Evening star., 1932-05-08
BY PAULINE A. FREDERICK.

II remember the first time I ever
spoke in public. / had undertaken tl
| tell q story to q group of so ehildreH
AS looked out over that sea OF eager
little faces / knew that II could not
! interest them ! could never hope to
hold the attention of any other audi
| ence."
| 1t was Mrs Edward p. Costigan, wife
of the junior Senator from Colorado
who related this incident recently "a
she conversed with q guest In the at
| tractive living room Of her apartment.
Evidently this charming lady OF the
Senate" made highly successful debut
| as a public speaker, for she immediate
ly became the sought-after story lady
Of the children Of Denver. Moreover
from that day to this there has been no
end to the stream of requests TO
speak" which have been coming to
her. And, strange as it may seem,
they range anywhere from invitations
to address political rally to Sunday
school class, and cover subjects rang
ing from education to tariffs.
To understand Mrs. Costigan's popu-
larity on the platform is not diffcult.
i She has q rare possession which leHds
power to words that are spoken - a
iduinitt pSinoupnt9. 11cI futSc, w. ~
thing Of beauty-modulated, mellow,
capable Of portraying appealingly the
trials Of Goldie Locks, or marshaling
the power of a sincere conviction
against abusive labor conditions or de-
struetive tariff walls.
This was the immediate impression
one gathered from talking with this
Senator's wife as, govned in black vel
vet dhe yoke Of her dress was of lace
over gold cioth), she extended the cor
diality Of her Washington home.
School days, school days'-they hold
the outstanding place in the memory
of this captivating woman Of Colo
rado. 1t was In her senior year in
the Denver High School that she was
elected secretary Of her class. The
rcnior group showed equally good
Judgment in selecting for its president
none other than Edward p. Costigan.
OF course, class officers, especially
the president and secretary, must work
together on many projects. Plans must
be laid and carried out for class meet
ings, class picnies, class dances, class
day and, finally. commencement. And
so, working together In high school
activities, these two Coloradans who
now are of official Washington, en-
barked upon their romance
Following graduation. Mr.. Costigap
left for Harvard to study law. and the
one-time class secretary, Mabel Cory,
decided to take up kindergarten work.
1t was at this time that she first came
to be known as the "story-lady."
Reminiscing on this brief interlude
when she devoted herself to the train
ing Of plastic ehild-life, Mrs. Costigan
reflected:
There Is nothing lovelier in all the
world than work with little children.
adored it. I like especially to watch
the psychology of their reactions.
have often thought" she continued,
that it would be exceedingly inter-
esting some time to make a study Of the
child and his reaction to stories; in
other words, tie up the story with in
stinct and psychology"
But the capable Kindergarten was
not to remain in the educational field
for long. Edward oostigan returned
from Boston armed with an LIB,
ready to hang out his shingle as an at
torney-st-law. He had remembered the
attractive Mabel Cory, for not long aft
er that there was wedding In which
she became Mrs Edward P. Cestisan.
Despite the fact that ehe gave up
active participation In ttndergarten
work following her marriage, Mrs
Costigan through chautataqua con-
tinued to delight chitTen in oil
parts of the State with her stories
She also took an active interest In