THE RAREST ANIMAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 711, 10 July 1929, Page 14

THE RAREST ANIMAL

The rarest animal in existence is the okapi, a shy forest creature found only in a small area of the African Congo.

He seldom ventures forth except under cover of darkness, and it is believed that only one or two white men have ever seen this mysterious animal alive. The okapi has stripes on portions of his body resembling those of the zebra, and he is a relative of the giraffe, though he resembles more closely the prehistoric ancestors of the giraffe family than any members of the modern species. The okapi is rapidly becoming extinct. A TURKISH SAYING * Listen a thousand times: speak once. A fool has his heart on his* lips: the wise man has his lips in his heart.

GIRL GUIDES’ CORNER In spite of the. heavy rain last Sunday, there were good musters of Girl Guides and Boy Snouts when the Thanksgiving church parades were carried out by the various local companies and troops. Sihging Maiden, of the Devonport Company, writes that an interesting Ranger evening was spent at the home of Dr. Alargaret Knight recently, the time being occupied with games amd charades. During the evening Airs. Tolhurst announced that Dr. Margaret Knight had been appointed Head of Rangers for the Dominion, and the news was received with great enthusiasm by her guests. Young April, of the’ Birkenhead Company, writes of the district inspection of the Birkenhead. Birkdale and Northeote Companies by the Provincial Commissioner, full particulars of which appeared in this column last week. . . , Several Guides of the Birkenhead Company were examined recently for the Embroidress badge, and all succeeded in the tests. Aloon Glow reports for St. Peter’s Company, Auckland: “We have been studying for Sec-ond-class and various other badges. One girl has just passed her tenderfoot and will be enrolled soon. “On June 19 we held a plain and fancy-dress ball in St. Alatthew’s Hall, and it was enjoyed by all who attended. ■ ~ “We are learning some plantation songs in two parts for a future concert in which these items will be presented. and recently we made up surprise packets for the children at the hospital V * * m “Waving Plume, of the Manurewa Company, writes:- — “The committee of our company has arranged a ’bring and buy’ afternoon to be held on Saturday, July 13, and we are expecting a busy time. “Toward the end of the month we intend giving a poster and fancydress ball. “Two more recruits have been enrolled in our Brownie Pack ” Shadow Dancer, of the Papatoetoe Companv, writes under date July S’ “On Wednesday. July 10, our late Captain, Aliss D. Barton, is to be married. The wedding will take place at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Great South Road, Papatoetoe, and the Guides will form a guard of honour. “On July 20 the Papatoetoe Guides will celebrate their third and the Brownies their second birthday. A party is to be held. “This month we hope to have the patrol competition running briskly. A silver cup has been presented by our First Lieutenant, Aliss D. De Ath” * * * Still Woodland reports for the Second Otahuhu Company: “During the month the Guiders. Leadei's and Seconds were invited to the Panmure birthday party, where a happy time was spent. “We have now changed our meeting night from Monday to Tuesday to enable the Guiders to attend the Guiders’ classes in town. “The Thrush Patrol won the cup for June and. as the three patrols have now won it once, there is great rivalry to see who will be the lucky owners -for the month of July. “The Guiders and Leaders were invited to attend the Thanksgiving service held at Holy Trinity Church, Otahuhu, on July. 7. “During the month we held a Court of Honour, when it was decided to hold a parents’ night and a social, the proceeds to go toward buying us a camping outfit. The two girls who sat for the Health badge were both successful. We are now learning some new games and fancy march- j ing.” Wind Flower reports for the Kaitaia Company: “We have quite an exciting winter programme. At each meeting we have 20 minutes’ sewing, and most of the J

Guides are makinpr Christmas presents and sugar-bag articles, decorated with raffia, “At each meeting the patrols are given marks for courtesy, attendance, patrol-corners, neatness and games. The winning patrol will be presented with a small trophy and will carry the colours at the church parade to be held at the end of the month. This month it will be held in the Presbyterian Church, and the Boy Scouts and Brownies will also attend. “On June 6 the Scouts and Guides held a stall in aid of the earthquake fund.” FROM SHAKESPEARE In “A Midsummer Night's Bream” occurs the phrase “Skim milk and sometimes labour in the quern.” A quern was a handmill made of two flat stones and used for grinding corn. “They conveyed me in a buckbasket." we read in “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” A buckbasket was a linenbasket, and obtained its name from buck, the liquid used in washing the linen. “I know a hawk from a handsaw” is a well-known line in “Hamlet.” The word handsaw here means a heron, and is a corrupted form of the old name hern-shaw. A DAY OUT Reutlingen in Wurtemberg will long remember the last visit of the circus with its elephants. At the railway station four of them, left the goods yard without waiting for their keepers. Three of them stamped over suburban gardens. Then there was one. The fourth rogue went to see the town. It picked its way among the pedestrians like a polite motor-lorry, but it entered a lamp shop withit ceremony. There a customer with great presence of mind opened a oack door for it. The rogue elephant passed out. Its curiosity was now thoroughly aroused. It burst into an optician's and scattered the spectacles, as well as shattering the plate glass. It entered a music shop by the window, devastated a men’s outfitters, and tried to visit the hospital. There it was cornered. It received first-aid for the cuts it had received and went back to the circus. COINS A coin is now stamped with any device, but the meaning of the word carries us far back to the days when men used wedge-shaped signs for their letters. The Latin word for a wedge is cuneus, and from it we have the word Cuneiform, meaning the wedge-shaped letters of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Money in early days had an inscription stamped on it by means of a wedge, and so the word for wedge was used for the money, and this has come to us with the spelling altered for coin, which means simply a wedge. FOR WISE HEADS Word Square: 1. Round. 2. —With wax wings. 3. —Most rare. 4. —To build. 5. —Brightness. 6. —Regard. Answers to last week's work square. —Steal. Tardy. Error.. Adore, Lyres. IN SCHOOL Teacher: “Try this sentence: 'Take the cow out of the field.’ What mood?” Small Pupil: “The cow, miss.”

* BOOMERANGS It lias always ranged as a marvel of the feats of untutored mankind that the blackfellow of Australia should invent the bomerang. Half a century ago astonishment was created by the report of an explorer that ancient Egypt also had the- bomerang, and confirmation of this surprising story is forthcoming from the relics of Tutankhamen’s tomb which have now reached Cairo. Among them are unmistakable boomerangs which scientists believe were used by Tutankhamen in hunting. It is a very queer example of what is known as parallel development in different parts of the world and possibly in different ages. Who the Australians were originally is not definitely known. They reached Australia after a great sea voyage in boats which must have been as efficient as those in which the daring Maoris made their tlirilling journey from Polynesia. They took with them a domesticated dog whose descendants survive in the dingo,. and they .took with them this most wonderful of native Weapons, the boomerang. The boomerang, when thrown bv the native, hits an object and returns to the hand of the thrower. It is so extraordinary a weapon, and so astonishing in its performance, that eivilsation was glad to borro-w it as a model. Without the boomerang there would probably be no airplanes and probably no airships. Perhaps accident, followed by intelligent observation, gave the first user his idea for this weapon. It seems impossible that an untutored mind could have thought out such a contrivance. Other types of boomerangs have actually been found in the hands of people far removed from Australia and Egypt. They have astonished observers in India and in parts of America, The sickle-shaped boomerang which has given the blackfellow his fame seems peculiar to Australia, but the singular thing is that boomerangs, once regarded simply as throwing sticks, are known to have the power of returning to the thrower. A blackfellow can make his boomerang return from a distance of 150yds, circling as many as five times before reaching him; and the “throwing stick” can be made to return in a straight line to the hand of its native wielder. Probably the boomerang of Tutankhamen acted similarly.