The sun., 1910-01-30

pink and roses. From the time a girl IL
! INST conscious OF taste up to the time
sne begins to train her taste she has q
lurking fondness for pink roses. and the
more OF them there are around her room
the better she will like il.
AS an experiment one time I let q girl
OF - choose all the fittings for her room.
She chose paper with huge pink roses
pink roses all over them and a green rug
with pink roses, and she expressed the
! opinion that IL her enamelled furniture
| could nave sprays OF pink roses painted
on the plain surfaces it would be greatly
| improved. II took some time and per-
suasion to make that girl see that her
roses would be more effective il there
were fewer of them.
! Boys up to the ago of 10 like the same
things that tho girls do. though if left to
themselves they would probably confess
q fondness for blue walls with a pink rose
border. In fact my experience has con-
vlnccd me that boys up to 10 IL they are
let alone. would have almost identically
the Same tastes as the girls in more things
than their wall paper. Boys love to play
housekeeping just as much as girls do.
and IL is only because some ono has told
them that IL is beneath their dignity that
they so consider IL.
Very soon after he is 10 a boy wishes
to put OF girlish things in his surroundings.
ihen unloss he has a deep, dark motive
like my friend Frederick he begins to
banker for red walls hung with trophies Of
every sort. The more completely the
walls arc covered the better he likes IT,
but the background must inevitably be
red. The taste for pennants comes at
ABOUT II and RACES most violently around
IS.
have never known but one boy who
had a consistently fine taste and feeling
for his surroundings. This was a lad who
was "A neiHhbor of mine He was an
adopted child, and l have never known
ANYTHING of his antecedents.
His foster parents were devoted to
hlm and gratified his tastes so far as their
limited income would allow. Ihad always
known the child and felt friendly inter
est in him. but realized that had never
really understood him when one day he
came TO me with tho request that go with
him to buy picture.
1T seems he had an allowance of 81 a
month pocket money. and he had been
saving 10 TO buy this particular picture;
but now that tho important moment OF
purchase had arrived he hcsitated before
taking the step without consulting some
Older person. went with him TO look at
MS choice. expecting to see an animal pic
ture OF sporting print OF some kind. The
picture on which this little lad OF IL had
set his heart and for which he had denied
himself every boyish indulgence for
months was beautiful print Of Whistler's
'Nocturne'
-On our way home with the picture
under his arm angled most barefacedly
Tor an invitation to visit his room. but
not for several days was it forthcoming !
IL was a forlorn enough little place. alb |
solutely$plain, with the simplest furniture
and as different from the ordinary boys /
room as you can fancy.
The walls were without paper. but !
curiously stained. l questioned him j
about il, aud he explained that the paper 4
on the walls was so very wrong that he (
had had his mothers consent TO scrape
it on. He had therefore lived for ,
months with the bare walls, which did
not distress him so much as a paper that .
was all wrong His mother had now
given him $40 for new paper. and il was /
to discuss its choice that he had called
me in.
-On the walls were two pictures. the
Whistler end a delicious little water color
marine. I asked him about il and he told
me that the year before when he had
been in San Francisco with his parents
he had spent his time ct the studios of
the different artists there. II was his
first visit to a city and his first oppor-
tunity TO see pictures. The marine was
a gift from the artist whose things had
most attracted him and at whose studio
he had spent most time.
After that l came to know the boy
very well. We did his room between U.S.
and if ever surroundings reflected indi-
yiduality it was that little place with its
Whistler and it's marine. He is slmost
grown up now. is in college in fact ]
10 not know what will become Of him
America is not very kind TO temperaments
)f such fine sensibilities. but whatever
whatever he may have to do
% make "A living. he will always have
he love OF beauty in his heart.