Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-05-17
MYSTERIES OF CHILDHOOD.
Some Strange Freaks Born Of Human
Imagination In Infancy.


What imaginative creatures children are, to
De sure. There is one little Washington boy
who explained to his mother while she was I'M
dressing him the other night most extraordi-
nary metaphysical theory of his own invention.
IL was that there was nothing in the world that
mad any real existence outside of his own i'm
mediate personality. Wherever he went, and
10 however great distance, there were always
substantial surroundings; but his notion was
that perhaps when he left any particular local
lily those surroundings went out OF being at
once, having served the sole purpose OF their
creation by providing him with necessary
environment
According to this idea Of his, when he Jour
neyed through the city in a car, block after
block of buildings and street after street sprang
up lnstantaneously for his benefit. as quickly
tanishlhg when he had passed out of view. In
inns manner a whole town, or in the case of
runway travel a great strip of territory. may be
nuhdreds OF miles in length and as wide across
as MS eyeslght could reach. constructed
py successive sections and SO with everything
SELF APPLICATION.
Ii this seems to exhibit extraordinary vanity
on the child's part you can easily find some
thing to represent in degree the same sort of
notion In your own mind Try as you will you
can never quite realize that affairs are actually
going ON III distant city just as they do when
you are IN that city. 1t is almost easier to i'm
aSine that the active existence of the town
Pauses during your own absence from it. 1t is
thlnS naturally abhorrent to the human mind
10 consider the proposition of community s
enjoying a state OF being in which he himself
mas no share and to which his own lite has no
essentially whatever. No man realizes as a
truth the fact that the world will continue as
before after his own death, however willing he
81
such will be the case. On the other hand, the
little boy referred to does not actually believe
IN MS theory; 1t has simply established itself
In his mind as an hypothesis.
ONE VERY CURIOUS DEVELOPMENT
OF lnfantile imagination is found in the friendly
demon or companion OF fancy which a child
is very apt to have constantly in attendance.
Inns demon is likely to have a name, and it is
win 1t that the small boy or girl conducts
imaginary conversations. 1t is generally sup
posed mat child. for such purposes of artifi-
cial companlonshlp, lmaGlnes herself or him.
sen 10 be two persons. projecting portion of
the actual identity to serve for the second
party, but there is the best possible reason for
oeieVing that such is not the case. In fact,
rhere Is no doubt that the demon is altogether
anotner supposlutlous individual; there may
even be several demons.
Two little Washington girls have each a COM
real and the other two imaginary-are on the
most intimate terms. or have been until re-
Gently They played together every day and
the mothers of the two small girls were given
frequent accounts of the doings of the mys-
ferrous friends. Sometimes the latter would
go away for a while and then the children
would be very lonely. One day the two came
nome and announced that their invisible ac-
qualntances had been drowned in Rock creek.
ana sure enough they never turned up any
more. Such cronies out of the flesh always
take part as company" at tea parties given by
another little girl alone in a Washington
nursery. This same child has special demon,
Mr.. Brown by name, who always occupies some
empty chair IN the room. One day her mother
came in and sat down.
''Oh, mammal cried the child. tGo get M.
You're sitting right on top of Mr.. Brown"
An older sister of this small girl by the way.
Is accustomed to pray devoutly for anything
she wants to the little silver image of a certain
saint. If she does not get what she asks for
she turns the saint upside down and stands him
on his head until her prayer is satisfactorily
answered.