cousins’ letters on the children’s page in the “Graphic,” I would very much like to become one of your cousins. I am ten years old, and in the fourth standard.

I have four sisters and no brothers. One of my sisters is just four weeks’ old today. Would you please give me a name for her? We have just started school again after our hop-picking holidays. I picked bops for three weeks. The highest number of bushels I picked in a day was twentysix bushels. 1 like hop picking very much. The best lessons I like doing in school are reading and arithmetic. Dear Cousin Kate, would you please send me a red badge? Now, I must close, with love to you and ah the cousins. I will write again so >n. — From Cousin HIDDA.

(Dear Cousin Hilda, —1 am pleased to know that you have found the children's page of such interest, and now that you are becoming a cousin, you must send me nice newsy letters, which will interest other people. 1 think a nice name for your new little sister would be Rhoda or Nancy. Ix>ts of the cousins are hop pickers. You surely must be a very smart little girl to pick so many in one dny. 1 hope you will continue to be fond of arithmetic; so few girls are really good at it. You generally see them counting on their finger*- Cousin Kate. J