A Page for Little People

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 50, 16 December 1925, Page 37

A Page for Little People

Conduced by ANNE

: My own very dear Little People, Just come round close up to me while we have a brisk little talk before the holidays. There is so much to .finish up before Christmas that we can hardly spare time for more than a pleasant nod while we settle ourselves down to get through all our letters. and general business. So, hurry, and we'll start. First of all we must see who has won the Ladder. Competition, and, just here, I am afraid some of you are going to be disappointed because you didn't write sooner. Even as late as this week, in my batch of letters someone enquired about the Competition, but, of course, it is too late now to send in for it. However, never mind, there's no great harm done is there, and you can all make up your minds to try in the next, which will be announced in next week's Tablet. But, I couldn't keep the Competition open five minutes longer, or we would have had no room or time for a Christmas page. So, we had a last climb up our Ladder this week, this is the way you were placed. And, after you had climbed into your places, the kind and learned Judge awarded the Prizes. This is the way you looked when you were judged : First Ladder. 1. Margaret Nyhon. 2. Colleen McNeill. 3. Erin McNeill. 4. Trephena Quinn. 5. Cathleeen Lamer. 6. Margaret Walker. Second Ladder. . 1. Paul Porter. 2. Jack Porter. 3. Bridgie Reilly. 4. Mollie Cavanagh. 5. Cassie Dowling. 6. Kathleen Harding. 7. Mary Harding. Third Ladder. 1. Lorna Carroll. 2. Dan McCormack. 3. Clara Mundy. 4. Monica Kilkelly. 5. Noreen de Vere. 6. Oswald Cotterell. 7. Mona Cotterell. And this is how the judge placed you—cause it was impossible to sort you up into boys and girls, standards and ages, and so on, because enough of you did not try in the Competition. So, the poor kind and learned judge had to do the very best a kind and learned judge could do with the good Little People who did write for the Competition. As only FIVE boys tried, the judge says they must ALL get a prize, and this is the orderin which they stand: - .$: Boys. I - 1. Dan McCormack. :| 2. Erin McNeil (Erin, you scamp, are you l a boy?) ..■■.-■■■ 3. Paul Porter. 4. Jack Porter. 5. Oswald Cotterell. ..Give them a clap now--01ttp.Clap.Obp.

With the girls'it was even harder, and the kind and learned judge decided to give a First and Second Prize to the girls on each Ladder. Also, our dear old cherished Glub Member Lorna Carroll, of Gippsland, Australia, wrote a most interesting Competition letter. This letter is so well written that it must get a Prize, although there was no one else to compete against it, I mean no one of the same age as Lorna. Here is the GIRLS' 1i5t:—....,,. Girls. First Prizes: Clara Mundy, Bridgie Reilly, and Margaret Nyhon. Second Prizes: Monica Kilkelly, Mollie Cavanagh, and Colleen McNeill. Special Prize: Lorna Carroll. Another good Clap for the girls—Clap— Clap— And all the other Little People who tried will each get a, nice picture to show them we love them all for trying. Thank you Little People for making the Competition go, but the next must be ever so much bigger and better. I hope you'll like your Prizes, and will write to say you received them. THE WEEK'S MAIL-BAG. We have so many Letters Dears, that wo will have to hurry over them this week, as we will not have room for any in our Christmas Page. The week after that I will answer any Letters waiting to be answered, send away Badges to Little People waiting for them, and finish up anything else of the year's work waiting to he finished. And then, after you read this letter, I would like you to give my poor Postman a holiday until you begin to send in the Letters for the New Competition. Holiday time is the best time to write to each other, because you have no homework to do, no lessons to learn, no ponies or trains to catch. Don't you think that will be ever so much better than trying to write a lot of letters and not having time to think of the Competition one? Try it now, Little People, and see how. well you can become acquainted with each other during school holiday time. One letter I have to tell you about brings sad news to us. You all remember dear little Paula Creel and how happy she was to join our Club. Well, dears, she is now at home in.lreland, very ill, and, they say, she may not get well again. A friend of Paula's has written telling us this, and asks that all the .Little People pray for our dear Paula, who may even now be with God. Pray for her Little People, and for her dear father and mother who took her overseas in the hope of making her better. (Dear friend of Paula's, we thank,you for writing us, and we hope your own poor sore hand i s well again now, when you get Paula's address will you please tell her we do not forget her, and are praying for her.—Anne.) NEW MEMBERS. ; JOHN BURKE, P. 0., Waituna, Southland, has sent for a badge and wants a Birthday Mate. John 19 eleven, has a birthday on 12th •February;: and' hopes to pass

• . - -.Tr % 1 into Std. VI. next year. (Welcome John, hope you’ll pass all right. You have. no jreal|| date Mate, but there’s Bill Carney, Rakaia, only two days before you, what about being , Letter Friends?—Anne.) , '■ , ■ NORA CECILIA LEDINGHAM, OtaiitauS is ten, her birthday is on 26th . September, and she has a black kitten without a name. -■; Nora has five brothers and three sisters. (Welcome Nora and you have a real Birthday Mate waiting for you—Mona Hannan, Winnie Street, Greymouth. I hope you’ll be great friends. Call your kitten “Cinders.” Anne.) ; PETER HANSEN, Studholme Junction, is ; t fourteen on 4th October and wants a Letter Mate. Peter is going up for his Proficiency and wishes us a Merry Christmas and £ a|| Happy New Year. (Thanks for good wishes Peter, don t you think it’s jolly to be a|j member of such a jolly club. You have no 1 Birthday Mate, but I think you and Jack Scott, Pomohaka, might be Letter Friends. Jack s birthday is the day before your 'own.f] Anne.) WINNIE MACARTNEY, Peddie’s Road,! Taradale, has sent money for a badge and is looking forward to the holidays. (Welcome innie, Glad you like our page, and hope k you’ll have such nice holidays. (No mate dear, but will you and Winnie Waldon, 224 Ponsonby Road, Auckland, be Letter Friends? Winnie’s birthday is four days! before yours.-^Anne.) • • RANDOLPH CAVANAGH, Fruitlands,! has sent for his badge and says the fruit trees are looking very fine. Randolph hopes to get into the sixth at the end of the year. (Good boy Randolph to send for your badge i so quickly. Now you’ll have 'a Letter Friend for the holidays, because we’ve a a Mate waiting for you. Laurence Moran has a birthday same day as you and hi s address is Main Road, Southbrook, Rangiora.—-I Anne.) . ■ • . GEORGE HARDING, Motukaraka, Hokianga, is an eight-year-old Member, but he writes in ink for his badge. George says they are milking 27 cows and feeding seven calves and ten pigs. (Welcome George, but you did| not tell us the date of your birthday. So glad you have joined our happy family, Anne.) . JACK CURRAN, Gladstone Road, Mosgiel, is eleven and in the fifth Standard;! Jack says his dear Grown-up Mother likes I our page and wishes she had not grown up so quickly. (Glad to send you your badge * Jack, how is Kevin and have you found out I anything about St. Kevin when he - was a little boy?. You have an honest-to-goodness Birthday Mate Jack, his name is Bernard P Andrew and he lives at 26 Nelson Crescent, Napier. Be friends will you Anne.) MARGARET PETTIT, 110 Mary hill. Ter- 1 race, Mornington, Dunedin, is a New Member who has five brothers and four sisters, and the youngest i s Baby Marie Therese, just sixteen months old. Margaret says they have a big vegetable garden. (Welcome Margaret, what a lovely big houseful of you there are, and is little Marie Therese the pet? Sorry

dear you have no Birthday Mate and,, look- \ ing through the Birthday Book I find that ;.'; : Mary Stumbles, who is about your own age,, hasn't one either. Her birthday is on the *k 27th, and her. address is Box 6, Cromwell. s - Will you be Letter Friends?—Anne.) LORNA MILLER, 41 Nairn Street, Kaikorai, Dunedin, wants a badge and is nine years old. She has two sisters and one brother and a cat called Tabby. (Welcome Lorria dear, hope you'll like your badge. Did you really put the stamps into the envelope? It seemed to me they had been forgotten. I have a Birthday Mate for you, but dear, I have not her address. Maybe she will write to you, especially as her name is Lorna just like your own— True, and exactly same age, but no address.—Anne. P.S. Will Lorna True join us properly by getting a badge, and will she write to Lorna Miller?—Anne.) FIRST LETTERS. All these Little People have written for the first time to make our acquaintance, and I'm quite sure when they find out how good it is to be Members of our big and happy family, they'll send stamps for their badges. Meantime, we're so very glad to hear from them and we hope they have come to us for keeps. When they write again we hope they will be sure to let us know their birthday dates so that we can find Letter Friends for them. They are all from Bluff, so we'll just see what they have to tell us. Here are their names: IVAN MACNEIL, NELLIE KELLY, MARY HEADS, J. SMITH, and DON CAMERON. They say their Convent School is the farthest South in the world, and that big ships come into their port. Also, there are big Cheese Stores there, and lots of Frozen. Meat. And, would you believe it, from the windows of the school you can see big ships out on the ocean. Isn't that too wonderful for anything? Stewart Island, they say, is not far from them. (I believe we better get our atlases and look where these new Little People are.) (Dear Little People from the Bluff, it is good to hear from you. Be sure to join right up and get your badges, we want to keep you now we : ve found you. Love to all of you from all of us.—Anne ) ORPHANS.

MONA GIBSON’S dear Grown-Up Mother writes for Mona thanking us for the badge sent, and tells us such a lot of news. Mona and Desmond were to make their First Holy Communions on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Bth December, at Darfield, where they go to school. They have a church at Coalgate, and get Mass every fortnight. Desmond will be writing to us one of these days, and Mona has sent a dear little Sleeping Suit for an Orphan. (Thank you dear Mrs. Gibson for your nice letter and for the garment sent. Tell Desmond we’ve been expecting a letter from him. Anne.) EILEEN McLAUGHLIN, 36 Crown Street, N*E- Valley, Dunedin, sends three penny stamps for the Orphans and says she saw in the paper that the Managing Directors of the Exhibition gave the Orphans an outing to see the Exhibition. Eileen wishes us all a Happy Christmas and Bright New Year and sends love. (Thank you for the stamps,

Eileen, wasn’t that a great day- for the;Orphans? You will understand by that how Grown-Ups coitsider it their privilege to be allowed to give pleasure to Orphans, and so, indeed .; should : we, which is ; . : why i{ Anne” wants you. to .make that habit while you are Little People. ..Get. ready for the next - Competition which must .be the very best ever." Anne.) - ' • -•-v-.--—.....

EILEEN BURKE, Waituna, likes her badge and sends a stamp for the Orphans, At Eileen’s place they are milking 22 cows, and the yard gets very muddy in wet weather. (Thank you Eileen, glad you like your badge. Hope your brother will join us, we’ve lots of room for everyone who wants to come with us. Anne.)

COMPETITION LETTERS. rmjMA PiDPHT t 1} 1 -11 Tr- 7 • Wr^l NA CARROLL .’ B rookville, Victoria, Australia, writes again after a long time away from US, but 1 she reads the Tablet all ■6. same, tor she likes our page more and more. Lorna has 18 correspondents now, from whom she gets long interesting letters. The bush lands are glorious over there, wild owers of all colors and kinds are blooming, ie birds are hatched, and they peep over the sides of their nests, always with their mouths wide open. Lorna asks if “Anne” ms ever seen a snake. (It is so very nice to Hear from you again Lorna, and your letter is a credit to you. You make us wish we could fly over to you m Australia, even if you have snakes. The only live snake I’ve ever seen was a great big one in the London Zoological Gardens, when I was a tiny child.

It frightened me so much that I dreamt about it for many nights and was a nuisance to the Grown-ups with my. screams. Watch out for the Competition, I must find some others to make a class with you.—Anne ) DAN McCORMACK, Taradale, has passed the 6th, and is-taking Engineering at the Napier Technical College. He played cricket and football, but likes footy best. (Are you pleased Dan with the result of the Competition, we are glad you went in for it. Hope you have nice holidays.— ) CLARA MUNDY, Kaitangata, wrote so nicely and was anxious not to get knocked off- the Ladder before reaching the top. (You 'didn't get pushed off, after all Clara, did you go to the Circus.— MONICA KILKELLY, 39 Martin Square Wellington, is 10, and in 4th standard. (Glad you tried Monica,.the address you ask for will be at the end of your letter. It is very hard to hunt, up addresses, which is why I ask the Little People to keep the lists carefully.—Anne. Address, "Domain," Westport.—A.) NOREEN DE VERE, Panama Hotel, Vivian Street, Wellington, liked .her Badge, and says they are busy at school getting ready for the concert. They are having Cinderella and Noreen is the "Page," and she is singing a song called "Grandmother Old," all dressed up like a grannie. (We would like to come to the concert Noreen, wouldn't it be fun to see you acting.—Anne.) OSWALD COTTERELL and MONA COTTERELL, Princes Street, Temuka, both.tried and they sent a snap of themselves as well. They are looking forward to the holidays.

(Thank you for the picture, one of these days you’ll see it on our page. Hope you have nice holidays. Anne. P.S.—Oswald has no Birthday Mate, but will he be friends with Barry O’Regan, Cronadun, whose date is on 2nd . December?— • • - v]f--CATHLEEN LARNER, Avoca, Wyndham, wrote a long letter and sent three stamps she has been holidaying at Otatara, but is home again now, and wishes us all a happy Christmas. (Hope you found home nicer than ever dear when you got home. Do,you know I once heard someone say that “the best part of a holiday was the coming home after it.” Don’t you think that is what we all should find. hanks for good wishes. Anne.)

OTHER LETTERS HILARY O’BPTFN To w w -1 111 UiiiUEiN, Te Wae Wae, writes a pencil letter hoping we haven’t forgotten her. (Indeed Hilary, we remember you all the time and hope you will have lovely holidays. Anne.) BETTY KEEFE, Peak Hill Lake Coleridge, writes asking about the Badges she sent for to replace one lost. (Hope you’ve got your Badges by now Betty dear. Glad you heard from Mollie, hope you’ll have happy holidays.—Anne.) • • EILEEN KEANE, Clyde, is busy getting ready for the. concert and says there is an Express train running through Clyde every day now. (The competition is over ..Eileen but look out for the next and be sure to go in for jt. I suppose the Express Train is to make it easy for people to go to the Exhibition,

NELLIE CAMERON, Nokomai, liked her . Badge and has had an answer from her . Letter Friend. Nellie's cat brings her kittens , into the wash-house every night through the window. (That's a real good mother cat, she looks after her kittens properly, mind you , are good to her. Glad you and' your Letter Friend are writing each other.— RIDDLE BIN. t Answers to last week's Riddles: 1. Every lady in the land has twenty nails; , on each hand five, and twenty on hands and feet. All this is true without deceit; - 2. Why does a short man rise early?— Because ho cannot lie long. 3. What is it that asks no questions but requires many answers?— door bell. 4. If the sea were all to vanish what would , Father Neptune say?—l haven't a notion . (an ocean). 5. If Mississippi wore Missouri's blouse what would Delaware Alaska (I'll ask her) New Riddles: 1. When is a sheep like a bottle of ink? 2. When is a clock on the stairs dangerous 3. How can book-keeping be taught in a v lesson of three words? . - 4. Name the first lady of the land? -5 - 5. Why is there never such a thing as one whole day? ;tjf URGENT TELEGRAM, 1 1 People, all be ready Peep of Day, Christmas Eve. Calling for you will explain then.—Anne,-, ......... '/-- ■ • ■■■- Good-night dear -Little People, :'l :. ; ' '.. ,-■■ ANNE. •