The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1909-05-27
A
Happy Friendship
The Pretty Story OfHow 1ALos in
KOHderiand" Came TO Be Written.
Helen Marshall Pratt in ST. Nicholas
Helen Marshall Pratt in St. Nicholas,

Can you imagine a time when "Allce
In Wonderland" had not been heard
Of? When no one knew the story Of
the White Rabbit and the Cheshire
Cat, Of the March Hare and the Mad
Tea party? When you are old, Faith
er William" and How doth the little
busy bee" read only one way, and when
there was no Mock Turtles story, no
Lobster Cuadrille, and the Red Queen
and the Duchess and Tweedledum and
Tweedledee had not yet been made to
live for the pleasure Of children, largo
and small?
fancy that every one who loves the
Alice books must pity those unfortu-
nate children who lived before they
were written, and who thus missed so
much that makes the reading hours OF
childhood bright today.
In the great quadrangle or court OF
Christ Church college, in oxford, Eng
land, many a stirring event has taken
place, and many distinguished man
has lived and died. OF all these, no
event is Of great interest to Ameri-
can children than the writing Of Alice
in Wonderland" and no person Of
greater interest than its author, the
Rev. Charles Dodgson, whom we know
better under his pen-name, Lewis Car
roll" In the same quadrangle, which
every one in Oxford calls the TON
Quad" from the bell named Great Tom
which hands in the Gateway tower,
lived the real Alice, a sweet, merry lit
tie oxford girl, one of Lewis CAROLS
earliest and best child friends.
Nothing in the dignifed appearance
OF the quadrangle suggests the gro
tesque creations and the merry fancies
of these wonderful nonsense books,
All doorways open into homes Of grave
professors and students. In the north
west angle the author Of Alice found
his home in 1862, few years after he
had graduated from Christ Church. and
had come to be lecturer on mathe-
MATES IN the college.
He seems shave been a very quiet,
orderly, reserved young man, fond OF
long walks OF In the country by him.
self; fond Of books and study; shy and
retiring with grown people, except
those that he knew very well; but hap
py and free and merry with all chill
dren, whom he tenderly loved. He was
the Oldest in a big family Of eleven
children of whom he was very fond
as they we're of him. He made friends
with children as long as he lived, and
was never too tired or too busy to en-
terrain them.
A little oxford girl-but she is now
a lady, and you can see the roof of
her beautiful home in the quadrangle
who was one Of Lewis Carroll's best
friends, and whom he called Dear
Bee" says: IF you went to see Mr..
Dodgson in the morning you would
find him, pen in hand, hard at work
on neat packets carefully arranged
around him on the table; but the pen
would be instantly laid aside, and the
most cheerful Of smiles would wei.
come you in for chat as long as you
liked to stay"
/ suppose that no children ever had
q more delightful playfellow than did
these little friends A story is told of
a famous general who went TO call at
a house in the Quad and was ushered
into room where no one seemed to
be present, but a great commotion was
going on under the table The gen.
eral, who loved a romp with his own
children, got on all fours and rushed
under the table, where he found 10 bis
great surprise the Rev. Charles Dodg-
son surrounded by the children Of tina
family
But lof all the little friends whom
Lewis Carroll loved, none were dearers
than the daughters Of Dean Liddell;
LORNA, Alice and Edith. They lived
on the same side Of the quadrangle
with him. but at the opposite corner;
that is, they lived at the east end OF
north walk and he lived at the west
end. SO that they could run along the