HAPPY COGS

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 37, 13 February 1937, Page 20 (Supplement)

HAPPY COGS

WHAT IS A COG?

What is a Cog? Boys and girls who wish to join our Happy Page may not bo quite sure.

A Cog is a Companion of Gratitude. The Cogs are joined together in friendliness in a big wheel of of gratitude. They all write to the Hub to tell her and other Cogs of all the bright and interesting things they see around them. The code of the Cogs is:— 1. To show our gratitude for all the good gifts of life by service and smiles.

2. To show our love for:— Country and Empire. Home Family. Animals and birds, especially the birds of our Native Land. All beautiful things, especially the beautiful trees' and scenery of our Native Land.

Do the Cogs have competitions? Every week there is a Skilltest with two prizes of two shillings each. Sometimes the Cogs have a special Page with special competitions and prizes. We do not join the Page just to win prizes. We join it so that we can show how grateful we are for all the happy things in life, and so that we can be friends with lots of other girls and boys. Who are the Page Personalities? The Page Personalities are grownups (only in years) who are interested in our Page and write to us sometimes. There is Mr Printer--9 man, who prints our letters; Mr. Puz., who tries to puzzle us by his Skilltssts; Uncle Peter, Uncle Bob, Uncle Horace, Uncle Wyn, Uncle Jasper and Cousin Boris; sometimes there are others.

What do I do to become a Cog? You need only fill in a Membership Coupon which appears every second week, and write a letter to the Hub. The badge is a neat affair in blue, green and red. Letters and Skilltests should reach the Hub not later than Wednesday each week A HAPPY CHRISTMAS Ilalcombe. Dear Hub, —1 have just finished reading the Page. 1 have missed it very much aud was glad to see it once more. I think the “Nature Study Corner’’ is an improvement as there aro so man) interesting nature subjects to describe. Fancy, we have another month of holi> days yet and lam so glad. We went to Waitarer beach on Anniversary Day. Tho road is very good between there and Feilding. We went in for a swim and it 'was good in the sea. The wind was blowing fairly strongly. We are getting a few summer days now, but the clouds are returning to-day, so I am afraid it won’t last. We shore all our lambs ou Thursday. 1 did not know them when they came back from the shearing sheds. They looked so funny. They ran in the gates very fast, and then they nearly all jumped away up in -the air. Hasn’t it been windy lately, Hub? I lovo standing on the peak of one of our hills facing the wind, and letting it blow through my hair. I had a lovely Christmas with the usual good dinner and tea. Everyone seems to have been good to me this year, or rather, last year, in giving me presents. E was lucky enough, amongst my numerous presents, to receive a lovely watch and fountain pen. Wo have about a dozen plum trees, all different kinds and all bearing at a different time. They have been simply loaded this year. We have only three with fruit on now. We also have about three dozen apple trees which are loaded, but the blackbirds are playing havoc with them, although they are not ripe. lvonini. Many thanks for your contributions, Konini, and I am glad you like the idea of our Nature Study Corner. You must have quite a lartro nr/»ii«.rd. Waltcrere is a lovely beach, isn’t it? VISITING THE SHOWS Canarvon. Dear Hub, —May my pen-namo be Pongo? I was glad to see the happy Cogs in the paper. Dad is going to Rotorua on Sunday. He has a race horse named Midnight. We went to Feilding show and also to Marton show. I have never been in a train or a boat. We have two hundred sheep. We went to the pictures on Saturday night. I learn music. Ngaire Short. Yes, Ngaire, you may have Pongo for your pen-name. It is great fun learning music, isn’t it? What did you like most at the shows, I wonder? A VICTORY FOR MR. PUZ. Feilding. Dear Hub, —I was glad to see the Cogs’ Page back again. Mr Puz. has beat me this week. I did not go away but while my friend was away iu Blenheim I fed her two fluffy kittens and one mother cat. Their names aro Teddy, Tiny and Fluffy. It is raining hero today and very cold. I have only been for two swims lately. When is Te Rauparaha going to write, because I | enjoy reading his letters, i Snowflake. I You would miss tho kittens, when I your friend came back, Snowflake. They lovely pets, don’t they? The weather has certainly been most unkind to us this summer.

COMPETITIONS

CHANGE THE WORDS Skilltest Winners. The prizes this week go to: — Sister Dora, Palmerston North. Honeysuckle, Poxton. The entries to this competition were good and as there were several alternate answers most entries were correct. However, I have one complaint to make, Cogs.. Several solutions were sent in without the name, pen-name and address clearly marked, so Cogs must be careful not to make this mistake again. Other correct solutions were sent in by Silver Bell, Whistling Rufus, Mountain Maid, Hobnail Boots, Cowboy Tom, Laddie and Te Rauparaha. NATURE STUDY CORNER Tho prize for the best contribution this week goes to Te Rauparaha, Feilding.

NATURE STUDY CORNER THE HONEY BEE (Contributed by Konini.) The honey beo is one of New Zealand's most important insects. The best kind of bee is the Italian, which is pure gold in colour. The other type is darker. All New Zealand bees are imported. This little creature has three parts to its body, head, abdomen thorax, two antenae, six legs, four wings. It has four stages of life, egg, grub, pupa aud adult. There are three different varieties of bees in a hive. Firstly, good queen bee, who is the mother of the hive. Eggs in largo cells bring forth drones, and in smaller eells, workers. The former are of little use and dozens of them are purposely stung to death by the workers. Then the worker bees, which gather honey, look after eggs, feed the young and are always Very busy. Tho body of a Queen is longer than that of a worker, and the drone is larger than the latter and often darker, if two Queens are put in one hive, the oldest bee would swarm with the young workers for followers, for two Queens will not abido in one hive. Bees are very important pollen gatherers and transferers. When they enter a flower for its nectar they unwittingly carry some pollen on their bodies, which rubs off ou the next flower lliey enter, and so on. Any person who studies bees will see many other interesting points.

“THE TUATARA LIZARD” (Contributed by Te Rauparaha.) The Tuatara lizard is tho sole surviving member of the “Golden Age.’’ Some people still think that tho alligators, crocodiles, turtles aud tortoises belong to the earliest age. They are wrong. I think the explannation of New Zealand having this lizard is that this country of ours was not settled until wars A.D. or so. Europe was fighting wars as early 435 B.C. Before the Maories came to New Zealand these lizards roamed New Zealand in hoards. Although very rarely seen in this little country of ours they have been reported to be seen in the wild Urcwera country. The tuatara is most commonly seen stretched on a rock in the sunshine. If disturbed he will immediately dart for cover. That is why a really good snapshot is rare and much prized by the owner. The tuatafa’s skin is wrinkled and a saw (as some people call it) may be seen down the middle of his back. He is a little larger than the other common lizard. This reptiles’ eggs are tough and dull white in colour; they are often found buried in shallow trenches of loose sandy soil. These eggs take about 13 months to hatch.

THINK, COGS, THINK. Mr. Puz. thinks that ho is getting very old, as his thinker is not thinking like it used to think. So he thinks you should help him to think by thinking out some ideas for the Skilltest corner for 1937. What do you think about it. We think its a great idea. So if you think of any ideas, lets know about them so Mr Puz can think them over, and if they are suitable thinks, we think he will oblige. Think you.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦« SOLUTION TO CHANGING WORDS. (a) Lose. Lone. Line. Fine. Find. (b) Give. Gave. Game. Came. Cake. Take.

RUSTLERS AT THE RANCH Mustang Valley. Dear Hub, —There are three rustlers roaming around the neighbouring ranches and this morning the cowboys found six fat Hereford steers and Crusoe missing. Four cowboys, Tommy, Dick and Jack are going to give chase, before they get too much start. Each night the corrals are well bolted up and the cattle are put iu a big paddock close to the ranch-house. All the gates have a padlock on, and each night Buck Peters, a jolly cowboy, gets the key and locks them all. Buck Peters is always in for a lot of fun and he always has tho cowboys laughing. Last night he jumped up on the roof and began to sing songs which made the cattle bellow out and run around. Everyone thought rustlers were about again and were very surprised to find Buck Peters up to his old tricks again. Whistling Rufus. Did the Cowboys manage to catch the rustlers, Whistling Rufus? What a jolly person Buck Peters must be. THE FIRST SWIM OF THE SEASON Apiti. Dear Hub, —Well, here I am writing in your valuable space for tho first time in 1937. Owiug to the epidemic of infantile paralyses in Dunedin, Christmas did not seem quite tho same as usual, as all our functions were cancelled, even our school concert. I suppose it was for the best, as my little sister had it three years ago and I pity the sufferers. I had Sweet Lavender here for two days and we had a gay time. She hasn’t been out of hospital long but is enjoying herself now. We are commencing our Bible Class this week and are having a picnic. We went for a swim on Friday and it was beautiful; it was my first swim this season! Well, Hub, I may be going to our new district High School this year. Would you please tell me what you get points for and how many. Snow flower. Yes, it was a pily that so many Christmas functions had to be cancelled, Snowflower. We do not have points now, just our weekly prizes. lam glad Sweet Laveuder i 3 better again.

Father: “How many marks did you get at school to-day, Willie?” Willie: “I don’t know, but they still sting.’’

The airman was about to ascend wnen a small boy came up to him aud said: j“ Would you mind trying to find my brother Billy’s kite drifting about, the one he lost last Thursday?”

THE SHOOTING MATCH Bar 20 Ranch. Dear Hub, —Well this is mo again. I guess you are wondering what happened at the shooting match. Early in the morning we saddled up our young cowponies and with our revolvers in our holsters, lassoes and other necessary things wo galloped off across the grassy prairie. The shooting ground was in a valley about ono hour’s ride from our ranch, so in a short time we were there. Quite a number of cowboys, decked in bright checked shirts and woolly caps were sitting on the rails and they all waved their stetsons in tho air as wc came galloping along. It was not long before all the sundowners had rolled up on their frisky horses. The shooting went off in fine style and there were five cowboys, Stalky, Stumpy, Two-Gun, Ted Lea and myself who lined up for the final. Stalky won in the end and amid cheers, Johnny and I hoisted him shoulder-high aud carried him around the field. In a yard near a large paddock were fifteen wild steers and when they were released a cowboy mounted on his horse chased one and lassoed it. He was timed and the one who could do it the quickest won the prize. 1 was fourth and mounted on good old Black Pete. I gave chase after the black arid white steer. Black Pete was fit and in less than it takes to tell I had that steer’s head iu my losso. It was great watching some of the cowboys chasing the steers round and round the paddock. What do you think? I had won the Lasso competition and tho cheer that those jolly sundowners sent up was enough to deafen a fellow. Amid much struggling I was hoisted onto the brawny shoulders of Hank and Buck and carried to the horse trough and ducked. Jt was very hot and I was glad of the dip. We had lunch under the shade of a tarpaulin stretch on poles. It was a happy feast and after the prizes, a silver mounted rifle and a gold cup had been presented we all set off for our ranches feeling very jolly indeed. Did the green goosegogs give you a pain Whiskey Bill? Centenarian must be a big billy goat with that long beard. Cowboy Tom. You would feel very proud to win one of the events at the shooting match, Sowboy Tom. Stalky, did well to win the shooting, too. Did he get a dip in the trough? BEAUTIFUL ICELAND POPPIES Table Flat, Apiti. Dear Hub, —How arc you getting on after Christmas? Haven’t the holidays sped by quickly? They seem to have goue by in no time. 1 didn’t go for a holiday, I just stayed home, although Snow Queen was out at Kim'oolton at our Auntie’s place for a fortnight. We went eeling the other night, down to the river, Aunty and Uncle and family as well as ourselves, and we had some fun, too. We lit a lire with driftwood, then four of us went up the river while tho others stayed by the fire. When wo came back they had supper ready for us, and we were hungry, too, because wading upstream, sometimes iu a fairly strong current is no easy task. However, we enjoyed ourselves, aiso ttio eels we brought home. I am enclosing the {Skilltest, although I do not know' whether either part can be changed over in less words than 1 have used. Wo have a big row of Iceland poppies this season, Hub, and they do make a show. They are all shades, from dark down to yellows and white, and from a deep pink down to a pinky yellow. And doesn’t a bunch of them in the sunlight look lovely? The orange and yellows especially look just like a bit of the sun itself. There are ever so many fresh ones out each day, too. We have some rather nice dahlias coming out, too, but ohl Hub, doesn’t the wind spoil the garden? Mountain Maid. How beautiful your Iceland poppies must be, Mountain Maid. They make such lovely decorations, too. lam sure you would enjoy your supper by the fire. A DAY AT THE ESPLANADE Glen Oroua. Dear Hub, —llow are you getting on. Wo have sold our two lambs and I am sending you a photograph of them. We have three baby calves that were born later than the others so we kept them for pets. One day we went to the Esplanade iu. Palmerston North and had a’lovely time. We have been having a lot of rain this summer haven’t we? It will be my twin brother’s birthday on the 17th. of this month. Aren’t we having a loug holiday this year, Hub. Rilla of Ingieside. I think you must have forgotten to enclose tho photograph of your lamb, Rilla of Ingieside. The Esplanade is an ideal spot for a picnic, isn’t it? Did you go on the swings? A PLAYFUL KITTEN Kiritaki Dear Hub, —Here I am again writing to you after such a long spell. I sujj pose you were thinking I was never going to writo again. Aren’t we having a long holiday from school, Hub. 1 hope the epidemic doesn’t come our way. Wc have a dear little kitten now, he is such a playful little chap. He will eat almost anything. If we get him wild it is pity us, because ho bites and scratches so much. Tho Dannevirko show is tomorrow and Wednesday. I am going ou tho last day. The midget horse is going to be there, it will be good to see. Have you seen it. We haven’t been able to havo many swims this year, tho weather has been awful here. It will be good to bo able to go to the pictures, Hub. It is a long time since I’ve been. Rimu. Did you enjoy the show, Rimu. The midget horse is very tiny, isn’t he? It is better not to tease the kitten if he scratches so I should think. The end of the term had arrived, and the teacher, approaching one of his rather backward pupils, said: “You haven’t learnt much in this class, have you, my boy?” “I admire you, sir,” replied the boy, “for taking the blame in that broadminded fashion.”