A “Make and Mend.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 March 1924, Page 4

A “Make and Mend.

Naval Oil'ieer in Daily .Mad). Not so very long car ike British bluejacket wa-. expected to make Cow it nailer:]! and lo mend it wit.u materials supplied—at a price—by Hie i paymaster. For this purpose one alter- 1 noon i u to ej-y v. ct k "as •- 1 aside lor j making and mending clot h- i In i norm days ce; lain admir.d- v. r ’ iclTu-aieJ lor lhe oxireme accuracy w i Fir v. kwh, a c in ; -c, mii:-. I :wy i mod gauge whet her ih: - o'' Hun detail of tile men'.- uniform v a tn id" > r out - side Hi., m.-a-ureui.-nls pr-e ->ri m- I by the regidali.uis. Sotta- even n-.>-d a tape iriceinv, and woe hcttde the man whose needle had lallered! Within the pa.-i twenty yearn, however. readiy-rnadc unilortn was. in'reduced. and the pre-cut -day sailor i * happily spared line uocemifv oi being ttlso a tnilor. But the custom of devoting one afternoon every week to a “make and inciid” still perr-i.M - in the Royal | Nnvv, am! is now th.e excuse For u half holiday. ,\s soon a “Hands to make ami mend cm: he.” is piped, nearly half ihe ship's cnuipany immediately <ll--n.i-p t!a-mves for slutuher, selecting ti,-' m-osi uulik-elv !." lung pin The mr« deck is stiff with reetimbent figure.-;. Hreethii.g -1.-H or. m s!y. Every r,!('•••• I able and stool bear* it: hunhui of Leper*. h'or nilhe.vs noihing .-c.mes amiss. Bread barge--—that is. a xml of barrel for the stowage ol bread—-mess kef lifts, diliv-l'iox'.'s I;il-bag«, and rolled great-

coals are pr-ssed .into sendee. There are, however, a few who put ’ their “make and mend” lo more active purposes. There is Die wife-sick P sailor writing hi- letter homo-roam ( upon ream, wlnle a sergeant of marines ' bii-io- himself at making a wool mat . for his home at Plymouth. A painter’s male, put* the finishing ( touches to an irei la I inn life-buoy encircling- a photogranli of Hie ship—an article much in demand as a souvenir. An engine-room artificer is busily engaged in perfecting a wonderful little model of a Bin gun. But on the whole, nuLs* the shore presents counter-attractions in the way of games and amusements, the underlying motif of a “make and mend” isj —sleep. After all, they have been j working hard since daybreak. j j The only thing that is positively not done is making and mending clothes.

“j lii.s i; certainly the day oi eh-: tri:l c-.iuimuiuealion.” sai-.l lhe chief I telegraph engineer, Air E. A. Fhiinip- | ton, when di-ens.-ing. at Auckland, ihe | t'.siiiig of wireless dheclion apparatus I off Fa, e Maria Van .Diemen. As an j instance. Air Sbi'im; ion slated that, i while on the Tutanckai olf lhe Care, i he sent a wireless message to the st s- I lien at '.Vcllington, with a request lliat-l •t he forwarded bv telephone w his brine. AY i ill in 90 .second.- he had a reply. Captain AY. AVhiteford. o; Auckland, v. a - also able Co communicate with his family in a similar man -

j A tokluahri, or two-handed ax-, o; I record dimension*, has K*en present mi j to the ethnological department of ihe I Wanganui museum by Mr J. JTdruc.ither. of Datea, The gif; i* not. hie. not merely heean.se of ihe record sd.xe. of the implement. but also for its tradition.-. It is s)in. v.idc ou the outing edge. -5 inches on the shoulder, three inches across the poll. 70' inches in length, and weigh- LI Jibs. The largest known native axe up to now is in the Culler collect inn in the Dominion museum, it was found in the su'dhiils at 1 lorowhomia and is 221- inches b ng. four ami three-sixteenths inches j aero-* the cutting edge. 41 inches at the si otildcr. 21- inches across the poll, and weighs 11-jibs. CUTLERY AT WHOLESALE PRICES For one month only. Low’s Ltd.. ( Lichfield Street. Christchurch, off r ! dox extra quality Sheffield, m dessert knives at 20s per dor, table knives same quality. 22s 0«1 per 1 do 7, Dixon’s nickel silver heavy owd ity tea spoons os, dessert spoon- er:-: forks 9s, table spoons and fork- 17all per i dozen. Posted, free to readdress. t