THE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRA8KA.
imYEMMiD
Qrr-or-ua)iNARBf
W People t-
BRITISH FIRST SEA LORD A GERMAN
ROBERT finOULTON CXL 1
4
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O AMAZINQ havo boon tho Intellectual
achievements of Winifred Suckvlllo
Stonor, Jr., a ten-year-old Pittsburgh
girl, Unit Investigators persuaded her
mother and chief teacher, Mrs. Wini
fred Sackvlllo Stonor, to wrlto tho
whole- story of tho child's education
In a hook. -
This unusual little girl Is nlroady
prepared for college, In addition to
HUnlylng astronomy and somo other branches. Sho
HpeakB olght languages; sho can reclto u thousand
poems and sho hnB written nearly live hundrod
poomH and jingles herself.
Winifred plays tho piano woll. With no lessons,
excopt the gatno of "making up storlos on tho piano,"
ho can read ovor a page of Schubert's "Sqrenndo,"
closo tho book and play it accurately and with much
expression. Sho can nlBo hear a difficult selection
played and no koen Is hor, concentration sho can
immodlatoly sit down nt the piano nnd piny It.
Winifred draws well and pnlnts admirably. Like
Drowning, ono would lmnglno sho will hardly
(Imow which to chooso foe her life work, music,
urf or writing, but sho is very decided as to what
nho oxpectH to do. Winifred Is going to earn and
buy and bo tho odltor of a great children's mugn
zino. In tracing Winifred's dovelopmcnt chronologi
cally It may bo said that sho:
Used polysyllables In conversation at tho ago
of ono your; road at tho ago of Blxteen months;
wrote hor own namo on hotol reglstors and bo
Kan keeping a dlnry at the ago of two; learned
tho niuslcnl notes and played simple airs on the
piano and amazod adepts nt spelling nt throo;
learned tho Latin declcnsloiiH nnd conjugations
as singing exorcises and received a diploma In
TCsporunlo nt four; wrote storlos and jingles for
tho newspapers, spoke olght languages, trnnslntod
Mother Clooso rhymes Into Esperanto, learned
tho waltz, two-stop and throe-step nt flvo; learned
(tho outlines of Greek, Roman and Scandinavian
mythologies at eov'on, composed a poom naming
nnd locating all tho bones in tho Iranian body nt,
olght, and wns olectod president of tho .lunlor
Peaco League of America at ten
How can readers account for tho fact that
Winifred Is a perfectly normal, happy child, romp-
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iug, singing, loving and lovublo, gay nstho ca
nary sho Is giving tho freedom of tho cntiro houso
nd teaching to whistle nnd to keop porfect tlmo
to all tho' music that sho whistles? Winifred has
u hundrod dolls, As fast ns sho lonrns anything
jho Imparts It to her dolls nnd pets She Is
nrdonlly dovotod to sports. She swims, races,
pluys ball, (lances and physically sho Is as woll
as nho Is mentally Hor llttlo inuficlos nro stronu
tiu armor bolts, Sho is ns largo as nn ordinary
twelve-year-old girl and can walk five miles with
out tho least fatlguo.
Wlnlfiod's father is a colanol and n surgeon in
tho Marino hospital sorvlco of tho United States
Now ho Ib stationed at Pittsburgh. From him
Winifred undoubtedly gets hor splendid physical
care, and sho Is a porfectly woll child. Sho Is
practical, llko her father, and pohsphbos all hor
mother's loVo of art und music nnd tho gift of
writing. v
No lead romarltnblo Is tho little girl's mother.
JMrs. Stouor In hor book, "Natural Education,"
Hooms to flud nothing In llttlo Winifred's dovol
opmont that might not bo attained In any hoalthy,
naturally bright child. If this Is conceded for tho
eako of argument, It would have to bo admitted
that vory, very fow children would hnvo tho ad
vantages of tho oxtraordlmiry cleverness of a
born teacher, such as Winifred's. In fact, Mrs.
tonor has employed methods peculiarly hor own.
It might bo said that Mrs. Stonor has given ton
yours of constant lnbor to tho education of hor
daughtor, labor that wob not moroly constant, but
that was intelligent and Imnglnutlve as woll.
For tljo wholo secret of Winifred's learning has
been tho play spirit Whatever sho was tuught,
it camo to her not as toil but as play. Sho lived i
in a land of fairies and giants und gnomes.
In explaining hor system, Mis. Stoner starts
out with tho assumption that overy child Is born
with a distinctive tendency or talent and thaMhis
will always, bear fruit, If discovered and culti
vated In baUyhood. It Is tho mother's part to dis
cover this in infancy and to try to develop it just
as much ns to keop Its body clean and soo that
It has the proper food. Tho mother's obligation
begins boforo birth and Imposes upon her tho
duty of keoplng huroelf so healthy and serene,
both mentally and physically, that tho baby will
not have to start out With handicaps on Us vory
first day.
Not being nblo to sing, Mrs. Stoner chanted
tho lines from Virgil's Aenold to put the baby to
sloop nnd taught tho child's negro nurso to do
the snmo. Sho declares that tho meter Is vory
Bathing nnd that sho hns seen mnny another
chlld yield to tho somnolent inilucnco of "Armn
"""virumquo cano, Trolao qui primus ah oris."
When Winifred wns six weeks old hor mothor
began rocltlng selections from tho English poets.
Tho baby's favorites scorned to bo Tennyson's
"Crossing tho Hnr," and Mncaulny's "Horatlus at
tho Ilrldgo." By tho tlmo Winifred was a year
old sho could repent "Crossing tho liar" and
scan tho first ton lines of tho Aonqld. Tho mothor
Invented a game In which she would roll a ball
to tho baby and say "Anna." Winifred would
roll It back and say "Vlrumque," nnd In this way
tho Lntln words and motor were fixed In tho
bnby's memory.
Prom tho very beginning tho mother would
carry hor baby about tho houso, point out chairs,
tnblos, etc., and pronounce their niuneB carefully.
Sho found it was Just as oasy to teach tho baby to
sny "train" ns to say "choo-chno car," and Just as
oasy to toacli hor to say "dog" as to soy "doggie."
Sho sun minded tho baby with colored pictures.
To tench her colors Mrs. Stoner would take a box
of variously tinted yarns. Sho would piny sho
was "Mothor Hed," and baby would bo "Mothor
Green," and they would look Into tho yam for
tholr children, thoso of green tints, of course, be
ing tho babies of "Mother Green."
Wlnifrud's first toy wns n red balloon, which
was tied to hor wrist where sho could ndmlro it.
Each day thereafter for several weeks there
would bo a balloon of different color nnd shnpo,
until the child speedily camo to know whether a
balloon waB light, round, red, green and would go
up nnd como down. Sho wns never permitted to
hear anything but the best English, although the
mother was not Ilulcky about vigorous, expressive
slang.
As soon ns tho child had learned to speak Eng
llsh reasonably woll hor mothor bognn teaching
hor Spanish, lly tho time sho wns flvo sho had
learned to express herself In eight languages.
A-rs Stoner declares howovcr, If sho hnd It to do
over nguln she would tench Esperanto first.
Throughout all this preliminary Instruc
tion, Winifred wns encouraged to take
nil the outdoor exercise possible, and
soon was tho peer of the boys of her
age In tho neighborhood at wrestling,
or throwing or catching a ball.
From that time, Winifred's life becamo
a prolonged play of the game of "Let's
Pretend." Sometimes she nnd her moth
er would "bo somebody" and often each
would be herself und an alter ego. That
Is, Mrs. Stoner would play ono minute
that she wns hersolf and the next min
ute that sho wob her dear friend Nelllo
nnd Winifred would alternate between
being herself nnd her dear friend Lucy
In this .way they often could get up rath
er a slzcablo party when about to make
some now exploration Into the realm of
knowledge. '
Perhaps nothing is more illuminative
in Mrs. Stoner's book than hor account
of how she taught tho child mathematics
Winifred had failed to get any sort of grasp on the
subject, Bho Bays, until the mother was In despair,
fearing the child's mind might bo lopsided. At a
Chautauqua meeting In Now York, however, tho
mother met Prof. A. It. Ilombrook, a woman mathe
matics teacher, who soon put hor on tho right track.
Professor Ilombrook explained that Mrs. Stoner
had been successful in teaching music, art, poetry,
history and lnnguages because she herself loved
those studies nnd hnd failed to taach mathematics
because sho had not brought tlie "fairy interest" into
it. Sho volunteered to send weekly outlines of work,
which Mrs. Stoner was to employ according to her
own Ideas. '
Mother and child then begun playing games with
small objects, such us beans nnd buttons. These
objects would bo placed In a box and thoy would
tako turnB drawing them out, to see which could
get the most at a ulnglo grab. When helping the
malll shell peas they would try to see how many
liens there .were In two or more pods. In this
way rudimentary lessons in addition were taught.
To make greater progress they played parches!
with, small dlco and got prnctlco from adding up
tho spots. First they used two dice, but finally
they used flvo and Winifred was soon able to add
all tho spots without conscious effort. They
played all sorts of games which would require
simple addition nnd multiplication. In learning
subtraction, thoy would have battles with tin sol
diers and marbles, and whenever a "cannon shot"
would topple over a glvon number of soldiers,
Winifred was able to decide how many were lot
standing without stopping to count
Cancellation became n battle, one of thorn play
ing the numbers on one side of tho dividing line
nnd tho other playing tho other. Thoro never
wore any quizzes, because Winifred was taught to
got results nnd was not taught rules. She
learned tho values of money by tho actual use
of coins and tho values of market products by
going to market herself. To learn pharmacist's
weights and measures, Winifred played at keep
ing drug store nnd sold things to hor mother.
And bo it went through tho whole subject, until
at last tho girl becamo fascinated with tho funny
doings of Mr. X nnd got interested in nlgebra.
Winifred never suffered the humiliation of
physical punishment When Hho did woll, the good
Fairy Tltnnin would hide goodies under her pll
low and when she was bad tho fairy failed to ap
pear. If sho was ten minutes tardy about some
tusk, that meant ten minutes lost which had tc
bo taken out of her next recreation time. She
Boon learned that offeiiBea could bring ubout their
own unpleasant consequences, whllo good be
hnvlor meant tangible reward Sho was nevoi
permitted to stay at n slnglo tnsk when the point
of fntiguo had arrived.
A striking instance of Mrs. Stoner's methods
nB well as an illustration of tho child's intellec
tual bins. Is tho story of Winifred and the humble
bee In her zeiil to study tho Insect nt first hand,
sho picked onh up. Tho natural consequences
followed. Whllo sho wns yet suffering Winifred
Tho first sea lord of tho British
navy is a German. Admirnl His So
rcne Highness Princo Louis of Bat
tenberg Is his mouth-filling title, buf
it may be reduced according to tasto,
beginning eliminations at either end.
Whether tho title is used Ju wholo or
in part, Its holder Is tho directing
force back of his majesty's ships,
tho greatest navy the world has over
known.
Tho present first sea lord camo tc
England to live when ho was buf
fourteen and was naturalized. He
took to tho sea immediately nnd has
been thero over since, a total of 40
years. Tho peculiarity of his present
position is emphasized by tho fact
that ho married Prlricess Victoria
Alberta of Hesso, forming another tie
to tho Fatherland. This was some
what mitigated by the fact that tho
Princess Victoria was a granddaugh
ter of tho lato English queen of the
same name. His advancement has
been due largoly to his technical skill and knowledge. He is a scientist and
inventor, having to his credit such creations as a cone signaling apparatus
which con Hash lights that may bo read at a distance of 20 miles. It was
becauso of his technical knowledge that ho becamo adviser to tho board of
admiralty and director of naval intelligence and was, as early as 1882,
placed in command of a battery of gatllng guns which landed at Alexandria.
GERMAN WHO INVADES GERMANY,
Gen. Carl Rennenkampf, who com
mands tho Russian army now Invad
ing Prussia, is a German himself. Ho
Is German In blood, habits and edu
cation. Thero Is not a drop of Slavic
blood in his veins, yet he is leading
the forces of the czar against tho
fatherland.
Less than a century ago tho
grandfather of tho present czar In
vited tho Rennenkampf family to
como to his domain and join his
forces. Tho Rennenknmpfs came,
settled in tho provinces on tho .Bal
tic, which are thickly populated with
Germans, and tho general is tho first
of the children of tho old German
family to be born in the land of tho
Muscovites. When tho Germans of
tho Baltic provinces objected to being
Russianized, it was Rennenkampf
who repressea liiora ruthlessly. In
MlA Wnr tvlMl .Ynnnn lln waa r rr-nt.
rnand of a huge forco of Cossacks.
His merciless tactics had much to do
with the failure of the upriBlng of 190C, and after that he became a notorious
oppressor of the Poles and Jews. ,
To his military staff and his army of Cossacks and soldiers Rennenkampf
has been a constant enigma ah unsolvablo riddle. Though severe by repu
tation, ho hnB been known to display tho most incomprehensible acts of
klndnesa to his soldiers. While aloof and reserved in manner, he at tlmea
showed himself to be more than democratic by nature, mingling with his
army, drinking and celebrating with thorn, entirely unconscious of his high
rank. This is usually followed by reactions which have been the dread of
thoso who know him well.
Llko Bismarck, Rennenkampf believes in the forco of tho mailed jflst,
in tho rulo of iron and blood.
BRILLIANT YOUNG SEA FIGHTER
Rear Admiral Sir David Boatty,
tho English victor of tbo first naval
battle of tho war, is tho youngest
man of his rank in the British serv
ice. He Is but a little ovor forty. Ho
has an especial Interest for Amer
icans as tho husband of a daughter
of the lato Marshall Field of Chicago.
They aro immensely wealthy and
Lady Beatty is one of tho foremost
social leaders in London. She Is now
earnestly working on behalf of a
fund for tho relief of soldiers' fami
lies. Sho Is young and noticeably
beautiful.
Admiral Beatty gave tho first
demonstration of a now and unex
pected use of tho submarine in war.
With his cruiser fleet hanging on tho
horizon he sent In beneath tho Im
pregnable defense of Helgoland two
of these mosquito craft. Ono 'pro
tended to bo disabled and tho other
pretended to go to Its companion's
aid. By ingenious maneuvering thoy
succeeded in luring a detachment of German cruisers out into tho open sea,
where Beatty destroyed three of them. He is a man of exceptional ability
and initiative and will probably bo given high command in tho later develop,
monts of tho war.
JAPAN'S GRANDEST OLD MAN.
described hor experience in thuse lines:
Ono Oay I biiw a bumblebee, bumbling on n rose
And as I stood admiring him ho stung me on tho
noso.
My noso In pain It Bwolled bo largo It looked llko
a potato,
So daddy said; but mothor thought 'twas more
like a tomato.
And now, dear children, this advice I hopo you'll
tako from mo,
And when you seo a bumbloboo Just let that
bumble he.
Llko hor mothor, Winifred believes in woman
suffrage Sho hnB written sevoral poems In be
half of equal franchise rlghtB, which havo boon
published in various nowspapora and magazine?
Hor "Valentines for Sufrrngettes" are decided!
clover and haw helped tho cause.
Thero la only ono Okuma in
Japan or in tho world. He is a posi
tively unique character. As far as
years go he is called an old man nnd
should long ago havo been Oslerized
But ho is really only soventy-slx
years young and has declared that he
expecta to Uvo 50 or so years longer.
And in spirit ho Is certainly still a
young man.
Ho has nover been called ono of
the "eldor statesmen," but ho de
served tho appellation as much as
thoy did. Ho was prominent In pub
lic servlco boforo any ono of them;
but ho was sidetracked into private
life becauso ho dared to differ with
the policies of others who later roso
Into prominonco and he has been
kept in tho v background becauso he
was considered too liberal, oven too
radical. Ho has survived all except
threo or four of hl3 old colleagues
and rivals.
Okuma's career has boon a long
and versatile ono. Ho has been politician, statosman, educator orator
author, horticulturist, otc; and he has sliono In every capacity in evorv
position. In his political life he shares with Count Itagakl the honor of
pioneering In tho agitation for constitutional government and in tha ominiz.
atlou and development of political parties "
