9
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 9, 1913.
By ROBERT H. MOtfLTON.
PERHAPS the strangest apccticla
which life in a great city offers Is
that of a 5-months-old baby sup
porting Itself and its mother through
its earnings, the counterpart of which
may be found in the child of years
who maintains a family.
New York owns to the youngest
wage-earners in the world and to
considerable number of them.
It Is no uncommon sight that of a
little toddler preceding its mother into
some down-town commercial building.
and, with a full sense of Its rezponsi
bilities and eagerness to assume them,
stretch Its tiny limbs in utmo.it en
deavor to reach and push an elevator
signal button in the hallway.
That Infants in arms have adven
tured into the world of business is due
to the advertising man's recognition of
the lure of a baby's face and its power
to arrest the attention and secure the
sympathy of every woman who sees
it; to the garment manufacturer's de
sire to depict his catalogued wares in
as lifelike a manner as possible, and
to periodicals which illustrated child
life and children's wearing apparel
with, living models.
There are toddlers in New York who
have literally cut their teeth, taken
their first uncertain steps and learned
their first words In Illustrators' stu
dios. Sometimes enough bottles ef milk
are delivered at photographers doors
to supply & lusty day nursery, for while
the pen and brush artist entertains one
tiny guest at a time, the photographer
minces his steps amid a throng.
It Is no easy matter to avoid step
ping on little crawlers who noiselessly
propel themselves from places where
they have been "put to some Inviting
spot on the rug where a favored broth
er seems to be having thingsall his
own way with objects that look good
to suck. -
An evolution of the studio is wee
Gladys Ereslin. She is only I years
old. but is an old poseur in studio par
lance, for she has become learned in
attitudinizing ever since, at S months,
she lay on her back and sucked a spe
cial brand of sock on her atom of a
foot until now, when she can stand
sturdily on the rug of studio delights
and watch a photographer peep at her
through the camera. ;
Adaptable as she is. small Gladys
does not enjoy posing as d Iter two
elder sisters, who earn as good wagas
as her own from 32 to $ a day ai:C
one of whom, Lillian, Is more in de
mand for costume purposes.
Baby a Clever Poser.
Another baby whose studio life be
gan with the cutting of her teth is
Eleanor Raynor, the most wonderful
Infant model of her day. Two years
and four months have passed over
Eleanor's little head, but studio habi
tues say that she "has cut her wisdom
teeth. she exhibits such remarkable
facility of expression and has such an
understanding little way about her.
All one has to do is to show Eleanor
a picture of what is wanted, and she
will copy it exactly, even to the expres
sion in her eyes. Merely to tell Elean
or that she must take certain attltuies
and indicate certain emotions means
that she will assume the desired pose
without a mistake.
She always enters that photogra
pher's studio which is most familiar
to her with a running toddle, and
holds up her Teddy bear to be greeted.
meanwhile babbling a happy conversa
tion in the language of Babyland, many
of the phrases of which have long bean
forgot by her adult friends;
The way of baby models in the stu
dios is a pleasant one, with brief
hours, plenty of rest and refreshment,
and tasks that they regard as play.
Does anyone ever forget the delight
that "dressing up" afforded in child
hood; the natural love that a child has
for "making believe"? That one who
remembers can best realize how tiny
wage-earners who have reached an age
when imagination asserts itself enjoy
with eager zest the activities of their
profession.
With every fiber of her emotional na
ture little Lottie Quinn exults in her
work and brings to it a vivid dramatic
element that made her, in her fifth
year, the leading child model in New
York, and one who commands a con
siderable income.
When just 2 years of age Lottie
began to pose in costume, and quickly
demonstrated her ability to exactly
imitate any picture that was Bhown to
her. So particular is she in this re'
spect that any deviation from the orig
inal plan made by persons who pose
her is at once corrected.
The slightest suggestion of what is
wanted of Lottie evokes the most sym
pathetic rendering of what is desired
in the picture she is posing for. Her
career has been so successful that Lot
tie Is very sensitive to any implication
of defeat, and though she posed with a
look and attitude of baffled endeavor
in an advertisement that exhibited
some dainty on a table just out of her
reach, Lottie was not satisfied with the
impression this picture conveyed.
Pointing a tiny finger at it, she ex
plained:
'I couldn't reach the dish in the pic
ture, but I could have got it If Id
wanted to."
An Obedient Tot.
Sound logic arjd implicit obedience
are not often coupled in so young a
child, but Lottie proved herself capable
of be'rti one day, tfrieri lier "mother1 Set
a jar of mince tarts on a high shelf,
and, noting the child's longing eyes, ex
acted a promise that she would not
eat of the tarts. Some time later Lot
tie was found sitting In the same place
gazing at the forbidden jar. With quick
suspicion her mother asked:
'Lottie, did you eat any of those
tarts?"
'No, mother, but I came near eating
them." hesitated the .child.
'Came near?" she was questioned.
'Yes. I dragged a chair over there,"
pointing to the stand beneath the shelf.
and I climbed up on it and got the
jar and I took a tart out of it, and then
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1 1 said to myself: "Lottie, you better not
I eat that tart, 'case if you do you'll set
a whipping.' So I just put the tart
back in the Jar and covered it up."
Spasms of jealousy are wont to
seize this winsome mite, and nothing
will fetch her so quickly out of hiding
for she loves to play hide-and-seek
as the fear that another child may
supplant her with the beloved friend
who poses her. -
When she had ascertained that this
lady was in her studio one day Lottie
dragged away from her mother's de
taining "hand and darted into the ele
vator from which both had just stepped.
Immediately a mock search for Lottie
was instituted, after which the little
one's friend exclaimed:
"Well, there are two little boys walt-
.Unr- 4o-b -4 -suppose u -have to go
and pose them."
Out flew Lottie, her eyes brilliant
with anxious excitement, but she would
not proclaim herself except by stand
ing where her friend could not fall to
see her when she turned. At the ex
pected movement the little form hurled
itself into outstretched arms with suf
focating caresses. That Charles Court-
lang, the most famous boy artists'
model in New York, T,-as waiting his
turn to pose meant nothing to the lov
ing little creature" then.
Charles Coartlang, too, is only five
years of age, but ne has been posing
for artists ever since he could realize
what posing meant, and his soft, dark
eyes and silky fluff of hair are famil
lar in paintings and illustrations of
child life. He is known as "the artists'
model," and is in such demand because
he has the long upper lip, with a slight
ly sucked-in lower one, much sought by
artists on account of the peculiarly
sweet and infantile expression it gives
to a child's face. Then, too, Charles'
eyes and hair, together with his color
ing, make him very desirable as a sub
ject for painters.
No greater antithesis to the gentle
seriousness of Charles Courtlang's
seraphic face could be found than the
chubby, merry, mischievous counte
nance of his junior in the model world,
Henri Witz, a lively little French lad
of four years and six months, who has
never posed until recently, but who
takes to the task with such aptitude
and zest that he is already one of the
most popular 'commercial models. Henri
can hold a box of sawdust, in a picture,
and offer it, with such a joyous air of
good-fellowship that one would be
capable of eating it as breakfast food
and never know the difference while
Henri looked on.
Another laughing little poser Is Rich
ard Connor, a baby whom people In
stinctively hug, and pronounce "the
sweetest thing that ever lived." Rich
ard's two years have taught him only
the laughter of life, and he will pose
as sweet-temperedly with a tin of face
powder as with something that he
knows will taste better when the pose
is over.
- Work Interests Little Ones.
Then, too, his little studio friend,
Marguerite Evans, Is a Jelly playmate
between poses, and for a year-old baby,
with Just a few months over to spare,
Marguerite shows a wonderful facility
of expression and the ability to look
animated and keep still at the same
time. Marguerite's tiny wrists and
plump, pretty arms add much to her
value as a model, for even babies are
not all blessed with that rare beauty-
hand and wrist that will photograph
charmingly.
The marvel of the curtained camera,
the enchanting game of "making be
lieve," increases in fascination for most
little' workers of the studios. Few
weary of such play or look the Inquisi
tive. Interest,oC childhood ,.ia what is
going forward: '
To Lois Norrls the wonder of look
ing into a camera and afterward be
hold a presentment of herself upon a
Sheet of paper Is quite the most allur
ing thing in the world, and she exer
cises every wile known to her scant
four years to induce photographic Il
lustrators to take her picture on extra
occasions. By way of a treat Lois is
sometimes allowed to accompany an
older model to a studio, when she begs
to pose, too.-. Her invariable plea, to
the explanation that girls' pictures are
not being made that day, is:
Oh, but I look different today. I
don't )ook the same as I did the other;
day."
And, indeed she does "look differ
ent" fHappy excitement lends a new
expression to every pose of her viva
cious (little' face, and her curly hair
seems lo take on paler or deeper tints
of gold with every variation of the
weather. Lois has a funny little way.
of seeming. to understand just what she
Is doing, so .that persons who watch,
her pot-ing believe her to be possessed
of that Inscrutable wisdom sometimes
apparent in young children.
A Child Who Is in Demand.
If 4-year-old Lois exemplifies tha
pure Joy of posing, her companion in
years, little Marls Borgreve, exhibits
her feeling of Its seriousness. She ap
pears to realize that on her tiny shoul
ders rest the responsibilities of a wage
earner, and to feel and assume the po
sition, with a comprehension far beyond
her years.
Little Marie has never been known
to smile. Her wonderfully mobile coun
tenance takes on every expression de
manded by the character of her work,
but the carefree look that belongs to
a child of 4 years Is altogether absent
from Marie's face.
This In nowise Impairs her value as
a model, for the little one puts her
whole, heart Into her work and is one
of the most famous of child subjects.
greatly In demand by artists, who fair
ly rave over the breadth of brow be
tween her lovely, expressive eyes; the
arch of her eyebrows, exquisite con
tour of her features, and her remark
able play of expression. This means
that Marie, In addition to earning her
$2, $4- and $6 a day in photographic
Btudios, shares with other little artists'
models the opportunity of posing at 60
cents an hour.
Her "day" with the camera may
mean three or four hours or half that
spent partly in posing and partly
chatting with other young workers
awaiting their "turn" to pose, and her
"hour" poses for artists are made
equally light and easy. Little children
are never permitted to become tired In
a studio, and many a mother has
learned how to take better care of her
child through, instruction given by
those for whom her little one poses.
Gooo care, good food and tender
treatment are the part of babies of the
studios. No wonder they acquire a
fondness for camera and palette and
treat photographer and artist alike
with the Spontaneous friendliness , of
childhood. . .
The little toddling feet of Infant wage
earners make no Bound as they travel
to and fro doing a man's work in the
world taking a place made vacant by
a father's death or a mother's helpless- -ness,
and, under happier conditions, .
helping struggling parents to prepare
for tha education and establishment in
life of their child In the years to come.
Highway Transportation
The. history of highway transporta
tion since the days of the Roman em
pire exhibits few phases and great
turning points which have marked new
eras IB progress, In efficiency, In con
venience or economy. Historians of
transportation tell us that man's first
land vehicle was a boat-like structure
without wheels, which was pulled by
sheer brute' strength, first by man and
then by animals which he subjugated,
the ox, horse and mule. The next step
In land transportation was by means
of crude rollers, which were slid un
derneath the vehicle very much on the
order of the rollers which we see in
use in moving small buildings short
distances.
When the revolving wheel was ap
plied to vehicles a great impetus was
given to highway transportation, and
for 40O0 years at least, until very re-
cently,' highway transportation saw
very little change or improvement.
If we carjefully compare the methods
of highway transportation In' the days
of the Roman empire and the year 1912
we find that the greater percentage of
the world Is still using the horse and
wagon very much after the fashion of
the Romans; we see no great evolution
in highway transportation paralleling
the wonderful advance that has been ."
made in power transportation by rail
or trolley. The delivery of our mer
chandise is much after the fashion of
5000 years ago, although the motor, the
Iron horse of the highway, has reached
mecnanlcal perfection In the span of
ten years. However, so great a slave
to custom Is man that we find today
comparatively little commercial utlliza-
ation of one of the greatest civilizing
agencies and efficiency tools that so
far has been given the world.
The development of this efficiency
tool has gone on so quietly and at the
same time so thoroughly that the world
at large, grounded In horse traditions,
has not yet been informed on motor
transportation. To an Investigating
mind it seems paradoxical that in the
Oth century the human race should
be using for one purpose means that
were employed dozens of centuries agow
Engineering Magazine.