A Magazine for SNPJ Juveniles
JANUARY
1943
II 480S9
Mladinski List
JUVENILE
IVAN MOLEK -PHILIP GODINA
------- Editor - - Business Manager
CONTENTS FOR JANUARY, 1943
Vsebina januarske številke
POEMS, STORIES, PLAYS, ETC.	Page
Leto 1943 (poem)...................................................... 1
Lukec in njegov škorec (nadaljevanje povesti)......................... 2
Povračilo ........................................................     5
Zgodba o zmaju....................................................     7
ARTICLES, FEATURES, ETC.
Birthdays of the Great Men  ........................................   3
Information Desk, The...............................................  32
Just For Fun......................................................     6
Origin of the World, The............................................   4
Our Own Juvenile Circles of the SNPJ................................  19
Our Pen Pals Write....................................................24
Our School (Winners of the Highest Achievement Awards) ............... 9
Published monthly by the Slovene National Benefit Society for the members of its Juvenile Department. Annual subscription, $1.20; half year, 60c; foreign subscription, $1.50. Address: 2657 S. Lawndale Ave., Chicago, 111. Entered as second-class matter August 2, 1922, at the post office at Chicago, 111., under Act of August 24,1912.
(z U-Jtrmf
MLADINSKI LIST
____________JUVENILE________________
LETO XXII—ŠT. 1	CHICAGO,	ILL.,	JANUARY,	1943	VOL.	XXII—NO. 1
LETO 1943
Katka Zupančič
Sredi vojne vihre in brezmejnega gorja— novo, mlado leto se poraja . . .
Sreče si želimo! Zelje so zaman, dokler svet na dvoje je preklan.
Da bi svet po svoje prekovali— mahnili so satanski kovači po resnici, da je v drobce se, ko zrklo, razletela.
A v vsakterem drobcu—glej!— zrcali se resnica cela!
Da bi narode na živem pokopali— mahnili so satanski kovači po pravici.
A se je pravica kakor jeklo razžarela,
in vsaktera iskra—čuj!
upor in boj za pravo je spočela!
Ne v črnilo, v kri omaka se pero, ki piše grozno zgodovino naših dni . . .
Ali ni je sile, ki ubila bi svobodo— kakor ni pesti, ki razbila bi prirodo!
LUKEC IN NJEGOV ŠKOREC
Povest za mladino France Bevk
(Nadaljevanje)
Mati mu ni odgovorila. Sklanjala se je nizko nad skledo in pripravljala obed. Sin je stopil bliže. Videl je, kako so materi vroče solze kapljale na roke. Čemu joče? Ali ji ni prav, da gre k očetu v Ameriko?
Stopil je na prag. Pod bregom je ležala Vipavska dolina. Srebrna voda, pobočja, polja in vrtovi. Tudi Lukcu je postalo tesno pri srcu.
4.
Koča, v kateri sta živela Marjeta in Lukec, ni bila njihova. Pred vojno je bil vzel Ivan Brajnik, Lukčev oče, Marjeto za ženo. Po poroki sta se bila naselila na samoti.
Brajnik je bil dober kovač, vsi so ga hvalili. Iz vasi in iz daljne okolice so mu prinašali dela. Od jutra do večera mu je pelo kladivo po nakovalu. Pri delu ni govoril, ni se šalil. Ves črn v obraz je mršil obrvi, grbančil čelo. Zvečer je zaklenil kovačnico, sedel za mizo. Bil je zgovoren in vesel.
Z ženo sta imela dva otroka. Sina in hčer. Nastala je vojna. Ivan je moral k vojakom. Hodil je po daljnih tujih krajih, pisal Marjeti pisma. Bil je ranjen v nogo. Dolgo je ležal v bolnici.
Marjeta je bila ostala sama v koči. Jokala je za možem, skrbela za otroka. Trpeli so pomanjkanje in stradali. Otroka sta zbolela in umrla. Marjeta je ostala popolnoma sama. Pričakovala je moža.
Konec vojne. Ivan se je vrnil domov. Znova je pelo kladivo v kovačnici. Z Marjeto sta dobila še enega otroka, ta je bil Lukec. Mati od takrat ni bila več zdrava. Tožila je, da jo boli srce.
Lukec je jokal, pil mleko in nagajal materi. Shodil je. Pticapljal je k očetu v kovačnico. Bil je siten, vse je hotel vzeti v roke.
“Pusti! Opekel se boš,” mu je dejal oče.
Sinček ni rad ubogal. Ko se je oče ozrl, je zgrabil za gorko železo. Speklo ga je, da je zajokal.
Oče ga je vzel na koleno in mu popihal roko. Lukec je utihnil. Nato ga je oče zgrabil za roke, Lukec je jahal konjička. Oče je pel:
“Hopa, hopa, čička,
Lukec, na konjička!”
To je bilo pa res lepo. Lukec je pozabil, da ga skeli roka. Smejal se je. “Še, še!” Oče se je igral z njim vsak večer.
Lukec je rasel. Vsak dan je prihajal k očetu v kovačnico. V kovačnici je bilo toliko lepih reči. Stal je za vrati in gledal.
“Oče, zakaj pa je to?”
Oče mu je rad povedal. Nekoč ga je vprašal:
“Kaj bo iz tebe? Ali boš gospod?”
“Ne. Kovač!”
Bil je še majhen, ko je pomagal očetu goniti kovaški meh. Oglje je žarelo, železo jč postalo rdeče ko makov cvet. Oče ga je zgrabil s kleščami in tolkel po njem. Svetle iskre so pršele na vse strani.
Včasih sta oče in mati dolgo govorila. Lukec ni razumel vsega. Oče je tožil, da ni zaslužka. Dejal je: “Mislil sem, da bom kupil kočo, a ne gre in ne gre.” Mati je molčala in vzdihnila.
Nekega večera je prišel oče domov, povedal materi: “V Ameriko pojdem.” Mati je zajokala.
Naslednjega dne se je splazil Lukec v kovačnico. Gledal je očeta, ki je z vso silo tolkel po železu. Zdelo se je, da je hud.
“Oče, kam pojdete?”
“Za morje.”
“Ali je to daleč?”
“Tam, kjer zahaja solnce.”
Lukec je počenil. Nekaj časa je molče gledal v očeta.
“Ali pojdem z vami?”
“Ne,” je odgovoril oče na kratko. “Z materjo bosta ostala doma.”
Če je rekel oče, je bilo ko z žeblji pribito. Lukcu je bilo težko.
Oče ni odšel tako naglo. Lukec je že začel hoditi v šolo. Nekega dne je prinesel oče veliko denarja domov. Vrgel ga je na mizo in ga preštel. Mati je zopet jokala.
“Če mi pojde dobro, prideta za menoj.” Mati in Lukec sta spremila očeta v mesto. Na postaji so se objeli. Oče ni jokal, mati pa tako, da ni mogla govoriti. Tudi Lukec je jokal.
(Dalje na 31. strani)
Birthdays of the Great Men
By Louis Beniger
tZohert 8i
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Robert Burns, Scotish poet of great fame, was born on January 25, 1759, at Alloway, Scotland, in a two-roomed clay cottage built by his father. His parents were poor peasants who struggled for bare existence but managed to give their children an elementary education. The father was an understanding man who talked to his sons as man to man.
Young Burns’ early life, though full of privation and harsh toil, was passed among gentle influences. At fifteen Robert did a grown man’s work in ploughing and reaping. He had a few books of poetry to read, and had heard, as every Scotch peasant hears, the floating ballad verse of the countryside. Then he had begun to rhyme, almost as spontaneously as a bird begins to sing as he followed his plough along the mountainside.
Robert Burns’ first collection of “Poems” was published when he was 27. Such was their immediate success that he went to Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, and published a new edition of “Poems.” He was lionized at first, but had bitterly to learn the difference between curiosity and social acceptance. His first collection included such poems as “To a Mountain Daisy,” “To a Mouse,” “Epistile to Davie,” “Address to the Devil,” “The Twa Dogs,” “Scotch Drink,” “Halloween,” and “The Cotter’s Saturday Night,” which shows fireside happiness.
Burns was a healthy farm lad, with a warm heart, and a nature-given genius for song. It was in his early twenties that he wrote the larger number of those poems which have made his name loved everywhere. In these he revealed the rural Scotland of his day. With a blended light of humor and tenderness he portrayed the experiences of his peasant world. He celebrates the Scotch drink and holds up to laughter the praying hypocrite “Holy Willie.” But Burns turns also to mourn over the modest flower uprooted in the furrow on the mountainside, and finds in a field-mouse whose snug home has been broken up by
the ploughshare, a thing to touch the spring of human pity.
In 1782, when he went to Irvine to learn the flax-dressing industry, he found himself in the company of young progressives who welcomed him as a brilliant addition to their circle, and spurred him on to extravagance of word and deed. Soon his unconventional ways got him into trouble, and he determined to go to the West Indies. It was at this time, to finance his trip, that he published his poems which gained him such recognition that the whole face of his fortunes was changed. He was lionized like a hero of romance, but his powerful sense and his native dignity never deserted him.
With the exception of the “Jolly Beggars” and “Tam O’Shanter,” Burns did no more sustained work after this period. But he poured out hundreds of songs in the Scotch dialect—love songs, drinking songs, songs of patriotism, many of which are the lasting possession of the race. They have given Burns the rank as the first of English song writers. From the loud flowing revel of “Willie” to the cheerful greeting of “Auld Lang Syne,” he has found a tone and words for every mood of a man’s heart. Although pressed for money, he refused to accept any pay for these songs—he dedicated them to his beloved Scotland.
Among his other well known poems are “Green Grow the Rashes,” “A Winter Night,” “Scots Wha Hae,” and “A Man’s a Man for A’ That.” In the latter he expresses his burning sense of personal worth as opposed to the privileges of station.
The quality of Burn’s poetry which first arrests a reader’s interest, is its sincerity. But it is neither his energy nor his sincerity which made Burns the most widely beloved of English poets. It is rather his sympathy and healthy humor.
In Burns, the eighteenth century had produced a man able to deliver literature from the bonds of convention. His glowing democracy of heart robbed the aristocratic eighteenth century of its attraction.
Robert Burns died on July 21, 1796, at Dumfris, Scotland, at the age of 37.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD
(Continued.)
When you come to think about the origin of the world, and the making of this plum-pudding we call the earth, you see something far more wonderful than anything Professor Anderson ever did. And the making of this world was a real thing. We have a real world made, out of real gas, and now we have real life on it, and real emotion; and it is as good a world as ever you like to think it. Some people say it is a bad world; but, as the song says:
This world is not so bad a world As some folks try tp make it;
But whether good or whether bad Depends on how you take it.
You saw how the sun and all the worlds grew out of fiery gas, and we left them whirling, cooling, and solidifying. But the puzzle is, How did the rocks grow out of gas? Yes, and how did water come from gas? I have tried to tell you how the two gases, oxygen and hydrogen, unite to form water. But there is the air we breathe! How did that come about?
Well, the air we breathe is composed of oxygen and nitrogen, and if you were put into a room and shut close, so that no more air could get in, you would breathe the air, and your lungs would use up the oxygen, and when that was all gone you would be drowned in the nitrogen and the carbonic acid gas that you produced by breathing.
We would say, when we found you, that “she has been suffocated.” That would be right, too, for that is what would have happened. Nitrogen, by itself, drowns you. Oxygen, by itself, burns you up. But if you combine the two in proper quantities, you get “fresh air.” There are inventors at work now who are putting oxygen into big steel tubes, under enormous pressure, and supplying “fresh air” to houses. And we are going to have “fresh mountain air” supplied to city houses. That is all because we are finding out how the world was made, how it grew in response to the law. The world is what it is because it could not be anything else.
How many elements are there? There you have a question which once interested me very much. When I was a young man, study-
ing geology and chemistry, I wanted to know how many elements there were; but the professor would never tell me. I was not used to the idea of a teacher being ignorant of the things he taught, so I wondered if the professor did not know.
We say there are ninety-two “elements”; but if you will think it out, you will see that all the elements must have been in that gas which floated in the sky as a vast spiral nebula. In that gas there were the elements of the politicians and the strikers; the elements of the armies of men and the hosts of suffering women. In that gas there were the elements of the farm and the station, of the sheep and the wheat. In that gas there were all the ironclads and the torpedo boats, all the sin and sorrow and wickedness of earth. In that vast gaseous cloud which once floated in the death-cold realms of space there were the elements of all that is. All that is, all that was, all that ever will be, came from gas!
What a lot of empty pride we have, and how conceited we are! But if people did as you do, and asked how the world came to be, they would be more humble and more considerate of each other. They would see that we are all poor human children in a flying world, and they would never submit to some of them starving while others had too much. They would want to abolish all human misery, and make the best of this little plum-pudding of a world, while they had the chance. But we do not know, and so we go on in misery and wickedness.
What is salt? There is an enormous amount of salt in the world, and salt is not an “element.” No, salt is composed of two “elements”—i. e., chlorine and sodium. When I first learned that salt was “chloride of sodium,” I thought I had learned a great deal, but I had not. I had only learned a name, and names are only tallies, clues, signs; they are not anything real. Thirty-five and a-half parts of chlorine and twenty-three of sodium form salt; and all the salt in all the seas, all the salt in all the mines, is formed on that basis.
(To be continued)
POVRAČILO
Pahič Borko
Zateglo je zazvonil šolski zvonec in njegov rezki glas je zresnil učence v učilnici, da so potihnili. Prišel je gospod učitelj in zabave je bilo konec. Takoj so brskali po knjigah^ da prično z učenjem, ko se je nenadoma oglasila Kovačeva Rezika iz predzadnje klopi:
“Prosim, gospod učitelj! Pečnikov Tine je včeraj metal kamenje na Gorjančevega psa.”
Vsi so potihnili in prisluhnili, kaj bo rekel učitelj. A hkratu so se vse oči ozrle na Tineta, ki je ves rdeč v obraz sedel v zadnji klopi. Srdito je pogledoval učence, ki so strmeli vanj kot v čudo z drugega sveta. Zamolklo in tiho je škripal z zobmi in na tihem obljubljal klepetavi Roziki strašno maščevanje.
Učitelj, prileten mož z osivelimi lasmi, je mirno pristopil k njemu:
“Vstani!” je velel trdo.
Počasi, uporniško se je Tine dvignil, kot bi hotel pokazati, da se nikogar ne boji. Tri leta je že hodil v ta eden in isti razred, zato se mu je zdelo, da ima pred ostalimi učenčki kot starejši “član” neke predpravice.
“Tine, zakaj si to storil?” je dejal čez čas učitelj mehkeje, kot bi hotel s tem omehčati “zločinca.” “Ali ne veš, da je treba živali pustiti pri miru? Ali ne veš, da je grd in zloben človek, ki pretepa in muči živali? Ali res ne veš tega?”
Tine je trmasto strmel skozi okno v drevesa, ki Jih je pozibaval veter, kot bi hotel pokazati, da js vse v šoli zdaj daleč od njega. Na miru me naj puste, je mislil, pa bo najbolje.
V	razredu je bilo tiho, da je bilo slišati dihanje učencev. Učitelj je skušal dečku pogledati v oči Pa jih je ta trdovratno obračal drugam.
“Tine, ali nočeš govoriti?” je še mehkeje povzel.
Nič. Učenec je sklonil glavo in risal s prstom Po klopi brezpomembne čirečare in molčal.
Tedaj se je učitelj poslednjič oglasil:
“Nočeš govoriti, Tine. Mar se bojiš? Ne bom te tepel, ker vem, da se ne zavedaš, kaj delaš. Toda, če boš še dalje tako trmast, ne boš srečen. Nikdar. Tovariši, ne zaničujte ga in bodite z njim prijatelji, saj je prijateljev potreben. Še kmalu, prav kmalu boš drugačen. Zdaj pa k stvari! Mirko, ali si se naučil “Stoji učilna zidana?”
Ves dan je potlej ležala mora med učenci: V odmorih so se Tineta izogibali, menda so se ga bali ali kaj. Sicer pa se sam ni zmenil za nikogar, slonel je ob oknu in je bil vesel, da ga nihče ne ^°ti. Kaj bi tak proces radi nekaj kamnov, ki jih je vrgel Gorjančevi mrcini, ko se je zaganjala vanj! Koval je naklepe, kako bi se maščeval Reziki, ker ga je zatožila. Le naj počaka, po šoli!
Ko je opoldne zazvonilo, so se učenci zakropili na vse strani. Na videz brezbrižen je hitel Tine domov, v resnici pa je oprezal, kje je Kovačevo
dekle. Komaj mu je šola izginila z vidika, se je skril za plot ob cesti in prihuljeno čakal.
Tačas je Rezika mirno hitela domov. Ozrla se je večkrat, da bi kje opazila Tineta. Vzela si je bila učiteljeve besede k srcu in milo se ji je storilo ob misli, da je Tine ubožec. Povedati mu je hotela, naj si tega ne jemlje preveč k srcu, da ga je zatožila, saj ga ne bo nikoli več, ker ve, da je Tine ubožec . . .
Pod Gorjančevo kmetijo je nenadoma stopil na cesto. Rezika se je razveselila in je brž pričela:
“Ne bodi hud, Tine, saj te . . .”
Nenadoma je zakričala. Tine se ji je zlovešče približeval in v roki se mu je zabliskalo rezilo noža. Planil je proti njej, a še preden je utegnil s svojim pipcem kaj ukreniti, je planil iz grmovja Gorjančev pes Perun in se zakadil vanj. Cefral mu je hlačnico na vse pretege, potem pa je pograbil nogo . . .
Tine je spustil nož in z mrtvaško bledico na obrazu omahnil k tlom. Perun pa vendar ni odnehal, saj si je dobro zapomnil, kaj je bilo prejšnji dan. Zdaj je jela Rezika kričati, da je na vso sapo pritekel stari Gorjanc in zbrcal psa od dečka, ki je negiben ležal sredi ceste. Okoli noge se mu je bila stekla mlaka krvi. Zanesli so ga v Gorjančevo izbo in ga položili na posteljo, medtem ko je Gorjanec tekal po polju za psom, da ga pretepe.
Dva tedna je ležal Tine pri Gorjancu in huda vročica ga ves čas ni hotela zapustiti. Blodil je v snu, kričal in mahal z rokami, tako presunljivo, da so imeli navzoči vedno solze v očeh. Zdravnik, ki so ga poklicali, je zmajeval z glavo, češ nevarnj je, nevarno. In Tinetova mati je skoro vse dni prejokala pri bolnem sinu.
Tretji teden se je Tinetu nenavadno obrnilo na bolje. Prišel je do zavesti in želel videti Peruna. Gorjanc je okleval, vendar je šel ponj in ga trdno ob vrvi privedel v sobo. Sprva je pes renčal, ko pa so se njegove oči srečale z očmi bolnega dečka, mu je menda nekaj “seglo v dušo,” da je nenadoma utihnil in vdano legel k postelji. Dolgo zatem se ni ganil od nje.
Nedolgo po tistem je prišel obiskat bolnika stari gospod učitelj. Tine je strmel, bolezen ga je prerodila. V svoje veliko zadovoljstvo je učitelj spoznal, da so se njegove besede izpolnile. Vso trmo je vročica dečku odpravila. Še bolj pa se je začudil, ko je videl Peruna ob postelji in je neverno zmajeval z glavo, ko so mu povedali vso stvar. Pomolčal je nekaj trenutkov, potem pa je rekel:
“Vidiš, Tine, spravil si se s psom, ali se ne bi še z menoj?”
S solznimi očmi mu je slabotni deček segel v roko in čvrsto sta si jih stisnila.
Ko je pozneje učitelj odhajal, je zrl Tine za njim z izrazom neizmerne sreče in hvaležnosti in tudi Peruna je iz kotu zadovoljno mežikal v večerno solnce.
JUST FOR FUN
MR. 1943
Here that stranger comes once more
Knocking loudly on each door.
See how young he is and spry
Looking round with wondering eye.
He is such a hopeful chap
Full of vigor, vim and snap.
Open wide the door and let him in
Help him on his way—his journey to begin.
*	* * *
DO YOU KNOW YOUR BIRDS?
Here are some familiar birds, types of which you have all seen. We have listed them by describing them to you in familiar phrases. Can you guess what they are?
1. Polly wants a cracker.
2. He sings songs by imitating those of other birds.
3. His name is just a color plus a letter in the alphabet.
4. The name is “Jenny” in children’s books.
5. He’s yellow and generally locked up in a cage.
6. He is very wise looking and comes out at night.
» * * *
SPELLING QUIZ
Here is a chance to sharpen your wits, as the experts say, on your spelling lesson. These are catchy spelling words, and you are to indicate whether the word in Column A or Column B is spelled correctly.
A	B
1. acomodate	accommodate
2. ninety	ninty
3. misspell	mispell
4. coperate	cooperate
5. primarilly	primarily
*	*	sjs	H«
RIDDLE-ME-REE
1. Brothers and sisters have I none
But that man’s father is my father’s son.
What relation am I to that man?
2. Freda is a fast dishwasher and can wash 8 plates, 16 cups and 12 saucers in 40 seconds. How many can she wash in GV2 minutes?
3. Some animals when they are just babies are called by a different name than when they’re grown, as for instance, a cat you’ll call kitty or kitten. What baby names would you attach to the following?
1. cow	5.	horse
2. bear	6.	frog
3. pig	7.	dog
4. chicken	8.	sheep
* * * *
4. If you know your alphabet, you will most likely be able to answer the following because each answer is one letter of the alphabet:
By Ernestine Jugg
a.	A large	body of water.
b.	A name	of a bird.
c. Every person has two on his face.
d. It is an insect from which you get honey.
e.	You can	drink it either	hot	or cold.
f.	It grows	in the garden and	is a	green vege-
table.
5.	There were a group of persons wanting to make a trip in an airplane, and the pilot wanted to charge them $25.00 apiece. They inquired if he would take two more persons could he make the charges $20.00 apiece. “Surely,” said the pilot, “and I will still make $10.00 more.” How many persons went flying together?
*	* * *
QUIZZEES
Here is another chance to brush up on your school studies. For instance we give you questions for each of the following:
1. History: Napoleon was defeated in: 1—Battle of Bull Run; 2—Battle at Waterloo; 3—Battle of the Marne; 4—Battle at Gettysburg.
2. Botany: Buds on trees are formed: 1—In the Summer; 2—In the Winter; 3—In the Spring; 4—In the Autumn.
3. Geography: Iran has a coastline on two bodies of water. They are: 1—Red Sea and Caspian; 2—Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea; 3—Red Sea and Black Sea.
4. English: A chameleon is: 1—An ornament; 2-—A piece of furniture; 3-—A lizard-like animal.
5. Astronomy: With the naked eyes we can see in the heavens on a clear night: 1—9,000 stars; 2—30,000 stars; 3—90,000 stars.
*	>N H* #
DAYS IN OUR HISTORY
January 11—Alexander Hamilton, our first Secretary of the Treasury, was challenged to a duel by Aaron Burr and fatally killed.
January 16, 1920—The first meeting of the League of Nations with 9 countries represented. Later many countries withdrew leaving only a skeleton staff. The first meeting was at Geneva, Switzerland.
January 24, 1848—Gold was discovered in California and about 80,000 men went in search of this metal and arrived in California in 1849.
»■e s|c sH s(c
PUZZLERS
Jimmy and Junior thought they’d have a little fun so they picked up a lot of proverbs but didn’t finish them. They left that for you to do. Can you do it?
1.	Truth will------------.
2. Easy come, easy---------------.
3. Mighty oaks from tiny---------------
4. Where there’s a will there’s a-
5. One for all and all for-------------
-grow.
(Continued on page 8)
MLADINSKI LIST
ZGODBA 0 ZMAJU
Golar Manko
To je bilo tisto leto in tiste dni, ko si je Štrbon-celjev Pepe zlomil nogo, ko je lezel na Štefučevo češpljo.
Tisto leto in tiste dni je prilezla v Pušče gromozanska zver. Velika ni bila bog ve kaj, zato pa tako grozna, da vstajajo Puščanom še danes lasje pokonci, če se spomnijo tistega dneva, ko je lazila okrog Pušč ta huda zadeva.
Prvi jo je zagledal policaj Kozobrc—seveda, tako se spodobi—in pritekel kriče v vas, da so že vsi po vsej pravici mislili, da je Kozobrc ponorel, ker so letele iz njegovih ust take kolobocije, da jih živ krst ni mogel razumeti.
Šele, ko so oča župan—za Štefuca so jih zmerjali—neznansko hudo pogledali, se je policaj toliko pomiril, da je povedal, kako in kaj.
“Kot zvrhan voz sena,” je dejal, “je velika ta zver, leze naprej in nazaj, gleda pa, o Bože, kot sam peklenšček. In mesto tac ima nekaj Škarjam podonbega.” Pa sam ogenj in žveplo leti iz te mrcine, in malo je manjkalo, da ga ni požrla, njega, Kozobrca.
V	hipu so prebledeli oča Štefuc, v glavi se jim je zavrtelo in noge so se jim začele tresti. In kar opotekali so se, kot takrat, ko so se ga malo preveč nalezli.
Že je moral leteti policaj k mežnarju Naceku. In koj nato so zagrmeli vsi puščanski zvonovi, to se pravi, le eden je zagrmel, ker jih več niso imeli, tako grozno in pretresujoče.
Ni preteklo časa niti za pol očenaša, ko so pridrveli pred županovo hišo vsi vaščani in buljili v Stefučeva vrata. Čisto bledi so stopili oni, župan, pred vrata in le težko jim je šla beseda iz ust, in vsak je mogel videti, kako so jim trepetale roke in kako so poskakovale njihove hlače na njihovih bedrih. Predolgo je skoraj trajalo, predno so se mogli oča izkašljati, kar jim je povedal policaj. Pušačni so kar odreveneli od groze in nemo buljili drug v drugega. Šele čez nekaj časa se je oglasil junaški Štefuc in hripavo zaklical: “Nad njega moramo, nad zmaja, saj nam sicer uniči in požre celo vas!”
Le malo glasov je potegnilo z njim. Skoraj vsi Puščani so jo hoteli kar popihati, magari kar k svojim največjim sovražnikom Zabitovščanom, ki gotovo niso tako grozni kot ta zverina, ki preži morda že za domačim plotom in utegne planiti vsak hip sredi vasi in požreti z enim mahom kar celo vas. Nekateri junaki so se pričeli umikati nazaj in se skrivati za krila svojih babur, drugi so pričeli klicati na pomoč sv. Urha, njihovega Patrona.
Toda oče župan so strogi, v vasi hočejo imeti mir, zato mora mrcina poginiti. “Nihče nam ne bo pomagal, če si sami ne bomo,” so komaj stisnili 12 sebe. “Domov pojdite, vile in krampe prinesite s seboj, ti Kozobrc pa helebardo, saj jo imaš, jaz Pa vzamem puško. Ženske, ve pa skuhajte vrelo vodo in smolo,” so dejali še oča župan. Na koncu pa se: “Proti mraku se zberite pod vaško lipo, pa
tiho bodite, in ne veka j te, da zverina ne bo uganila, kaj menimo z njo.” Vsi Puščani so odšli domov kot poklapani frkosini, nobeden se ni široko-ustil, saj je šlo zares.
Že se je jel zaletavati mrak v hiše, ko se je zbrala puščanska vojska. Ni jih bilo kot listja in trave, vendar dovolj, da bi se jih zbali Zabitov-ščani, a sam Bog naj ve, če bo pobegnila pred njimi tudi ta preklicana zverina.
Dolgo časa so se prepirali in prerekali Puščani, preden so si zbrali Kozobrca za vojskovodjo. Takrat se je vsak branil te časti, nihče se ni hotel zameriti zverini, saj nihče ni vedel, kako se bo vse to končalo.
Tudi Kozobrc se je otepal in branil na vse mile viže, toda nič ni pomagalo. Kozobrc je imel helebardo in čemu jo je neki imel.
In šli so, spredaj policaj, za njim pa ostali. Dolgo časa so tavali junaki po puščanskih njivah, preden so staknili mrcino. Ravno se je namenila k potoku, gotovo je bila žejna, Bog ve, če ni požrla že kakšnega vaščana in je postala žejna.
“To naj bo ta zmaj,” so vprašali oča župan in pisano pogledali Kozobrca. “Prav ta je, prav ta,” je boječe odgovarjal policaj, kar preveč se mu je zdelo, da ga je polomil. “Gotovo se je potuhnila ta zverina in postala majhna, da se je ne bi ustrašili,” je menil dalje, “gotovo je sam peklenšček, če še ne kaj hujšega.”
Joj, kako junaški so postali naenkrat vsi Puščani. Vsi so se prerivali okoli zmaja, ki ni bil zmaj in ki tudi ognja in žvepla ni bruhal iz ust in se posmihali Kozobrcu.
Tedaj se je zgodilo nekaj gromozanskega. Oča župan so se pripognili in hoteli malce potipati to hudo reč. Toda ta jih je vščipnila v prsta s škarjami jih je zagrabila, in oča Štefuc so zagnali tak vrišč, da se jih je gotovo slišalo prav do Zabitovec.
“Pomagajte, pomagajte, morilec, morilec,” so se drli kakor obsedeni. In zopet so zlezli skupaj, kakor da bi jih kdo s kolom mahnil po glavi.
V	hipu so se razbežali Puščani in pustili na cedilu župana. Le Kozobrc je neusmiljeno vihtel svojo helebardo nad glavo svojega gospodarja in mesto, da bi zadel zverino, je padalo po glavi ubogega Štefuca. Dolgo je trajalo, predolgo jih ni spustila mrcina iz svojih klešč, pa naj so še tako mahali okoli sebe in še tako divje kričali, kot da bi jim kdo rezal jermene na hrbtu.
Končno je bilo zmaju dovolj, v velikem loku je odletel z županovega prsta, s katerega se je cedila kri. Že sta jo hotela popihati tudi onadva, Štefuc in Kozobrc, kar se policaj domisli, da je treba to zverino spraviti vendar s sveta, sicer bo podavila vse Puščane.
Zopet so morali vabiti oča župan svoje vaščane, da so prilezli zopet nazaj, saj so se po vsej pravici bali te krvi željne zadeve. O, kako so se tresli, da ne bi ta gromozanska reč kar naenkrat zrasla v pošast, kot je menil Kozobrc. Pa ni! Še skriti se je hotela, morda se ji ni zahotelo krvi, Bog ve.
“Glavo za glavo, zob za zob,” so trdo dejali žu-
pan Štefuc, “na smrt moram obsoditi to pošast, sicer ne bo več mirne ure v Puščah. Vsi ste videli, kako malo je manjkalo, da me ni požrla. Zato mora umreti, mora!” Tako so dejali in še z nogo so udarili ob tla, kar je bilo dovolj zgovorno znamenje, kako resno so sklenili uničiti to zverino, ki ji ni enake pod soncem.
Dolgo so se potem posvetovali Puščani in njihova glava-—župan, preden so sklenili, kako bodo spravili s sveta to hudo zadevo. Prav za prav bi jo radi obesili, pa je niso mogli, ker niso vedeli, kje ima vrat, ker je lezla naprej in nazaj.
“Kar v vodo jo bomo vrgli, da bo utonila ta hudoba, da bo njena grešna duša pomnila, kdaj se ji je zahotelo puščanske krvi. V globokem tolmunu naj razmišlja, dokler ji peklenšček ne odnese črne duše tja, kamor spada.” Tako so sklenili oča župan in Puščani so vneto pritrjevali svojemu županu in se divili njegovi pameti. In kakor so sklenili, tako so tudi napravili. Sam Kozobrc se je ponudil, da bo spravil zver v potok. Previdno, a vendar junaško se je spravil nad njo. S helebardo jo je porival, zdaj za hip odskočil, ko se mu je zazdelo, da misli planiti zverina na njega. Kmalu se je zopet lotil še z večjim junaštvom nevarnega posla. Težka in nevarna je bila pot, ubogemu Ko-zobrcu so jele tu in tam siliti na čelo že potne srage, celo smrten znoj ga je že oblival, tako blizu je bil že smrti.
Noč je že lezla po zemlji, ko je končno štrbunk-nila pošast v potok; visoko v zrak je brizgnila voda, kakor da bi se tudi ona zbala objema te strašne zverine.
S ponosno dvignjenimi glavami so se vračali Puščani domov. O, sedaj pa ni šel več Kozobrc na čelu hrabre čete, kajti oča župan niso vendar zaman prvi v vasi.
Nestrpno so pričakovale puščanske babure svoje može za vaškim plotom. “Ali ste, ali ste jo,” so jele kričati in spraševati, ko so zagledale svoje junake še daleč iz vasi.
“I, kajpak, kajpak smo jo,” so dejali oča župan —drugi so morali molčati, “z golimi rokami sem šel nad pošast in jo vrgel v potok,” so se bahali dalje. Materi županji je zastala kar sapa od ponosa, takega moža pač ne najdeš daleč naokrog, o takega junaka, ki se še zmaja ne boji. Še dolgo v noč so pripovedovali Puščani svojim ženam, kako grozen je bil boj in kako je tekla kri. Uboge Puščanke so se od strahu kar tresle, kako tudi ne.
In ko je vprašala mati županja svojega moža, kako se vendar imenuje ta zver, ki je grozila Pu-ščanom, so se oča za hip zamislili, potem se modro odkašljali in rekli: “Ce ni bil zmaj, je pa bila kača klopotača.”—In prav so imeli, kaj ne!
★	★★★★★* IN WAR BONDS
★★★★★★★
“POINSETTIA,” THE FLOWER OF THE WEST Drawn by Verna Mae Duzenack, age 15,
Walsenburg, Colo., Lodge 299.
JUST FOR FUN
(Continued on page 6)
ARE YOU HELPING TO WIN THE WAR?
Check over these items and see what, if any, you are doing:
1. Buying stamps or bonds.
2. Knitting.
3. Contributing to U.S.O.
4. Saving family car.
5. Saving on electric lights.
6. Eat the right food and- keep well.
7. Salvaging old scrap.
8. Joining First-Aid Units.
*****
THINGS YOU NEVER SEE:
1—Two lost soles. 2—A deviled egg. 3—Fowl bawl (ball). 4—Tire Pump. 5—Bull fiddle. *****
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our SNPJ Juveniles and friends. May 1943 bring you much happiness and joy.
(Answers on inside back cover page.)
OUR SCHOOL
OUR SCHOOL FOR VICTORY
Real and Lasting Victory for the Common People Leads Through the Portals of Knowledge and Education
RULES FOR 1943
1. A sum not to exceed $500 is available for SNPJ juvenile members and Circles, qualifying for prizes in the "Our School For Victory" contest.
2. All contributions shall be grouped into three classes, namely: LITERARY, DRAWINGS, and PHOTOGRAPHY. The literary class shall consist of news reports of SNPJ juvenile activities and anniversary celebrations, letters, short stories, essays and poems. Drawings shall include cartoons, diagrams or sketches of games, crossword puzzles, and such. Photography shall comprise mainly pictures of Juvenile activities, members and officers who have to their credit a record of outstanding achievement. Contributions to any class may be rejected if judged unacceptable by the Editor.
3. All prizes shall be in the form of UNITED STATES WAR SAVINGS BONDS AND STAMPS and shall be called "Victory Achievement Awards." A total of $75 in awards shall be distributed among the winners at the end of each quarter, the number and amount of which shall depend on the number and quality of contributions published in each such period. In addition to the quarterly prizes, awards totaling up to $200 shall be distributed at the end of the contest among the year's outstanding contributors.
4. The Juvenile Circle, chosen as the one having contributed most towards the success of the "Our School For Victory" contest, will be awarded a $50 war bond and an achievement plaque. Three other Juvenile Circles will each receive a $25 bond and a certificate of award. The outstanding individual contestants of the year, contributors of the best letters, stories, poems, news reports, drawings, etc., will not only receive special recognition and honors, but will be appropriately rewarded with additional "Victory Achievement Awards."
5. Our attractive, gold-filled SNPJ JUNIOR VICTORY pin shall be sent to every member whose writings and drawings are published in at least three different issues of the Mladinski List. The receipt of this special award will automatically qualify one for membership in the ML VICTORY CLUB.
6. All contributions submitted by juvenile members and published in the ML, or in the Juvenile Circle Section of the Prosveta, shall be eligible for "Victory Achievement Awards," if qualified under the rules.
7. Any Juvenile Circle can have its own SECTION in the ML by enclosing a request for same along with the contributions, and provided, also, that two or more members share in its composition. When a Circle desires to have its "Own
Page" in any particular issue of the ML, the Manager should write in advance to the Editor and request the month selected for it.
8. The Juvenile Director may choose one or more subjects as special topics on which the members may write. These shall be entitled to prizes the same as all other contributions. The subjects chosen for the first and second quarters, these ending with the March and June issues of the ML, appear in the footnote below, separate from these rules. Limit contributions of this type, if possible, to not more than 200 words.
9. As special feature of the Fifth Anniversary of the organization of the first Juvenile Circle, one page may be devoted each month to pictures of Juvenile Circle activities, and outstanding members. Pictures of cultural, entertainment, and athletic groups are especially desirable. In all instances, pictures must be clear and fit for reproduction in the ML, otherwise, they will be re^ jected.
10. All contributions shall be judged for ORIGINALITY, choice of subject, and composition. The judges of the "Our School For Victory" contest are the Juvenile Director, the Editor, and the Supreme President.
11. Every contribution must be in the hands of the Editor by the first of the month if intended for the issue of the ML of the following month.
Note: The subject chosen for the first quarter is: ONE SUGGESTION HOW TO IMPROVE MY OWN JUVENILE CIRCLE. For the second quarter, the subject is: HISTORY OF MY OWN JUVENILE CIRCLE.
MICHAEL VRHOVNIK, Juvenile Director.
“OUT WITH ’IM!”
Drawn by Dan Gostovich, age 11, Raton, New Mexico, Lodge 297.
Highest Achievement Awards Won By "Our School" Contest Winners
The seven beautiful trophies, displayed here, are emblematic of the highest achievement honors awarded to the winners of the “Our School” literary and drawing contest, ending with the December (1942) issue of the Mladinski List.
The two trophies on the right and the two on the left are individual prizes awarded to four juvenile members for the best written contributions and drawings published during the year. The three remaining trophies were awarded to Juvenile Circles chosen as first, second, and third place winners in the contest.
Each trophy has been engraved with the name of the winner, number of lodge and/or Circle, where located, by whom and for what the achievement was awarded, and the year. To give you some idea of their size and appearance, the trophies stand from fifteen to twenty-two inches in height, four of which are silver-plated, and three of Nobloglo (gold-like) finish combined with genuine walnut bases, all richly polished.
In addition to the trophies pictured above, the sum of $256, this in the form of United States War Savings Stamps, has been distributed among the fifty-six (56) juvenile members selected as winners. Also, each juvenile member, who contributed written material or drawings published in three or more different issues of the Mladinski List during the course of the contest, has been rewarded with an attractive gold-filled SNPJ Junior Victory pin. A number of the outstanding winners have been further honored with merit certificate awards.
The judges extend hearty congratulations to the winners and thank all contributors, whether their names appear among the prize winners or not, for
their many fine contributions to the Mladinski List in 1942. . . And now, before you turn your attention to the list of winners given below, you are reminded that the new 1943 contest begins with this issue of the Mladinski List and will continue throughout the year. The sum of $500 has been appropriated by the Supreme Board for this purpose, and prizes, according to the rules which appear elsewhere in this issue, will be awarded quarterly. Be sure to read the rules and join the new contest.	Juvenile	Director.
THREE ACHIEVEMENT TROPHIES WON BY JUVENILE CIRCLES
1st Place—Circle No. 22 (Voice of Youth), Midway, Penna—Mary Janeshek, Mgr.
2nd Place—Circle No. 1 (Pioneers), Walsenburg, Colo.—Ed Tomsic, Mgr.
3rd Place—Circle No. 24 (Jolly Juveniles), Waukegan, 111.—Christine Stritar, Mgr.
FOUR PRIZES OF TROPHY AND $5.00 EACH TO:
Gostovich, Zora, Box 531, Raton, New Mexico, Lodge 297.
Baltezar, Bill, Short Street, Butte, Montana, Lodge 249.
Bozanic, Zita, R. D. 3, Worcester, New York, Lodge 393.
Skoff, Eugene, 3603 S. 56th St., Cicero, 111., Lodge 559.
TWO PRIZES OF $12.00 EACH TO:
Barton, Virginia, R. D. 4, McDonald, Pa., Lodge 89 (Circle 22).
Smolich, William, 31 Church St., Herminie, Pa., Lodge 613.
THREE PRIZES OF $10.00 EACH TO:
Volk, Ben, Second Avenue, Tonawanda, New York, Lodge 405.
Polončič, Margaret, R. D. 2, Union Dale, Pa., Lodge 124.
Machek, Violet, R. D. 4, McDonald, Pa., Lodge 231 (Circle 22).
FOUR PRIZES OF $8.00 EACH TO:
Spendal, Jimmie, Clinton, Indiana, Lodge 50.
Maslek, Violet M., 341 Park St., Aliquippa, Pa., Lodge 122.
Matekovich, John, 145 Miller St., Gowanda, N. Y„ Lodge 325 (Circle 40).
Matko, Rosie J., R. 1, Box 244, Hoquiam, Wash., Lodge 560.
FIVE PRIZES OF $6.00 EACH TO:
Tomsic, William, 823 W. 7th St., Walsenburg, Colo., Lodge 299 (Circle 1).
Čretnik, Annie, R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark., Lodge 24.
Lekse, Louise, Box 465, Roundup, Montana, Lodge 700 (Circle 28).
Lampe, Jennie, R. D. 3, Box 434, Girard, Kansas, Circle 11.
Polončič, Elsie, R. D. 2, Union Dale, Penna, Lodge 124.
SIX PRIZES OF $5.00 EACH TO:
Ambrozich, Victoria, R. D. 1, Box 424, Crafton, Pa., Lodge 88.
Gabrosek, Dorothy, Waukegan, 111., Lodge 568 (Circle 24).
Slambal, Frances, 1084 Sherman Ave., Sharon, Pa., Lodge 262 (Circle 21).
Kosernik, Mitzi, Box 199, Aguilar, Colo., Lodge 381 (Circle 20).
Duzenack, Verna, 709 W. 6th St., Walsenburg, Colo., Lodge 299 (Circle 1).
Blazina, Margaret, Roundup, Mont., Lodge 114.
EIGHT PRIZES OF $4.00 EACH TO:
Kerzan, Carl, Box 14, Roundup, Montana, Lodge 700 (Circle 28).
Padar, Mildred, 222 Wyckoff Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y., Lodge 580 (Circle 50).
Bozanic, Vera, R. D. 3, Worcester, N. Y., Lodge 393.
Bregant, Phyllis, Universal, Pa., Lodge 715 (Circle 23).
Rovan, Irene, 62 Smithsonian Ave., Girard, Ohio, Lodge 49 (Circle 7).
Gostovich, Dan, Box 531, Raton, New Mexico. Lodge 297.
Alich, Florence, Box 607, Aurora, Minn., Lodge 111.
Tomsic, Edward, Jr., 823 W. 7th St., Walsenburg, Colo., Lodge 299 (Circle 1).
EIGHT PRIZES OF $3.00 EACH TO:
Ligiecki, Lottie, 23 Beech St., Gowanda, N. Y., Lodge 325 (Circle 40).
Krizaj, Matilda, Salem, Ohio, Lodge 476 (Circle 10).
Dermotta, Dorothy, Box 101, Avella, Pa., Lodge 292.
Chagenovich, Rose, 984 Santa Cruz St., San Pedro, Calif., Lodge 416.
Potisek, Mary, Milwaukee, Wis., Lodge 747 (Circle 18).
Tavzelj, Caroline, 1425 McKinstry St., Detroit, Mich., Lodge 518.
Krizaj, Ava, Salem, Ohio, Lodge 476 (Circle 10)
Lipar, Rose, R. D. 1, Hyndsville, N. Y., Lodge 393.
TEN PRIZES OF $2.00 EACH TO:
Skerbetz, Dorothy, Piney Fork, Ohio, Lodge 176.
Novak, Louis, 9118 Butley Ave., Chicago, III., Lodge 490.
Lenich, Martin, 700 Sanford Ave., Nokomis, 111., Lodge 209.
Kmetec, Emil, 2414 S. Central Park Ave., Chicago, 111., Lodge 559 (Circle 26).
Chagenovich, Ruth, 984 Santa Cruz St., San Pedro, Calif., Lodge 416.
Kolar, Christine, Box 43, Conemaugh, Pa., Lodge 168 (Circle 47).
Kosernik, Josephine, Box 199, Aguilar, Colo., Lodge 381 (20).
Saloum, Agnes, R. D. 1, Bulger, Pa., Lodge 89 (Circle 22).
Vidmar, Olga, 2225 Bott Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado, Lodge 94.
Močivnik, Ernestine, P. O. Box 86, Jenny Lind, Ark., Lodge 24.
TEN PRIZES OF $1.00 EACH TO:
Stražišar, Frances, Johnstown, Pa., Lodge 82 (Circle 47).
Kupina, Margaret, 1383 E. 41st St., Cleveland, Ohio, Lodge 147 (Circle 2).
Terselic, Evelyn, 2714 S. Homan Ave., Chicago,
III,	Lodge 39.
Strimlan, Mary, Library, Pa., Lodge 386 (Circle 46).
Zitko, Frances, Box 562, Greensburg, Pa., Lodge 223.
Flais, Dorothy, Oakmont, Pa., Lodge 472.
Kunstel, Stanley, Box 523, Ely, Minn., Lodge 268.
Udovich, Dolores, R. 1, Box 90, La Salle, 111., Lodge 573.
Vidmar, Josephine, 2546 N. 37th St., Milwaukee, Wis., Lodge 747 (Circle 18).
Kroper, Frances J., Box 384, Yukon, Pa., Lodge 117.
THE DRAGON OF BANANALAND
At present practically the entire world is at war. It is a global war which is being fought in the Pacific, in Africa, in Russia, in the Near and Far East; in short, everywhere in the world. But, strange as it may seems, a war is also being fought—in Bananaland.
The soldiers in this type of war are workers with spray guns, and the scientists are the generals. Airplanes are used in this war, but they are dropping dust instead of bombs, and tractors are going out against the enemy.
And who is the enemy, you may ask. Banana growers and scientists call it Sigatoka, and the workers call it the Green Dragon. It is a disease that has gone around the world in about five years, attacking banana plants wherever it has
gone. In some countries, the Green Dragon has stopped the growing of bananas.
A decisive battle is being fought against Sigatoka in the warm lands south of us—lands in Central and South America and nearby islands in the sea. We may call all these islands Bananaland because they raise more than half of the big yellow fruit.
Being a very sly enemy, Sigatoka hitchhikes from land to land on the wind, even crossing oceans thousands of miles wide. It is interesting to know that scientists in airoplaneg have found traces of it a mile high in the air. First, the Sigatoka attacks the leaves of the banana plant. The leaves on a full-grown plant may be eight to twelve feet long and two feet wide. When Sigatoka attacks a plant, gray-brown spots appear up-
leaves on a full-grown plant may be eight to twelve feet long and two feet wide. When Sigatoka attacks a plant, gray-brown spots appear upon the leaves. In a short time, the leaves curl up as if they had been burned. Banana growers hate Sigatoka because it makes the bananas ripen before they should.
It is a well-known fact that all bananas to be shipped to other lands are picked while they are green. But bananas attacked by Sigatoka when shipped to a distant point may ripen and rot long before they reach their destination.
To combat this pest, banana growers use sprays and in some places airplanes are used to drop dust that kills the Green Dragon. Growers and workers know that they must conquer Sigatoka. Six countries depend upon the selling of bananas for all their money. Thousands of workers live and work on great banana farms, and many people in Bananaland depend upon bananas for most of their food. They fry and bake bananas; they make flour of bananas; they make cloth and rope from banana leaves; and they
m
THE BELLS OF VICTORY FOR 1943 Drawn by Zora Gosiovich, age 14, Raton, New Mexico, Lodge 297.
THE JANUARY SCENE Drawn by Zora Gosiovich, age 14, Raton, New Mexico, Lodge 297.
export large quantities of bananas to distant places.
Bananas are a popular American fruit. They are rich in food value. The bananas grow in ridges around the stem, with their ends pointing upward. The bunch of bananas we see hanging in the grocery store is really upside down. Banana plants look like trees, since they grow 20 to 30 feet high, but they are really just stems growing up from an underground plant.
Let us hope that scientists will soon be able to conquer and destroy the Green Dragon, or Saga-toka, so that bananas will not disappear from the earth, as did the heath hen, which I described in the September number of the Mladinski List.
(SOURCE: From “Exploring Today,” published by the American Press in New York, from which “The Heath Hen” was also taken.)
ZORA GOSTOVICH, 14, lodge 297, Box 531, Raton, New Mexico.
*
I LIKE WINTER
In a way, I like winter,
I love the snow and birds.
Because I like to sleigh ride And make snowmen and boys.
Early in the morning, when The birds come near the house,
I throw them bread crumbs,
They surely eat like a mouse. MARGARET POLONČIČ, 15, lodge 124,
R. F. D. 2, Union Dale, Pa.
A SOLDIER
He is brave, courageous and strong,
And will stand up when we fight All those who cannot get along,
So that things will again be right.
He’ll fight for freedom and liberty,
And will do this with freedom’s song;
He’ll do this to preserve our safety,
For he is courageous, brave and strong.
FLORENCE CHADEZ, 16, lodge 267
Homedale, Idaho.
*
IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL
Some people hate school. They hate it because they don’t realize how important it is to go to school and gain knowledge. However, when they begin to think they find that if they had no school, they wouldn’t know how to read, write, and do many other things.
Many boys think just of fishing, swimming, skating and many other sports. They do not know their parents furnish the money in taxes for the school so that they can buy books in order that you can receive a fine education.
Some boys break windows, waste paper, pencils and different things their parents have to pay for. Do not skip school, because your parents want you to have a fine education. Do not spoil that by being absent without serious cause. Remember that all taxpayers help to maintain schools.
MARGARET BARBO, 12, lodge 753 Box 272, L’Anse, Michigan.
*
MEXICO
Mexico, our closest Latin American neighbor, has an area of 767, 198 square miles and a population of nearly 20 million people. It is three times as large as Texas and has three times as many people.
Mexico is inhabited by native Indians, Spaniards and their descendants, and the mixed breeds known as Mexicans, the latter predominating. Mexico has been a republic from 1867. Its constitution is similar to ours. National laws are
Drawn by Zita Boza-nich, age 15, Worcester, N. Y., Lodge 393.
/V i
made by a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. There are 28 states and each state has its own governor. The president is elected every six years. The president now serving is Avila Camacho, who was elected in 1940.
Because of its history and topography, Mexico is an interesting country. The Mayas were the first rulers, later were the Toltec Indians, and then the Aztecs who were conquered in 1519 by Fernando Cortez. After that Mexico was ruled by Spaniards who enslaved the Indians. Nevertheless, in several ways their rule was an advantage to the Mexicans, because the Spaniards built cities, educated the people and established a better government.
The country is made up of a broad central plateau surrounded by narrow lowlands. Mexico is one of the richest mining countries in the world, but the principal industry is farming. The manufacturing industies are still in a pioneer state.
Mexico is now aiding us in our national war effort. She had broken all trade relations with the Axis and has declared war on them.
The City of Mexico is the capital and is located on a plateau 7,350 feet above the sea level, surrounded by high mountains, with a number of lakes in its vicinity. The first printing press of the New World was set up in Mexico City in 1536, and in 1693 appeared the first newspaper, called the “Mercurio Volante.” The first school on the continent was established in this city in 1524. In point of age, natural beauty and history, Mexico City ranks among the great cities of the world.
EVELYN TERSELIC, age 12, lodge 39 2714 S. Homan Ave., Chicago, 111.
*
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The war has come to Washington in many ways. But the most evident of all these may best be described as invasion of the many problems. This invasion has forced upon the District of Columbia almost all the problems that could be put together in a country at war.
On November 30, 1941, just before our entrance into World War II, Federal Government workers in the District of Columbia numbered 199,283,
THE RED CROSS NURSE Drawn by Lolly Li-giecki, age ?, Gowanda, N. Y„ Circle No. 40.
Drawn by Jimmie Spendal, age 15, Clinton, Ind., Lodge 50.
which is a staggering figure in itself when compared with the 68,792 who were employed here at the close of 1932.
The District Commissioners were already puzzling out ways and means of expanding the water facilities, fire and police services, school accommodations, and so on, to take care of the greater number of residents.
Then came the declaration of war. In five months the Federal Government increased its personnel by 49,696, bringing the District total to 248,979. Of this figure approximately 115,000 are women, 134,000 men.
Still more workers are needed every day by Uncle Sam. The figure has easily passed the quarter million mark in the District by now. As far as possible, agencies of the Federal Government have been and are being moved to other cities, and new Government buildings are mushrooming out of the District boundaries, so that the current Federal personnel total for the District must not be regarded as anywhere near hiring maximum.
Within its 69 square miles the 1940 census takers cotunted more than 663,000 residents, and by now, owing to the large influx of workers, the total must be close to one million.
SOURCE: Newspaper.	ZITA	BOZANIC,
Worcester, N. Y.
*
AN ANT STORY
The most common types of ants found in this country are red and black ones. They are slender -waisted little creatures with-six legs and two slender antennae which are constantly moving to and fro as the ants move about.
The bodies of the ants are divided into three distinct regions: head, thorax and abdomen. The head bears antennae or feelers by which the ant smells and feels its way about. These feelers are also used as a sort of communication sign—the ants greet each other by means of them. The ants also bear powerful jaws for biting and carrying objects, and it is said that their eyes are sufficiently developed so that they can recognize light and darkness although some ants are blind.
There are over 2,000 species of ants of which 200 are found in this country.
All ants are social insects, that is, they live together in hundreds of thousands like bees. Their communities are like little nations, what with their leaders, winged males and females, nurses and wingless workers. There are also soldiers who protect the home colony against foes. The soldiers have large heads and very powerful jaws.
Ants eat many kinds of animal and vegetable food but they like nothing better than plant lice or aplids. Since the aplids are small defenseless little creatures, ants protect them from other insects and transfer them from withered plants to fresh ones.
It is interesting to note how these small creatures can build nests, some of which are 3 feet nad 12 feet in diameter. In the ant world are many rooms. Some are used as day nurseries, others are sleeping quarters, while still other rooms are used as storerooms for food.
(SOURCE: A magazine article.)
VIOLET MAE MASLEK, age 17, lodge 122 341 Park Street, Aliquippa, Pa.
•
WHY DOES A HEN CACKLE?
Why does a hen cackle after laying an egg?
Of course, this is not an easy question to answer, for we cannot ask a hen why she cackles, and indeed, if she could speak, she could not give a reason; for this act, like many of our own, is not a reasonable one, but simply a consequence of the way in which a hen is made. It is what is called an instinctive action. Yet we can understand it because we can compare it with actions of other creatures about which there is no doubt.
The doing of anything which we were meant to do gives us pleasures. The bodies of living things are constructed in this way, as we might Well expect. Pleasant feeling in ourselves and in other creatures often excites the body to some kind of activity, as when we say that a person sings for joy. When we feel very pleased with ourselves we want to sing, or whistle, or dance, or do some such thing. It is a question of what is called the expression of the emotions. A dog has the advantage of us in one respect, because
NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS Drawn by Caroline Tavzelj, age 13, Detroit, Mich., Lodge 518.
it has a tail, and when a dog is pleased, it not only gives a special bark, which is its way of singing for joy, but it also expresses its emotion by wagging its tail. On the other hand, an angry lion will sway its tail from side to side, and expresses its anger in that way.
So when the hen cackles after laying an egg, it is simply her way of singing for joy. Her body and her feelings have the satisfaction of having done something which her body is meant to do. It is probable that the actual laying of the egg causes discomfort, and there is a corresponding feeling of ease and satisfaction when the task is done. That is why a hen cackles after laying an egg.
(SOURCE: “The Book of Knowledge.”)
ZORA GOSTOVICH, age 14, lodge 297 Box 531, Raton, New Mexico.
•
ANDREW JACKSON
In 1829 Andrew Jackson became President of the United States. He was a true frontiersman. His parents were Scotch-Irish immigrants who settled as pioneers in the upland regions of South Carolina.
It was not the custom along the frontier to provide much schooling for bgys. The farmers of those days thought it was quite enough if they knew how to read, write, and do ordinary figuring. Jackson, therefore, received a rather slight education, especially for a man who was to become President.
At the age of 14 he was left alone in the world to make his way. He began to study law, and later moved to Tennessee, where he practiced law and finally became a judge. While Jackson was well known in the West he did not become known nationally until the War of 1812.
At that time he was placed in charge of the army in the southwest and very bravely defeated the English at New Orleans. After many victories he was nominated and elected President. He was reelected and served his second term as President.
Daniel Webster said of him: “Jackson is an honest and upright man. He does what he thinks is right, and he does it with all his might.”
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, at Warsaw settlement in North Carolina. His well-known nickname during his political career was “Old Hickory.” He died at his residence, “The Hermitage,” near Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8, 1845. He was the seventh president of the United States.
MARGE KUPINA, age 16, Circle 2 1383 E. 41st St., Cleveland, Ohio.
•
ABOUT BEAVERS
One of the chief occupations of beavers is to build dams. They are expert in this work, which at times is very helpful in regard to flood control.
The beavers have two front curved teeth, which nature has provided for them to work with. Gnawing trees keeps the teeth worn down, therefore hard work is necessary for the well-being of beavers.
The forepaws of beavers are small, but strong. They carry stones, leaves, and even logs in them. Much of this work is done in water, therefore he is a good swimmer and diver.
Usually beavers use a lake or river for their home. Beavers are friendly little creature and dislike to be alone. On land, the beaver makes use of its tail, by serving as a support to balance him in an upright position.
Beaver’s feet are webbed like a duck’s feet. His paddled shape tail acts as an oar or a rudder.
ERNESTINE MOČIVNIK, 15, lodge 24 P. O. Box 86, Jenny Lind, Ark.
*
LITTLE THINGS COUNT
One of the greatest mistakes that those of us who are not in the armed forces of our country are apt to make, is to fail to do the little things that come our way.
Any quantity of salvage, scrap iron, rubber, tin, or any other vital metal should not be too small for us to contribute to the cause. If we can buy only one ten-cent war savings stamp we should not fail to do so. If we can refrain from driving a few blocks and thus save our tires, we should do it.
All of the smal contributions that all of the United Nations could make would win the victory months or perhaps years sooner than if we neglected the little things.
If all of us contribute all that we can, be it much or little, the total offerings to the causa will save thousands of lives and millions of dollars by reaching victory sooner.
ANNIE ČRETNIK, 16, lodge ?4,
R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
SCIENTIFIC FACTS
Light travels in straight lines.
Heat is present in all matter.
Our greatest source of natural heat is sun.
Water has three states, solid, liquid, gas.
Water is a compound of Hydrogen and oxigen.
Water passes through a cycle in nature.
Atmospheric pressure is of great value to man.
Life depends upon adaptations.
Man is the only living thing that can adapt the environment to himself.
ANNIE ČRETNIK, 16, lodge 24,
R. 2. Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
JANUARY
More than 150 years before our era, January was the first month of the year in the Roman calendar. It was named for Janus, the two-faced god, who in the Roman mythology precided over the beginning of things, and was the doorkeeper of “heaven.”
The so-called temple of Janus, which was simply the gateway in the Roman Forum, was open in wartime and closed in peacetime.
During the Middle Ages, January began at various dates, in different times and places. Finally, January was restored to its original place as first month of the year.
It is interesting to know that the Anglo-Saxons called January “Wolfmonth,” because of the fact that hunger then made the wolves bold enough to come into the villages.
ANNIE ČRETNIK, 16, lodge 24,
R. 2. Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
JANUARY
It was on a pretty night,
When the moon was shining bright;
It is on New Year’s Day,
When everybody is happy and gay.
Off to sister’s house we’ll go,
On the white and drifty snow;
We’ll all be happy and gay,
On the first New Year’s day.
MILDRED ČRETNIK, 11, lodge 24,
R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
OUR FLAG
Our flag is red, white and blue,
It helps my country, me and you,
It will wave night and day,
Forever it’ll wave over the U. S. A.
It’ll be for you and for me,
’Way across the flowing sea,
We should never, never decline,
’Cause we’ll have to pay a fine.
WILLIE ČRETNIK, 12, lodge 24,
R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
ISAAC NEWTON
Isaac Newton, English natural philosopher, was born on December 25, 1642, at Woolsthorpe, a small farm community in England. His father owned a small farm. He received his early education in the village school and at 12 was sent to a grammar school.
Young Newton was a smart boy, but, according to his own confession, he was not a good student and stood very low in his class. However, he became interested in his studies after the age of 15 and from then on stood at the head of his class.
Newton was very ingenious. He made a clock which ran by water, a sun dial, and a windmill which actually ground corn. When he entered the university he specialized in mathematics and science. He improved methods of calculation in mathematics and applied them in physics. He in-
MOOSE Drawn by Jimmie Spen-dal, age 15, Clinton, Ind., Lodge 50.
vented the reflecting telescope, he made navigation safer by making certain the position of the heavenly bodies; and he proved the pull of gravity was a universal law.
Isaac Newton’s experiments with a glass prism and a beam of sunlight were the beginnings of spectrum analysis, which is now a useful tool of the scientists. The spectroscope, making use of the prism principles, is particularly useful to the astronomer. He devoted much of his time to the study of chemistry.
After over 40 years of service in Cambridge University, Isaac Newton died on March 20, 1727. He was one of the most honored men of his time.
MILDRED ČRETNIK, 11, lodge 24,
R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
MUST L MA?
Must I go to school, Ma?
I don’t learn a thing;
All we do is read and write, Ma,
And silly songs we sing.
I’ll never get anywhere, Ma,
’Cause they make me stand all day,
With my nose against the blackboard,
For saying things I didn’t say.
AMELIA ČRETNIK, 9, lodge 24,
R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
OLD AND NEW JOKES
Some children were talking about what they ■Were going to be when they grow up.
Johnny: “I am going to be a Vitamin.”
Frankie: “How?”
Johnny: “See that sign which says ‘Vitamin B-r.”
A family of some people lived in the country, but they moved to the city for they heard their country was at war.
A men went to bed with a yardstick to measure how long he slept.
Mrs. Moon: “Boo-hoo, my husband went hunting.”
Mrs. Soon: “Don’t cry on account of that, dear.” Mrs. Moon: “Yes, but my husband went to shoot crap and I don’t know how to cook it.”
HELEN MANCE, 15, lodge (?)
14	Grant St., Cokeburg, Pa.
*
MONTHS OF THE YEAR
The month of January is here,
It’s the beginning of the year.
Then comes the month of February,
When we send valentines to everybody,
The 21st of March the winds will bring The announcement of the coming spring.
And so on down the line, through April,
May and June when school is put on grill. Then summer will come and vacations too, That will make us happy, both me and you.
In September we go back to school,
October brings spooks and Halloween,
Maybe by then the war we will—win.
And what comes in November and December,
We certainly will all well remember.
VIRGINIA BARTON, 14, lodge 231,
R. D. 4, McDonald, Pennsylvania.
*
BUSY WORKERS
My sisters are very busy workers,
Each and every single day,
They work and work and work,
But never they have a thing to say.
I know a little bird that comes to be fed,
But I feel sorry for it because it has but one leg. So in the morning when I get up, I give it bread, Because I know it wants to be fed.
CAROLINE TAVZELJ, 13, lodge 518, 1425 McKinstry, Detroit, Mich.
*
AMERICA—THE LAND OF PROMISE
Ever since the morning when Christopher Columbus first sighted land in the New World, America has been a “Land of Promise.”
To the bold explorers and adventurers who led the way to its shores, America promised adventure, wealth, glory, and freedom. There soon followed settlers and pioneers, who came seeking homes, farms, freedom, and justice.
Thousands and millions came during the centuries that followed.
America’s fertile fields, broad forests, rich mines, and busy factories; her schools, libraries and cities; her free and industrious people—all prove that this is still a Land of Promise.
American democracy, both civil and political, is something that is cherished by all who live here.
It is hoped that in the future American democracy will be extended into other vitally important phases of our life—so that it will apply also to economic democracy as well as industrial and social democracy.
All this can be achieved here in America peacefully by the people themselves.
ANNIE ČRETNIK, 16, lodge 24,
R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark.
*
EGYPT
The brilliant sun that shines out of a deep-blue sky, turning everything to colors, so vivid as to make your eyes ache, is a desert sun, piercing the driest air in the world.
Under its glare the fields of palm trees along the oldest brown or dull-green river, appear the greenest things in the world. The sand pours over the bare yellow rocks in a torret of gold, and the rocks cast purple shadows.
In upper Egypt you will meet people who never have seen rain. At Cairo, 100 miles from the sea, there are four or five showers a year, and even on the Mediterranean coast, there is only one-fifth as much rain as you will find in the driest part of England, and yet the Nile Valley everywhere is productive, and the dwellers on the lower
Nile count their harvests on terms of three crops a year.
The Nile Valley is not only a garden. It is a museum where one sees gathered the works of the oldest civilization and of the most recent. One can travel today in modern sleeping cars and river steamers. Near its source along the banks of the Nile one can see the best modern irrigation works. Also, along its banks one finds the oldest monuments in the world. Among them the Great Temples, the Pyramids, and the Sphinx. You will also find there some of the greatest works of modern masonry, the Nile dams and “banages.”
Beyond the hills that sometimes come down to the very bank, leaving but a handbreadth of level land, lies the desert. The hilly Arabian desert on the east rises in a series of steplike plateaus to lofty mountains bordering the Red Sea.
Truly, the above descriptions of Egypt have proved it to be a very beautiful country.
(SOURCE: Magazine article.)
JOHNNIE MOČIVNIK, 13, lodge 24,
P. O. Box 86, Jenny Lind, Ark.
*
GLASS
No one knows when or where men first made glass. A story told by Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer, suggests how the discovery may have been made. But modern research has traced glass far before the date Pliny set.
According to him, Phonecian sailors bound for Syria from Egypt were driven off their course and landed at Palestine. They had no stones for a fireplace, so they used blocks of natron, a crude form of soda which was part of their cargo. In
AS THE NATURE LOOKS IN JANUARY Drawn by Violet Machek, age 16, McDonald, Pa., Lodge 231.
the ashes next morning they found shapeless lumps of glass formed by the fusion of beach sand and the crude soda.
We know now that the Phonecians were gaining knowledge about glass every day. Most glass of today is made from the same materials used from the very beginning, namely, soda, lime, and sand.
In a modern factory, carefully measured proportions of these ingredients and waste glass, called cullet, are melted in large tanks built of fire-clay slabs, or in special fire-clay crucibles for the finer grades. The waste glass is used not only for the sake of economy, but also because it aids in the melting. From 20 to 80 per cent of the mixture may be cullet.
For ages glass was drawn by hand and blown by mouth. Now most flat glass and bottles are made by machines. Glass is colored by adding small amounts of metalic oxides to the small materials.
Glass is extremely a poor conductor of heat; boiling water poured into a tumbler will crack it, because the inside gets hot and expands quickly while the outside remains cold and contracted.
Glass that will stand sudden changes in temperature can be made from fused quartz, but at considerable expense.
It is said that even fire-clay cannot stand the terrific heat needed to produce glass, which runs to 2600° F or even higher.
(SOURCE: Magazine article.)
ERNESTINE MOČIVNIK, 15, lodge 24,
P. O. Box 86, Jenny Lind, Ark.
*
MILITARY LEADERS IN AFRICA
We have all heard of the successful offensive the United Nations launched in North Africa. Everyone should know the leaders who helped to make the landing there a success.
First of all, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is credited with initiating the plan. It was his idea which was so successfully carried out by the military leaders.
Lieut. General Eisenhower is in charge of the American forces which landed along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of French North Africa. General Eisenhower was born in Texas and was graduated from West Point.
Lieut. General Mark Clark is the man who is second in command in Africa. He was the man who made a secret trip to North Africa and obtained military information for the United Nations. He was also graduated from West Point.
The man who led the Army Air Forces in North Africa is Brigadier General Doolittle. He is well known for the raid he led on Tokyo.
Rear Admiral Hewitt is the commander of the American fleet which landed the troops. He was graduated from Annapolis.
General Giraud, a Frenchman, is the most popular of the French military leaders.
Admiral Cunningham, who is in command of all British naval operations in the Mediterranean, was in charge of the convoy which carried troops and supplies to North Africa.
(Continued on page 31)
Send all your questions and requests for your Juvenile Circles to Bro. Michael Vrhovnik, Director of the SNPJ Juvenile Dept., 2657 S. Lawndale Ave., Chicago, III. He has been elected the Director of Juvenile Circles and your Advisers should keep in touch with him.
Our Own Juvenile Circles of the S. N. P. J.
let us carry on in the new year with
COURAGE AND RESOLUTION By Michael Vrhovnik
These are very serious times indeed for many organizations, including our own SNPJ, and unless We are prepared to carry on in the best traditions of the past, unless we are ready to sacrifice and Put forth our very best efforts to promote and further develop our aims, the Society is almost certain to lose valuable ground in the period immediately ahead of us.
The task of keeping our juvenile members active and performing worthwhile deeds is of paramount importance, not only to them and the SNPJ, but to the future of the nation. Therefore, I appeal to the adult and juvenile members and officers, in this opening month of 1943, to take a more determined hold on the Juvenile Circle movement °f the SNPJ; promote its activities, locally, on a more elaborate scale wherever possible; instill Upon the minds of the members a greater SNPJ-conscinousness; add to the membership in ever-increasing numbers; and organize or reorganize Juvenile Circles in prospective communities where none now exist. I realize that this is a large order for these critical times, but since we are geared to high production speed in almost every other field of endeavor, why not in the fraternal-juvenile field of the SNPJ, which has a profound bearing on our community and lodge life, now and after the war.
The year 1943 shall be extensively publicized as our JUVENILE YEAR, for the reason that it is the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Juvenile Department, and the 5th anniversary of the organization of the first Juvenile Circle. Plans are under way to fittingly commemorate these
outstanding birhtdays. Every Lodge and Circle should celebrate them with a brilliant juvenile festival demonstration, one that will surpass anything ever attempted in the past. Begin early to lay your plans. Select a date soon for your celebration. Let’s show that nothing, not even war, can stop the progress of the SNPJ Juvenile Department and Circles in the year 1943!
As we face the New Year together with courage and resolution to do our parts well, I sincerely hope that it will be a happy and healthful one for each and every one of you. And if any of your family, relatives, or friends, are serving in the armed forces of America or her Allies, may the fortunes of war spare and return them safely to their homes.
CHARTERS FOR JUVENILE CIRCLES
On two recent occasions an announcement was published in the Prosveta, giving notice of the fact that the SNPJ issues charters to all Juvenile Circles, regardless of the date of organization.
Our Juvenile Circle charter is the Society’s official document, expressing in exact writing the right of certain qualified members to conduct their own meetings, elect their own officers, admit new members as provided in the by-laws, promote recreational and cultural activities, practice the principles of goodfellowship, etc. It is, in other words, an official approval and consent which entitles your Circle to exist and conduct its own affairs and activities as a separate unit of the Society.
In its completed form, the charter contains the names of all members who attended the first meeting of the Circle, place and date of its organization, the numerical designation by which it shall
be known, and the signatures of the Supreme President and the Supreme Secretary of the Society. Our Juvenile Charter is printed in two colors with an attractive border along its four edges. When neatly mounted and framed, it adds dignity to any meeting hall or room.
It is customary in many juvenile organizations to have a ceremonial celebration when presentation of a charter is made. This is arranged by the Circle Manager in conjunction with other members of the local parent lodge(s). Usually one of the highlights of an affair of this kind is a speech delivered by an adult member, preferably an officer with a long record of outstanding service, familiar with the history of the Society and the local lodge, who can explain in simple terms the meaning of certain important principles and ideals, and who knows from his own personal experience the value of cooperation and loyalty. At the conclusion of the ceremony, a party or social should be held with members of the Circle as honored guests.
Managers, whose Circles do not have a charter, are urged to place a request for one with the Juvenile Director. With each such request be sure to enclose a complete list of charter members and the exact date of the meeting when the Circle was organized.	Juvenile	Director.
Juvenile Circle No. 1 Section
Walsenburg, Colorado
My topic for this month is the Pan American Club that we have at school. The club was organized two years ago and its purpose is to acquaint its members with the Latin American countries. The club has purchased flags of the twenty-one American republics and decorated the clubroom with them. The club is also collecting autographed pictures of the presidents of the American countries.
The members of the club write to people in other countries and at our meeting we read and discuss these letters. We also study Latin-Ameri-can history and government, products and industries, transportation and cultural aspects. The club is trying to get some speakers to talk to them on Latin America.
At the present time our government is trying to bring closer relations between the two American continents and if there were more clubs based on the same principles as ours, they could go a long way in helping to bring about friendlier relations.
WILLIAM TOMSIC, President Circle 1.
Making Scrapbooks
At this writing everyone is busy getting ready for the holiday season. It is just before Christmas and many of us will be having a lot of fun; most of the fun will be giving and receiving gifts.
In home economics we are making scrapbooks for the soldiers that are in the hospitals. The books contain jokes and pictures. It is a pleasure making these books, and I hope the soldiers
will have as much fun reading them. We are working hard on them because we want to have them finished for Christmas so we can send them for a gift.
We still hold our regular Circle meetings, but the one in December will be a little different because we are going to elect officers.
ELIZABETH DUZENACK, Secretary.
Editor’s Note: Albert Duzenack’s contribution, “A Christmas Eve Thought,” should have been sent in a month earlier. It was mailed Nov. 28, at the time the December number of the Mladinski List was already in the mails.
Juvenile Circle No. 38 Section
By members of Circle 38, Cleveland, Ohio Marge Jeric, Manager
CONCORDIAN JUNIORS' PROGRESS
As the year draws to a close, our thoughts wander back to April 12, 1939. For that was when we officially organized the Concordian Juniors. Our first year was crammed with activities, and our greatest thrill was receiving our charter. Every Circle has some aim in life, so we picked the motto “Strive to be progressive at all times.” “Concordia, Integrity, and Industria” is what we believe in, so we chose this as our creed.
Something new was inaugurated in August of the first year. The members initiated Rose Han-ko, a member of the parent lodge, as “Grandmother” of the Circle, and presented her with a beautiful album as a token of appreciation for the important part she played in helping to build up our membership. She is now 68 years old and will always be “Grandmother” to us. Under the colors of gold and brown, with the yellow rose as our flower, we closed that year.
Our greatest achievement was the first exhibition of the drill team, the Concordettes, in May, 1940. Since we are the first and only drill team in the organization, we look back on this event with pride. Two exhibitions have followed since then, the latest being staged in Cleveland, Ohio, over the Labor day weekend at the national SNPJ celebration.
The past years have seen many activities, too numerous to mention. And so, today, we stand upon the treshold of the 4th anniversary of the Concordian Juniors and Concordettes Drill Team. This brings to our minds the meaning of our name which is “United together hand in hand in harmony.” Thus, with these words in our thoughts, we look forward to many more progressive years.
MARION KAUCIC, Sec’y Circle 38.
Twenty Years from Today
As I sit at ipy window, gazing at the snow flakes, my thoughts suddenly turn to the future. So, just in fun, we move time ahead twenty years to see what the future holds in store for the Con-cordians. And here are our predictions.
Sally Moster’s wisjhes will be answered, and she will grow one inch taller. Betty Novak will develop a beautiful laugh just to please us.—A
special Sadie Hawkins Day will be declared and a Lil’ Abner will be caught for Helen Komaran-ski. Walter Feda and Dolores Kaucic will be great actors and play the part oi Romeo and Juliet on the stage. That trio of good friends, Helen Krivacic, Vera Somrak, and Agnes Lesar will still remain faithful to each other.—Jeanette Kolbe’s pigtails will turn into braids, and she will become a great lady. Eddie Zupančič will stay up nights thinking of practical jokes to play on us.
Dorothy Feda will be a second Walter Win-chell. Success and fame will come to Tiny Sintič with his accordion. Rita Holland will lure the Concordettes into her beauty parlor with Theresa Ward and Mary Holland as her assistants. Believe it or not, Stinky, the parrot, will keep his mouth shut for one hour April 1, 1962. Marion Kaucic will be blessed with a boss who will appreciate her hard work.
We see Florence Slak shh, that’s a military secret! Marge Jeric, our Manager, will have a grand and glorious future. She will become the “Woman of the Year.”
Last, but not least, the SNPJ will become the largest fraternal organization in the world. Crash!!! Bang! What was that? The snow flakes have stopped swirling ’round and we’ve come back to earth! It was only a dream.
HELEN KOMARANSKI, Circle 30.
CONCORDETTES
We wish to express our sincere thanks to every one of the members and friends who helped make the apperance of the Concordettes Drill Team a success. We enjoyed performing for you and hope to perform again soon. Thank you, Mike Vrhovnik, for that delightful article you wrote about the drill team. We were all flattered, and I am sure that all the others that took part in the Program would like to express their thanks too.
But we, the members of the drill team, feel that nobody deserves more credit than Marge Jeric, captain of J;he Concordettes, who spent long hours of hard work trying to make us see our mistakes and correct them. And if it weren’t for her, well, maybe there just wouldn’t be any drill team, and I don’t think we will ever forget the hours she spent with us. She is a true friend as Well as a good leader and captain. Her loyalty is never doubted because it has been proved in more than one way. So let us make a pledge to never let her down. She has wanted so much to make our drill team a success. So let us all pitch in and help. How about it, members?
HELEN KOMARANSKI, Circle 38.
GUESS WHO
We have in mind someone you all should know. Here are a few hints on his habits, etc. He is very tiny, quiet at times, and walks only when he feels like it. His age is almost six years, and he has very nice features. If the weather doesn’t suit him, he sleeps all day, but if it is to his liking '—oh boy!
We have many nicknames for him, but one in Particular sticks. And that is “Stinky.” Do you
know him? You don’t? Well, here are just two more clues. He has an enourmous appetite and is a regular “know it all.”
Well, I am afraid I can’t give you any more clues. He is our mascot “Stinky,” the parrot, and was given to Mrs. Jeric by the Concordian Jrs. for the many services she has performed.
SALLY MOSTER, Circle 38.
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A FRIEND
I have a lot of friends,
I suppose that you have too.
But out of all these friends,
Can you pick one that’s true?
Now I have just that friend,
With whom I work and play,
And we get along just swell Throughout the livelong day.
We seldom have an argument And almost never fight.
I help her and she helps me,
This makes things turn out all right.
Just take this little test To see what you can do,
And out of all your friends Pick one that’s really true.
(Dedicated to the Concondian Jrs. by a member.;
Juvenile Circle No. 48 Section
By Members of Circle No. 48, Eveleth, Minnesota Eleanor Beutz, Manager
I am a a boy 10 years old, a “happy-go-lucky” SNPJ member. I attend every meeting of our Circle No. 48, when asked. I sing for the members. O boy! do we have fun at our meetings. I bet some of the other boys and girls only wished they could come to the swell parties we are having. We also had a big Yule party. Members, let’s keep our promise we made to Mrs. Ursula Ambrozich, our 5th District Vice President, that we will each bring a new member to our next meeting. Keep your promise!
WILLIAM RESMAN, Eveleth, Minn.
This is my first letter to the M. L. I was ten years old on Dec. 25 and I am in the fifth grade. I go to all our Circle meetings. Every month new members join our Circle, and at each meeting we have a lot of fun. For our December meeting we planned a play, called, “The Cobler and Christmas Time.” With this play we intended also to entertain the members of the SNPJ lodges 130 and 69. New Year’s greetings to all Juvenile members from a proud SNPJers.
DOLORES KOKALY, Lodge 69.
I am only 8 years old. I am a juvenile member of SNPJ lodge 69 and also a member of Circle No. 48. Our Circle meetings are very interesting, and our officers are so friendly and pleasant that we feel right at home. Our president, Miss Mary Stibel, and Manager Eleanor Beutz promised to take the Circle out for a hike. I wish to mention that this is my first letter to the M. L. Mrs. Ursula Ambrozich, our District Vice President of
SNPJ, made a promise that to each member who will have an article in the M. L. for December she will give a gift at our Yule party. (Your letter mailed Nov. 25 was much too late for the December issue.-—Ed.)
MARGARET KOKALY, Lodge 69.
This letter comes from me, the proudest of the proud SNPJ juvenile members. This being Thanksgiving day, we, my mother, Dad, Grandmother and I, had a delicious dinner, which is something to be thankful for.
Our splendid Juvenile Circle No. 48 is progressing very nicely. We meet once a month, each second Tuesday of the month at 7 p. m. in our SNPJ Hall. At our last meeting we were entertained by movies of Jugoslavia, thanks to our District Vice President, Mrs. Ursula Ambrozich, for her efforts. She brought the films from Milwaukee where she represented our Society at the 30th anniversary of SNPJ lodge 192. Also, thanks to Mrs. Kristina Kollar Bevetz, of West Allis, Wis., for being so kind as to give the films.
We were told that the three Eveleth SNPJ lodges will sponsor a Christmas party for the juveniles. These adult members certainly are a grand group of SNPJers. Every Christmas they arrange a program for the juveniles and Santa distributes the gifts. Together we have lots of fun and enjoyment that is never forgotten.
Boys and girls, it is wonderful to be an SNPJ mmeber. When you will be in need our SNPJ will help, indeed she will. At this writing our Circle is prepared to stage a play, “The Cobler at Christmastime.” It will also be given at the meeting of our local SNPJ lodges.
I wish a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to the Supreme Board as well as to all adult and juvenile members of our Society.
ROSE MARIE STRUKEL, Lodge 650.
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JUVENILE CIRCLE NO. 47
JOHNSTOWN, PA.—I did not write to the December issue of the M. L., so I must write to the January issue.
Our Juvenile Circle No. 47 is planning many activities. In December we held a Christmas operetta. Many children took part in this operetta, and we were all looking forward to its success.
Our Circle is also planning to hold a skating party. By the time this letter appears in print, the party will be over. Each person was responsible for selling at least two tickets. And there are about one hundred members in our Circle, so that makes a total of two hundred tickets. It was a foregone conclusion that this party, too, would turn out very successfully.
Every Wednesday evening beginning at four o’clock we have our regular play nights. In our Circle we have about four teams altogether. Some of the gatnes we play are bowling, volleyball, ring toss, dodgeball, and other games. We all enjoy having Play Night once a week, for we enjoy ourselves immensely.
As usual everyone is doing his part in this war. The boys as well as the girls are doing Red Cross work. Some of the things we are doing are, making lap robes for soldiers, ambulance blankets, stuffed dogs, cats, chickens, etc. We are also corresponding with the boys in the service, as well as with our pen pals. This gives us a chance to get caught up in our letter writing.
Our treasurer, James Pinelli hasn’t been able to attend our meetings. He had a broken leg, and has lain in bed for about two months. Just recently he has recovered and is now able to be with us. I might also add that Mary Ann Marine has been appointed as the new secretary until we elect new officers for the coming year.
FRANCES STRAŽAR (13), Circle 47 R. D. 3, Box 245, Johnstown, Pa.
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A REVIEW OF THE 1942 ACTIVITIES
GIRARD, KANS.—These are the flashes of the “Jolly Kansans” Juvenile Circle No. 11, from the beginning of the year 1942 to the present (Dec. 6). These flashes include all the news of all activities of Circle 11.
Our first meeting of the year was held at the Casa Veechia Hall in Camp 50. At the meeting it was decided that the roll call of officers and members would be read at each session. The members attending the most of the meetings would receive better gifts at Christmas. Seven more juvenile members were added to the Circle from the SSPZ after it joined or merged with the SNPJ.
The February meeting was held at Mr. and Mrs. Anton Shular’s home in Arma, Kansas. At this meeting we had a valentine box and exchanged valentines.
The March meeting was held at the Franklin SNPJ hall. The members were reminded at the meeting about the May Day celebration and were asked to help. This affair was to be held at the Blue Moon Casino in Arma.
The April meeting was held in Breezy Hill on Easter Sunday. Discussion was held about the May Day celebration and program.
In the beautiful month of May the meeting was held at the Casa Veechia Hall in Camp 50. President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer were given fifty cents each for their fine work of the preceding year. The May Day celebration was held at Blue Moon Casino May 2 in Arma, Kansas. Everybody enjoyed himself seeing the moving picturse of Slovenia shown by Michael Vrhovnik, Juvenile and Athletic Director, and he also gave a speech.
The June meeting was held at Franklin SNPJ Hall. Discussion was held about the picnic to be held at Sterle’s Farm, which took place as per schedule in Edison. Everyone present had a swell time. A new secretary was elected, namely, Jenny Lampe. She took Dorothy Yager’s place who now lives in Oklahoma.
The July meeting was postponed from July 15 to July 26 at Lincoln Park. On that date the Circle had a picnic there, and the meeting was held at the park. Due to rainy weather the picnic was somewhat spoiled, but in spite of that we
had a good time, because it was raining only for a while and then it stopped.
In the month of August the meeting was held at Mr. and Mrs. Anton Shular’s home in Arma. Our former Adviser, Olga M. Knapich, came back to take Mr. Shular’s place. We wish to thank Mr. Shular for helping our Circle progress. We know Olga will help us just as much as Mr. Shular because she has done it before. Olga advised that each member would bring one or more old records to each meeting, and in turn they would be made into new ones for our boys in the service. They would be given to the American Legion. Collection would be held for a period of three months.
The September meeting was held in Franklin. Our meetings are held regularly the first Sunday of the month. However, this meeting was held the second Sunday because the SNPJ federation held its picnic on the first Sunday at Sterle’s Farm in Edison. Discussion was held about the annual wiener roast to be held at Sterle’s Farm weather permitting, if not we would go to the Franklin SNPJ Hall. The date set for this affair was Oct. 25.
In the month of October the meeting was held at Franklin. Publicity and other committees were elected to make plans for the wiener roast. The committees include Jennie Lampe, Dorothy Kar-linger, Carl Ulepich, Frances Kumer and Adviser Olga M. Knapich. The Secretary asked that the Circle wuold have a page of their own in the M. L. The 4th annual wiener roast was held at Franklin on Oct. 25. Everyone present had a swell time. Jennie Lampe and Frances Kumer Won the prizes for best and funniest dressed.
The November meeting was held at Franklin. Discussion was held about the Christmas party, but no definite date or place was set. It was up to the Publicity Committee to prepare a yule Party.
Our December meeting was scheduled to be held at Franklin. Best regards to all.
R. R. 3, Box 863, Girard, Kans.
JENNIE LAMPE, Secretary
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JUVENILE CIRCLE NO. 25
DELAGUA, COLO.—The undersigned two members of Circle No. 25 have decided to write a joint letter to the Mladinski List, relating some of our activities that took place recently.
At the last meeting held on Nov. 8 we discussed plans for our next meeting. Not many Members attended the November meeting. We decided that our next meeting would be held on Dec. 13 at 2 p. m. and to invite all members to attend, because new officers for 1943 would be elected.
At the same meeting we discussed plans for our Party scheduled for New Year’s Eve. We are also considering to change our meeting date. However, this was left to be discussed further at the December meeting. All members are urged to attend our Circle meetings regularly.
Also, we would like to have more members from Delagua write to the Mladinski List. Let
us write more often and tell the rest of the Circles about our activities. There are many things about which we can write.
Our Circle is steadily progressing and growing. At our last meeting we secured 13 new members, which can be considered as very £ood, indeed.
MARY CERNOIA and FRANCES MILETA, Ages 14, Circle 25, Delagua, Colo.
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NEW CIRCLE FORMED IN BROOKLYN
BROOKLYN, N. Y.—This is my first report for the newly organized Circle, “Junior All Americans,” No. 50. The Circle was organized on Sunday, Nov. 22.
Our first meeting was held on that date. Nine Juveniles attended, and as we are anxious to build up our Circle, we are trying to get many more members.
Our officers are: John Wolfe, President; Dolores Mikoley, Vice President; Paul H. Wolfe, Treasurer; Mildred Padar, Secretary; Jean Kirk, Recording Secretary; Lillian Kochevar, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Since our next meeting was to be held early in December, we decided to give one another gifts, a gift-exchange. All the members’ names were put in a bag, and each drew a name of a member for whom he or she will buy a gift. In that way each member received a gift.
MILDRED PADAR, Secretary 222 Wyckoff Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y.
JANUARY, 1943
A brand new year with a brand new number! Out of ’42 and into ’43—do you feel any older? We don’t either, and that’s a consolation. When you are young the time seems to just drag along, but as you become older the time seems to slip away so fast you wonder just where it went.
When you are young the flight of years seems of little importance to you, but when you are old and grey you begin to feel that your life is passing all too quickly. Much of your tought is then directed to the memories of your younger days.
A new history is in the making! Don’t miss it! Wonderful things are happening in spite of the present war—in the world of machinery and electricity. The world of medicine and science is also making great strides. You just keep your eyes and ears open and you’ll have plenty to tell when you grow up and reach the adult life and after.
NEW YEAR
Who comes dancing over the snow,
His soft little feet all bare and rosy?
Open the door, though the wild winds blow, Take the child in and make him cozy.
Take him in and hold him dear,
He is the wonderful glad New Year.
D. M. Mulock.
Yes, of Course
Nervous passenger: “Don’t drive so fast around the corners. It frightens me.”
Taxi driver: “Do what I do—shut your eyes when we come to a corner.”
Our Pen Pals Write
(Naši čilaleljčki pišejo)
IS THIS JOHNNY'S "LAST"?
Dear Editor:—I finally decided to drop a line. I don’t know why I’ve neglected to write to this fine magazine. I’ve really enjoyed reading what our Slovene brothers and sisters have to say across America.
This is my second letter to this swell magazine. I am also sorry to say that it is my last. You see, I’ve been “changed over” (transferred) to the adult group. I’m really proud to be an adult member although I’m sorry to leave the Juveniles. I’ve really enjoyed being a Juvenile member, although I found little time to contribute interesting articles as some members have to the Mladinski List. Looking back, I now am sorry that I didn’t do more for our organization.
I am now sixteen years old and a junior in West Fairmont High School. (You will notice that many of our contributors continue writing to the ML until they are eighteen, and so can you.—Ed.) Our school has about 750 pupils. It is one of the high rating schools in this state. We won the state high school basketbal championship last spring for the second time. We have had a little trouble in football this year, winning only one game.
Since the Army is drafting boys eighteen and over, the state has introduced a plan for training high school boys for the Army. All the boys sev-snteen and over will be required to take this course although boys under this age may join an organization called, “The Military Club.” We have one formed in our school. It means twice a week for one hour each meeting. There are now about 90 boys taken in as voluntary trainees. They are divided into squads of eight. Each squad is headed by a leader of which I am one. The leader drills the individual squads in the art of marching. Later on we may go deeper into the training of our soldiers. It is really interesting work. Besides I am taking five “solids” and gym as this year’s course. I go to school at eight and get out at two in the afternoon.
My favorite hobby is photography. I belong ‘o a camera club in school. We take pictures, develop, and then print them. After looking them over we discuss how to get better results. We are now taking pictures for our year book.
I am enclosing a photograph which I would like to have printed since this is my last chance to do
it. (On the contrary, the columns of the ML are still open to you and we are looking forward to your next letter for our magazine. — Ed.) I have tried to make this letter as interesting as possible. I hope I haven’t failed. Have I? (Indeed you haven’t, Johnny. We trust your next letter will be as interesting as this one; in fact, we know it will be.—Ed.)
If there is anyone who would care to correspond with me I would be glad to cooperate and answer all letters as soon as I receive them. I haven’t much more to write so I’ll have to close. So long and best wishes to everyone.-—Johnny Prelc Jr. (16), 521 Penna Ave., Fairmont, W. Va. (Lodge 431)
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"THE VALUE OF SCHOOL"
Dear Editor:—Here I am, trying to keep my promise of writing to the Mladinski List once again. Very likely this letter will appear in the first number of the ML for the year 1943, that is, in the January issue.
I am sitting in Study Hall at school with some time to spare. So I thought it was best to write a letter instead of wasting the time. Besides, I would probably have started talking and that means staying in after school. It seems as though I always am the one to get caught when it comes time for doing something wrong.
I just wrote a paper on “The Value of School to Me” for English class, and I must say it was quite a problem. In school my time is divided equally between studies and playing with my fellow students.
I take four subjects and have one hour of athletics. It was a rule in general, that high school girls were allowed to play softball, but it seems as though many of us got tired, so we organized a football team. We even don’t understand the game or its rules, but just the idea of playing rough and having spinned legs and arms seems to suit us perfectly. So our athletic period is the only period 24 girls seem to like.
This is about all I have to say for this time and I will apologize to those who have written to me and I’ve failed to answer, but I will answer in the future to all who write to me. Best regards to all. —Milzi Kosernik (16), Box 199, Aguilar, Colo. (Lodge 381, Circle 20)
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VIRGINIA IS A BUSY GIRL
Dear Editor:—I am sorry I haven’t written sooner to this fine magazine. I have been so busy with school work and other things that I just forgot about it until today.
I joined a wonderful organization last summer and I think every girl between the ages of 14 and 18 should try to join if she possibly can. It is the Junior Auxiliary of the American Women’s Voluntary Service (AWVS). We do war work of all kind. We haven’t started yet but in the near future we are going to work in hospitals. For every hour we put in as work it is counted toward our uniform. For 15 hours of work we get our service pin. We must have 30 hours in before we can get our uniforms. I have four more hours before I
can get my uniform. With all this work and school work along with the United Servicemen’s Club which I belong to, you can see I am rather busy these days.
Before I close I wish to say that I would like to have someone in Philadelphia, Pa., write to me. My warmest regards to all readers.—Virginia Kuichar (age 16), 21701 Ivan Ave., Cleveland, O. *
ANNE'S THIRD LETTER
Dear Editor:—This is my third letter to this fine magazine. My last letter must have been sent too late for it was not published in the November issue. I hope it will be printed in the December number.
On October 31, we had a dance which was sponsored by the Slav Congress. It proved to be a financial success.-—We were sorry to hear that Brother Anton Mauric died Nov. 8.—A son, Roger Vincent, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Leonard. Mrs. Leonard was formerly the administratrix (manager) of our Circle. Roger will be one of pur new members of our fine Juvenile Circle here in Gowanda, New York. Circle No. 40 is meeting °nce a month.
On November 9, we had a blackout which was reported a success. The town was completely blacked out for half an hour. What were the Gowanda memebrs doing during this blackout?
I will close now hoping to hear from pen pals. I will answer all letters promptly.—Anne Sladish, 57 Broadway, Gowanda, N. Y. (Sec’y Circle 40)
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CLARINET AND ACCORDION
Bear Editor:—This is my third letter to the M. L- I hope I have more. I am going to try to Write every month to this wonderful magazine.
I am 13 years of age, a freshman in the Panama Public School. I have three pen pals but I wish t had a few more. I would like a few boy pen Pals, also.—I have a clarinet which I play in the school band, and an accordion for my own amusement. I’ve been playing the clarinet for two years and a half. I’ve been playing my accordion a year now.
I wrote a letter for the November number of the ML, but I guess it came too late. With it I also sent a picture of myself. The picture wasn’t so good because it was taken when I was playing and didn’t know it. Best regards to all.—Dorolhy Brandish (13), Box 632, Panama, 111. (Lodge 123)
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OUR LODGE'S ANNIVERSARY
Dear Editor:—It has been a long time since I have written to the Mladinski List, but I’ll try to write more regularly this year.
Our SNPJ lodge 321 celebrated its 25th anniversary oct. 31. Sec’y F. A. Vider of the SNPJ was the principal speaker. Friends from Salem, Sharon and Girard were present. A good time was had by all.
Many of our Warren SNPJ boys have left to serve Uncle Sam. Among them are James Sta-nieh, Jerry Sporich, William Zuga, Charles J. Tomazin, Frank Persin, Rudy Persin, Louis Gorsick,
Frank Modic and our former Circle manager, Joe Mlekush. John Petrich is waiting to be called by the Navy. We wish the best of luck to each and every one of them.
I am getting along just fine in school. I hope everyone else is. We started school in Warren Aug. 31. We received our report cards early in October, and our second report late in November.
Now I would like to say hello to the following pen pals: Florence Ruparich of Chisholm, Minn.; Bill Koren of Washington, Pa.; Florence Buko-vich of Garrett, Ky., and Rose Lipar of Hyndsville, N. Y. Closing now, wishing everyone the best of luck.—Doroihy Tomazin, 2285 Burton St.. Warren, Ohio. (Lodge 321, Circle 31)
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HONOR ROLL STUDENT
Dear Editor:—I am sorry for not writing to the ML for such a long time, but from now on I’m going to try to write every month.
I am 14 years of age, have blonde hair, brown eyes, am 5 feet 1 inch tall and weigh about 92 pounds. I am a freshman in Snowden Twp. High School, and I like high school very much. At this time, football season is in full swing but will be over before this letter will be printed. We have won every game except one, that was Bridgeville. I really think our boys were good.
In school my name is on the Honor Roll for making the highest grades in my exam tests. I was very glad to see my name on it. My grades were between 90 and 100. I have five teachers and eight subjects in high school. Here are my teachers’ names and the subjects each one teaches: Miss Terchek, Home Economics; Mrs. Petrovich, Literature, Science and English; Mrs. Danley, Mathematics and Crafts; Mr. Markowitz, Civics; Miss Marzolf, Physical Education and General Science. I like all of them. Mr. Citron left for the army Nov. 3. All the children liked him the best.
I have a cousin who left for the Waacs several months ago. Her name is Veronica Yankovich. I would like my cousin Dorothy Polutnik write to the M. L., also Albina Skerbetz and Robert Fi-dago. My sister Jenny had a baby girl on June 15 and named her Ivana Carole. She is very cute.
I would like to have some pen pals and I will answer each letter promptly. My best regards to ali,-—Angeline Grobin, Box 17, Broughton, Pa.
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"WINTER FUN"
Dear Editor:—Since my last letter was published in the M. L. some months ago, I have decided to write again, hoping that this, too, shall be published.
I have one pen pal, Marion Widgay, of New York, whose letter I haven’t answered because I lost her address. I hope Marion sees this and sends me her address, for I enjoyed hearing from her.
Many members have sent poems to the ML, so I though I, too, would try my hand at this sort of thing. Here is the result and the piece is called “Winter Fun”:
’Tis in winter children have most fun,
They make snowballs, play and run,
They go ice-skating, sled-riding;
Over the hills they go gliding,
Some of them go even skiing—
And when they get good and tired,
Summer days should be admired.
Well, this is all for this time. Best regards to one and all.—Dorothy Gaspersic (age 10), 716 Twenty-fourth St., Ambridge, Pa. (Lodge 33)
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WANTED: PEN PALS
Dear Editor:—I finally decided to write to this fine magazine. This has been only the second time I have written to the M. L. I am writing mostly because I would like to hear from all of you members all over the states. So if you girls and boys would drop me a line I would appreciate it a lot and I promise to answer each and everyone of you. Best regards to all.—Mildred Frank (age 11), R. D. 1, Washington, Pennsylvania. (Lodge 259)
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PEN PALS WANTED
Dear Editor:—This is my second letter to the M. L. I am a Girl Scout. My rank is second class. We are going to go swimming with our troop in the pool. I am going to get my swimming badge. We have lots of fun together. We play games and pass tests. After we go swimming we are going to have spaghetti. I want to say hello to my pen pals. I would like to have more pen pals between the ages of 10 and 12. Best regards to all.—Patricia Chappel, 808 Jones St., Eveleth, Minn.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR
Dear Editor:—Well, here I am writing to the wonderful ML again. First of all, I want to wish my pen pals and everyone a very Happy New Year.
I am enclosing two poems which I hope will be published. What’s the matter with Florence and Rose that you stopped writing?
At the October meeting our Circle planned for each member to draw a name from a box. Whose ever name they get, the Circle will give them 35c to buy this person a yule present.
By the way, I would like to have some pen pals from the West. I’ll answer all letters promptly. Best regards.—Virginia Barton (14), R. D. 4, McDonald, Pa. (Lodge 231)
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LET'S DEFEAT THE AXIS
Dear Editor:—This is my second letter in the M. L. I like to read this wonderful magazine, the poems, letters and stories.
We take scrap to school and buy war stamps. I have seven dollars worth of stamps. I think our school is better than ever because we started the job that has to be done. I think we can win this war by getting scrap, stamps and bonds.
In some countries they haven’t anything to eat or wear, and not even a house to live in. We should be thankful we live here in America and
not in overrun Europe. So let’s all do our part in this war and help to defeat the Axis.
My best regards and a Happy New Year to all.— Frances Ambrožič (age 9), Box 424, Crafton, Pa. (Lodge 188)
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WANTS MORE PEN PALS
Dear Editor:—This is my very first letter to the M. L. I enjoy reading this magazine and I have acquired two very nice pen pals through it. They are Mary Podnar from Hardburly, Kentucky, and Victor Raspet of Meadowlands, Pennsylvania. I had once written to Rocky Novak from Chicago, but unfortunately, I lost his address. If anyone reading this happens to know him, will you kindly send his address to me?
I am seventeen years of age, five feet four inches tall, and have brown hair. Upon graduation from high school I became an employe of the Family Loan Corporation in Pittsburgh. I correspond with many boys in the service, however, I would like more pen pals from all over the United States, either boys or girls from 16 up. My best wishes to all.—Dorilhe Stark (17), 75 Streets Run Rd„ Willock, Pa. (Lodge 36)
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MAXALINE'S FIRST LETTER
Dear Editor:—This is my first letter I’ve written to this fine magazine, the Mladinski List.
I am five feet two inches tall, weigh 94 pounds, have hazel eyes, dark blonde hair and am 13 years old, my birthday being Nov. 29. I go to Lorain Borough School and am in the eighth grade.
I belong to the Youth of America Juvenile Circle. I am buying war stamps every week. I would like very much to have some pen pals. Best regards to all.—Maxaline Walylko, Box 502, Woodland Ave., Johnstown, Pa. (Lodge 82, Circle 47)
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MARY'S FIRST LETTER
Dear Editor:—This is the first letter I have written to this wonderful juvenile magazine. I enjoy reading it because it contains so many interesting things.
I am five feet one inch tall, weigh 104 pounds and am 13 years old. My eyes and hair are brown. I am in the eighth grade at Lorain Borough School. I joined the Youth of America Circle in September.
Our Circle is engaged in many activities, including collecting scrap metal, rubber and paper. We gathered over 90,000 pounds of scrap in that one drive.
I would like very much to have some pen pals. I promise to answer each letter promptly. Success to the Mladinski List and best wishes to all. —Mary Jane Plachy, R. D. 3, Box 255, Johnstown, Pa. (Lodge 82, Circle 47)
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HER FATHER IS IN U. S. ARMY
Dear Editor:—This is my first letter to the M. L. I will try and write every month. I am five feet two inches in height, weigh 100 pounds, have dark blond hair and greenish gray eyes.
I am 13 years old and in the eighth grade.
think the Mladinski List is a wonderful juvenile magazine. I was glad to have some of my articles appear in such a fine magazine.
I am buying war stamps every week. I belong to the Youth of America Juvenile Circle. I will go to the Ferndale High School next year (if I am promoted). I have 4 brothers, one sister, and my father is in the U. S. Arm. My mother died when I was 11 years old.
I would like very much to have some pen pals, hoys and girls. I guess I will close now. Best regards to all.-—Ruth Fletcher, 437 Ohio St., Johnstown, Pa. (Lodge 82, Circle 47)
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IS	BUYING WAR STAMPS
Dear Editor:—This is my first letter to this fine magazine. I am going to try to write every month after this.
I am 13 years of age, am 5 feet tall, weigh 96 lbs., have brown hair and brown eyes. I am \n the eighth grade.
I belong to the “Youth of America” Juvenile Circle, No. 47 SNPJ. We have lots of fun. We are always busy doing something. I am writing this on Correspondence Night our Circle has organized.
I buy war stamps regularly, and I am going to try to get a few war bonds.
I would like to have some pen pals, boys as well as girls. I will answer all letters promptly. I will write more next time. Best regards and a Happy New Year to all.—Helen Pinelli (13), R. D. 3, Box 241, Johnstown, Pa. (Lodge 82, Circle 47)
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ELIZABETH LIKES SCHOOL
- Dear Editor:—This is my first letter to the M. L. I enjoy this magazine very much. I am a member of Lodge 321 and Circle 31.
I live in Warren, Ohio. I am 14 years of age and I am in the ninth grade in school. I like school very much. I take the following subjects: English, Civics, Arithmetic, Biology, and Minors. The school I go to is East Junior High. In January I will go to High School.
My hobby is collecting photographs. My favorite sports are tennis and horseback riding.
I wish to say hello to my two pen pals, Mary Skoda of Latrobe, Pa., and Albert Copi of Monroe, Mich. I will write more next time and hope to hear from some more pen pals. Best regards to all.—Elizabeth Zaeken, 2255 Burton St., Warren, °hio. (Lodge 321, Circle 31)
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SNPJ A GREAT ORGANIZATION
Dear Editor:—I am nine years old and I have been a member of the SNPJ since I was a baby. My father has been a member of the Society for the past 25 years, and my mother for 18 years. My sister and brother also belong to the SNPJ.
I think the SNPJ is a great organization. It not only protects its members in time of sickness and need, but it also issues this fine juvenile magazine'and for the adults, the daily and weekly Prosveta.
This is my very first letter to the Mladinski
List. I will try to write every month from now on.
Here is a poem I have learned in school, “Flag Song”:
Dear flag of our America,
How proud we are of you,
It makes us brave to see you wave,
In folds red, white and blue.
This will be all for this time. I will write more next time. Best regards to all.-—Angie Bigovich, 506 E. Mercury, Butte, Mont. (Lodge 207)
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ANOTHER FIRST LETTER
Dear Editor:—I am 11 years old and in the sixth grade. I have brown hair, grey eyes, and am 4 ft. 10 inches tall. This is my first letter to the M. L. My hobbies are singing, bicycle riding, and playing the piano. Bicycle riding, as you know, is classified as sport, and so it is. I am recording secretary of Circle No. 10. Our whole family belong to SNPJ lodge 476. I would like to have some pen pals. Now I must close. Best regards to all.—Jenny Možina, R. D. 1, Salem, O. (Lodge 476)
»
NO SCHOOL—GAS REGISTRATION
Dear Editor:—I thought I would write to the ML now that I have time. Tomorrow we don’t have school because of Armistice Day, and we only have half a day of school on Thursday and Friday because of gas registration.
I am still going to school and certainly didn’t change my mind about liking it; in fact, I hate it. Maybe I shouldn’t say this because I may get to like it in the near future. Anyway, I hope so.
In our school, the sophomore class are ordering their class rings; they will discontinue making them next year. I can hardly wait till I get mine. Enclosed I am sending a few stories or jokes I’ve recently read and heard, and wish to see them published. I’ll close, remaining a proud member— Helen Mance (15), 14 Grant St., Cokeburg, Pa.
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M. L. IS INTERESTINC
Dear Editor:—I like to read this fine magazine; it is very interesting. This is my first letter to the M. L. I am 12 years old and in the seventh grade. My teachers’ names are Miss Fiffin, Mrs. Jones, Miss Nelson, and Miss Pancoast, the principal. My subjects are English, Arithmetic, Spelling, History, Geography, Health, Reading and Writing. All of my family are in the SNPJ lodge. I would like to have some pen pals. That’s all for now. Best regards.—Evelyn Kokiich, 768 Alexander Ave., Strabane, Pa.
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AND ANOTHER "FIRST"
Dear Editor:—I am 16 years of age, and this is my first letter to the Mladinski List. I have blonde hair and blue eyes. I go to the Huerfano County High School in Walsenburg, Colo. I take General Mathematics, Social Science, English, Spanish and Gym. I have a brother in the Navy. He is stationed at San Diego, Calif. Best regards to all.—Anna Palcher (16), Butte Valley, Colo. (Lodge 299)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL
Dear Editor: — Hello —everybody! I am wishing all a happy' New Year. I hope 1943 will bring you health, happiness and friendship every day.
I want to start the new year right by writing to the ML every month. I wrote in every issue of 1942 and I hope that will stand true in 1943.
I am writing this on Nov. 24 and the weather is warm here, but by the time this letter is published, I imagine snow will be on the ground and Jack Frost will be doing his part.
My brother Leo is in the army now. He had to go to Chicago to be examined as that was where he registered. He said it really felt good to be with his many friends up there. He was glad to see sister Mary and brother Tony and wife. Leo is in Camp Grant now, but we don’t know where he’ll be when this letter is published.
We have been practicing basketball for nearly two months and were going to play our first game Nov. 23. Basketball is my favorite sport. I am enclosing a picture of myself which I would like to see reproduced, as many of my pen pals have asked for one. Best regards to all.—Annie Čretnik (16), R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark. (Lodge 24)
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RED, WHITE AND BLUE
Dear Editor:—I am writing again to this wonderful magazine of ours. I am sending a poem about our flag. At school every child received a ten-cent war stamp book, with a stamp in it. I believe my teacher is the best one at Jenny Lind School. Here is the poem about the flag: There are many flags in many lands,
There are flags of every hue,
But there is no flag however grand,
Like our own Red, White and Blue.
I will close now and will write more next time. Best regards to all.—Amelia Creinik (9), R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark. (Lodge 24)
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OUR SNPJ DRILL TEAM
Dear Editor:—This is about my eighth letter to this fine magazine. I hope this letter is published in the January issue.
Our Circle organized a drill team. There are
16	members but we expect more. We practice twice a week. Nov. 18 was our deadline for joining. The reason is, every time we drilled we got new members and had to do the same drills over and over. We already have our emblem to put on our uniforms.
I am enclosing a drawing, which I hope will appear in the M. L. I have sent many drawings to
be published but they never are. Why? I draw them in India ink. I hope that some of my drawings are published. I will continue to draw and write to this fine magazine. (Don’t get discouraged if your drawings are not published; there must be a reason. Observe ALL the rules and try again.—Ed.)
I wish to say hello to Anne Hotko, Rosemary Janezic, Stella Russell, Dorothy Chankovich, Louise Breto, Lucille Ozanich, Cathrine Moze and Kathrine Spaitz, also to Andrew Rupnik. I would like a few more pen pals. Best regards to one and all.—Loltie Ligiecki, 23 Beech St., Gowanda, N. Y. (Circle 40)
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WAR SAVINGS STAMPS
Dear Editor:—I am writing again to this lovely magazine. I will try to write in every issue in 1943. Writing to the ML is a pleasure.
Our school collected scrap and got $30. We received war stamps for that money. They gave every child in school a stamp book and a stamp in it, which is a good way to start buying more stamps to help our country win the war.
I hope everybody enjoyed himself over the holidays. I wish lots of happiness and good health to everyone in 1943. Best regards to all.—Mildred Creinik (11), R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark. (Lodge 24)
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SIX TONS OF SCRAP
Dear Editor:—I am writing again to this fine magazine the Mladinski List. I will try to write each and every month in 1943.
Our school sold the scrap we collected—six tons of it! We got $31 for it. The school is busy right now, registering for gas rationing. From the Halloween party, our school realized $61, which is also a neat little (big) sum.
I have bought $6.40 worth of war stamps. My brother Leo is in the army now. I will close now. Best regards to all.—Willie Creinik (12), R. 2, Box 425, Ft. Smith, Ark. (Lodge 24)
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A LETTER FROM EUCLID, O.
Dear Editor:—I was very glad to see my letter in the November issue of the Mladinski List. I wish to correct a little mistake. Closing time of our school is at 3:30 and not at 3 p. m. However, on Nov. 2, opening time was changed from 8:45 to 9 a. m. (all the better for the boys and girls).
Every nine weeks, report cards are distributed to the boys and girls. My first report card appeared to be satisfactory, for I got all C’s in my subjects. Our homeroom has the highest scholastic record in the school. There are three homerooms for the 10B. Four of the six honor roll students are from our homeroom.
Our school’s football team was pretty good this season, for they won all of their eight games. They also won the Eastern Conference. Many Slovenes are on the team. Some of the boys’ names are Harry Knaus, John Knific, Fritz Medved, John Telich, Bing Bergoch, Henry Walters, and others. By these names you can tell they
are Slovenes, although Knaus and Walters would mdicate some other nationality.
On Nov. 15, our SNPJ lodge 450 marked its 20th anniversary at the Slovene Hall. The Vadnal orchestra played, and they really do play good. A Program was staged before the dance. Everyone had a good time.
What is wrong with you Euclidites? I rarely see a letter in the ML from Euclid. Is it the homework that is bearing you down, or some other outside interest? I am sure Dorothy Slokar, Betty Abramovič, Lillian Tegel, Virginia Smith, Margie Matyazic and all the rest of my girl friends should write to this fine magazine. How about it, girls?
The Marine Band was in Cleveland on Nov. 8. J didn’t see it this year, but I did see it last year. They really play swell. The Marines celebrated their 167th anniversary by having a concert for all the people who could get in the Public Auditorium. It was free of charge. There were over 20,000 people who attended this great affair, and they had to turn 10,000 people away because of lack of space.
Since my last letter I got three new pen pals— Florence Alich, Florence Ruparsich and Lorraine Andolsek. I want to thank all three of them.
still would like to have more pen pals, especially those who like to exchange post cards. I am sure Post cards of Cleveland would be full of interest-lng scenery.
I hope everyone had a swell time over the holidays. I am hoping for a better world next year.
have two brothers, Louis and Victor, 19 and 17, Respectively. Both of them will probably be called 111 the next six months. Until next time, I remain a Proud member of the SNPJ—Rosemary Janezic US), 977 E. 239th St., Euclid, Cleveland, Ohio. (Lodge 450)
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ANNA'S "SECOND"
Dear Editor:-—This is my second letter to the *1. L. I	this	magazine	very much. I am
1 years of age and in the sixth grade. I like school very much. I also like my playmates and my teacher. Her name is Mrs. Kerwald. We had a Christmas program and my sister was in it. We ttad one examination and I “passed them all.” I ^ill close now, wishing I would get some pen pals, oest regards to all readers and writers.—Anna Cernoia (11), Box 358, Delagua, Colo. (Circle 25)
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LIVES NEAR YELLOWSTONE PARK
Dear Editor:—This is my first letter to the ML, and I hope it will not be the last. Our entire ramily belongs to the SNPJ.
I am 15 years of age, have brown hair, brown eyes, weigh 104 lbs. and am 5 ft. 4 inches tall.
live in a smal mining camp, in Jardine, Mont., ^hich is only six miles from the Yellowstone ational Park. We go to the park very often anA We enjoy it very much.
My hobby is collecting pictures or snapshots of he people who write to me. I would like to have many pen pals and I promise to answer the letters
promptly. My very best regards to all.—Angeline Basovich (15), Jardine, Mont. (Lodge 249)
♦
SNOW IN COLORADO
Dear Editor:—I finally decided to write to this fine magazine. And just as I started to write, it started to snow. I hope this letter will appear in the January number of the M. L.
I wish I had a sled to go sledding. I think the hill near the schoolhouse will be swell to go sled-riding now. I didn’t ask Santa to bring me anything except my winter outfit. By the time this letter is published we will be writing 1943. I just can’t think that four months of school have gone already. I am beginning to like school now.
When I haven’t anything to do the day seems so long. But one must always find something to do. There are so many things to be done. I hope everyone will be happy and healthy during the coming year. Best regards to all.—Josephine Ko-sernik. Box 199, Aguilar, Colo. (Lodge 381, Circle 20)
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FRANCES' "FIRST"
Dear Editor:—I am nine years old and I am in the fifth grade. I have light brown hair and am 4 ft. 10 inches tall. My favorite sports and hobbies are swimming, singing and playing the piano. This is my first letter to the M. L.
I, too, would like to have some pen pals. I will try to answer every letter. I like to listen to the radio. We listen to the radio programs every day. If we didn’t have a radio we’d be lost.
My sister Mary is president of our Juvenile Circle here in Salem, Ohio. Our secretary is Elsie Omaits, recording secretary is Jenny Mozina and treasurer is Jimmy Koran. Our Circle manager is Mrs. Omaits.
This is all for this time. I will try to write more next month. Best regards to all.—Frances Kordan, R. D. 2, Depot Rd., Salem, Ohio. (Lodge 476, Circle 10)
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MY NEW HOBBY
Dear Editor:—Here I am writing my first letter for the year 1943 to the Mladinski List. I hope Santa was good to everyone during the holidays.
I centainly was surprised and glad when I heard that the Americans had landed in North Africa. My brother Rudy is in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a C. B. in the Navy. That is one of the new organizations in the Navy. The CB’s are constructors.
One of my new hobbies is collecting pictures of orchestra leaders and their singers. I wrote to New York City for a picture of Harry James, Helen Forrest and his other singers. My hobby is very interesting to me.
I have been ice skating quite a bit already (Nov. 20). We have many small lakes here on which we skate. The ice cracks a little sometime, and do I get scared. I’ve run out of words, so I’ll close with my best wishes to all.—Florence Alich (15), Box 607, Aurora, Minnesota. (Lodge 111)
MY FIVE "HOBBIES"
Dear Editor:—This is my first letter to the M. L. I am eleven years old and am in the sixth grade. I am 5 ft. 1 in. tall, and have brown eyes. I have five hobbies (sports)—swimming, singing, playing piano, bicycle riding, and school. To be sure, some of these cannot very well be classified as hobbies or favorite sports, but in spite of that I call them “my hobbies.”
I am President of Circle No. 10, SNPJ lodge 476. We have our meetings each second Sunday of the month. Our meetings are interesting and enjoyable
I would like to have some pen pals. I will answer all letters promptly. My best regards to all. —Mary J. Kordan, R. D. 2, Depot Road, Salem, O.
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ALL WOMEN TEACHERS
Dear Editor:—Here I am again, writing to this fine magazine for the second year. I have been seding in letters and contributions to the ML since May of last year. I have made it a resolution to keep writing to the ML also during 1943.
During the past year I received many letters from my pen pals. I do wish Dot Powell and Margaret Bartol would answer my letters, also Dan Gostovich, because I have lost your addresses.
In our school we are helping out a lot in our country’s war effort. We have all women teachers, because all of the men teachers went to the army. We had a scrap drive and we have turned in about six tons of scrap. But we are still on the job. The teachers have been so busy with this work that a girl friend of mine and myself have been helping out. We help the first and second grade teacher out by taking one group out while she works with another. It is a great experience for us and we enjoy it very much.
This is all for now. Best regards to one and all. —Georgie Močivnik (11), P. O. Box 86, Jenny Lind, Ark. (Lodge 24)
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"WILL TURN THE COVER"
Dear Editor:—Once again we will turn the cover over to January, and to most of us it will mean the making of new resolutions. One resolution which we can all try to make, is to write to our magazine every month, starting with January.
Our football team played its final game Nov. 20. The weather here is still rather warm at this writing (Nov. 25). My Daddy says that the cold winds have already started to blow in Scarbro, W. Va.
I want to say that I have three uncles in the army. They are: Frank Grilc, Louis Grilc, and Albin Grilc. I want to wish them all the best of luck. Until I write again, I remain a proud SNPJ member—Ernestine Močivnik (15), P. O. Box 86, Jenny Lind, Arkansas. (Lodge 24)
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TIME FOR RESOLUTIONS
Dear Editor:—It’s time for me to write to the Mladinski List once again. Now that it is January, I am going to make a resolution to write to this magazine every month.
I have been getting mail every day from pen
pals. I like to play basketball very much. I suppose that is a sport which everyone enjoys. I am kept very busy with my subjects in school.
I must mention that I have three uncles in the army. They are: Frank Grilc, who is a corporal; Louis and Albin Grilc. Frank left for the army in September and the other two in November. We are wishing them lots and lots of luck. My best regards to all ML readers and writers.— Johnnie Močivnik (13), P. O. Box 86, Jenny Lind, Arkansas (Lodge 24)
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HELEN'S HOBBIES
Dear Editor:—This is my first letter to this wonderful magazine. I cannot express in words how much we all enjoy this fine magazine.
I am 14 years old. I have black hair and greenish blue eyes. My birthday is December 22. My hobbies are collecting picture postcards and snapshots of pen pals. I also like to receive letters and answer them promptly.
Our school started August 31 and is now well under way. By the time this letter is published in the ML, the first semester will be almost over. I go to the L’Anse High School where I am in the ninth grade. I like school very much.
I hope to hear from any pen pals, both boys and girls, from every state, my own age and older. I promise to answer all letters promptly. I’ll close now and will write more next time. My best regards to all Mladinski List readers and writers.-—Helen La Chapelle (14), Box 153, L’Anse, Mich. (Lodge 753)
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THE NEW GYM TEACHER
Dear Editor:—Here I am writing again to this wonderful magazine. I am very sorry I didn’t write for the December issue of the M. L. This time I am sending an article about January. I hope it will be published.
Our boys’ gym teacher, Mr. Webb, has volunteered in the Navy. The teachers bought him some emblems for his uniform. We did hate to see him leave, but we were also glad he went to help our country. Their new gym teacher is Mr. O'Laughlin. He is very popular, just like Mr. Webb was.
I would like to say hello to my six pen pals, Georgie Močivnik, Jean Batycki, Catherine Sival-sky, Roberta Adams, Pauline Vucinich and Helen Krompotich. I would also like to know why they don’t answer my letters. Best regards to all.— Mary Ann Rudich (13), 163 Baker St., Aliquippa, Pa. (Lodge 122.) (Ed. note: Please write on ONE side of the paper ONLY. Thank you.)
♦
ORGANIZE A NEW CIRCLE
Dear Editor:—When the SNPJ lodge 580 celebrated its 15th anniversary, on Sunday, Oct. 11, Supreme President Vincent Cainkar of the SNPJ was the guest speaker. The juvenile members gave a play, which was a success.
The play was taken from the Mladinski List. The name of the play is, “Next Door Neighbor,-’ written by Mrs. Helen Ambrozich, manager of
Circle 18, Milwaukee, Wis. In the play, I had the Part of the youngest daughter, Annie. All the people liked the play, and I hope we give many more Plays in the future.
On Sunday, Nov. 22, we organized a Juvenile Circle here in New York. Nine children were Present, but we are going to try to get more members. Our next meeting was scheduled for Dec. 20 at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The name of our Circle is “Junior All Americans.” Various officers were elected and plans were made for future Meetings.—Lillian Kochevar (age 8), 434 Knickerbocker Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. (Lodge 580)
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"DAVID COPPERFIELD"
Dear Editor:—I hope this letter arrives early enough to be published in the January issue of. the M. L. I am trying to have a letter in every lssue. Last year I sent a letter to the ML every njonth, but I don’t think I sent it early enough. One of the rules says that all letters and contributions intended for the following mnoth must be ln before the first of each month. For instance, We want our letters to appear in the March number, they must be in before February 1st.
Well, I won one of the most beautiful books, entitled, “David Copperfield.” I received this book for having the best drawing in the Young Writers Club. Then again about two or three ^eeks later I had a poem published. Ever since I ve been a member of this club, which has been tour years, I seem to have been improving in my Work.
I went to see the Thanksgiving Parade downtown and it was grand. The small children we: excited. They were anxious to see Santa. When I was small and believed in Santa, I think had more fun.
I received a letter from a new pen pal from -Pennsylvania. Her father works in an ore mine and she sent me a piece of ore. I appreciated it ever so much because things like that are of great Use in my geography class. If anyone else has ®ny objects like that I wish they would send ‘hem to me. I would also be glad to correspond With them. My best regards to all.—Caroline Tav-*®lj (13),	1425	McKinstry, Detroit, Michigan.
(Lodge 518)
OUR SCHOOL
(Continued from page 18)
Lieut. General Anderson is the commander of ‘he British First Army.
'	Gen. Montgomery is the head of the Brit-
ish Eighth Army in Egypt and Libya. He is the ero for having broken the power of Rommel. (Information: Newspaper.)
FLORENCE ALICH, 15, lodge 111,
Box 607, Aurora, Minnesota.
Judge: “Did the innocent bystander in the fight So home in the interim?”
Witness: “No, he went home in the ambulance.”
LUKEC IN NJEGOV ŠKOREC
(Nadaljevanje z 2. strani)
Vse večere sta z materjo molila, da bi očeta ne požrlo morje. Prišlo je pismo. Oče je bil že v Ameriki. Poslal je denarja, da je mati plačala dolg. Pisal je: “Potrpita! Prišla bosta za menoj.”
Lukec je rasel in hodil v šolo. Nagajal je materi in učiteljici. Nikogar se ni bal. Po očetovem odhodu je bil gospodar v koči. Mati je bila predobra. Ni vpila nad njim. Če ga je tepla, je bolelo bolj njo nego Lukca' Kadar je ni hotel ubogati, mu je včasih rekla: “Umrla bom, če boš tak.” To je Luk-ca pretreslo. Če umre mati, bo ostal sam. Postal je zamišljen, težko mu je bilo. Pa je kmalu pozabil na to. Jedel je z očetovo žlico, nosil očetov klobuk in stare očetove čevlje.
Kadar je bila mati obupana nad njim, mu je zagrozila: “Povedala bom očetu.”
To je Lukca res skrbelo. Očeta je imel rad, vendar se ga je bal. Po taki grožnji je bil nekaj dni dober. Pa si je mislil: “Kako mu bo povedala? Saj ne gremo v Ameriko.” Postal je znova poreden.
Marjeta se je bala trenutka, ko bo treba zapustiti domačijo. A se ga je tudi veselila. Bala se je, kaj bo iz sina, če bo ostal pri nji. Oče ga bo že trdo prijel.
Še nekaj drugega jo je sililo od doma . . . Kovačija je že več let počivala. Neki fant iz vasi se je bil izučil za kovača. Rad bi bil najel kočo s kovačnico in vrtom. Gospodar koče, vaški krčmar, je izpraševal Marjeto, kadar jo je srečal:
“Kdaj se boste izselili?”
“Potrpite,” je prosila Marjeta. “Morda poj demo za vedno od tu.”
Dan odhoda je prišel, preden ga je pričakovala.
5.
Lukec je postal priden in ubogljiv. Včasih se je spozabil, a se je takoj spomnil na očeta. Kaj, če mu mati vse pove? Moral je misliti in skrbeti. S škorcem se ni toliko igral kot prej.
Tovarišem v šoli je bil povedal: “Z materjo poj deva v Ameriko.”
Med poukom ga je dregnil Tone: “Boš dal meni škorca?”
“Ne,” mu je odgovoril.
(Dalje prihodnjič.)
THE INFORMATION DESK
By Michael Vrhovnik
(Pertaining to the Anniversaries of the SNPJ Juvenile Department and Juvenile Circles, the Victory Campaign, Louis Adamic and his books, and miscellaneous subjects.)
Q.—January 1943 is the first month of what important anniversary in the history of the SNPJ?
A.—The Thirtieth Anniversary of the establishment of the Juvenile Department.
Q.—Which Convention of the SNPJ approved the establishment of our Juvenile Branch?
A.—The Fifth Regular Convention held at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1912.
Q.—When and where was the first Juvenile Circle of the Society organized?
A.—Walsenburg, Colorado, on March 27, 1938.
Q.—Who was the organizer and manager of the first Circle?
A.—Ed Tomsic, Sixth District Vice-President of the Supreme Board.
Q.—Who were the first officers of this Circle?
A.—Joseph Strovas, President; Victor Tomsic, Vice-President; Ann Urban, Scretary; John Zorman, Treasurer.
Q.—How many of our Circles will reach their Fifth Anniversary sometime in 1943?
A.—All Circles up to and including Circle No. 18 (Violet Rays) of Milwaukee, Wis.
Q.—Besides celebrating the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Juvenile Department and the Fifth of the Juvenile Circles, what other notable event can the members of each Circle, organized after 1938, celebrate?
A.—The Anniversary of their own Circle, which might be the Fourth, Third, Second, or First, depending on the year organized. In other words, Juvenile Circles organized after 1938 will have the opportunity to celebrate three birthdays in one, if they so decide.
Q.—Who was the first Juvenile Director of the SNPJ elected by the convention?
A.—Michael Vrhovnik, present holder of this office.
Q.—Between conventions, what two governing bodies of the Society make the laws and pass upon the decisions pertaining to the Juvenile Department?
A.—The Supreme Board and the Supreme Executive Committee.
Q.—What member of a Juvenile Circle, who placed high among the winners in the “Our School” contest in 1942, has, so far, enrolled over 20 new members in the SNPJ Victory Campaign?
A.—Violet Machek, member of Circle No. 22 (Voice of Youth), Midway, Pa.
Q.—When will the Victory Membership Campaign end?
A.—It will come to a close on March 1, 1943.
Q.—Who of the women contestants holds the lead in this campaign?
A.—Mary Udovich, member of Lodge Nada (102), Chicago, Illinois.
Q.—Who of the men contestants holds the leadership?
A.—John Barufaldi, member of Lodge No. 6, Sygan, Pa.
Q.—What member of the Supreme Board has to date enrolled the highest number of members?
A.—Ursula Ambrozich, Fifth District Vice-President, member of Lodge No. 130, Eveleth, Minnesota.
Q.—What two members of the Supreme Board are now in the Army?
A.—Michael R. Kumer, First Vice-President, and Raymond Travnik, Third District Vice-President.
Q.—When and where was Louis Adamic, the famous author, born?
A.-—He was born in Slovenia in the year 1899. Slovenia, at that time, was a part of the Empire of Austria-Hungary.
Q.—How old was he when he left his native land for America?
A.—He was not quite fifteen years of age.
Q.—Which of his following books was released for publication in 1942: What's Your Name—My America—Grandsons—From Many Lands?
A.—“What’s Your Name,” now being sold by all the leading bookstores of the country.
Q.—Besides those mentioned above, he previously wrote five other full length books. Can you give their titles?
A.—Dynamite—Laughing in the Jungle—The Native's Return—Cradle of Life—The House of Antigua.
Q.—What is the origin of the word “NEWS”?
A.-—It is formed by the first letters of the words, North, East, West and South.
Q.—Which is the larger, the State of Texas or the Territory of Alaska?
A.—Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas.
Q.—What is the meaning of the three colors in our flag?
A.—Red stands for courage, white for liberty, and blue for loyalty.
Q.—What is the difference between a decade and a chiliad?
A.—A decade is ten years and a chiliad is one thousand years.
(Continued on inside of back cover page)
-■.It »-MASS. —I.L III
•= LABOR SHORTAGi 0= LABOR SURPLUS
Sourc« of data/ War Manpowtr Commission
THE INFORMATION DESK
(Continued from page 32)
Q-—What entire continent belongs to a single nation?
A.—Australia.—It is entirely British.
Q.—When can you see the greatest distance, at night or day?
A.—At night, because you can see the stars.
NOTE: Adult and juvenile members are invited to contribute questions and answers to “The Information Desk.” Mail all such contributions to the Juvenile Director, 2657 S. Lawndale Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.
HEALTH NOTES
Never kill a pain before you know what
caused it.
Don’t imagine you have this or that ailment— flnd out.
A good rubbing is very frequently better than a dose of medicine.
No matter how small a cut is it should immedi-ately be sterilized.
Proper elimination will keep the body free of Poisons that discolor the skin.
Scrappy; “You’re scared to fight.”
Snappy: “I ain’t; but my mother’ll lick me.”
Scrappy; “An’ how’ll she know?”
Snappy: “She’ll see the doctor goin’ to your house.”
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS AND RIDDLES ON JUST FOR FUN PAGE:
Do you know your birds: 1—Parrot; 2—Mocking Bird; 3—Blue Jay; 4—Wren; 5—Canary; 6— Owl.
Spelling Quiz: 1—Correct spellings: accommodate, ninety, misspell, cooperate, primarily.
Riddle-Me-Ree: 1—That man is my son. 2— 78 plates, 156 cups, 117 saucers. 3—calf, cub, pig-gie, chickie, colt, froggie, puppy, lambie. 4: a— (c); b—(j); c—(i); d—(b); e—(t); f— (p).	5—
8 went altogether. 6 had originally asked him.
Quizzers: History: Battle at Waterloo; Botany: In the Autumn; Geography: Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea; English: A lizard-like animal; Astronomy: 9,000 stars.
Puzzlers: 1—out; 2—go; 3—acorns; 4—way; 5— one.
What About the Bones?
Teacher: “Do we eat the flesh of the whale?” Scholar: “Yes, ma’am.”
Teacher: “And what do we do with the bongs?” Scholar: “We leave them on the side of our plate, Miss.”
Teacher:	“Don’t	you	know	that	punctuation
means that you must pause?”
Willie: “Course I do. An auto driver punctuated his tire in front of our house Sunday and he paused for half an hour.”
Help in the Victory Campaign!
! ENROLL A NEW MEMBER IN THE ! “SNPJ VICTORY CAMPAIGN"—TODAY! I
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• The success of the SNPJ VICTORY CAMPAIGN depends on you—the members on our local fronts.
• We urge all members to join the active ranks of this great patriotic and fraternal drive to defend America and the SNPJ by enrolling new members.
• The SNPJ offers attractive SPECIAL PRIZES, ranging from $25 to $100, to state, district, and national winners—also, REGULAR PRIZES of $1 for each juvenile member and $1 to $4 for each new adult member enrolled.
• The war against the AXIS powers must be won! We shall help achieve this goal quicker by awarding thousands of dollars in UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS and STAMPS as prizes for new members!
• The number of new members gained in the SNPJ Victory Campaign will be reflected in the amount of dollars spent for bonds and stamps—for planes, ships, tanks, and guns. Let’s not forget that!
• A specia' award of $25 will be given to the Juvenile Circle gaining the highest number of new members in this campaign.
• Members! Compare our benefits and rates with those of other insurance organizations. Convince yourselves that the SNPJ OFFERS THE BEST BARGAINS!
• In conclusion, we say to you—Don’t forget the children. Give them all the advantages of membership in the SNPJ by organizing a Juvenile Circle in your community. That will insure a great victory for the future!	MICHAEL	VRHOVNIK,
the SNPJ Campaign Director.