THE WIGWAM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 587, 13 February 1929, Page 6

THE WIGWAM

Bere we gather, here we meet In pow-wow friendly and discreet. To talk of earth, and sea, and sky, and watch the world of men go by.

"WISE THOUGHTS" Dll) you ever play “a pencil a dip” when you were small: A fellow scholar would approaeli you with a book in which were concealed many coloured pictures. Holding' the book tightly closed he would invite you to prod a pin between its pages. It' you were lucky, having first parted with a stub of pencil, you won a picture. If not, you were poorer by a stub of pencil and won nothing at all. This childish game came to my mind a moment ago when I held a mighty book of wise thoughts in my hands, determined to talk to Tny Chiefs and Braves on the first great utterance that met my eye. Here it is: “The light in the world comes principally from two sources—the sun and the student’s lamp ” Such a thought is of far more value than any scrap-book picture. First of all the sun. . . . lie is peeping over the horizon rim calling us out to share with him a new day of joyous adven ture. His unblinking eye stares down on every phase of- life with benevolent impartiality. He touches us with warm fingers atid the blood races in our veins. He is as old as time and as young as the morning. Then, too, lie has a habit of peeping into dark eorners and presenting this world of ours in the clear light of reason. “The student’s lamp?” This recalls another quotation: “The silence and the wise book and the lamp.” By the light of the student’s lamp most great things are penned. They are captured in cold print to guide our footsteps in the darkness. With the sun and the student’s lamp we have what light we need—the sun to prepare our paths by day, and knowledge to turn to when darkness falls. Wliat are your favourite “wise thoughts,” Chiefs and Bravest Tell me what you have found in your books of knowledge. REDFEATHER.

GIRL GUIDES’ CORNER A picnic, organised by the committee of St. George's Company of Girl Guides, was held recently at Wattle Bay, luncheon being prepared by the laclies of the committee. An attractive programme of swimming and running races was carried out. The scratch race was won by Nancy Road, who also won the handicap. Miss Crawford was the successful competitor in the race for committee ladies, and the hop. step and jump was won by Coralie Onley. * * * The Arohanui (big: love) Company has been formed since October 20. It is comprised of Edendale Girl Guides unci r Captain Marks, and the membership is now 12 Guides and 14 Brownies. The Brownies are in charge of Brown Owl Peart. • • i The Girl Guide Headquarters reopen* d last Monday and a busy time is beirg experienced after the vacation. ivrr Ripple (Gladys Blackman), of Mary’s Company, writes that she Ife 2L‘ 1 ‘ invi *lided home from camp during K week jn January with an in-

jured ankle. Since then she has been confined to her bed, but is now able to walk with crutches. The Guides, she states, have been very kind to her during her temporary disablement. • * S Herald of Dawn, of the First Devonport Company, writes: "It is Church Parade next Sunday, and we hope there will be a good attendance as it will be the first for 1929. "Four Brownies are flying up into our company this year, and we will be pleased to welcome them into our midst. "Our patrol (the Poppy) won the shield for last year and we are going to strive hard to obtain it again.” Herald of Dawn hopes to win the Pioneer’s badge this year in order that she may attend the Dominion Girl Guide Camp at Wellington next Christmas. Moon Dreamer, of the First Cambridge Company, writes that the Guides have returned from camp and have now resumed work for the year. At the first meeting medals for the winning patrol in camp and a book for the best camper were presented. The Camp Mother and the new Ranger PaD-tein attended ft® tuactusw.

A BOY SCOUT’S PRAYER Give me, oh God, a humble heart, A mind as pure as summer skies. Give me, oh Lord, to play my part, A sporting spirit, laughter-wise. Teach me to keep, in age, in youth, The laws of Charity and Truth! Teach me, Great Scout, to play the game; Give me a manly sense of duty. A keen, quick honour of the same, A soul all-sensitive ico beauty. Teach me to heal and lessen strife. To make earth better for my life! —Red Star (Jean Mclndoe, aged 14.)

WITH THE BOY SCOUTS The Boy Scouts’ Association is moving the District Headquarters f.rom the Sunday School Buildings, Upper Queen Street, to Holdsworth’s Buildings, 35 Albert Street, and the removal will take place on Thursday. It is with regret that we learn that District Secretary J. J. Mead has retired from his position as secretary to the local association. For nearly three and a-half years he has proved a. tireless worker in this capacity, and it is largely due to his efforts that Scouting is now on so sound a basis in the Auckland district. The association has lost a capable organiser and a true Scout.

District-Scoutmaster Alan Tribble reports that the first parade of St. David’s Company for 1929 took place last Friday, a Leaders’ meeting having been held the previous week, when the programme for the year was mapped out. The troop has been divided into two sections under AssistantScoutmasters Johnston and Butterworth.

Patrol Leader Geoff. Calvert will shortly be leaving for Wellington. Patrol Leader Glover (Beaver Hunter), wlio was lately associated with the troop, passed his Matriculation, came top of the Auckland Grammar School for last year, and was third in the Auckland district. Six boys in the troop succeeded in Matriculating. FOR WISE HEADS Transpositions: 1. Transpose the feet of a cat and find an insect. 2. Transpose an outer covering and find coloured fluids. 3. Transpose to acquire by labour and find close by. 4. Transpose possessed by a lion and find what we all have. 5. Transpose motionless and find receptacles for money. * * * Answers to last week’s hidden authors: Dickens, Scott, Defoe, Fenn, Swift, Hardy. PANAMA AND SUEZ The Panama Canal is 50 miles long, and the channel from 300 to 1,000 feet wide at. the bottom. Suez Canal is 100 miles long, with, a minimum width, of 147. feet § indies .<45

ZIMBABWE AGAIN Chiefs and Braves will recall the account of a great trek of South African Scouts to the Zimbabwe Ruins, published in the Wigman page several weeks ago. The following article throws further light on these interesting relics: For two generations the origin of the mysterious Zimbabwe ruins in Rhodesia lias been puzzling the archaeologists. Some say they are the work of Bantu tribesmen in days when they had a higher civilisation than when the white man arrived. Others say they were built by an Asiatic people many centuries earlier still. Now an eminent German, Dr. Frobenius, has spent many months, and expects to spend 12 months more, examining the ruins, and believes he will be able to announce the solution of the baffling mystery. He appears to support the theory that the ruins were the work of a vanished race, but whether African or Asiatic he apparently does not say. tie holds that the ruins are the remains of a mining town and not of a fortress, and that the builders had enormous knowledge of geology and technical skill in mining. “I have seen shafts,” he says, “to a depth of 50ft, with drives underground extending 80ft, perfectly shaped. How these drives were carried out, how ore was removed without touching an inch of the surrounding valueless rock, it is impossible to say, or how these bygone miners traced valuable underground seams. ” Zimbabwe, he thinks, must have passed through many hands since then, but the natives still use as ornaments ancient mining tools which their ancestors may have stolen from the Zimbabwe miners. w^

MAGIC ARITHMETIC Are you good at arithmetic? Even if you are not, here is a series of multiplication sums which can be done just as quickly as the figures can be Written down. Write down the two rows of figures that follow: 142557 32645 Then ask a friend to choose any single figure in the second row and tell him that you will multiply the top row by that figure and give him the answer immediately. This is how it is done. Let us take, for example, the figure six in the second row. The top now multiplied by 6 gives 857142 as the answer, and all that is necessary to arrive at this result is to begin writing out the top row at the figure immediately above the number chosen and on reaching the end of the row carry on at the beginning until all have been written down. This applies to any of the second row which may be chosen, and in each case the correct answer will be given.

THE CHIEF SCOUT AS AN ARTIST

The chief Scout, Jtir Robert BadenPowell is an artist of no mean ability, although lie modestly admits that he has never had any lessons. There is an old photograph still in existence which shows him as a guest of the London Sketch Club, diligently bending over some impromptu work, and his sketches have appeared in several exhibitions.

SUN YAT SEN

ANIMAL WEIGHTS If somebody asked you which weighs the heavier —a lion or a tiger—which would you say? I expect you would say the lion—and you would be wrong! The usual weight for Leo is 4001 b, which is less than the weight of most tigers, some of which turn the scale at 5001 b. Then there’s our old friend Bruin, the bear. He weighs more than the lion and the tiger. A real grizzly bear weighs anything up to 8001b — twice as heavy as Leo. The polar bear weighs even more than his brother the grizzly, however, a large one weighing something like half a ton. The African elephant is a tremendous creature. His weight is about five tons, his brother, the •Indian elephant, weighing about half a .ton less. _

tie writes after a month’s camping hike with the Scouts and Guides: Certainly snapshots help to remind one of the different happenings, but somehow they don’t bring them back half so vividly as do sketches. Then sketching is such fun because it is quite exciting to see whether the drawing you are making turns out successful or not and also you have the great satisfaction of feeling that the picture is entirely ‘made by your own hands —not like a photograph, where you merely touch a button and the machine and the neighbouring chemist do the rest!

I know you’ll say, "Oh, but I can’t draw for nuts.” Yes, you can—if you only try! Everybody can draw, though, like everything else, it needs a little practice. W r hy, when I was in South Africa last year I saw some of the drawings by bushmen in caves there. These bushmen are wild, uncivilised creatures, almost like monkeys. They have no proper language or clothes or homes, yet they managed to draw quite clever pictures, chiefly of animals. All of you have pencils. Why not take uu sketching as a hobby?

China is erecting a magnificent tomb to its great statesman Sun Y'at Sen, who has been called the Father of the Revolution. He was well known in England, and knew England well. The mausoleum stands on the wooded slopes of the Purple Mountain, overlooking the . wide Yangtse Valley, an hour’s motor drive from Nanking, the new capital. It is 200 ft. high, 200 ft. long, and nearly as wide, and a great granite staircase, as wide as the full length of the building, descends the mountain side to a great causeway, half as wide again, lined with cypress trees. The ground on either side of this and on the mountain side is laid out as a national park. The building is shaped like a bell and in the entrance hall is a huge statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen gazing over Nanking. The actual coffin is to lie in a sunken grotto surrounded by a marble balustrade, from which it may be seen by visitors, as is Napoleon’s casket in Paris. The monument, will cost at least a million pounds and is nearly complete. The turbines of tho new French liner lie do France have SOU,OOO blades, and required for their construction 115 miles jpf strip-brass*

TOM TOMPION’S CLOCK

An amazing clock is on show in the British Museum. The minute hand takes two hours to go round the dial —the kind of clock which tells you how not to tell the time! Perhaps its maker, that delightful man Thomas Tompion, thought that minutes did not matter. He made this clock so that it would go a year without winding. What he would have done with the minute hand on the huge clock he wanted to make for St. Paul’s we dare not think. That clock was to have gone a hundred years without winding, and it was to have been more wonderful even than Strasbourg’s famous clock. Thomas Tompion is known now as the lather of English watchmaking. He lived from about 1639 to 1713. When he was a boy he was set to the farrier’s trade, and it was while he was regulating the wheels of a roast-ing-jack that he began his great Studies in the equation of time. In 1664, Thomas was apprenticed to a London clockmaker. He soon left his learning years behind and became a master clockmaker. He was so much ahead of his time, and had such a sound knowledge and inventive brain, that when the Royal Observatory vfras founded he was chosen to make the clocks on whose accuracy important calculations depended. Tompion became a very famous man, but he never rested, never stopped making wheels go round. In 1690 he set up a shop at the corner of Water Lane and Fleet Street, and he spent the remainder of his life there. The clock which has been bought by the British Museum was made for John Flamsteed, the first astronomerroyal, in 1676, at the order of the mathematician. Sir Jonas Moore. Like many other beautiful and rare things, this clock was lost sight of. It is said to have been hidden in a cupboard behind a mass of rubbish for nearly a century. Not long ago it was sold at Christie’s to an American, who very generously allowed the British Museum to take it over at the price he paid for it himself. A ROYAL PRACTICAL JOKER

In the last days of the Normans, wherever the king journeyed with his retinue, country folk ran with their families and possessions to hide in the woods for safety. But Henry 11., the first of the Plantagenets, gradually changed all this. He destroyed many of the castles from which cruel barons had harassed the countryside, gave charters to towns, so laying the foundations of English liberty. The new king dearly loved a joke, though most of his pleasantries were too practical to please his victims. One bitterly cold day he was riding through London, surrounded by courtiers, when he saw a pour old man limping along, shivering in his tattered rags. Turning to Becket, who rode at his side, the king asked whether it would not be a great charity to give this needy wretch a good warm cloak. Becket agreed with him whole-heartedly, saying how splendid it was for the king to have thought of it. ■When the old man drew near the king suddenly pulled off Becket’s own cloak, which was a fine, new scarlet one, lined with fur. This he threw to the tramp, saying to his angry chancellor: “You shall have the benefit of this good deed of charity!” TOLSTOY COMMERORATIVES

Two new stamps have been issued by Russia to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Leo Tolstoy. One stamp shows the familiar bearded features of the great writer, the other bears a reproduction of a well known painting, in which Tolstoy is seen ploughing the fields.

A STRANGE FAITH

One day an Englishman came from an Indian temple to talk to an old Indian hermit who lived like a saint. In the temple he had seen horrible paintings of demons and of a goddess drinking blood. He exclaimed to the fakir: “How can you, who are good, pray to gods who are bad?” The old man replied: “We pray to the bad gods to appease them. The good gods do not send misfortunes, so there is no need to pray to them.” This simple answer does something to explain the faith of the Yezidees which is one of the strangest in the whole wide world. They worship Satan, and so many fantastic tales have been told about them and their devil towers that some Europeans have declared the whole thing a myth. But the sect flourishes in Kurdistan, Armenia, and the Caucasus. The Yezidees believe that in the beginning God lit seven lamps by creating seven bright spirits. The first was Satan, to whom God entrusted the world for 10,000 years. That time is not yet over, and till it is past men ought to obey and worship their appointed ruler, Satan. When his reign on earth is over, he will return to Paradise. The Holv Book of the Yezidees is called Al-Yalvah, and in it is the commandment, “Speak not my name, nor mention my attributes, lest ye be guilty, for ye have no true knowledge thereof; but honour my symbol and image.” As the Yezidees may not speak the name of Satan, they call him Melek Taos, Angel Peacock, and worship him in the form ot a great peacock made of brass.

IN TURKEY There was once a great Turkish lortress at Belgrade, but in two years no one will know it. The barracks are to be pulled down and the fort will give place to a park. Already the slopes of the fortress have been laid out in terraced lawns and flower-beds looking down on the Danube and the Save, and among them stands a statue by Mestrovitch. The great sculptor was asked many y ears ago to make a bronze figure of Victory for Belgrade’s principal open space, the Terazije. He made a naked man 20 feet high holding a sword in one hand and a dove in the other. The authorities did not like the statue, and it lay neglected in a shed for years. But when someone conceived the idea of turning the old fortress into a garden it was seen that the statue was exactly fitted for such a setting. Now it stands on a stone column above the flowers, a landmark for boats, and a beacon to those who desire peace.

AN AFRICAN BALL GAME Ihe African boy likes to play this game. His playmates stand in a row and each one holds a stick. The leader stands at the head of the line, but several feet away, holding a big ball. Ihe leader rolls the ball quickly down , ne boys and each throws his stick and tries to hit the ball as it passes. This is tried several times and the player who hits the ball the greatest number of times wins the game. WELL CARED FOR Health Visitor (who on a previous I,a< ? Siven a thermometer to an vouVn U n Vrj StUfFV cott; WL 1 hope Lk not letting the red line K o up above the 60 mark. Old John: Oh. no. miss As soon -is I finds it climbing up too high, 1 takes it out in the garden and cools it down.