Evening star., 1926-08-21

A1N. EllZaDeLn Social Lille.
w YHIL.E home influences were
directed toward making
NM Elizabeth a companion for
older people. the heads of
the Gardner School were
making it possible for her to retain
her childish viewpoint and to make
friends with girls of her own age. Al
though she was only 10 years old, she
was a freshman in high school. and
sher classmates were girls of IA, 10.
even Is years of age. The principal.
Miss Masland, with Elizabeth's best
interest at heart. saw that she met
these girls only at classes. and that
her play life was spent with girls or
9, 10, II and II years.
Her school program was perIectiy
balanced for this objective. She at
tended classes from until !, luncned
with the younger girls from TO :oo
had French conversation with them
until .. and from until played
their games or took long walks In
Central Park with them. the group
of children being in the care or the
recreation supervisor.
These children forgot that Elizabeth
was years ahead of them in school,
and accented her wholeheartedly as a
with the primary children. whose ages
ranged from to 10 years. ana was
rather a. leader among the girls OF her
own age. With girls slightly older
III II and 13-She was content 10 pe
a follower.
Learned Social Values.
There were some extremely clever
girls in that group-girls whose ac-
at te0nls, skauns'
amateur theatricals and music Ellz-
aheth admired extravagantly. She
looked up to them far more than they
did to her, for she had no special TAI
ents which made her shine as a play
fellow. 1t was extremely good tor
her to realize that progress In schooi
was only one of the many Facets OIL
a well-rounded child's life.
At home she talked far more about
her playmates than she did about her
lessons, and as she almost never
brought a hook home for night STUDY
had little opportunity 10 observe
her progress She contended that tne
study hour from 4 to ). together with
two short study periods during the
morning, were all that she needed 1or
the preparation of her many lessons,
and, continuing a policy had
adopted when she first entered scnooi'
never nagged her to study
Her monthly report cards showen
| that she was making her usual "A
average, although she was carrying
a heavier course than any other pupil
in school. so I did not worry at all
about her school work. Her buoyant
happiness and her constant good
health were sufficient guarantee that
/ she was not overriding.
| At this period she began to snow
| revived interest in writing. One night
when I came home from the theater
| I found, beside my typewriter, Il
| 3 OOO-word short story. entitled Love
| Triumphant" which she had written
| for her own amusement.
Hectic Romance.
| II was a hectic love story. about
| romantic young nun who escaped
from a cloister and married an
| equally young and romantic priest
| who was unfrocked and excommunl l.
| Gated. Love. however, was trl-
| umphant over such minor punish
| ments. l laughed until l cried, for
| Elizabeth was safely asleep, her
round, babyish face flushed with the
excitement of creation.
But | was gravely appreciative and
| critical the next morning, and she was
! so much encouraged that she wrote
another 3O00-wOrd short story before
| the school year ended. but this time
on Il subject with which she was
! familiar. Her story, called The
| Movie Baby" was published In the
! 1924 MilestOnes, the annual publlca-
! ton of the Gardner School. compiled
and edited by the high school stu
dents. and her Hollywood experiences
md observations formed the pattern
| Of the story and she drew her small
| heroine from life.
Learns Writing Technique.
A very good job it was. l began
| to hope that Eliza beth would develop
| into a writer. but she soon became
lazy again and wrote nothing of any
real value until she was II. mixed
! sophomore and Junior in high school.
Her story for the 1925 Milestones
was the Western story. Homestead
ers." to which l have referred pre-
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| STORAGE FOR FURNITURE AND PIANOS
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