Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1903-12-30
TerrOrS of
Children


me- age Of childhood is proverb
N Interpreted as the age Of happi'
!, vet childhood has it's dark pas
..,s Us hopes and fears correlative
7. adult feelings, and its hours OF
Innlr The childish mind, indeed,
,Hicted with terrors, although the
.wrs are not so abiding as those OF
,re reasonable and less elastic ell
H. The emotlonalism of the child
noses him to those tragic visitat
\, from which his discontinuity
rsently rescues him. The incohe-
nee Of a mind in which realism and
rance are ever at war is the source
4 once of all his pains and all his
assures.
he likeness TO the savage lies in
Ah The primitive man lifts up MS
Es to the hills and transmutes them
( he home Of terrible gods. Devils
Hh in streams and out OF the woods
ak superhuman creatures wearing
ts plse Of familiar animals. inc
sRs fancy, though capable OF
kfding these awful dreams, is yet
more delicate. A mountain at times
nay even become a valley ana
nams may dry up at will. The
rsle Of tho achievements designed IN
! childs mind is colossal. There Is
10 barrier conceivable to his imagin'
alton. Dragons escape out OF books
se you shut the pages, and creatures
I the air give you friendly advice
There being no laws Of nature 10
he child, as there are none TO the
nyage, everything takes place WIN
divine irreleyancy. There is no room
or logic in a world so fearfully anu
% ielicltously framed. Fairy taies
are our inheritance from primitive
nan, and now hold their place not
because Of the pigeon holes OF the
Students of folklore but by reason ol
the nursery. Mountains, rivers anu
neclpices will start into being DC,
tween the pursuers and the pursueu
At the breath of fancy, or rather on a
nattered charm or the libauon from
I horr II the savage believes so nc
onger he must have once had laitn
and he chil remains and Worsnip'
IN the temple OF accident.
But the child is not merely 'n'
'ayage Of whom he has the adVah
We by reason OF his more delica'e
lsryes and a hundred generations .,
progress. To add to the tcrrors tha'
'slk by night and day he brings ior'n
subtler Imagination, which never
-heless, has that saving grace OF uis
'ontinuity. Tigers will onter throue, QUE,
he barred windows Of his fourDi
ioor nursery. He can see them DuIn
Ing bright in the darkness, and th'
Ire in the crate but illuminated then
he more horrihcally. Yet "neh -
le Is comforted in his mothers arm :,
md pouring forth his terrors ne W.
Be comforted by an appeal TO TO
nance. 'If he comes again uoSi
ell him his house is on fire. anu =
viii run home" "Wnl he?" says IN
'ager voice. and the next morning :
win inform his nurse with the air 0
sobadil that he has driven on tn'e
igers.
The Imagination Of the child
'apable Of ridiculous inconsis'o'
les. The mouse, by day a cheerin
to be petted and pa'Ioi
zed and TO be preserved by s'eai'
rom the cat and the cook. assume
lorrid nocturnal dimensions
Ihrieks and patters in the "ain'vV
Ind is all at once fofiniu4D
'nemy. numbering sleep ana men@ '.
ng unknown things. The buttern
a cbasaa ana caught. and admire
or its beauty and its innocence o.
srows swiftly into propof'ions -
lWarf all mundane things W"