Today Is Birthday Anniversary of Mr. Riley
SEVENTY years ago in the town of Greenfield, Ind., a boy was born
who was some day to become one of the best known and loved Araer
lean poets—James Whitcomb Riley.
I Every Go-Hawk has read the story of how Mr. Riley became the first
| Big Chief of the Happy Tribe and how interested he was in little Jitnmy,
who was the first Go-Hawk. There was no one in all the world whom
Jimmie loved and admired quite as much as he who wrote “The Raggedy
Ragged Man."
Today I want to re tell you the story of another little boy who
was crippled just as was Jimmie. His name was David Cobb and he lived
tn the same street as did Mr. Riley in Indianapolis—Rookerbie street.
Here everyone knew and loved Mr. Riley; particularly w'as this true of
the children, for he knew them all by name.
Mr. Riley discovered that David’s great ambition was to be a soldier.
He would beg the other boys in the neighborhood to come Into his yard
and play soldier with him. He was always captain of the regiment. One
day Mr. Riley heard the boys quarrelling as he was walking by. “What
is it all about?" he asked as he stopped by David’s yard.
“They ail want to bo officers, und it doesn’t leave me any for priv
ates,” complained David, and then he added with a sad little note In his
voice, "Mr. Riley, did you ever know a crooked soldier?”
"Oh. yes." replied the poet gently, “und he was a very fine one. too."
It was not so very long after that until the little soldier with the
crooked spine was taken away forever. Mr itilcy missed the boy who
loved him. He did not forget him and he v • e especially for the boy’s
mother a poem. "The Rittle Boy Who Sleeps."
Perhaps if you have a book of Mr. Riley’s poems you would enjoy
reading today this poem, since you now know’ just how he came to write It.
Most of you never had a chance to see Mr. Riley as did those lucky
boys and girls who lived In Indianapolis. You could only know him
through his beautiful poems, but you loved him and are proud to belong
to the Happy Tribe, of which he was the Frst Big Chief. The children
have not wanted anyone to take his place, for he never seems so very
far away. It seems ns though he could still hear
all the children calling as of old: "Happy birth
day, Mr. Riley, happy birthday.” And bja- they
do still call in their hearts. _
I UNCLE PETER HEATHEN
— -"■'Mat
SYNOPSIS.
Uncle Peter cornea to liven* the home
*f the Trevell.vn twins. Pruilriue nod
Fntienee. Hrcauae he la lonely, the
twina. with three of tlielr
form a mlaaloiuvrr society nnd adopt
him aa their "heathen.’ fkveh *“°u"
ter aome part of lila welfare. Pni.lenee
haa hla health: Patience, hi* clothes.
Kaehel hla morala; Jane, hla education,
and Ruth, hla amuarmenta. Jack and
Donald are eo Impreaaed with the work
ef the mlaalnmvriea that they open Hon
alifa home (hla parenta bring away) aa
,o settlement house nnd give free Imths
to poor boys. IVItli the help of the
twine, they also shirt n 'lav nursery,
the girls gathering no seven babies and
potting them In the slimmer Idtehen
Knhr I,arry begins to howl and the
twin* danrr about to nmnne him. When
the hoys return they decide to feed the
babies' with milk ami erackera.
NOW OO ON WITH THE 8TORT.
(Continoed Prom that Sunday.!
So they carried the children to
one side of the room and placed
them against the wall, the younger
ones heading the line, for they
seemed to lie the most restless.
Baby Larry straightway fell over,
again bumping his head, much to
the consternation of Prudence.
“Sakes alive! What shall wc do
with that child? If we let him down
s minute he falls over and bumps
his head. We can’t hold one baby
all the time when we have so many
others." Prudence sighed as she
spoke, for it seemed to the tired
little girl as though there were a
hundred babies in her charge. ,
“Better give him to me and 1
will hold him while lie eats. 1
ought to be able to keep him from
falling over, anyway.” Jack took
Larry and a cup of milk and settled
himself on the floor on the oppo
site side of the room. He lifted the
cup gingerly to the child’s lips.
With the first realization that It
was milk, Larry gave a gurgle of
Joy, clutched the cup greedily, and
more than half of its contents flew
In the wrong direction.
Larry was accustomed to a strong
bottle which he could drop at will,
and he was as much surprised as
Jack when the milk dashed over
him. What was more disconcerting
he deemed the accident well worthy
of another outburst of tearB.
"Gee! How he can holler! Say,
Pat, please hand me some more
milk.” Jack frantically Joggled the
baby. “There! there! Don't have
such a fit, old man. You won’t get
left! He have a whole cow at home.
You can have all her milk If you'll
only cut out your howling."
Patience was obliged to place her
bluo-eyed Nora on the floor while
she went to the rescue of Jack.
Since all eyes were turned on Larry
It was a propitious moment for Nora
wiggle the Intervening distance
between herself and her cup of milk.
She did not gauge the distance cor
rectly and much to her astonish
ment landed on top the milk. *
WEATHER.
Forgot-mo-nota Blooming
Today In Happyland.
«»-* I
Had the baby been able to talk
she doubtless would have told her
nurses that It waa no laughing mat
ter to have one's hopes for dinner
blighted in this fashion. She pre
ferred her milk In her mouth fath
er than in her hair. Indeed she
regarded the state of affairs so
serious that she was Justified in
Joining her wails to those of Larry.
"Horrors! Look at my baby! She
has upset her cup of milk!” Pa
tience was aghast at thia new ca
lamity and ran to her rescue.
“There! There! It's a shame, I
know, for your little drees and your
head are all sticky1 and milky. But
never mind. I’ll take you out In the
sun to dry off. Donald, please
hand me some more milk.”
"I will If I can bring my kid
along with me. I am afraid to put
him down for fear he gets to squall
ing. too.” and Donald grinned sheep
ishly as he placed the baby under
one arm. much as he would a bun
dle of papers, and with his free
hand took Patience another cup of
milk.
Meanwhile. Prudence, with ner
vous sear, had been pouring milk
into Patrick’s mouth, ever open nnd
ready. "My baby is fine. He’s had
two cups and a half now. I g-,e*s
I’ll put a cracker Into each hand
and leave him here on the rug while
I feed another.”
•Tack and Donald declared a few
minutes later that they were posl
tlve their babies had been fed
enough.
“Then perhaps you had better put
them on the rug with mine, and you
and Donald go after our lunch. I
am getting hungry myself.” and
Prudence pinched off a bit of
cracker.
"I suppose that’s from seeing all
this delicious milk and fine stale
crackers. It’s a wonder the milk
didn't sour,” observed Donald.
(Copyright, mi >
(Continued Neat Sunday.)
The Guide Post
to Good Books for Children
Choose one of these books to rend
each week. Perhaps you had better
cut the list out each time and take
it with you to your city library. It
Is prepared for the Happyland boys
and girls by Miss Alice M. Jordan,
supervisor of children’s work. Bos
ton public library. This week she
suggests:
Bennett, John, “Master Skylark.”
Coolidge, Susan, "What Katy
Bid ’’
Doubleday, Russell, "Cattle Runch
to College.”
Hale, Bucretla P., “Bast of the
Peterklns.”
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, “Grand
father's Chair.”
Pyle. Howard, “Story of Jack Bui
lister's Fortunes."
Another Way to Be
a Good Go-Hawk
A good Go-Hawk does not
find fault. A fault-finding per
son is never pleasant to have
around, as unceasing com
plaints about little things do
not add to the happiness of life.
So remember this way to be a
good Go-Hawk.
Becky Brown, a little girl who
lives In Columbus, O.. has sent me
a drawing of her doll house. She
writes that she made it out of a
nine-inch square of heavy white
paper that she creased into 16
squares. On the two opposite sides
she cut up the distance of one
square or three creases. Then she
bent the two middle squares one ou
top of the other and pasted to
gether. The two outer squares must
be brought together, lapped over
each other and cross the center of
the two middle squares and pasted
together. Follow these directions
exactly for the opposite ends of
your paper. Cut out your windows
and doors and paste on your porch.
Paint your roof, around doors, win
dows and porch with your water
colors. Becky sent word to other
Oo-Hawks that.this house was fun
to make, and she surely ought to
know, for she did It. Your friend,
PKTER.
Who are the most wicked people
in the world and why?
Answer—Pen makers; because
they make people steel (steal) pens
and tell them they do write (right.)
What are the most unsociable
things in the world?
Answer—Mile stones; because you
never see two of them together.
What kind of robbery may be said
to be not at all dangerous?
Answer—A safe robbery.
Why is a horse very curious about
his eating ?
Answer—Because he eats best
when he has not a bit in his mouth.
What word, if you take away the
first letter, will make you sick?
Answer—Music.
Donald, Dicky and Jack Earney
of I,os Angeles, Cal., look forward
to Happyland and the funny pages
euch Sunday.
Coupon for
Happy Tribe.
Every boy and girl reader of
th s paper who wishes to join
the Oo Hawks
Happy Tribe.
. of which James
1 Whitcomb Riley
| was the first
Big Chief, can
secure his of
ficial button by
sending a 2-cent stamp with
your name, ago and address with
this coupon Address your letfbr
to "Happy," care this paper.
Over 90,000 members!,
Motto
"To Make the World a Hap
pier Place."
Pledge
"I promise to help some one
every day. I will try to protect
the birds and all dumb animals."
PA I RX. .G
PLAYS
By EMI1.IE BLACK.MOKE STAPP and ELEANOR CAMERON
You have felt sorry many times
the past year for little Fairy Wilful
as she wandered about the Earth
world. She saw so many things
she would like to do if only her lit
tle whnd had still its magic power as
it once had when she lived in Fairy
land. Follow closely this last play
of the series as it appears from Sun
day to Sunday so that you will un
derstand what DID make it pos
sible for the naughty little fairy to
go home. The name of this play is
“THE RETURN OF WILFUL",
(Continued from Laat Sunday)
BETTY JEAN.
My mamma doesn’t know I ran away.
She's ironing and thinka I'm asleep.
WILFUL
(In surprised tone as she looks,
with wide eyes, at the little girl.)
Ran off from your mother? Why,
don't you lova her, Betty Jean?
BETTY JEAN
(Indignantly.)
COURSE I dot But ahe’a Ironin' and
I want la find soma fairies.
WILFUL
i (Starting.)
What falrlea?
BETTY JEAN
Oh. the falrlea in mother's stories—
tha red one with gold wings, and tha
itlua one with silver wings. Ara there
any fairiea around here, Uiri?
WILFUL
(Speaking very carefully )
Yaa, Betty Jean—sometimes—
BETTY JEAN
(Bouncing about joyfully on the
log.)
Oh! Oh I Show ’em to me—SHOW
em!—Nice little, good little fairies with
crown on, and aay. Girl, where do falrlea
come frem—do you know?
WILFUL
Fairies coma from Fairyland, whera
thay lira. I mean, that's their home.
BETTY JEAN
(With her eyes big with curi
osity.)
Is Fairyland a nics plane?
WILFUL
A beautiful—beautiful place, Betty
Jean, whera the skies ara always blue
and the sunshine la like gold. And
there la a shining sea where the sand
fleams tike silver In the moonlight.
bat s where the tittle fairies have tuelr
dances
BETTY JEAN
(In a tone of great surprise.)
Do fairies dance? The ones mother
tells about arc always working to help
somebody.
BETTY JEAN
That's true. The fairies are good—
(Stammering a bit)—that is—that is—
most of them are, and they try very
hard to help folks In trouble by doing
wonderful things with their dear little
wands.
WILFUL
What do their wands look like? I
wish YOU were a fairy. Then I'd get
you to show me yours.
WILFUL.
(Hanging her head sadly as she
speaks.)
I'm aorry that I haven't a dear Itttlo
silver wand If I had I would show
you what lovely things 1 could do
with it.
BETTY JEAN
(With a big yawn as she stretches
sleepily.)
If you did. you would have rometh'ng
for me to eat, wouldn't you—something
good? I'm hungry.
WII.FUL.
(Getting up quickly and going
toward the grapevines.)
Juat a moment, dear. I will brlag
you aomethlng.
(She returns with her hands full
of ripe grape clusters and puts
them into the child’s hands. Betty
Jean eats them hungrily.)
BETTY JEAN
(As she finishes the last bunch.)
Thank you. Girl. You are so good to
me—Just as good (yawning again)—as
food as a fairy. f'ro—1’ m SO tired* 4
ell me a story, won't you?
(She crawls Into Wilful's lap and
cuddles her head down on Wilful's
shoulder.)
- WILFUL,
(As she settles the little girl mors
comfortably In her arms.)
I will sins too a sons instead, Betty
Jean. Now. lietent
(She sings "Baby's Boat’s a Sil
ver Moon" (By Jessie Oaynor) and
at the end of her song croons the
air softly until her small chnrgs
falls asleep. Rising carefully. Wil
ful lays the child down on a smooth
patch of grass, gently turning her
face away from the sun. Then she
stands looking at her with an anx
ious expression.)
(continued Next Sunday.)
POLLY’S f
COOfCT^fU
PopfC
xesiertiay I had our Go Hawk club
In for the afternoon, and because
October 7 Is the birthday of our
first big chief we had a little Riley
contest and also read some of his
poems aloud. Don’t'you love them?
Then mother helped me serve re
s freshments. One thing that we had
was
Fruit Salad.
One can of sliced pineapple cut
In amnll pieces. One pound of white
grapes (quartered). One pound of
marshmallows (quartered). One
pound of blanched almonds (In
half.)
Put In marshmallows when ready
to serve and mix with dressing.
Salad Dressing.
Two tablespoons flour. Two table
spoons butter. Two tablespoons sug
ar. Two well-beaten eggs.. Juice of
two lemons and two oranges.
Cook In double boiler until thick.
When cold stir in twice a" much
whipped cream.
Most everybody likes fruit salud,
so I am very glad I have this recipe
POI,t,Y.
Do You Know
Dorothy Harris of Wnnn. Ok!.,
found a stray kitten not long ago
and brought it Into her home and
fed It.
■i i, - •
Anne Blnke and her sinters of
Boston, Mass., spent Inst summer
in New Hampshire, whore they had
two Jacob Martin bird houses on
poles und two ordinary bird houses.
Helen Wagner of Columbus, O.,
reads Happyland every Hunduy and
has especially enjoyed the Fairy
Orntto plays.
Miles Mix of Hartford Mills, N. Y„
In going to get up a Go-Hawk club,
and likes birds and flowers.
In Field and Forest
Peter and Polly brought their
friends out yesterday and we went
Into the woods looking for black
walnuts. Such fun as we had! Peter
said the walnuts made him think of
small green orange* high up on the
ends of the branches and Peter
made ME think of Hilly Squirrel
climbing all over the trees. He and
the other boys would shake the nuts
down for Polly and her friends to
gather. Then we bruised the hunks
on a big stone and took them off. *
You all know hrw sweet and good
to eat nre the kernels of the wal
nuts. About every leaf and bud nnd
twig as well as In the husk* Is a
peculiar rich scent that belongs to
a walnut tree. If you do not know
It and want to be sure that a wal
nut tree IS a walnut tree, then cut
a twig nnd spilt It. You will find
the pith Is In very thin plates sep
arated by air spaces.
Walnut trees grow very fast. If
you wish to plant any. pack the
nut* that you intend to use for seed
In gravel and have them outdoors
all wlntor. The meat of the nut Is
the seed. Next spring plant your
nuts where you Intend your tree* to
stand forever, for they should not
be moved. •
Some of the Oo-IIawkn may hav#
In their own homes a piece of lovely
old black walnut furniture. If so,
l>e glad. This wood Is very valuable
now because It Is so scarce, ftpend
just ns many Saturdays as you can
In the wood* these bright October
days and you will have a* good »
time as did the children yesterdgy
with your UNCHE JOHN.
(•rundiMi'a Choir*.
Kirnl and beat of earthly Joy*
I like little Rirla and boy*;
Which of nil do I Ilka bent?
Why. the one tbat'a happiest.
—Riley.
Helen Pnraon of (lien Allen. Mo.,
liven in the country, la n great lovor
of nature nnd would Ilk* to henr
from do llnwkn from 15 to IT year*
old.