THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 133, 8 March 1940, Page 3

THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

THE WHALER % of WHALE ISLAND

What ho, my young friends. I see you are looking fresh and well after your shore leave at Kobe. Yes, I'm sure you all liked the visit to Japan in spite of the fact that a war was on and that a lot of the Jap officials were very suspicious. Well at any' rate it's good to be aboard the S.S. Good Lndeavour once again. Heave, ho and up she rises with the old anchor. Down with the top-gallant sails and now we're under way for fresh ports andijew scenes. Don't you all love the frefe and open life of the rolling Now I'm going to roll you all into a secret. As you see, we're headed for the mainland again. 1 Avant to vi'sit the coast of; China again, and if possible to call into Wei-hei-Avci before going on to Russia. Wei-hei-wei used to be a British coaling station, but iioav that most of the battleships • are run 011 oil I don't suppose there is half the activity I used to know. Well, lads, step alive and see to it that the ship is made spick and. span. We must impress these strange people. Hullo —Avhat's that to starboard. It's got queer, lateen sails and it's painted jet black. Here, First mate, lend me your glasses. Ha, ha, this seems interesting. Look there arc two, no three boats and they arc all making for us. By jimniiny,; up goes their ilag, and by Neptune's toenails, its the jolly Roger, or I'm a Dutchman. Well boys and girls we're in for it. A brush Avith Chinese pirates. I kneAV these Avaters were dangerous, but I never thought we'd lia\ r e anything like this. Trot out the rifles and cutlasses bos'n, and tell the Chief Engineer to get up steam. Here they come. Now everybody must keep a cool head and do exactly Avhat. I tell them. W T ait till I giA r e them the command and then Ave'll let 'em have it.

r~ for the Goodwill Cruise

knoAV. In the long, dreary winter evenings they sit and play a game similar to our draughts; they also play at blind-man-buff and leapfrog. Another popular game is for hr/;f a dozen ov more to sit in a row cac'h with a short rod in each hand, and catch two small hoops that are rapidly passed along. Whoever fails to catch both of the hoops is out of the game. A more robust game is one that they call "II wu,nck." It consists in .each contestant lighting two torches or candles and going out of doors, when each one strives to extinguish those of his rival. He who succeeds in keeping both torches, or even one. lighted at the end of the game is the victor. Then the young Lapps have their pulka rides. Do you know what a pulka is? It is a kind of sleigh shaped like a canoe, about five feet long, one foot deep, and a foot and a half wide. To this a reindeer is attached by a single thong which passes under its stomach and is fastened to a. collar of deerskin about the animal's neck. Only a single rein i's used. A boy or a girl will harness a reindeer to a pulka in no time and ride off over the snow at a rate of speed tiiat exceeds that of a fast-horse. A reindeer can travel five or six hours without stopping, and get over one hundred and fifty miles a day when U is not Loo hilly.

OUR STORY

lap children at home In the far north of Europe, embracing portions of Russia and of the Scandinavian peninsula, is a country called Lapland. It is inhabited by a people that we know us Lapps, though they call themselves "Same." They belong to the panic race as the Tartars and Samoides, and are a very quaint and primitive people; in fact, one Avriter who lived several months among them terms with "the queerest people in the world." A Lapp baby is a singular looking object, you may well believe; lie is a little, brown, naked thing, with shining black eyes and, instead. of having a cradle he is kept in the karkem or komse. This is made of a single piece of wood shap cd something like a canoe, covered at one end, and is about two and a half feet long by fifteen or twenty inches wide. The komse is covered at the bottom with soft dried lichens, over which a small cotton sheet is spread. The babe is placed inside stark naked, the sheet is turned down and a coarse piece of vadmal or sheepskin is put over the whole. A cord is laced through holes on; cachyiside of the komse, and it is slung" by this to a peg on the wall; or sometimes if the mother Lapp goes away from the house she slings it to her shoulder. The baby Lapps are kept in these till they begin to walk. Every day they are taken out and washed in cold water. In the coldest weather an extra skin is thrown over the komse. Most of the Lapp houses are nothing. but huts. They are usually built Avith stones and sods, and roof ed Avith beams and Falters Avith small Avood between them, over which are laid bushes and turf willi fine earth on the top. A hole in the roof serves both for window and chimney. The doorways arc low, vaulted passages, through which one has almost to crawl to gain admission to the interior. Lapp children have their sports, just as other young folk do, but some c.f their pastimes are wry dif-ferent-.in charocl'or from those wv

LAST WEEK'S COMPETITION

COLOUR ING PICTURE Congratulations to all of you, but particularly to the first prize winner. She i-s quite an artist and I am very proud to have her as one of my crew. Even Butinsky, the goat nodded approvingly when I showed it to him. Here are the winners:— May Hanham Charlie Armer Nanette Raymond. Your tickets await you at the BEACON. THE WIND Over the hills and valleys lie goes, The wind. Oh, the wind, He brings the rains and he brings the snows, The wind, Oh, the wind. When I am playing he plays Avith me, He blows my hair all kind of ways, The wind. Oh, the wind. He blows my hat right down the street, The wind, Oh, the wind. And blows the leaves right round my feet, The Avind, Oh, the wind. And "then he hides behind a tree, The Avind, Oh, the Avind, To make a jump right out at me. The wind, Oh, the AA'ind.

YES, WHERE?

A distinguished professor of a noted university was delivering an address before a group of business men. At its conclusion a manufacturer joined issue "with him. "Natural science is ol no benefit to me," he insisted. "What is your business?" inquired the pro lessor. "1 manufacture suspenders;' wasi the reply. "And where would your business be,'' was the next question, "if the law of gravity were suspended?"

ON THE DESERT

A British tourist journeyed from Cairo to the . Pyramids. Fired by romantic tales, he felti sure he had readied the land where nothing savoring of western civilisation would, be allowed to disturb the Arabian Nights atmosphere. "When he reached the Pyramids and was hoisted to a camel by a picturesque Arab, he quivered with delight. Bui lie had a rude awakening. "What's your camel's name?" he asked the Arab. "Creta CJarbo," was ihe answer.

THE MAGIC BOX

You will require a small cardboard box and a farthing lor the trick. Before showing the trick to your friends, take a penknife and cut a small slit in I Ik; back of the box. This slit should be large enough for the coin to pass through Show your friends the cardboard box. Let them see that it is empty, but do not allow them to actually handle it. Then put the farthing into the box and secretly push it through the sMt info your left palm Close the box and show your right hand empty. ?Jake a few magic passes, open the box, and show that it is empty also. While everyone's attention is on the box, quietly slip the far tiling into your pocke f .. Your friends will be very surprised.

TRICKS TO TRY

I wonder if you know this little trick? It shows you how to look through a hole in your hand. First, you must get a piece of paper about live inches "wide and six inches long, and roll it into a tube. Then hold up your left hand so that the pnlm i'accs you, and place the tube against the edge of it, pointing it just a little to the left. Now look 1 h rough the paper tube witli your right eye, keeping your left eye on ihe palm of your hand —and it will look just as if there is a hole right through the middle of your hand.

NEXT WEEK'S COMPETITION

MORE COLOURING Kasfcr is fast approaching. Here we see a couple of Easter Bunnies giving us all good advice. They make quite i pretty picture don't you think? Well what I want., you to do is to colour them in and send the finished picture in to me. The best three will receive free picture tickcts with my best compliments.'. P.T.W.