LETTERS AND REPLIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 13, 27 March 1912, Page 57

LETTERS AND REPLIES.

EAR COVSIN K.vri', -As we M» * shifting this week, lam not «M« I ■ to send you a tong letter. Gut 1 a flower garden is looking very- well fJk / just now. We have a great qn«n's—fjfy O f larkspurs out. The roses [have been very showy this- year, but they [have all died off now. We Imre a great quantity of violets; some of them are quite as big as pansies. We have the red and pink violets growing. It has beetr rather lliot down here lately, with a south wind blowing most of the time. Our peaches are all ripening now, so I suppose we will oe making some peach Jam. We had a gooa quantity of apples this year, but the codim moth was rather bad on some of them-. Cousin WINNIE. JPear Cousin Winnie.—Thank yon for your neat little letter. Your writing is so .nice and clear. Your garden must have been lovelv. I have never beard of red and pink violets, nave they any perfume? Are you leaving Taonui, or only moving into a new house? —Cousin Kate.j -F + + Ohatipo. Dear Cousin Kate, I liked my badge very much. It’s my birthday on the 24th of thia month. I went to Raglan for five weeks for my Christinas holidays. I went by train to Frankton, mid then forty miles by Coach. I came home a different way. I came about ten miles in a steam launch, and Jlien about 24 miles in a coach, and then twenty miles by train, and I was very tired. “—Cousin DEW lE. [ Dear Cousin Delcie, —I hope you have a very happy birthday on the 24tli. What a very out-of-the-way place llaglan must be: 40 miles is a long coach Journey. They always go so slowly. Do you pass through pre ty country? You might have told us tnore about it.—Cousin Kate.] ♦ ♦ ♦ Waitara. Dear Cousin Kate,—lt is a good while •Ince my last letter, so I think I will ■write a tew lines to-night. You will see by the heading of my letter we have Changed our address, as wo are now living In Waitnra, and like it very much better than Alton. We hope to be in Auckland later on Our day eelroot picnic was held nt Ngalre last Friday. It was not n very idee day, bn-t we all enjoyed ourselves. Our 'Snnday-scthool picnic Is neat Thursday. I liope it will be flue, ns we are going: to the bush out Vrentil way. Thank yon for the badge you sent me. I am In the fourth standard now. My sister Is in the second • tandard, and mv brother is Just beginning • •hook—Cousin DORIH. I Dear Cousin Doris, — I love I wen in Waite rn several times. When we lived in New ‘l'lymontb, we used to drive over there, mid all the country round is very pretty, but ■the freezing works used to smell in n very evil way In those days. I (hope It la improved now.- Cousin Kate.) * ® * Blenheim Dear Cousin Kate.—l have been a long while writing, because we h«ve been shifting from I’lcton to IMenbqim. It Is awful When yo« have to shift. I am sffll going to HCttool, We have two burse* «nd one dray. I like feeding bovsee; I tblnk it la front fnw. Rave you ever been to BleuJielinT I think It is n glorious place to live in. I think I will leave UM Oouvtna’ eoclaty.-Cbualn VICTOR.

J Dear ( jus in Victor.—l always thought young folk liked the joys of moving into a ■new home, and that it was only grown-ups who hated it? Fro nr all accounts, Blenheim is a lovely place. I have never been there. I am sorry you are leaving us. You should find it much easier to write when you are tn a new place.—Cousin Kate] 4 4 4 Wellington. Dear Cousin Kate, —Just a few lines to let you know I am well. I am writing for the first time, asking you can I join the writing club. We have had very bad weather here, but to-day was fine. I have two little sisters; one goes to school with me, and is just one class behind me. I am nine years old now. My birthday was yesterday. I have just finished reading the “Weekly Graphic,”, and think it very nice.—Cousin 808. [Dear Cousin Bob, —I am glad you wanted to join our society. I am very pleased to you as a member. We have only had one really fine day in the past ten. The summer seems to be over, and that is sad. I hope you had a nice birthday.—Cousin Kate] 4 4 4 Ridgelands. Dear Cousin Kate, —I suppose you will think that 1 am never going to write to you. 1 have a black and white cat. Will you please give me a name for her. We have a cow, two calves, and a horse. At school we play hide-and-seek, hop-scotch, donkey, and puss in the corner when it is wet. I have five sisters and four brothers. Thank you very much for the badge. It was very pretty. There are three girls and one boy go to school.—Cousin ETHEL. [Dear Cousin Ethel, —I am very pleased to hear from you, and glad to know you like the badge. I think a good name for your cat would be Tut. The only game of donkey I know' Is one you play with cards. Next time you write tell me just where Ridgelands is and what sort of a place it is.—Cousin Kate.] i i * 9, Grant-road. Dear Cousin Kate, —Will you kindly send rne a badge, as I want to become one of your cousins;? I am ten years old, and I am in the fourth standard. I have three brothers and have no sisters. We play rounders at school. I have often read the tetters in the “Graphic.” My birthday was on 23rd January. My mate and I always go to school together In the morning and afternoon. Every afternoon I go in and nlay with her. I love school. I once had two little kittens called Toby and Topsy, hut one day they both wandered away and died. I have a little dog. Would you give it a name?—Cousin FLORENCE. (Dear Cousin Florence, —I am pleased to have you join our society. Your letter Is very nice for such a little girl. In future only write on one side of the paper. I think I would call the dog Buster. It was sad about the kittens. How nice for you to have a chum. I expect you have lots of fun. You have forgotten to put your full name and town. Send this and I will post you a badge.—Cousin Kate.] •fr + <• Reikiorangi. Dear Cousin Kate.—l have been away for seven weeks’ holiday. The name of the place. I went to is Tuita, and 1 had a good time. I was down there for Christmas. I went in to Wellington to see the Newtown Park. They have some very pretty birds there. My mother and sister have gone away for a week. I am looking after the house for my father.—Cousin EVA.

[Dear Cousin Eva.—What a delightful holiday you must have had. Taita is such a pretty little place. I had a happy Christmas, but we did not have very good weather. I am looking forward to the Easter time. You are a clever little housekeeper. I hope you make your father comfortable. —Cousin Kate.]

Now Plymouth. Dear Cousiu Kate,—Please excuse me for not writlug before. Our cat has three little tabby kittens now, and they are very playful little things. I have passed into the Fourth Standard, and 1 think it fairly hard so far. We have all hud very bad colds. I have a good way to g<> to school, so I ride a bicycle. 1 shall end up with a riddle: Why is an engine-driver like a school teacher*—Cousin GLADYS. [Dear Cousin Gladys,—Yon will have lots of fun with the kittens. Are you keeping all three? Of course, you are sure to find the work harder, but it will make you try harder. I hope you had good weather for the picnic. Is the answer to the riddle, One minds the train, and the other trains the mind?—Cousin Kate.] 4 4 4 Ashhurst. Dear. Cousin Kate, —The local school held their annual picnic In the Ashhurst Domain the other day. I wont and enjoyed myself I never entered the races, as I was not attending school last year. Just at present I am the only one In the house. I am a bit nervous. When I was writing “year” in this letter I heard a thump in the scullery. It was like a man thumping the floor quickly. I heard thump, thump, one after the other. I opened the door so frightened, and I couldn’t help laughing, for there w r as Beauty, the cow, coming into the kitchen.—Cousin LENA. [Dear Cousin Lena. —I quite agree with you that it is nervous work staying in ft house by one’s self; the weird noises one hears are creepy. I think if you can it is always best to go and find out what causes the noise, and it generally ends in something very simple, and, as in your case, very funny.—Cousin. Kate.] 4 4 4* Sydenham. Dear Cousin Kate, —May I be one of your junior cousins? I am fourteen, years of age, and have left school with my mate, Rosa. Would you kindly send me a pale blue badge, please? My favourite hobbles are painting, drawing, and pianoforte. I have a sister and a brother. My sister had a rooster named Kitchener. We named him that because ho w r as hatched the day Lord Kitchener arrived in Christchurch. My little sister is seven now, but she was five when the rooster arrived. She used to bath R and then dry his feathers with a piece of rag. We had her photo, taken with it. The rooster at last grew savage, and we had to kill him, for we were frightened it would pick her eyes. Are there any of your cousins who would like to exehahge postcards, for I am willing to do so? I was born in Timaru. It is a pretty place, especially the bay, which is beautiful. My uncle gave my sister and I a canary. Will’yon give it a name, please? I did not pass this time at school because I failed in that horrid arithmetic. I might Just as well be home when the arithmetic time comes, for I am not a bit of good. My mother has preserved sixteen bottles of plums, and the shelf looks so nice.—From Cousin CLARA. [Dear Cousin Clara, —I am very pleased to enrol you as a member of our society. I don’t wonder that rooster got wild; any self-respecting rooster would, having its feathers washed and dried. It ought to have got some comfort out of being called Kitchener. It seems so hard that so many girls simply can’t do arithmetic. I was very dull in that way, but my greatest stumbling block was spelling, which to most people is so easy. How would Sweetydick do for the canary?—Cousin Kate.] 4 4 4 Dear Cousin Kate, —This Is my fifth letter I am writing now. I am la the Third Standard, and I am trying to pass into the fourth, and I hope I will not fail. I am nine years of age, and on July sth I will be ten, I am trying to go to school every day now, and get a prize at the end of the year.—From Cousin DESMOND. (Dear Cousin Desmond, —Yonr nice little letter I received with pleasure. I shall wish very hard that you pass. I expect you will find the work much harder, but you won’t mind that. Have you far to go to school? Wo have one little cousin who had four miles to walk and did not miss once in a year.—Cousin Kate.] .4 4 4 Sydenham. Dear Cousin Kate.—l find tailoring rather tiresome, and have to sit still for such a

long tfiue. Anyway, 1 am gotfig to sticv at it, and perhaps in time 1 will like it better than I do now. I have a boy friend who Ilves in Dunedin; his name is Carl pud he has a great talent for music. Next year he is going to play the cornet in the Mornington Band. I hope he gets on successfully. We are having fine weather down here uow, and our pears are ripening fast. I am very fond of cooking and ironing, and I do most of it when 1 am at home. In the last cooking examination I got. first prize in my own class for rooking. The prize was a book entitled “Tales from Shakespeare.” The tales in it arc very interesting, but some of them are hard to understand. Have you over read any of the Rev. Roe’s books? 1 am reading one now. entitled “Without a Home.” 1 like It very much. I suppose that you will think my writing is very careless, but. I hope you will excuse it, as I ran the machine needle in my finder, and I cannot write properly. I will try to write a neater letter next time. —Cousin ROSE. [Dear Cousin Rose, You are sure to find the confinement tiresome at first, especially in summer. It is nice to be interested in some one outside, and 1 expect your friend hopes you will get to like your work. You must load a busy life, and yet T am glad to see you find time for reading. I hope your finger will soon he well.— Cousin Kate.] 4 4* 4 Tawa Flat. Dear Cousin Kate,- I saw my letter in -the “Graphic,” and was very pleased. W r , had our school picnic on Wednesday, and it was held at Plimmerton. We went by the ten past ten train, and we came home in the eight train at night. While we were up there we went in for two bathes, and we had races, too. I went in one race, and came second, and got a skipping rope. I have got one doll. Will you send me a name for it? I will end with a riddle: Why are potatoes in the ground like thieves?— Cousin MARJORIE. [Dear Cousin Marjorie, You must have had a lovely picnic. I have only passed Plimmerton in the train; It looks such a pretty place. I had a glorious bathe the other day. The big curly breakers came right over us, and the water was quite warm. Wo had such fun, and several times were washed off our feet. Cousin Kate.l 4 4 4 Levin. Dear Cousin Kate,—Thank you very much for the badge. 1 saw my letter In the “Graphic.” My cousin Harold, at Otaki. writes to yoh. I had ft pet lamb, but it got out of the paddock, and went away with some other sheep.—Cousin MAY. [Dear Cousin May,—l am glad you liked the badge. We have a few Otaki cousins. What a silly little lamb; it would have had a much better life if it had stayed nt home. They are not very satisfactory pets. — Cousin Kate:] 4 4 4 Iluntly. Dear Cousin Kate, — I suppose you think I have forgotten you, but I haven’t. My auntie and grandmother and two cousins are up from the South Island for a holiday. I passed the exam., and am in Standard IV. now. There are five new teachers at the Huntly School, and there are three who were here before the holidays. I am going up to Auckland next Saturday with my grandmother and auntie. I am going to stay two or three days.—Cousin IVY. [Dear Cousin Ivy,—l am quite content to get a letter now and again. It is nice to have visitors from other parts. I am afraid they won’t think very much of the summer weather we have had so far. It has been the poorest summer 1 have ever known anywhere. 1 hope you enjoy your visit.—Cousin Kate.] 4 4 4 Reikiorangi. Dear Cousin Kate, It is a long time since last I wrote you a letter, and accordingly, J suppose, you think I have forgotten you. Not so. I was 111 for a long time, and, though I am quite well now, I have not seen any of the letters for some limo.’ I have intended to write to you several times, but having either forgotten it, or put it off for some reason, I determined to do so to-night. 1 have now told you the reason of my neglect, and so hope yon will forgive mo. I hope also that you will agree with ine in saying that the old proverb, “Better late than never,” might very well be applied in this Instance. It is rather stormy hero to-night, and I wonder whether it is so up in “Sunny Auckland?” Our summer him

Wot l»eeu too good tb'.s year, has It, Cousin Kate? Anyhow, the beautiful blooms of the summer months are now leaving the gardens and bowers, ami their places are about to be refilled by the various tints of the autumn leaves. Then it will not be long before dreary old winter will scare them into their hiding-places, and with it will come the long evening hours to be passed away by games and books.—Cousin DAISY. [Dear Cousin Daisy,— You have bad only too good an excuse for not writing. I hope you are quite well again. If 1 bad no faith In that proverb I should get quite disheartened with some of the cousins, but they generally bob up again, sometimes after months of silence. Our summer has been a huge disappointment, but I believe we will have a very dry winter.- Cousin Kate.]