Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-10-13
GIRL OF 8 SPEAKS
IN FIVE LANGUAGES
Winifred StOner Rivals Harvard Pu-
pill Who Matriculated at
the Age of II.

PHI W no MaJF1CuidUeu AC
the Age of II.
Little Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr.,
the linguistic wonder of Palo Alto,
Cal, seems in her accomplishments to
surpass all records of precocity.
The recorded feats of intellect OF
Thomas Darlington Macaulay. Thomas
De Quincy, John Stuart Mill. Marga-
ret Fuller, Charlotte Bronte and other
famous characters Of history pale be-
fore the fact that this little girl, only
eight years old, can carry on a CONVEX
sation in English, French, Spanish,
Latin. Esperanto, japanese, Russian,
German. Polish and Italian, while in
the first five she can think as well as
talk
Her only known rival in early intel
Iectual development is William James
SidiS, the boy who at the age Of eleven
years entered Harvard last autumn
But the accomplishments of Sidis are
more especially in mathematics and
philosophy, while little Miss Stoner
shows her femininity by her acquisi-
ton OF languages. Withal she is
healthy, normal child, as fond of dolls
and play as any other little girl who
knows only one language.
The father of little Cherie, as her
parents call her. is Colonel ]. B. Stoner
of the United States marine hospital
service. at present In command Of the
United States marine hospital at Port
Townsend Wash. 1t was from Port
Townsend that the mother and child
went to Palo Alto in search Of bet
ter climate. The mother is a daugh-
ter of the late Lord Sackville-West,
British ambassador to the United
States during President Cleveland's
first administration. Mrs. Stoner Is
president of the Women's Esperanto
Association of North America and is
an authority on the subject Of the pro-
posed international language.
"Her advancement" said her moth
er, sis not due to anything but the
way in which she was eddcated. be-
gan with her when she was three
weeks old. developing her both mental
~ and physically, and the effect of the
teaching and method is apparent The
method used is the training Of William
James Sidis, the Boston lad. The
for them.
"At the age of three she could OPP
crate the typewriter. That is a won
derful method of training a child's
mind In writing on the typewriter
she not only learned to operate the in
strument. but she learned also to spell
and to memorize what she was writ
ing. Cherie began to compose verse
when she was three years old, and one
of her poems written at that age was
published in Puck"
When little Winifred was summoned
she showed all the bashfulness of a
child. She came into the room half
concealed behind her mothers skirts.
Twill you recite a poem?" suggested
Mrs. Stoner.
Little Miss Poetess chose one of her
own efforts. This was her verse:
One day L saw q bumblebee bumbling Or,
a rose,
And as stood admiring him he stung me
on the nose.
My nose in pain It sweiIed so large 1t
looked like o potato.
So daddy said, though mother thought
twas more like a tomato.
And now. dear children. this advice
hope you'll take from me.
And when you see a bumblebee just Let
that humble be.
"She wrote that after she had been
stung, but the pun was not intention
al, l think" said Mrs. Stoner. who
would limit the scope of her daugh-
ter's talent.
The poem on the bumblebee is one
Of the pieces published in the book Of
'Jingles." which Miss Winifred Sack
vile Stoner published at the age of
six. The child's most precocious and
photographed poem is the second