The Wigwam

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 663, 15 May 1929, Page 14

The Wigwam

Here tee gather, he%*e tee meet in pow-woio friendly and discreet. To talk of earth , and sea, and sky, and xcatch the world of men go by.

RHYMING TIME

“COME in out of the wind, Brown Headland and Laughing Eyes, V» for the chill fingers of winter are plucking at the Totem Pole. Warmth is our heritage, even though the seasons must follow their destined course. . . . See, I was making you a limerick, but the two last lines continue to elude me: ‘A little old lady of Leeds, who was famed for her generous deeds, gave a weekly donation . . .’ ” “To every relation, and still had enough for her needs,” came the voice of the wind, with a merry chuckle. “Good,” said Redfeather, “but the Chiefs and Braves may be able to better it. There are so many rhymes for ‘donation’- — ‘nation,’ ‘station,’ ‘conflagration’—in fact the dictionary is full of them. Our best plan is to make a competition of it. .. . Now, where is my trusty quill?” REDFEATHER.

THE SILVER HAND The greatest of the indent Britons was King Lud. lie had a palace or temple on Ludgate Hill, where St. Paul’s Cathedral now stands, and LonKomans came to Britain they thought his memory reminded them of Father Neptune. Some think that the tales about King Lud are legends describing a heathen god. who was supposed to be able to make all business prosper, particularly on the sea. His time was so long ago. however, that history was not yet written or made into books, but only remembered by bards and minstrels. So nobody can be quite sure. A picture of him was found in another temple of his, in Gloucestershire, overlooking the Severn. King Lud had the misfortune to lose his right hand in battle, and people thought that this would mean losing the kingship, too , for among the ancient Britons nobody could be king if he were disfigured in any way. Now all the gold and silver won in battle was the king's by right, and, whenever a subject chief was convicted of treason, Lud, instead of chopping off his head, made him pay a fine. The fine included many cows, a white bull with pink ears, a dish of gold as large as his face, and a rod of gold as thick as his finger and as long as he was tall. So Lud was very rich—he owned twenty-one thousand cows alone —and he ordered an artificial hand to be made, regardless of cost, in jointed silver. The goldsmith cleverly contrived that the silver hand should work almost like a real cne, and so the ancient Britons allowed Lud to remain king over them, in spite of his disfigurement. THE WATERBUCK: The waterbuck is an antelope which is found in South and East Africa. It has a greyish-brown coat, its muzzle being white, and is about four feet high at the shoulders. Moving about In herds which seldom exceed twenty, the waterbuck prefers swampy plains, although it is quite at home on steep and rocky hillsides, from which, when pursued, it always runs at great speed toward a river. The male has a fine pair of horns which often exceed thirty inches in length.

WITH THE BOY SCOUTS M.r. Holds worth, District Commissioner, Mr. Boswell, Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Veart, Assistant Commissioner for Wolf Cubs, and Mr. Woods, Assistant Commissioner for Sea Scouts, all attended the Scout swimming sports at the Tepid Baths last Friday evening, when the Proud Swimming Cup was retained by the Herne Bay Troop. All the events were keenly contested. some close finishes being witnessed. If finances permit, a yearly carnival on a larger scale will be attempted and, judging by the attendance at the sports, this should prove a popular move. All arrangements for Scout Day at the Farmers’ have now been made, and competition is keen among the various troops. Full instructions appeared in this column last Wednesday. * * * Invitations have been issued for the first anniversary social of the West Street Church of Christ Troop, which yvill take place at West Street, Newton, on May 25. commencing at 7.30 p.m. * * * This troop has made great progress during its short period of existence, and reflects much credit on its scoutmaster, Mr. F. E. Walls. Little Thunder (J. Fraser), scribe for the First Papakura Troop, has been promoted to the position of Troop Leader, and has also succeeded in gaining his Second All-Round Cords. Little Thunder won the prize last year for the best Wigwam Scout scribe, and was re-elected this year by the vote of his Troop. Swift Arrow, of the First All Saints’ Troop, writes: “During the last two or three Scout nights the boys worked harder than ever to gain more marks for the Patrol Cup, which was presented on May 7. It was a pound night, and the parents weru invited.

“The 7 tli arrived, and so did the boys. The evening commenced with the National Anthem, then Mr. Otto, the secretary, read the committee’s report for the year, and, owing to the absence of the treasurer, read the bal-ance-sheet also. Several items were then given, after which Assistant Scoutmaster MacDonald submitted his report for the year. “The result of the patrol competition was then announced as follows: —Bulldogs, 1 (805 marks); Lions, 2 (798); Kangaroos, 3 (649). The cup was presented by the Rev. Averili and was received by Patrol Leader Henley. “Various items were then given, including a humorous sketch by the Rev. Averili and a song by Mr. Poole.”

. FROM A LETTER “I’m sitting on my bed, cross-legged, with a rug wrapped round me and my towel. I’m using as a scarf. I look like a Red Indian squaw, but I feel on the outside like the North Pole, and on the inside like the witches’ cauldron in ‘Macbeth.’ This is the result of losing my temper at the age of 18, when my head was buried under five cushions, on the of which my brother happened to be sitting. Therefore, at the family’s ‘suggestion.’ I am here mediating upon my ‘childish, violent temper.’ “The room is very suitable for repenting—it’s very cold. ... I can hear the rattle of coffee cups and the sound of a log being thrown on the fire.’’

GIRL GUIDES’ CORNER The newly-formed Pukemiro Company met for the first time on May 4, and the girls are keenly interested in everything connected with Guiding. A captain and lieutenant have been secured, and the company colours are green and gold. * * * Miss Jacqueline Nathan and Miss Mavis Moses have been appointed lieutenants in the Judean Company, with Mrs. David Nathan as president. "Waving Plume reports for the Manurewa Company: “On the afternoon of Sunday, May 5, our company and also the Brownies spent a pleasant afternoon with the Judean Guides at the residence of Mrs. David Nathan. “The opening of our Basketball Club took place on Saturday, May 11. “We have enrolled several more recruits lately.” * * * A concert in which the Guides and Brownies are to take part will be held by the Arohanui Company on May 23. The girls are being trained by Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Pearte^ Daughter of the Moon, of St. George’s Company, writes of a holiday camp spent at a homestead nine miles from Helensville: “The time was spent in exploring the adjacent paddocks, hills and sandhills. An impromptu fancy-dress concert was held one evening. We also visited the hot springs and the West Coast. “Dieutenant Campbell has left us to join the Grey Lynn Company, where she is now Captain, and we were very sorry to lose her. “The Patrol Leaders spent a weekend at Otimai in conjunction with the Eden District Patrol Leaders’ Conference. An enjoyable time was spent. They also attended the meeting conducted by Miss Wilson at St. Mary’s Hall. A number of the Guides entered for the Cook's badge, and they all qualified. This week we are commencing ambulance work. “On May 7 our district was inspected by the Ponsonby commissioner, Mrs. Seagar, as Doctor Buckley Turkington was ill. “Our first captain, Miss Simmons, attended our last church parade. She presented the company with a picture of St. George and the Dragon for our first birthday, which was on April 19. Our party is to be held in June.” * ❖ # Laughing Eyes, of the Awataha Company, writes: “During the past month the Awataha Guides have been busy with Second Class work. We intend to go tracking out to Birkaale some Saturday to carry out tracking and fire-lighting tests. “Two new girls were enrolled on Fridaj, May 3, and we hope to have more enrolments soon. It has been decided that, instead of having a company birthday party, we will go for a picnic and we hope it will be to Otimai.” * * * Young April, of the Birkenhead Company, writes: “On April 20, in bright sushine, the Birkenhead Guides hiked to Fitzpatrick’s Bay, where a pleasant day was spent. “We celebrated Anzac Dav in the Foresters’ Hall owing to the rain, and most of the Guides were in attendance.”

Singing Stream, of the First Otaliuhu Company reports: “On Anzac Day out company took part in the procession with returned soldiers and others. We placed three wreaths on the cenotaph and later adjourned to the school ground, where an interesting service was held. “Several, girls were examined for the sportswoman’s badge recently.” Still Woodland reports for the Second Otahuhu Company: “The guiders, patrol leaders and seconds received an invitation to the Ellerslie birthday party, which was held on April 16, and, although all those who were invited were not able to attend, those who did spent a very happy time. “April 20 was a memorable day for j us as it was then that we went for our

first week-end camp to Ho wick, Mrs. Clements having kindly lent us her cottage. The time passed pleasantly with fishing, swimming and mushrooming expeditions and in playing Maori games. We were very grateful to Mrs. Clements and Mrs. Murdoch, who kindly chaperoned us. “As Patrol Leader L. Croy has been made Second-Lieutenant, Second J. Grieve has been promoted to Leader of the Sparrow Patrol, with W. Castles as Second. We paraded with a full company on Anzac Day, and placed two wreaths on the Memorial Gates. “The Sparrows won the cup for the month, with Skylarks a very close second.”

Falling Snow reports for the First Cambridge Company: “On March 28 we held a ‘shop’ in the town, and raised the sum of £2O for the company funds. “On Anzac Day, together with the Brownies and Rangers, we took part in the military parade to the Town Hall, where the service was held. “The Guides and Rangers spent a hiking afternoon together on April 27. We hiked about two and a-half miles into the country, where we found a place suitable for the afternoon. We played many exciting Guide games during the earlier part of the afternoon, and then we lit a campfire, when the younger Guides performed their fire-lighting tests. “Our Court of Honour was held this month at the home of Sun Cloud (Lieutenant Jessie Anderson).

BEETLES THAT BOMBARD At first sight, the danger of being shot at by a beetle seems too fantastic to be worth bothering about. Beetles are mostly harmless creatures anyway, not likely to touch you unless they blunder into you when flying. Yet there is a case on record of a resident of Coraki (N.S.W.), who was injured by a yellow beetle. He went to knock the creature off the leaf of an orange tree, but the beetle shot a jet of fluid into his eye. It hurt amazingly, and he had to go to a doctor. Of course, the beetle could not have hit the man in the eye if it had not been up the orange tree. There are, however, several species of beetles which have a habit of shooting out jets of liquid when they are disturbed or annoyed. One of these is called, because of this habit, the bombardier beetle. This beetle is black, with red spots, and is a very widely distributed species. It belongs to the family of the groundbeetles, of which there are about 1,500 species. Other beetles belonging to the family Paussidae, related to the groundbeetle, to which the bombardier beetle belongs, are also able to throw out jets of liquid. Fortunately, by far the greater part of the 15,000 or so species of beetles found in Australia are without this unpleasant habit. There are land-beetles and water-beetles, beetles that live up trees, and beetles that live in holes in the ground, beetles that fly, and beetles that crawl, beetles found in the sand on the beaches, and beetles that haunt the mountain-tops. There are giant beetles, such as the Natalis titana, which lives under the bark of trees, a.d reaches a length of two inches, and dwarf beetles. Some beetles live on flowers, and some on carrion.

BEE TIMEKEEPERS

A German professor has found the bee as a timekeeper a. subsitute for the cuckoo clocks which used to come from Switzerland till the watches of Geneva and the Waterbury made them out of dat?. According to the professor his bees were never late for a free meal, if honey-water placed near their hive for 8 o’clock breakfast arrived to the moment. If the hour were changed to nine, they were on to it the next day. Several variations in the hour were tried, but the bees were punctuality itself. The only thing that puzzled them was the withdrawal of the dole. Then the bees seemed not to when to swarm at the feeding place. But it is suspected that the3* held an indignation meeting elsewhere.

A WEARY JESTER

It often happens that those who give themselves and their personality to the public deprive themselves to the point of impoverishment. Here is the story of a clown whose laugh cures were sought in the days of our grandfathers. About a hundred years ago a man with a pale and careworn face came to consult a doctor. “I don’t know what is the matter with me,” he said, “but I feel sick in mind and body. Can you cure me?” The doctor made a careful examination of his visitor, and asked him many questions. But one question he did not ask, and that was his name. However, after a time, he said: “There is nothing wrong with you physically, but I do agree that your mind is not well. You’ve forgotten how to smile. But 1 know how to cure that part of your trouble. Go and see Grimaldi. Then at last the man did smile, but it was a rather sad smile. . . - “Alas,” he replied, “your advice is of no help. I am Grimaldi.”

THE ALMOND TREE This is the Eastern name given to Almond on account of its piecocious flowering early in spring. Aaron s rod was of almond-tree wood —the stick which grew buds, blossoms, and fruits in a single day! At an old-time country revel, on tilt shores of the Mediterranean, one of the dancers suddenly found she had lost a valuable necklace. The friends of the thief set up a cry that they had seen the fiddler take it. The poor musician was seized and searched; in vain he protested his innocence, for they accused him of passing it to an accomplice. 11l would it have gone with him in those unmerciful times, but fortunately a chance of escape occurred, and he ran to the woods. Though for long eluding his pursuers, loaded with his precious violin, he began to grow weary. At last, he espied a tiny cave, just big enough to crawl into, and, by a happy thought, he cut a branch from a neighbouring tree, and planted it in front of the narrow opening in an attempt to conceal his hiding-place. The bough happened to be from an almond tree, and, immediately it was planted burst into blossom. When the pursuers arrived they passed by for it seemed impossible for a man to have entered the cave without damaging the beautiful shrub. And so the old fiddler escaped.

A BISHOP’S APRON

The curious apron which an Anglican bishop wears as part of his official dress is an interesting relic of the past. It is all that remains of the cassock originally worn by the clergy, and the word used to describe it should really be not apron but napron. The “n’’ has now become detached and joined on to the “a,” just as the “n” of nadder, the old English word for a snake, has become separated and joined to the “a,” so that we speak of an adder instead of a nadder. An apron is really a napron, the word being derived from the French nappe, a cloth. Napkin has the same origin, but we still speak of a napkin, and not of an apkin. The cassock originally reached to the feet, and is still worn by many of the clergy. Its shortening to the form of the present apron, like the gaiters and hat strings of a bishop, are reminders of the times when bishops rode on horseback.