The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-05-24
LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN
Remarkable Precocity of the Children
of New York.


Bidkely Hall in Brooklyn Eaole.
A retired general of the union army. who
lives in a small town 10 the interior part of
the state. was talking a night or two since
about New York's children's. 81 am a
countrynan myself" he said, land have
small acquaintance with the WAYS of the
town. Perhaps that is one reason why
can never get accustomed to the extraordi-
nary wisdom of the little people of New
ORR. 1t is to me the most marvellous
thing in the world. l was brought up
among country people, going from pillow
into service, and after receiving my dis
charge went back to the farm, so that |
cannot claim that | am in any sense a man
OF the world. l have read many books
about children, and while have been i'm
pressed with all the juvenile heroes and
herolnes from Little Nelp 10 Little Lord
Fauntleroy', there has never been
the least suggestion of reality in
any OF the pictures in fiction. /
have been subject to a momentary i'm
preston from reading them, but they never
seemed 70 me to be real children. This feel
ing to great extent crops out whenever |
come TO New York and meet the Knowing
and wise little mea and women who have
been born and brought up here. Like many
another old fogy am still practically afraid
OF waiter. When l go into a restaurant
IL makes me nervous to have a waiter stand
ing aud watching me and with a crowd
around, aud l find it almost impossible to
order anything else than beefsteak AMI
fried potatoes from a bill of fare. A few
days ago l took my little niece down to
Governors Island to see some of the big
guns and other paraphernalia of war. Ga
the way back in the elevated train she said:
uncle, II you are a general you must
have great deal Of money
What makes you think sor
Because generals owns forts and islands
and big cannons and all that. IL seems to
me that if you have 50 much money you
ought to spend some of it on me-
HOWE l asked
Well said the little girl, thoughtfully,
Il don't know what l would rather have, a
new pair of gloves or lunch all alone with
you at Delmonico's | think. however. |
prefer Delmonico's'
"We discussed it all the way to Twenty
third street, and as she finally made up her
mind to the luncheon, | took her over to
the restaurant ID placed her in IA big chair
she is less than years old, and her chm
barely rose above the edge of the table, and
prepared for lunch. She took the bill of
fare, glanced over it, aud glibly ordered
raw oysters, shad roe, cucumber salad, and
brolled chicken, with asparagus and green
peas, and teased me half an hour to give her
sip of champagne. Imagine any child S
years of age anywhere else ordering a lunch
OF that sort! She succeeded better at her
time of life than l, after sixty years of
work in this vale Of tears, and had acquired
one OF the most difficult feats of civilization
that of ordering dinner. have come to the
conclusion that this precocity of children i:
a great and good thing for them. The
theory that the prematurely wise die young
is absurd. The child of 12 years in the
country has not one-half the mental snap,
alert Intelligence and elasticity of Thought
| OF the city child four years its Junior Ii
similar way the countryman Of so is
apt to look grizzled and old and bent out of
shape when contrasIed with the Eruddy
faced. erect and sturdy city man of the
same age. Perhaps after a half century
has gone the countrymau shows more
vitality in his declining years, but the
question is open to doubt Country lite
as we live it here, is not the healthful,
beatific condition we are apt to picture it"