Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-25
A Burst of Precocity
Ty Frederic J. Haskin

and contributing to the magazines, boys
n,st ont of college and boarding schooi
writing realistic novels which cause sensa-
tions in literary circles, and a dramatist III
his twentics setting a new standaru 10, eiio
American stage, the English speaklng
world is witnessing remarkable dispiay VI
prccoclous talent.
Tho FIRST and best known of these young
wonders i the now famous Daisy Ash
ford. whose book, attested by James
Rarrv 20 have been written at the age vi
nin. has sold in enormous numbers. but
Daisy Ashford does not really belong 10
this group of precocities, for her booh was
written long ago and she IS now eroMn
woman. Furthermore, It sounds llke tiie
work Of a child of nine, and Is interesting
chiefly as a curiosity. The same Is true VI
several child authors who have sought 70
emulate her success, one OF Who,l 10
publishing IN leading American sI h'sl-
brow magazine Their work Is undoubted
IN remarkable for children, but 1t Is not oi
any considerable literary value. q,
4 great deal more interesting Is the
rroun of what might be called Doy
novelisis" from Il to 23 years OF age, Wno
have recently published works OF feahstlc
fiction that win the praise oi the most con
servotive critics. This group Is especE'iiN
apnealing. For long time the graype"IGiss
have held the limehght IN literature UT
not the graybcards, n. least the iuat"Ie'
As the study of any biographical aiel'oii-
arv viii show, few writers produce any
thing that attracts attention before tn0
ape ~ 20 and few make much ct rcputa-
tion or get a wide hearing until they aIe
near 40 This means that a man generaliy |
docs not succeed in impresslng hlinsei on
ms fellows until he is past his YOUTH. ~
means that IN literature as IN aiii"si
everything else. this IS world doiliil,'Vcu
H., tho mature and the old, against whoh
,.c,,tb strligrles for ITS ideals and us &c,
sires largely in vain. Ii has been po'n,teo
ant many times that old men make the
wars and young men fight them; ~ hliR'I
hc said with almost equal truth that oiu
mon make the laws and young people
have IN obcy them. the old generally
beinr strong enough to get around theih'
II 4 likewise the old and the mature VINO
fx social custom and convention, and II Is
tho vo,inr uDon whom these restrictions
press most heavily. Every father Is bent
on saving his sons from the vices when ne
most eniovs and every mother seeks cary
fully 10 guard her daughter from the iiiuls-
crctions which made her own youth ro-
mantle and interesting All OF us nave
powcrful penchant for saving the othor
fellow soul, and the old indulge TINS pen
chant constantly upon the young
This hurst Of Youthful genius therefore
means nothing less than a revolt OF YOUTH
and a successful one, against the lnnlol-
tions which age has sought to lay upon II.
These Young men have demanded near
ing and they have gotten it. They nave
,old All the world how the world looks TO a
human insect who has Just emerged from
the cocoon of a formal education ana Is
about to try hrs wings IN the more OF less
free air of civilized society. All OF them
have a great deal 10 say about the kind OF
cducalion which the elders have PROVIDED
for them and all of them have something
20 say about love and marriage. Educa'ioh
and sex are about the only things OF whlch
thew have any experience, but on tfese
subjects their opinions are emphatic ana
passionate a.,
The Youngest Of the boy novelists IS an
English lad named Alec Waugh, who has
written n novel setting forth his eX-
reriepces IN the British schools Hls book
is commended by critics as really Drill
liant performance, and he hnds gong TO
school on the whole barbarous and futile
business. He was only IL years old when
his book was written.
His fellow genius on this side IS r.
Scott FITZGERALD, who at the age Of - mas
written "a novel Of life IN high class
American prep" school and at rrincetoh
which has run through several editions
and attracted the widest attention.
Fitzcerald's hero found his school and
college life amusing, but he does not record
that he learned anything of Importance
there. He describes Princeton as delight
fIl country club where everything pos
sihle was done to make correct snob OF
him. He also tired to get married but
failed because he had not enough money.
The girl with whom he fell in love was
the tvpical American debutante, trained
for nothing except the career OF a very
pampered and eXtravagantly kept woman
This recalcitrant hero also goes to war
and he does not like war any better than
he did love or education. lie tlnds every
thing all wrong and ends by becoming
socialist on the ground that he has every
thing TO gain and nothing TO lose by
radical change In the existing order OF
things
a verv similar book is that of Robert
Nathan. who takes life at Harvard as his
theme. and whose hero also dabbles IN
marriage and radicalism. He also finds
human society to be badly arranged and
conducted.
All of this youthful Ii terature sounds the
same note. Formal education, At says, IS
a hollow farce and love is a mercenary
nZzle. The same idea IN SlghtlN ulnefenl
form runs through Eugene O'NeiFs IA
nous play, Horizons" Although a few
years older than the nOvelists, O'Nell can
not have been more than twenty-three or
twenty-four when he wrote his play, for
he was a long time getting It produced. 1t
Is the story Of an aspiring young man
isolated on typical American farm. His
hopes are crushed and he is finally killed
by the routine Of labor and the restric-
tiOns Of marriage. O'Neil joins Nathan
and Fitzgerald in saying that organized
society meets the youth of imagination
and ideals with club.
DOES EARLY BUDDING BEAR FRUIT?
1t is a widely held popular idea that
the precocious young person is a weed of
rank and brief growth-that he IS apt to
run his course quickly But no scientific.
support can be found for this notion
Francis Galton in his study of hereditary
genius records that large number of the
world great creative minds showed their
ability at an early age. Donaldson in his
Growth of the Brain" says that an early
development of mental power usually
Indicates also capacity for prolonged