Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-12
FUN FOR THE YOUNG.
Mrs. John Sherwood Tells How to
Entertain Little Folks.
THE BOY MUST HAVE HIS NOISE.
Too Many Gifts Deprive Children Of the
Pleasures Of Hope.
INSTRUCTION By MEANS OF GAMES
iwRrrrEN FOR THE DISPATCH. j

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATcH.i
In the life of Nine. Snetchine we read the
following account o: the amusements of a
clever child:
"The occupation of courtier did not
prevent Mons. Soyhonof from bestowing
the most assiduous care on the education Of
a daughter. who for six years was his only
child. He was struck by the progress of
her young intellect. She showed an apti-
tude for languages, music and drawing
while she developed frmness of character, a
rare quality in a child.
"She desired watch with an ardor which
transpired in all her movements. Her father
had promised her one. The watch came and
was worn with the keenest enjoyment, but
suddenly a new thought selzed upon the
little Sophia. She reflected that there was
something better than a watch. To relin-
quish it of her own accord she hurried to
her father and restored to him the object of
her passionate desires, acknowledging the
motive. Her father looked at her, took the
watch, shut it up in bureau drawer and
said no more about it.
A Fear She Tried to Conquer.
"M. Soymonofs rooms were adorned with
bronzes, medals and costly marbles. Sophia
was on terms of intimacy with these person.
ages of fable and history, but she felt an un-
conquerable repugnance to cabinet full of
mummies. The poor child blushed for her
weakness and one day when alone opened
the terrible door, ran straight to the nearest
mummy, took it up and embraced it till
her strength and courage gave away and she
Foll s,, L. L.
fall her father hastened in, raised her In his
arms and obtained from her, not without
difficulty, an avowal of the terrors which
she had hitherto concealed from him. But
this supreme effort was as good for her as a
victory. From that day the mummies were
to her only common objects of interest and
curiosity.
"Studious as was her education, M. Soy
monof did not Danish dolls. His daughter
loved them as friends and preserved this
taste beyond her childish years, but ele-
waited 1t by the admixture of an intellectual
and often dramatic interest. Her dolls
were generally of the largest size. She
gave them each a name and part to act, es-
tablished connected relations between the
different individuals and kept up animated
dialogues which occupied her imagination
vividly and became a means of education.
Playing,dollsswas for her an introduction to
ethics and knowledge Of the world.
Looking Back From Sixty Years.
"Catherine's court was a succession of
continual fetes. The fairy pantomimes per-
formed at the Hermitage were the first to
strike the imagination Of the child who, as
yet could not relish the tragedies of Vol
taire. She composed ballet which she
called The Faithful Shepherdess and the
Fickle Shepherdess.' She writes in her
Goth year; One of the Iiveliest pleasures of
my childhood was to compose festive decora.
tions which 1 loved to light up and arrange
upon the white marble chimney piece Of my
schooIroom. The ardor which I threw into
designing, cutting out and painting trans
parencies and finding emblems and mottoes
for them was something incredible. My
heart beat high while the preparations were
in progress, but the moment my iilumina-
ton began to fade, an ineffable devourine
melancholy seized me-"
This extract is invaluable not only for Its
historic Importance, bat for the keynote
which it sounds to a child's nature. The
noble little Russian girl at the court of
Catherine of Russia only found those pleas
ures lasting which came from herself and
when she could invest the fairy pantomime
with her own personality.
A Guiding Intellect Needed.
A fairy pantomime is possible to the
poorest child if some supreme intelligence,
an older sister or aunt, will lend her help.
The fairies can all be of pasteboard with
strings as the motive power. There can be
no cheaper corps de ballet" nor any 30
amusing. And the story of the watch is
significant as showing that the wish once
gratifed ceased to be wish. She desired
with child's caprice to give it back to do
something else with it.
"You have done much for your child"
we often hear. "You have had a nurse,
nursery governess, fine pony for your boy,
you take your children often to the play and
give them dancing parties, and yet they are
not happy"
This is the sincere regret of many a
mamma that she cannot make her children
happy. Yet in large town in house shut
up from our cold winter blasts what can she
do? A good dog and a kind-hearted set of
servants will solve the problem better than
all the intellect in the world. Grandmamma
brings doll to the little girl, who looks it
over and SAYS: "The dolly cannot be un-
dressed; I do not want it." 1t is the Dress
ing and the undressing which are the de-
lights of her heart.
Let Nature Have Its Way.
A boy wants to make a noise first of all
things. Let him have large upper or lower
room, a drum, tambourine, a ball, and
there he should be allowed to kick out the
efervesence of early manhood. Do not fol-
low him with all manner of prohibitions.
Constant nagging and faultfnding is an Of
fense against a child's paradise. Put him in
a room for certain hours of the day where no
one need say: "Get down, don't do that,
don't make so much noise." Let him roar
and shout and climb over chairs and tables,
and tear his gown, and work off his exuber-
ance, and then he will be very glad to have
his hands and face washed aud listen to
story, or come down to meet papa with
smiling countenance.
Children should be allowed to have pet
birds and kittens and dogs, as much live
stock as the house will hold; it develops
their sympathies. And when bird dies,
and the foodgates of the poor little heart
are opened sympathize with him. 1t is cruel
to laugh at childish woe. Never refuse a
child sympathy in joy or sorrow. This lack
of sympathy has made more criminals than
anything else.
Bad Influence of Good Books.
Children should never be cheated either
in the taking of medicine or the administra-
ton of knowledge. One witty writer few
years ago spoke of the bad influence of good
books. He declared that reading that
Tommy was a good boy and kept his pima
fore clean and rose to afauence while Harry
flung stones and told fibs and was carried off
by robbers" developed his sympathies for
Harry, and that although he was naturally
q good boy he went for pure hatred of the
virtuous Tommy to the rivers brim and
helped bad boy to drown his aunt's cat,