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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 7 (December 15, 1926)
Three Wee Maidens
Three Wee Maidens
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-down, a-down, a-day!
Three wee maidens dressed in brown,
And caps of blue and grey,
Left their homes, without a sigh,
To wander where they may,
To view the wonders great that lie
O'er the hills away.
Down a-down a-derry down,
O'er the hills away!
Down a-down a-dorry down,
A-down a-down a-day!
Each wee maiden tucked her gown
From the dust away;
Passed by meadows newly mown,
Smelt the fragrant hay.
List the laverock, skyward flown,
Lilt his matchless lay.
Down a-down a-derry down,
The laverock's matchless lay!
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-down a-down a-day!
Where the leaves are russet brown
When Autumn brings decay,
Heard the merle and mavis fill
The woods with music gay;
But three wee maids tramped onward still,
They could not brook delay.
Down a-down a-derry down,
They could not brook delay!
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-down a-down a-day!
Three wee maidens went to town
All so blythe and gay;
Bess had a sixpence in her purse,
To spend as how she may;
But little maids without their nurse
How could they find their way?
Down a-down a-derry down,
They could not find their way!
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-down a-down r-day!
Jess turned o'er three pennies brown
That in her pocket lay;
But money is no good to own
With shops so far away,
And hunger such three maids had known
Not once before that day.
Down a-down a-derry down,
Not once before that day!
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-down a-down a-day!
Three wee maids to dreamland flown
As daylight dies away……
They found them ‘mong the clover deep
(Where, safe and sound, they lay,
Clasped in each other's arms, asleep)
And bore them soft away.
Down a-down a-derry down,
They bore them soft away!
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-ciown a-down a-day!
Three wee maids to ladies grown,
And none so sweet as they.
Tess gets much gold, Jess wins renown,
Bess weds a Prince so gay;
And all the good folk of the town
To them such homage pay!
Down a-down a-derry down,
To them much homage pay!
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-down a-down a-day!
“Wake up! wake up! nor make me frown!”
They heard their good nurse say,
“To think such sleepy-lie-a-beds,
Who shun the sun's first ray,
Should be three maids with giddy heads,
Who went and lost their way.”
Down a-down a-derry down,
Indeed, they lost their way!
Down a-down a-derry down,
A-down a-down a-day!
“Now, did we dream we went to town?
And did we lose our way?
And did we really hungry feel?
Was there some witchery?….
But what was dream and what was real,
They know not to this day.
Down a-down a-derry down,
They know not to this day!
The most efficient social servant is the man who, in mine, mill, railway, factory, office, or bureau, cheerfully works his hardest and best.
—S. Swinburne.
* * *
All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.
—Aristotle.
At Addington Workshops
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A Creditable Job
App. Boiler-makers L. Hennessy and B. Leeming did practically all the technical work and also a good portion of the practical work in the making of the new “D” Class boiler illustrated above.
Viz.: Marking off:—
Fire-box plates for cutting and flanging.
Face-plate, front tube plate and throat plate for cutting and flanging.
Barrel and wrapper for cutting planing and rolling.
Copper tube plate for drilling.
Other Work:—
Roll barrel and wrapper plates. Build boiler. Disconnect boiler.
Reassemble boiler after shell was received from hydraulic rivetor.
Fit all braces, stays, dome and tubes.
Rivet foundation ring with hydraulic.
All marking off was examined by special grade boilermaker or leading hand as opportunity offered before drilling or cutting of plates. Plates were chiefly cut with gas, flanging and all furnace work was done by special grade boilermakers.
Assistance was given to Apprentices Hennessy and Leeming to knock down stay, fit dome, line off boiler and fit expansion brackets.
A Blacksmith's Economy
It may not strike one when strolling through a railway smith shop, that the oddments of iron, old and new, could be put to more useful purposes than that of being deposited in the scrap heap. For instance, a four inch bar of iron, also bars 3 3/4 × 5/8 are required for making pile shoes and freight has to be paid by the shop that receives the metal. Why not use some of the disused iron fish plates that abound by the hundred in every depot of the New Zealand Railways? Thus: Take two sets of seven fishplates and two rivets through each let; take welding heat on ends of each lot, also a porter bar and attach all three together. Then take final welding heat and produce a piece of iron 4 in. square that would do for three or four shoes. The same method can be applied to switch rods, etc., and, although rather trying on one's apparel, it has been shown that a considerable saving in time, expense and fire can be effected. When it is remembered that all scrap in a shipyard is forged and transformed into stems and keels for ocean liners, and also that the small country smith, by taking two worn horse shoes and heating them can beat them into one new shoe, it appears that something of the same kind could be done in all New Zealand Railway blacksmiths shops with their scrap metal.
When Metals Melt
The melting points of the following metals are:—
| Wrought iron | 2,912 deg. Fahr. |
| Steel | 2,500 ” ” |
| Cast iron | 2,210 ” ” |
| Copper | 2,160 ” ” |
| Brass | 1,900 ” ” |
| Lead | 608 ” ” |
| Tin | 446 ” ” |
Masterton's Response.
In thanking the farmers of the Masterton district for the manner in which they had supported the Railways last season, Mr. W. A. Marshall, Commercial Agent for the Department, stated at a public meeting recently, that as the result of the Department's appeal last season the bales of wool forwarded through, the Masterton station were 3,800 in excess of those forwarded the previous season.
Things Thoughtful.
Do not look on your work as a dull duty. If you choose you can make it interesting. Throw your heart into it, master its meaning, trace out the causes and previous history, consider it in all its bearings, think how many even the humblest labour may benefit and there is scarcely one of our duties which we may not look to with enthusiasm. You will get to love your work, and if you do it with delight you will do it with ease. Even if at first you find this impossible, if for a time it seems mere drudgery, this may be just what you require; it may be good like mountain air to brace up your character.