A Page for Little People

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 49, 9 December 1925, Page 37

A Page for Little People

Concluded by ANNE

• y./My dear Little People, — Are you all very busy getting ready for the holidays, and finishing up your year’s work? Indeed, Christmas is so very close now, it is almost here, mind you all say your Thousand Hail Mary’s for the Little Infant Jesus, and offer them up for your very dear Grown-ups. We have a good many letters to read this week, and one or two other things to talk about, so, I will not say much to. you just here. We must get all our letters answered and everything sorted up before Christmas so that we can have all kinds of interesting things to write about during the holidays. LADDER WRITING COMPETITION. Seven Little People have climbed our Ladder this week and they say there is a wonderful view from there. Only Little People who have climbed can know what is on the other side of the fence. You should just see them waving their arms and smiling with delight as they look down on this jolly old world from the rungs of our lovely ladder. 1. Paul Porter is Top this time. 2. Jack Porter is second. 3. Bridgie Reilly third. 4. Mollie Cavanagh fourth. 5. Cassie Dowling fifth. 6. Kathleen Harding sixth. 7. Mary Harding seventh. —’ The Competition is closed now, next week you will be awarded your prizes. If any letters arrive this week for the Competition, you’ll see the last Ladder next week, along with the Prize List. But the Competition is Closed. Next week I’ll tell you what we re going to do during the Holidays by way of a Competition. We’ll have good Prizes and a lot of fun, so look out.

James is always called by liis full name, not “Jim,” and lie wore his Badge into Timaru, but didn’t happen to meet any Little People. (Glad you liked your Badge and that you’ve passed one on to Fred. Good boy. to wear your Badge, one of these times you will meet another Member. Sorry you have no real Birthday Mate James, the nearest to you is Mick O’Rourke, 17 Vautier Street, Napier, on the 4th. Then there is Frank Kinney, Filly Burn, Hyde, on the 6th August. Will you three be Letter Friends? —Anne. P.S. — Yes, I do like pets, call your little rabbit “Bunty.”—A.) LEN McMAHON, Mount Pleasant, Cronadun, writes to see how we’re getting on and wants to know when the Writing Competition is coming off. Also, Len is hoping to pass into the fifth standard at the end of the year, he wears his Badge on his coat and wants a name for two white kittens and a black calf. (Good day Len, glad to hear from you. What Writing Competition are you wondering about Len, not the one just closed is it? Look out for the next . I think you might call your calf “Sootty” and. the kittens, “Tiny” and “Dot.” Glad you wear your Badge, and that Henry Campbell and Leslie Heath are Letter Friends with you. —Anne.) ZITA TRAYNOR, Malta Street, Wyndham, is an old friend who writes to say she is thinking of ns. Zita thinks it would be nice if a. Fairy Godmother gave us a new Joy Boat for a Christmas Box, and she thinks we might have some Fairy Stories once in a while, or a serial story. Zita is coming to Dunedin for her holidays. (So glad to hear from you Zita, I think we may follow some of your suggestions in the New Year, I like them myself, and maybe a Fairy Godmother will come to light with a new Joy Spot for ns. Mind you wear your Badge when you go out in Dunedin, you’ll be sure lo meet some members of our Club. —Anne.) MARGARET CAMERON, Xokomai, writes lo fell us the Inspector lias been to her school. Also that she has some roses blooming. (How did you get on and did the Inspector ask you any questions? Were you frightened of tint mob of cattle. ' Glad the pets are well. —Anne.) EILEEN BYRNE, 659 Gloucester Street, Linwood, Christchurch, writes a. nice long letter with suggestions and riddles. • Eileen is sitting for a Junior National Scholarship early in December. And she tells ..me that not one of her 'Letter Friends has written for over five weeks, although she used to get two letters each day, once upon a time. (Glad to get your long letter Eileen, how very' dreadful about' your Letter Friends. Like yourself, I hope they’ll wake up when they see this letter. Perhaps they are extremely and amazingly busy just now. Thanks" for the riddles, ybuTTs<sFthem in the Riddle Bin some time. I’ll let you know later ab -;it the suggestion you finite, but I’m afraid it • may be inclined to take ’up rather much space to be workable. However, we’ll see. TiuT must be delighted to have that dearTrttkr

new brother Patrick James. Thank you lor stamps for Orphans.—Anne.) ESSIE GAMBLE, Aramoho, writes a short note saying she is so busy now learning music that she has not much time for writing, She likes her music very much. (Glad to hear from you Essie, of course you have no spar© time as you must practice regularly and often if you want to do any good with your music. We won’t forget you.—Anne.) MARGARET WALKER, Enfield, has had a letter from her Letter Friend, and they are both trying in the Ladder Competition, so I could not put this one in, but you had your chance just the same for you wrote very nicely last time. (Glad you and your Letter Friend are writing to each other. I may tell you something more about that Wiggly Weasel one of these days. Anne.) BRIDGIE REILLY, Benmore, entered for the Ladder, enclosed her penny and is making a garment for an Orphan. Bridgi© and her little brother have two grey rabbits and they want names for them. (You’ll see where you are on the Ladder Bridgie dear, you did very well. Thank you for the penny, and for the promise of a garment as well. Would you like to call your* rabbits “Pip” and Squeak. Anne.) MOLLIE CAVANAGH, Pukemaori, Tuatapere, also entered for the Competition and likes our page very much. Mollie has two Letter Friends. (Glad to hear from you Mollie, do you see where you are on the Ladder. Hope you get on well in the examination and have a good concert to finish the year happily.—Anne.) CASSIE DOWLING, Hyde, is on the Ladder and is very busy with her lessons just now. They have a dear little foal at Cassie’s place, and four wee kittens which they found safely tucked away in one of the bedrooms. (Glad you entered for the Ladder Cassie, hope you do well at the exam. I hope you did not disturb those dear little kittens and their fond mother. Love from all of us. — Anne.) KATHLEEN. HARDING, Molukaraka, Hokiauga, entered for the Ladder and sent answers for two of our riddles. Kathleen says they hope to be confirmed soon, they are expecting Bishop Cleary to confirm them. (Glad to hear from you Kathleen, good girl to try in the Competition. Yes, “Cork” is the lightest - city in the world. And the other answer is right also.— MARY HARDING, Motukaraka, Hokianga, is on the Ladder too, and she has had letters from her friend Ella. Mary tells me they have ten pigs—four block ones, two- tan ones, two red ones and two black and white ones. (Mary precious, you sure have ;■ got some gaily colored pigs, are they pets? and does Jacko like them? Glad you like your Badge and that you tried in the Competition. —Anne.) , i ABOUT YOUR BADGES. j I am glad to know that some of you wear your Badges, and I hope you will all tiy/tpl "far them, and be very sure to make friends -r with.-each other when you meet. That

L.P.L.O. Badge should make you feel quite happy when you see it worn by others as >-! well as yourselves, as it simply means that you are Members of the same Club, or family. Promise me then, especially how at |(v f holiday time when many of you may go to 'l s y other towns and be among strangers, that v" you will wear your Badges and speak to other wearers. {} 'Probably, many of you are too busy with i examinations and extra work to writ© often - jj to your Letter Friends, but do try to send each other a Christmas greeting, a nice little letter. I don’t mean presents and all that sort of thing, not at all. But be mindful j; of each other when the happy season comes closer. IMP TAN T. —Will TOMMIE PHILI POTT please send his full address? His | Badge has been returned from METHVEN ; “unclaimed.” RIDDLE BIN. Answers from last time; — 1. What goes up white and comes down yellow ? egg. 2. Why do people on a rainy day look like mushrooms? Because they have umbrellas up. 3. What is it that is all around the world and we can’t see it ? —The air. E hy did the white wash?-Because it saw the enamel bath. 0. What is it that has teeth but no mouth ? —A saw. New Riddles 1. Why does a short man rise early? 2. What is it that asks no questions but v requires many answers? 3 If the sea were all to vanish what would lather Neptune say? 4. If Mississippi wore Missouri’s jumper what would Delaware ? Punctuate this to make it right; Everybody in the land, has twenty nails on each hand, Five and twenty on hands and feet, and this is true without deceit. STORY CORNER. BLUE POTS. Pamela was a. little pansy-elf who did not like her own voice. The reason she did not like her own voice was because she had once overheard some gnomes talking about it. “Pamela is a beautiful pansy-elf,” they had said, ‘but her voice is a little squeakish sometimes.’ Now, Pamela felt so upset about this she ran away into the wood, all by herself. She ran on all day, right until the evening, and just as it was getting dark she came to ■ :.|1 -a little wooden shop, with pretty blue pots standing on a window-shelf. A little Brownie man was smoking his pipe on the door-step.. “Good evening! How much are these- | -pots? said Pamela the pansy-elf j ' “They are not for sale,” said the Brownie • shopman. “They are for myself always “Are they empty?” “No, they are full.” “What is inside them?” f £ . Voices, said the Brownie shopman, puffing at his pipe. “Voices are inside them.

! All kinds of voices. J Ohe voice in each pot. If you don't likes the' 1 "6he^ypu i ve’ v got', you-: may give '"it to mej ‘if like, '’and' ; I will. i 'change' it,” f ,,iA J' ! ,‘ *■ ■ * I! 'v ■ 1 ..•. “It happens *' that*' V l 'dWi : like ’ tlife' voice-: 1 E have got,” said Pamela the p'ansy-eIT, all: V of , a tremble. ' “Do you mean to say "that I really can change it?” ' ' ’ 1 , “Yes, certainly. It ' doesn’t matter to me 1 what voices are in my pots, so long as they i are full. One , voice ,in each pot. The end s one there has- a princess’s voice inside, and ir the next;.has,a nightingale’s voice,, and the [ next has a butterfly’s voice, and,the next to. i that—— “Oh! do let me have the princess’s voice, and take mine in exchange,” cried Pamela - the pansy-elf. .So, the 'Brownie shopman. ? lifted the blue pot from the end of the 1 shelf, pulled up the lid, took out the voice, and gave it to Pamela the pansy-elf. He put Pamela’s voice into the pot, and put. the lid on to keep it down, and put it back on the window-shelf. Then he went to sleep 1 for three days. Now it happened that this voice had belonged to a wicked princess who c had no business to be a princess at all, and - the sound of it was like a wheel that wants oiling. So when Pamela the pansy-elf got I hack to her friends, and began to talk, they all ran away, with their hands to their ears, b “Come back. I want to talk to you,” cried Pamela. - P “No, no. Not while you speak in that dreadful way,” they answered. “We simply cannot stand it.” Then poor Pamela the pansy-elf felt very t upset. But after a while she thought to herself: “I will go back into the wood, all 1 alone by myself, and I will find that Brownie shopman, and change my voice again.” So she , ran away into the wood, and came to the little shop, and there were the pretty blue pots, all in a nice row on the Window-shelf, 5 But the- Brownie shopman was- fast asleep in the doorway. 1 Then Pamela, the pansy-elf thought to herself, “I will creep into that little house, and I will change my voice, and have the nightingale’s voice, which is in the second blue pot, and then I will run away home.” t So she tip-toed past the Brownie shopman, b as quiet as a butterfly. She ran into the I little shop, ; and took the second blue pot b from the window-shelf, and opened the lid, and took out the nightingale’s voice, and ; 1 put the princess’s voice in, and shut the 1 lid, and put the pot back upon the windoW-(; shelf. Then she tip-toed out, and ran^hw^i^ » like the wind; (But all the while Brown v , > shopman had' been peeping out'of one eve.) 1 Pamela .the pansy-elf ran to her ■ friends^ t > who werqi^pfrying ring-o’-roses, -and she bei gan to sing hit the top of her voice. “They ; : W ill be ■certa i n/- 'td like Tny;. vo ice nOW ?’ I she . . thought,. ‘ ’ But the elves stopped, ; playing, and the smiles went away from their faces, and their eyes opened wide with horror. r ’! “Oh, Pamela, what a dreadful voice,” they .cried. " - . “It’s not a dreadful voice. It’s a night-" ingales voice, ’ said Pamela, the pansy-gif, in a rage. “A nightingale’s voice is . the' . sweetest voice on earth.”

“Only hr the spring-time;” T said a little ; green -gnome,-who. knew such things. “Night- ■ ingales sing sweetly enough in .tie,, spring, ’ c-hut this is autumn. The leaves are brown : and- yellow;,, and the music of the birds is . -gone - away. . Besides I think your nightingale must have a bad cold. It is a dreadfur voice.” (We’ll finish the story next week..) li A VERSE OR TWO. ■ f Read this my dear Little People, and, next time you see some nice fleecy Clouds, stop a minute and watch what wonderful pictures 3011 can make out of them: CLOUDS. I saw a lady in the sky to-day; Her fleecy’, floating skirts were long and wide, Her arms were crossed, her head was turned away, She had a dragon at her side; I A big grey dragon pawing in the air, His curly tail went sweeping to the ground, His mouth was open and his teeth were bare, But he made no sound. I turned to watch a butterfly go by, And when I looked again where they had been— The lady and the dragon in the sky— They were not to be seen. SOME SHOES FOR DOLLY. Eight stitches I put on, and then Knit six-and-twenty rows. I finish off when I’ve done that And start to knit the toes. Eight stitches I put on once more, Knit till it’s just a square. 1 hen take that off, do each again, So that I have a nair. From cardboard now I make the soles, Exact size of her feet, A needle now to sew them up, Then they will be complete. The square I now fold corner-wise, And with, my needle sew ■ Jong piece to it at each end, Ty'Ymi' see to make the toe. ; ■,l he little soles 1 last.sew on; . : Jsou, don t you think them nice? You could not have a better pair , ;:. For ever such a price! ■' f —.. Try , to. , make these shoes. U¥f ;; X- ■ ' Good-night all, . H - ANNE. ;j . ’ MOTOR CAR OWNERS.. ‘ ‘M ' * „• - A professional man in Wellington who cleans his own Motor says that since he § started to use Q-tol he dispenses with gloves, and is able to keep the dirt from getting s ingrained. His hands are now smoother than , ever they were. A large 2/- bottle ; of Q-tol lasts two months. M