The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-07-19
WILLIAM, SON OF s.DIs.

At 13 years of age William Sidis
has completed his second year in
Harvard. He has studied trigono-
metry, geology, chemistry, zoology,
rhetoric, grammar, ethics, physics,
Latin, Greek, French, German and
speaks Bostonese with ease. His
father is a Harvard professor, and
is ready to admit that William is the
most wonderful boy that ever buried
his nose in a book. From the heights
of his learning William and father
look down with disdain upon the
boys who are plodding their way
along in benighted schools held down
by tyrant teachers.
Poor old college owls, academic
barnyard fowls, worn-out, sickly
school bats" exclaims Professor
Sidis in a tribute to the educators of
the present day, 'you are panic
stricken by the power of sunlight!
You are in agonizing, mortal terror
of critical, reflective thought. You
dread and suppress the genius of the
young" From this we infer that
the owls and bats on the Harvard
faculty must be jealous of William.
Not even it's warmest defenders
will contend that the present system
of education is perfect. Professor
Sidis, psychologist of reputation,
considers of paramount Importance
the period in the child's life, from
to 10 years of age, when he is "very
inquisitive, asking all kinds of ques-
tions." Some parents and teachers,
dull as they are, doubtless have no.
ticed this tendency, but few have
suspected that endless questioning
is "the acquisition of control over the
storedup, latent energies of mans
genius" Professor Sidis believes
that if this tendency is encouraged
1.-The child will acquire by his tenth
year, without almost any effort, the
knowledge which at present the best
college graduate obtains with in
finite labor and pains"
DR.. Sidis incidentally paints a
charming picture of American home
life-the mothers and daughters
are in a wild rush after fashion, de-
voting their whole time to dress,
gossip society and show, while the
father immerses himself in trade and
spends his spare time in sports and
games. ''Not spark of refinement
and culture, not a redeeming ray of
lOfCJ VI hhONlCuSC vi VI al llS
up the commonplace and frivolous
life of the family" he remarks. He
does not wonder that at 10 or II the
children are ignorant little "brutes." Z"
He concludes that Commercial med
iocrity is raised at home and culti-
waited in the SCHOOL,
Yet out of the shadows of this
dark age emerges a ray of light; it
is the halo around the head of Will
liam.
This might lead us to hope, save
for the fact that William is not the
only infant phenomenon that ever
astounded the world. We have had
them before, babes and sucklings
who surprised their elders. But few
of them have ever fulfilled the prom
Use of youth. The child wonder Of
ten subsidies into very common
place man; and the boy who was not
particularly bright at school many a
time distances his fellows who laugs-
ed at his dullness. The race of life
is not always to the swift, and the
| lasting successes are generally ach-
ieved by the plodders who have sta
bility, persistence and have carved
their way up step by step. How Of
Ten nave we seen Ine young man VINO
took off all the college honors and
led his class struggling vainly to
make living, while those not so
| brilliant climb to the top in the pro-
fessions and in business. The big
things have not always been achiev-
ed by those who were "quick at
| figures" and who swallowed the
book whole" who had the gift of
eloquence. The boy who develops
his body as well as his mind, who
enjoys the games and sports of
childhood and youth, will, as a rule,
excel the lad who buries himself in
books. Mere "book learning" is by
no means the whole of education,
and education" in the collegiate
sense is inadequate preparation for
the duties of life. The student who
learns with great ease is not infre-
quently superficial, for it is the COM
mon experience that the things we
acquire with most expenditure of ef-
fort are those we retain longest.
The son of Sidis is a phenomen-
on, but the measure of man cannot
be taken until he has arrived at ma
turity, and often until he has reach
ed middle age.