The Little People’s Page

New Zealand Tablet, 17 April 1924, Page 39

The Little People’s Page

n Conducted by Anne

My own dear Little People,— A Happy Easter to you all, a glad Easter Day and a few days of pleasant holiday to follow. When you get this it will be Holy Week, and you all know why we call that one week in the year “Holy”. Because, of course, every day of it has some special memory, including Good Friday, the day on which Our Dear Lord suffered so much for us. Did you notice on Holy Thursday how the bells rang out at the “Gloria in Exeelsis,” then you heard them no more all day or that evening although there was church. Even on Good Friday, you didn’t hear them at all, because they didn't ring again till the “Gloria” on Holy Saturday morning. Well, I’ll tell you a story about these same bells, did you know that people say the*bells went to Borne? When my mother was a tiny girl in a far off land, the grown-ups used to tell the children that if they looked hard enough and high enough into the sky, they might sec the bells. They used to say that only children can see them, because only children have the eyes of imagination. So the children would stand around in groups looking, looking up into the sky shading their eyes with their hands, watching for the bells and saying three Hail Mary’s that they would arrive safely to Rome. Somehow, no one ever saw them, no-one was quick enough to catch them, because bells travel as quickly as anything you can he sure, and you know how easy it is to stop looking just for a second, or to cover your eyes from the sun for a moment. But, every Holy Saturday morning, the hells would ring out again, and the children would clap their hands and jump round in joy, for the bells were hack safely again, and they would say three more Hail Mary’s in thanksgiving. Of course in that beautiful country right across the seas, it it early Spring at Easter time, and, after a cold and snowy winter, the trees and plants look very beautiful as they burst into leaf and flower again. Listen while I tell you what they do for the children 011 Hasten morning. First of all, for some days before Easter, dear nice people like mothers and grannies gather up all the fresh eggs the good hems lay, and they color them into all sorts of pretty colors. Very, very early on Easter morning, ever so long before the children are awake and you eon just think how early that can he, the mothers and grannies creeping quietly, just as Father Christmas does when he is doing life busy work, make nests under the shrubs, among the flowers and in many queer hidey-holes, and into these they put the pretty eggs. Then everyone gets ready for church and hurries off to Mass. After Mass they start off for home, almost everybody bringing along a little party of town children to join in with their own, so, you can imagine something of the joyful chatter as they hurry along the lovely country roads. Home ; again, all the children are let loose on the garden and there is a glorious hunt for nests. The grown-ups look on for a while, but presently they slip away to see about the breakfast, and very soon the children« begin to run up to the house, arriving almost breathless with excitement and full of wonderful tales of how they found the nests; how, just when they thought they had a fine egg someone else grabbed it; how so-and-so found a nest with three blue eggs in it and rushed off with the nest and all, and — well, you know just what we would do ourselves. Some of the children arrive with several eggs, some with only a few and even some with none, but, they must all share up alike at the finish, and even, some must he put aside to be taken home to sick children or little ones really too tiny to walk the long distance. Breakast is a merry meal, some of the little ones eat their Easter egg right away, but, a good many like to keep , theirs for a day or two so that they can look at them often before they finish them up. Don’t you think that is a jolly way to do on Easter Day? • That is how they do in the country, and the townspeople who live near the shops but who have no fowls, perhaps even, no gardens, buy or make sugar'eggs. They too, color them, tie them up with bright ribbons, and put them under the children’s pillows, or beside their plates. Tell -me now which way do you like best? Oh

dear! I wish we could get the' loan of a big ship and ■ a good Captain so that Anne and her Little People could go lound this beautiful world so full of wonderful countries and nice people. Docs anyone know of someone with a ship and a captain we can borrow

Now Dears, I’ve got a big mail again and must answer some of my letters. I shall not be able to put in everyone’s competition letter, but will try to mention everyone who took part in it and will put a bit from each letter. Will start with—

.v i^ ar . y Isabel Donaghy, Dipton, who had a fine time at he Dipton Sports; wont in for races and won three "ettfiur /I' . 1( ? 9. shilling for a prize. She skipped too, up'to 180 ( hich IS more than 1 could do without tripping Lid thev had six cases of fruit and two tins of lollies " 7 -ood daVat A my Ma Isabel, that you had a thoroughly all thi _llo P r tS ’' I *" tl y ° Ur holMa - VS sound cheerful Esther Hinsley, M inton, wants to Join the rT> r p , s «)f one paragraph 0 she Writes. * Tim" ‘is wli°at^ l sh© ,e ° aU .My mother, died on the fourteenth of July 1923 and T

wauPvm. I t! ll0r : / V ° + " iII 8,1 l’. ra y for you both, and « Esther?—Anne.) U “ agam- " 111 anyone writ© to Heen O’Callaghan, Dipton, writes a long letter She wan s L .join the LP I L C Also she tell « me about a wl b ® t ‘ n ;'! <lor Sform they had lately, which killed three orses at Minton. Iloen lias two little pigs. (Glad to \nne ) 1U ,VOll Iloel1 ’ im,Ul you Writc 10 someone soon.

to J i” ,, J‘“ d to,d ,np wliat >•»" « •» ™" id save a lot of work. One dav they were lU n? T fßt -DiR and Zoo’s little brother said “wW * i «l steak we could get off him.” ’ " lat a good blt l,pach D once U f s P e . nt ,f me holidays at Eoxton the tidLemnes upP—AnneJ bathl ” g in tllC ri ™ when Dorrie and Ellen Knowler, Te IVae Wap unont i i lo^ »»d “Why i, a d„R lib o a tr£»” tetter 8 «*• dimer ?” riddles perhaps someone else does.—Anie.) t - the Edmund 1. Lynch, Woodside West Taieri tv i , ifpfpiSlliii

(jay gOMij. round the churches. Monica tint fils?? of the Angels’ is just a wee hit of H™ven a K 1 St in 'Ou'r'VaSA Si' 11 '* i Out Lard the water at Petolle beach 4? in N^i4' M S '’ C *» mi “ see Mira V »n »“«■« Frances Scott, Pomohakn it: o ioal • ~ with th e • te f H tl me to^ey ka a\npe4 a out *at Croyrfo^BiHh ,7 (M hat a lovely place to camp Frances Did vm, i-„ “ that Pantails eat up all the flies they can find P T know a ace , where a dear little Fantail comes into the house every day, and makes short work of all the flies in the dijMßg-roam. Isn’t that clever of him.—Anne ) the

t - Ten us hen and where you propose to remove your .nrniture and competent men with roomy vans will shift it with no inconvenience. The New Zealand Express Go