ON THE BEACH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 316, 6 January 1909, Page 4

ON THE BEACH.

jay '-PADDLES." The ibeach. The beach is everything just now. The. beach is attracting the visitors. The heach provides hundreds daily with healthy enjoyment. The beaeli is covered with laughing children, armed with bucket and shovel. And they raise in " no time " houses, sheds, gardens, garden walks, fences, and liil I them with fancied friends. And the kiddies tire, and the waves return, and the houses and fences and all the rest of the work of these little hands (and feet) are levelled. And the youngsters are at it again on the morrow. The beach is lapped by the waves, and little ones and the bigger foik tuck up their duds to the utmost permissible point", and they " paddle." And a wave bigger than the rest catches them above their self-imposed higll-water mark, and for the rest of the a JittJe water more or less doesn't matter. Yes, it's great fun at the seaside. It's the kiddies' ideal playground, ttome of the young folk appear dressed in their natural skin and a small pair of bathing I trunks, ami they splash iu the water I ami roll themselves in the dry sand unt'l i they resemble little niggers. Then wash the sand oil' again. Looks silly in print, doesn't itV Hut it's not ia reality, it's fun. (Ireat fun. You can't heat it. Your youngsters won't like anything better. Try them. Of an artistic temperament, some will draw all sorts of fanciful p'clures on the acres cf drawing-hoard that the sandy beach provides. Ami with the tide well out. see them go hunting for crab* under the stones, and shrieking when they find one; chafing the "bullies" and catching them in the myriad of little pools; and crunching the head of an occasional shrimp •between two pearly rows of teeth. Ugii! Awful! lint they do it, and they enjoy it. It's fun.

It's fun, too, when you're hungry, to produce the well-filled basket, and to sec the pace at which oranges and plums, cakes and biscuits and sandwiches, and the do/.ens of mother's little "odds and ends " disappear. Appetites? llather! There's nothing like the sea breezes to make people hungry- unless the sea breezes make the ship roll, and then appetites are " olT." Then it's tip-top to know that your house for the time being is right alongside the beach. You're in camp, and your tents have been well erected. There's plenty of water, clean and sweiit, always running. And the grocer calls every morning, just as if you were at home. And the fun of camp life! I'robablv you've experienced it. No? -Well, try" it. It's the very best fun of the lot.