Those Popular Paragraphs.

The Paragraph Competition was by far the most popular that Trainland has had. It was also the easiest competition-but certainly not the easiest to judge. The editor had difficulty in placing the prize-winners because all the entries were either exceptionally neat, well written, amusing, or appealing.

It is a pity there is not sufficient space to print extracts from some of the paragraphs. One little lad wanted to travel to Wellington again, in the express, so that he could drink out of paper cups. Because he was tired of school, another boy longed to saddle-up a pack-horse and go in search of gold nuggets on the West Coast. A large percentage of Trainlanders wanted to explore Rotorua and see the Maori girls and boys diving for pennies and the wahines cooking their meals in the boiling pools and washing their brown babies in the steaming hot lake. Rotorua, Auckland and Queenstown were the favourite places which Trainlanders chose to visit.

Special mention must be made of the hosts of boys who entered. Boys generally form the minority where competitions are concerned. Another pleasing point was that the majority of seniors were girls and boys of the ages of sixteen, seventeen and eighteen. Because these young New Zealanders are almost grown-up we are especially glad to hear their opinions on various topics concerning their country.

To all those whose names are not on this page we want to tell the good news that there are other attractive competitions awaiting them after the New Year.

And now, the age-old greeting, Trainlanders-

“A Merry Christmas to you all,”

And may many of your hopes come true during this happy month.