THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR young readers only

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 232, 1 November 1940, Page 7

THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR young readers only

What ho,'what ho, ma hearties. We are now travelling in a slowmoving mountain locomotive through the -mountains of. Bolivia and towards the strange town of La Paz. ■ .We have passed through the arid dresert known as El Gran Chaco and tea at a town called Sucre. It / is pr&nounced 'sugar' but the people didn'tlofcfc~mueh- Kkc it. They were ;a grubby looking lot who all could have done with a good bath in the Ward Pool at Rotorua. . Well boys: and girls I' wish these mountains •were covered with forest like our "New Zealand liills. They all seem bare and rocky and onlj T in the deep valleys do we get a glimpse of tiro green vegetation. We pass through the towns of Camargo, and Potosi -and now w r e skirt along a beautiful . lake called by such a funny name— , , Poopo. The name sounds ugly buf the lake is beautiful and as we ,go by you can see the Bolivian Indians - 'in their strange reed boats. These look like fat balloons and are so heavy "that they are most difficult. — to manage and sink readily if they rare capsized. But the Bolivians : seem to be able to : handle them very .effectively and often make long .trips in them. Now I don t think we can be far from La Paz. Yes. 1 -can see the tall station building, from this window. La Paz is supl- - posed to be the most inaccessable town in the world. Built in the

mountains, its streets are mainly built .like stairs, yet the little donkeys and the shccp-likc llamas seem to be able to get about with the greatest of case. Here we are now. Don't mind the crowd of dusty, gaping Indians, follow me to. the rest room where I will arrange for a cup of coffee and some fruit. Till next week, Peter the Whaler.

OUR STORY CONQUERORS OF THE AIR.—I. Driven by n whistling Avind, the hailstones -threw themselves against the ivy-covered toAvers of St. AndreAv's College, near Edinburgh, Scotland, danced along the old-fashion-ed 11 agstoned path, and with an upward swirl beat "a triumphant tattoo on the- professor's study window. "Souldn't care to be living tonight,'" remarked Jack Blake, drawZing the curtains together and beginning to arrange the chairs in a semi-circle round the lire. "Nor I," declared his friend Dick. "It is your turn to suggest the subject for to-night's talk; have you decided or. anything?" "Yes, Aviation," said Jack. "I, knoAV practically .nothing about the history of aviation, and when 'you hear that there are over 1000 airline pilots in America alone, besides 1500 other pilots and 30,000 student pilots, it makes you curious. So f thought 1 AvouUl ask the professor to cover it in his talk." "Good idea!" said Dick. "And ,here conies the professor and the other fellows." "Your chair, sir." r The professor ' courteouslv bowed his thanks and. Avith a homely geshands, 'bade-the boys be seated. "What topic have you chosen Jack?" he asked. "1 hear you have something interesting for us to discuss." "Yes, sir. I should like to know more about the Avay men conquered the air." The Professor nodded, "A. line subject,"' he said, "and like many another invention it AA'as the result of curiosity—in this instance the curio sity of two brothers Avho lived in the small country toAvn of Annonay, France —-and Montgol (iers. "One evening these two men Avere talking about a book they had just read entitled. 'Experiments relating to Different Kinds of Air.' In the . course of their discussion the question arose as to whether tlie smoke which. Avas ascending the chimney . could be employed to lift bodies, or, alternately, Avhether hot air could be used for a like purpose. Deciding to Experiment, they put .a small dialing dish containing charcoal on - the tajile, lit the charcoal, and placed ah open paper bag on lop of it. Almost immediately the bag was

"Jl a r d for the Goodwill Cruise PETER THE WHALER —of WHALE ISLAND

lifted, and rose .straight up to the ceiling. The experiment was repeated several times, and though many of the bags caught lire half-way, the brothers noticed that the charred remains still went up. "While they were thus engaged a neighbour looked in, and seeing the many burnt bags, suggested., that, if the tiny chafing dish were fastened to the bag, destruction might be averted. This was done, and to the great surprise of the Montgolfier brothers, the bag lifted the dish right'up to the ceiling! "Curiosity was now turned to enthusiasm, and in due. course the two inventors managed to construct a large silken envelope which they called a balloon. Then came the great trial flight on a day in June, 1782, when this weird-looking contraption was filled with hot air and released. "Would it rise? Yes! With a mighty rush the balloon went up, soon attaining an altitude of at least 0000 feet. Then ofT it llew r with the wind, bobbing and curtsying until it reached a point 2*4 miles from Annonav. Here it descended with a long sigh, its maiden voyage over."

THE KING'S TEMPLE Narottam sat under the trees by the roadside and praised God, and all of the worshippers in the temple came to hear him. The King beheld his empty temple and was sorely vexed. "Why do you depart from my temple and sit here in the dust preaching God's love," he asked, standing before- the. holy man. "Because God is not there in youv temple," Narottam replied.. "Do you know," replied the King, "that I spent twenty millions in gold upon that edifice anil consecrated it to God Avith costly rites?" "Yes, yes," replied Narottam. "It was the year of the dread, lire, Avhen the homeless multitude stood before your door and cried vainly for charity, And God said, 'He avlio scorns to shelter his brothers avouUl build my temple.' And God took liis place with the shelterless under the trees."

BEDTIME The clock Ls striking hall'-past seven, So off to bed we nmsf; run, We are just a little sleepy even After our day of fun.. Then, mother dear, who is' always kind, Will kiss "all good-night, And tell us stories she will not mind, Then tuck us in so tight. NEXT WEEK'S COMPETITION ARTICLES BEGINNING WITH 'B'

Try this picture competition. See how many 'articles you can sec in tliis picture beginning with the letter MV When you have completed your list, semi it in to Peter the Whaler, BEACON Office and the three answers with the greatest num her will receive free picture tickets with my best compliments. 13est luck P.T.W.

THIS WEEK'S COMPETITION There were no le.ss than fifteen answers to this competition, and: I was surprised myself to note the number of tilings beginning with 'S.' I had no idea there were so man}*. But there were lots of them which I could not allow such as — Skinny legs, short tails, sharp antlers, small caps and lots of others. In this competition you must concentrate on 'nouns' only. \ou know what they are —socks, shoes, sticks, Santa and the like. Well 1 have had to do a. bit of weeding out but here are the winners:—■ May Hanham, Donald McKenzie, Janetie McLeod. * NEW MEMBER Shirley Comiskcy writes: I wish to become a member oi your Good Endeavour League,' and am sending threepence in stamps and hope to win a free picture ticket. Welcome to our ship, lass. I will send you your certificate to-day and I certainly trust that you will win a free picture ticket. Just do your best all the time and I'm sure you will. P.T.W.

A NATURE NOTE THE SKYLARK The body of the skylark is brown, with a light grey throat,' and -breast marked with, brown spots. The wings are long and streaked with black. Altogether, the colouring of the bird is such as to resemble its surround-1 ings and serves a very important means, of protection. The skylark's feet differ considerably from those of the thrush; the toes lie flat on the ground, the. back toe ending iiH a long claw. The bird is evidently adopted for a life spent mainly on the ground, and is rareiy seen resting on a perch. It does not hop along like a thrush or a domestic fowl. The food of the skylark consists of worms, insects., grubs and seeds; most of which it obtains when running 011 the ground, although it is often seen pursuing and catching insects on the wing. The service it does in destroying insects and insect larvae is almost incalculable. GAMES THE ZOO All the players except one sit in a circle. The one who is out stands in the middle. He is the keeper, and gives the name of a different animal to each of the others. When all have been named, he points suddenly to anyone he pleases Whoever is pointed at must immediately make his own animal's call three times before the one in. the middle counts three. I.!' he is successful the game continues, but if he fails to do this, or calls some one else's name Instead, he and the keeper change places, and the animals are renamed before the game begins again. DAILY ANECDOTE All Equal Andrew 7 Carnegie was once asked which lie considered the most impartant factor in industry—labour, capital; or brains,. Without hesitation Mr Carnegie replied, ''Which is the most important leg on a three-legged stool?"