THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 47, 26 February 1946, Page 6

THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE

What ho, what ho, ma hearties. Well, this week I can report once again a clean bill of health. Yes, McDougall is up and about and is looking very well indeed. I sincerely trust that that is the last of the measles so far as Whale Island goes. Last week we had a proper picnic over here, and the whole thing was caused by the A. and P. Show. Doubtless you all went to it and had the time of your lives. The point was, that when the pets heard there were sections for different animals, Peterkin and McDougall wanted to enter Butinsky to see if they could land the honour and glory of first place. Butinsky wasn’t too keen on the idea, particularly as he thought he would have to mix with a whole lot of cows and things who weren’t nearly his social equals. Anway, the other two kept persuading him to let them enter him, and after a lot of trouble they managed to get him to agree. The morning of the show dawned fine and clear, and the pets were up betimes, carefully washing,

brushing v and . combing Butinsky. After several hours work, they were at last satisfied and he certainly did look very spick and span. At last when he was ready, we all sat down to breakfast, and that was where the chapter of accidents began. First Butinsky spilt his egg down his chest, and in trying to scape it off on the grass, got mixed up with a pile of soot which I had left the day before after cleaning the chimney. He tried to get the soot off by diving in the spring above the cave. Of course he was very bedraggled, and the only way in which

he could get dry was to rub himself in the sand. That stuck in him properly, and on his way back to the cave, he brushed against some biddy bids. You should have seen him when he arrived back. What a mess! The other two pets could hardly believe their eyes—could hardly believe that this was the same Butinsky who had been so very clean but five minutes before.

The result was that although we went to the show (oh yes, we went all right, although perhaps none of you sailors saw us) Butinsky definitely was not one of the competitors.

Well sailors, its time to continue with the rest of the column. Cheerio for this week. P.T.W.

WHAT JOSIE LEARNED Everywhere Josie went, Marie wanted to tag along, too; and sometimes Josie grew very tired of having to take care of her busy little sister. She thought it wouldn’t have been so bad if Marie had always been polite and good—but she wasn’t. The more Josie. corrected and scolded, the worse Marie would be.

Then Jean moved into the neighbourhood and she had a little sister too. Jean’s little sister was named Betty, and Jean* liked to have Betty go places with her. Josie did not blame her, either; for Betty was always friendly and polite. Anyone would be glad to have a little sister who would behave as nicely as Betty. One day Josie said, “Betty, why are you always so nice and friendly to Jean.”

“Oh,” said Betty, “she is always so nice and polite and friendly to me. She doesn’t scold me and fuss at me.”

That gave Josie something to think about, so she decided to try it on Marie. If you have a fussy sister, try it on her. It worked - fine for Josie, and it should work for you too.

„ CERTIFICATES Yo ho hearties, the certificates are going out next week. I have them sitting in a pile in front of me right now, and will start filling them in and posting them away as soon as possible. P.T.W.

FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY ■

Aboard for the Goodwill Cruise *

PETER THE WHALER (/WHALE .ISLAND

THE USEFUL CORK Johnny was playing with some bottle corks. He had managed to get. together quite a collection of corks—big ones, middle-size ones and little ones.

“What are corks made of, Mother?”. Johnny wanted to know. “Why, they are made of .cork, my dear,” Mother told him. “Cork comes from a tree.”

“A tree, Mother?” Johnny asked. “Are you sure?” “Yes, it comes from a tree,” answered Mother, and then she told him all about it. “Cork comes from a tree that is always green. It grows in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. It is a kind of bark that forms on the trunk of the tree. The tree itself is like our oak trees, but it grows tall, from twenty to forty feet high, and often the trunks measure four feet in diameter.

“As the tree grows, layers of cells gather on the surface of its bark. These cells make a material that is spongy. It is this spongy stuff that cork is made of. Indeed, it is cork. “Cork has been used by people for thousands of years. The Greeks in olden times made life preservers of cork.”

“Were they like the life preservers I’ve seen on the boat that crosses the lake?” asked Harold.

“Yes,” said Mother. “Life preservers to help people stay afloat in the water are still made of cork.”

“The cork tree is a generous tree. It lets man strip, off this cork bark year after year. And after each stripping the cork grows back better and thicker. If the tree gets proper care it.will give cork for more than a hundred years of its life, and that is wonderful service, isn’t it?”

“The person who cuts off the cork from the tree must be careful not to hurt the bark under the layer of cork, for if that is injured the tree may die. “Cork weighs only one-fourth as much as water.”

COMPLICATIONS AND CONFUS lONS

In China with its 450 millions there are only some 100 family names in use. Confusion is mitigated by the fact that writing by means of pictures helps to avoid misunderstanding. Two neighbours for instance, both called Yang, will sign their names one by drawing a willow and the other a goat. But some complications are unavoidable. It is awkward to marry somebody with a quite unsuitable name. It is impossible to a Chinese that a man with the name such as Cat should marry a girl named Mouse. And so with Fire and Water. On the contrary, Water and Lake, Shoe and Foot promise happy marriages.

LAST WEEK’S COMPETITION Not so good sailors, I only received four entries for the name competition, and consequently I can award only two prizes. Nevertheless, the idea for a name was not wasted, for I have before me, the ideal one—Butch! Yes sailors, knowing Desmond’s parrot, that will suit him down to the ground. This week’s prize winners are:— Janice Goldsmith Henry Ross. Congratulations sailors. Collect your tickets from the Beacon Office with my best compliments. P.T.W.

NEXT WEEK’S COMPETITION Now, here’s one that I know will be very popular with all of you. It is one of those competitions in which you make as many words as possible out of one big one, and the big one this time is MARAETOTARA, the gorge where you all used to swim before the drought stopped the flow of water. Go ahead sailors, and see how many words you can make from its letters. Remember, names of boys, girls, towns, and all other proper nouns are barred. pfr.w.