The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-08-13
Something
On This
BY j. i. kIRrLEY .


Two OF his Indispensable powers are
imagination and imitation. They
awake early and stay on the Job till
ne IL dead With him imitation is
mot limitation: 1t Is life and enlarge
ment. He is like the chameleon that
takes sfs hass from its environment.
Al the start. II is blind impulse. au-
tomato nj that. as he bohs up and
down and sways around on his
springs; grasps at everything in sight,
from his mother to the moon: ana
makes speciality of fnraging for re-
freshments
soon he gets to initiating and never
stops. Nature was wise in ordaining
4 II No. That is the way he grows, for
Imitation In Appropriation. He an
swers your smile with a smile, your
frcwn with a similar frown, your love
with love. your hatred with hatred.
He does this at first without know
Ing II, then he does 1t purposely. and,
nv this time he has the habit
H. walks because he sees other
folks walking, likes the sfdea and de-
eidea to take over the diversion, at
amy risk. And the risks he runs are
enough. liz he were raised among
anirnatE he would probably walk on
AL fours and chatter or grunt as they
dol and perhaps. would consider his
pastern Joints rs a strange discom- =
fort. And when he Is brought up en-
tireiy with grown UP people, he is old,
while young. q grown up before he
Krcws up, He plays, becauseL-no;
suppose he would play anyhow,
He is a reflector long before the
reflective age. the tones and senti-
ynents and niannerslof people around
him finding an embodiment in him
ana . second expression by him Not
that he lie just as echos He knows
how To wake the echoes himself; bur
he 1lno knows how to echo and he
does II. he never went to a circus in
his life without wanting to get mp
one Mt home. and he succeeds. At
tending Ares Ii one or the solemn
duties OF his boyhood, and II domes-
he sentiment was mot too much
AxAtnst It, he would have them at
home, but attending to the fire Ii not
In his line. He learns to swim by
Watching others, and from the frogs
He plays church and school. sings
and Bcolds: yeils ut the smaller mem
bers of the family or community I'm
the same terms and tones that were
used on hirn--ali . matter or refiee-
sion.
II 10 not contended that be has only
Imitation. He has initiative, also
! - VI N*AS1A&3fts SAf - VI tasAts ~ was
boy who saw the steam lift the lid
on his mothers tea- kettle and got up
an imitation that has lifted the life
OF mankind. Ii we could trace the
history OF aerpHautfca we would find
that some body started the scheme By
making descent from the barn loft
with his fathers un1bes.la for a para
chute. or some stsaaIa has done II. with
the gift III Imitation cultivated so
psfse tn. 1.s..-l A txsrs
apply the most reconcile knowledge To
The most common conditions. After
giving defnition OF the word 'tran-
= SOM and using the case Of Miss Ellen
Stone as an illustration, the teacher
told the pupils to compose sentence
having the word In il. Little Jack
Walker would never have shown the
"pone" he wrote had not his nearest
nejghbor told of 1t. And it read
away ont west in the town OF Racine
q Tom Cat sat on a sewing machine.
The wheels began TO buzz and the cat
began 10 wall: TOR 1t took nine stitch
IS irl-the end OF his tail: and the cat
ran some
There are some things boy natn-
rally initiates with more or lass ease
simply because he is boy. then there
are some things he initiates al one
stage, and others ut another. MThere
soiied, simplicity Of boyhood The
dainty little girl Will keep her white
dress and pink ribbons up To the stand
ard OF the angels whom she initiates,
white TflE UfFfy TItfIe boy energies
/ from the puddle where he has had a
good time with his friends. the pigs.
whom he initiates. when he can.
His words betray him---odd words.
big words. long words, lurid words.
They show their ,rixfr. RTE waIfIDg
hey In tbs reeeption-ro of a.
wealthy and cultured Bostonian made
me feel that I was talking TO the w.
and &. II. himself. A newsboy OF Mr..
John Il. SuIiiyan's town, with only a
months experience, was heard TO say
10 another newsboy. william Scott,
ii you eaTfHEate your brow at me in
that manner again, will temporarily
deposit my papers upon the sidewalk
ard cause the blood to coagulate un-
der your left optic. Hear me VIII
liam: Words that express strong
Feeling, In picturesque or aerid or
even prcfane way. appeal to him. And
slang 10 his fayorite vehicle OF expires
sipn. He can remember alal he hears
and reproduce II. IT IL the objective,
the active, the large, that wins him
al the first.
He initiates actions as well as
words. gather the ideals as we'll as
actions; most OF all feels the spell OF
compelling personalities Those two
lads. sons Of Jack Abernethy. United
States marshal for Oklahoma, who
rode horseback ali the way from Ok
iahoFna to New York to serve ON the
reception committee when Roosevelt
was welcomed home from Africa, en- |