Clara Barton a Centenary Tribute

What woman has not said "I remember when I was a girl...." Clara Barton at eighty-six years said, in the story of her childhood, I remember ..., I remember riding wild colts when I was five years of age. I remember how frightened I was, but acquired assurance when my brother used to tell me to "cling fast to the mane." To this day (at eighty-six years of age) my seat in the saddle, or on the bare back of a horse, is as secure and tireless as in a rocking chair. I remember I thought the President might be as large as the meeting house and the Vice President perhaps the size of the school house. I remember telling my teacher that I did not spell such little words as "cat" and "dog," but I spell in artichoke, artichoke being the first word in the column of three syllables. I remember writing verses, many of which for years were preservedsome of these verses by others recited to amuse peoplesome verses to tease me. I remember, in school, making a mistake in pronouncing 'Ptolmy,' when the children laughed at me, and I burst out crying and left the room. I remember that my father taught me politics; and that, as an old soldier, he amused the other children and myself by giving us practical lessons in military life. We used improvised material, such as children are accustomed to use in "playing soldier,"paper caps, plumes, banners, kettle for the kettle drum, tin swords, sticks for guns and bayonetsall of which were perfectly satisfactory to us.

Dettagli