HAPPY TOWN

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 430, 11 August 1928, Page 29

HAPPY TOWN

PUZZLERS Riddle-me-ree: My first is in shine, and also in sun; My second is in hurry, and also in run; My third is in nimble, but not in leap; My fourth is in borrow, but not in keep; My fifth is in merry, but not in gay; My sixth is in dawning and also in day; My seventh is in meadow, but not in lea; My eighth is in supper, but not in tea; My whole is a word that we love to speak. (The Dawn Lady mentions it every week.) * * * Word Square: t.—ln the midst of. 2. —A bill of fare. 3. —Coloured liquid. 4. —Dry particles. —Sent in by Ada Wilkins. * * * Answers to last week’s puzzlers; Word Square: Plus. Line. Unit. Sets. Riddle-me-ree: Bicycle. A TRAIN GAME If you are going a long way by train, it is rather interesting to put down on a piece of paper all the things you notice at each station you stop at. You must not begin to write the list until you have left the station. And if someone else is playing this game the prize goes to the on e who makes the longest list. Chocolate makes a good prize, or an apple or orange. It is jolly if there are four players, one in each corner of the carriage. Of course, the same thing ought not to count more than once.

THE SNAIL FAMILY Mr. and Mrs. Snail lived with their three children in a lovely big vegetable garden. Margaret Snail was the beauty of th Q family; poor Elsie Snail would have been very pretty, too, but unfortunately she had a terribly turned-up nose which completely spoilt her looks. Elsie and Margaret were busy making little straw hats which they plaited out of grass, as they were all going to migrate into the fruit garden for their summer holidays. The next day they started off with their smart little hats on, each with a basket of food, and a little umbrella made from a baby cabbage leaf sewn with cobwebs on to a twig handle. On the journey Tommy Snail was very tiresome and peevish and, when it started to rain and they put their umbrellas up, they found he had eaten all the cabbage leaf of his, and had only the handle left. Before long he was wet through and, on arrival at the fruit orchard, had to be put straight to bed. In the morning he felt perfectly well and climbed up the little apple tree shoot upon which they were staying for their summer holidays. Arrived at the top he looked round to see what mischief he could get into, and he finally dropped a little green apple down on Elsie to wake her* up. Now it must have been a bigger apple than h© had intended, and it fell with a little thud on poor Elsie’s turned-up nose and turned it into one that turns down. She cried out with shock and pain. But when all the family gathered round —being slow walkers, this took a quarter of an hour—she was surprised at their exclamations of astonishment and pleasure at the sight of her. She stopped crying and looked at her reflection in a hanging dewdrop. Her loveliness so delighted her that she nearly jumped out of her shell with ioy. When Tommy Snail finally crawled rather nervously down from the heights of the tree, to his great surprise, she hugged and kissed him, and gave him a present of a piece of damp moss and a weeny brussels sprout for his lunch, which was very cheering considering he had expected to get into trouble. There was general rejoicing, and now both Elsie and Margaret ar Q the belles of the fruit and vegetable gardens. UNCLES Uncle Hugh is round and fat; He 11 go on bowling when 1 bat And never once can catch the ball—--1 don’t think he can play at all I My Uncle John is tall and thin, He'll bowl a bit when I am in, Then catch me out, and I can never Get in again, he is so clever! And yet 1 think, that of the two, I like to play with Uncle Hugh.

THE TOBY JUG The grandfather clock solemnly ticked out the minutes —tick tock, tick took! It had always done exactly the same thing for years on end. The china shepherd and shepherdess, who stood together on the mantelpiece in the hall, were greatly in love, and they were to be married the very next day. Everyone was to be invited (that is, everyone except human beings—who, of course, could not be invited) to bo present, and there were great preparations going on for the eventful day. But it so happened that the parlourmaid had dusted the mantelpiece that very morning, and she had put the dainty little shepherdess next to the Toby jug, who was a fat, mean and altogether wicked villain. And now there came a complication j for the Toby jug also loved little Mar- j garet, and he swore that he would j make her marry him; and the shep- ! herd, whose name was Peter, deter- j mined to have his revenge. At midnight, when the clock had | just struck twelve, Peter scrambled off the shelf and made such a noise that , he woke up all the other occupants of j the hall. 'What ever is happening?’* hey j asked each other sleepily. “’Ssh!” cautioned Peter. “If you j will listen 1 will tell you what I am going to dor’* And he whispered something to them. And with that they formed a ring, while Peter told the frightened Toby to come and fight, and whoever won was to have the fair Margaret as his prize. “Oh, Peter, don’t let him win!” pleaded the shepherdess. The fight had begun! Backwards and forwards flashed Peter's crook, but skilled as he was. the Toby jug was even better. In spite of his size he seemed to be everywhere, and it really looked as though he were going to win. But with renewed courage Peter charged at Toby, crook in front. His enemy went spinning backwards head-over-heels on to the floor, breaking into a thousand pieces. Peter was overjoyed. The clock struck two! All the china jars and candlesticks scrambled back to their places, leaving the jug lying on the floor. And next day the maid found him thus. A FLOWER-POT GAME Here is a jolly game that most.girls - and boys will enjoy. You play it with flower pots. You'll need some darts to play with as well, but these you can make yourself. Do this by cutting small pieces ' of cane, and sticking a feather in the l end of each to make it fly straight. Stand a flower pot up on some high , place—on a wall or ledge—with the 1 hole in the pot facing you. Now you ' must take it in turn to throw your - darts, trying to get them through the * hole m the flower pot. It’s really ever so difficult. As a change you can stand J up a piece of cardboard with five holes t in it. and shoot at these. Each hole 1 can have a different number, and by i these numbers you can score. ' £

HOW I SAW THE FAIRY You had some bright new slippers, And Jill had a golden chain, Molly had come in a new green frock — But 1 wore my blue again. And you knew a song about tigers. And Jill could waggle her ear, And Molly made everyone laugh with fun— But the ice-cream made me queer. And Jack chose you for the dancing, And Jill had a joke with Joan, And Molly was talking to Geraldine, So 1 was playing alone, And everyone else was laughing And joining in Nuts-and-May. So 1 went out of the garden door And down by the mint-bed way. And that’s how I saw the fairy. Who sat on the lilac tree; She looked like the gleam of the silver moon. And she waved her wing at me. —Sent in by Norman Lydster.

HOWLERS A whelk is a protruding sole on a boot or a shoe. Air is made up of oxygen and sanatogen. A centipede is the French measure of length. An armadillo is used to soften the “c” in French. A thermometer is an instrument for measuring temperament. A piccolo is a species of clown. GETTING ON “You can take it from me/' said the teacher, “that if you want to get on you must start from the bottom.” “How about swimming?” asked the boy at the bottom of the class. NAVAL TACTICS quoth a "Whale, “seem to be Craft that hold out a lesson to me. I'll ‘submerge' from to-day And swim safely away When a foe in the offing I see!”

THE FIRST SUNBEAMS f IFrif few for Happy Touh by PUCK Once, in the Forest of Lost Dream a great conference was held among the fairy folk. The meeting-house was beneath ;* little fern that had ever been the home of a dream. The King's Commission! 1 ’ a fat, red-faced, green-tuniced gnome, was perched upon the shell of a sleeping snail, and, in his pompous voice, was reading aloud from a scroll, n formal declaration that someone sin ply must tackle King Sol about the lazy way in which he was performing hiduty and lighting up the forest. In fact, it was even rumoured that in some places moss was actually growing! This deeply offended the fair'* folk, for they were neat, thrifty, little souls. Then the pompous little gnome in Ills pompous little voice, called for volunteers to go with him to see Kir SoL Two more gnomes, also fat, redfaced. and dressed in green tunics, were selected, and without more ado, the three went to the airdrome and chose three dragon-flies to take them to their destination. You know—at least you ought tu know—that when you desire to visit King Sol you have first to fly through a hall-storm, and become absolutclv frozen stiff. Under the intense heat you gradually melt, but. while doing so. you are able to say all you want and then fly away before you becomscorched. The three gnomes had some difficulty in finding a hail-storm, but at last they were frozen. Then they entered the king’s throne room in his sun palace. Each gnome having voiced his opinion of the king’s behaviour, the trio flew away with all speed, so that his answer would not deafen them. It was just as well they did, for Sol was angry—so angry in fact th u. as he spoke, little flames of annoyance spurted from his mouth. These flames sped earthwards, and fell into the forest of Lost Dreams. In among the branches they darted, sending little glinting rays of light into the dark, damp corners. The fairy folk, always neat* thriftv little souls, captured the flames, and corked them up in a tightly-rolled fen leaf. When the three gnomes, a little more red-faced, their tunics a little less green, and most of their pomposity quite gone, arrived home, they found the forest dwellers full of excitement Quickly they explained to the gnomes what had happened, and, in proof of their story, they released one of the flames, which went dancing through the forest. And now all the world over we have these little rays of light to pentrate the dark places. People call them sunbeams, but the fairy folk, and particularly three red-faced, green-tuniced, pompous little gnomes, know better. *St a* Hi %as r\~ -tHT-