Boston Post from Boston, Massachusetts • Page 47

44 BOSTON SUNDAY POST. NOVEMBER 12, 1916 BABY UN-AWED GIRL LEARNED IO DANCE BY WATCHING TREES BY PRESIDENT i Winnifred Gilraine, Who Resents Criticism of Censor, Explains Inspiration of Her Art as Due to Love of Nature Little Eleanor Axson Sayre Even Speak to Her Grandpa, Woodrow Wilson, When He Came to Williamstown tree taught me to vSo says Wlnntfred Gilraine, the Boston society dancer, who failed to appear with her troupe at the Copley- Plaza recently as a result of the criticism of the censor. Miss Gilraine is still indignant over the incident, which she maintains is not only unjust to her, hut refleots discredit on her art. I This picture shows the Sayre christening party arriving at the cluirch. Lcit to right.

President Wilson, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Sayre, Mr. Sayre (carrying Baby Eleanor), a Williamstown lady getting close view of the President, one of the secret service men keeping hack the crowd. (Photo bv George Murray of the Post staff.) 4r -----------------------------------------------------------n I I II knew all the time that he would be Dy JOtin elected President for another term.

Well. I wish you had sent me word; I think 1 could have used It to advantage. Just between ourselves 1 don't think that little Eleanor A.xson Sayre is verv i This is going to be a big day for you, 1 1 much impressed by her grandpa, even she answered disgustedly. though he is President of these United States. Y'ou like It! Well.

I maybe right when you say that celebrations with a lot of people around Should President ilson journey a make you tired and cross. Really. I few hundred miles just to spend a day blame you a bit. but being a pub. lie personage, as you are.

you have With you or me, we certainly lay to submit to these things. What do you 6itrselves out to entertain him in first- think of this life as far as Class style i answered Eleanor, and But not Eleanor Sayre. Do you she smiled a little and gurgle some, know that she even speak to I agreed. a line manly chap but ill just now. Nothing serious, you know, but he is hardly in condition to see str.angers.” you see that little rjleanor can be- have herself when she wants to.

But the next time I saw her, she doing so nicely. She was on her way I to the little stone church uj) the street where her life to be started in ways that arc Uhristian. I had heard her, even thougli she wasn't in sight. Notable Christening Party Ii was a pretty scene there at tlie church. The sun had burst through the clouds that overcast the sky and Its beams glinted from the frost-bared never had any Intention of put- ting on a performance that was im- modest even in the slightest i she declared.

must have said something untrue to the Mayor, or to the censor, and as a result an an- i noying report has been circulated that put both myself and the girls of my troupe in such a light that it will be difficult for us to escape censure. Would Have Worn Tights course we would worn tights, if we had appeared. But It best to me to avoid the whole I thing and not appear at all. Certainly the sort of poetic Interpretation of na; ture-moods that I do Is far less open to comment than things that have been seen season after season on the stage i and In the cabarets. Suppose, even, that we had danced with loose Greek draperies and bare legs, la that so I unu.sual? Have not Isadore Duncan and Maude Allen done the same? And I does anybody ouestlon their ai'tlstic sln- cerity? "Certainly we have never done any- I thing nearly so daying as many of the episodes in which the Russian dan- cers figure.

No, It is all a very un- 1 fortunate occurrence, and worse than I that, for me, breaks that harmony of mental mood which 1 find so necessary I for Interpretative dancing, i "Just now, of course, we are occupied a good deal of the time wdtli the work lor Sir Herbert performances of Shakspere. He has spoken in the most flattering terms of the grace and beauty of the dances performed bj' the troupe. what I like best to do Is nature- dancing interpretation of beautiful r-ioods of the fields and woods and streams as they appeal to me when I am out and to and In a receptive mood of soul. Joy in Greek Robes often ask, you know, why we wear these loose Mowing Greek garments. they essentially they say.

Now to me that sort of ouestlon la foolish. 1 wear Greek costume because It gives me a sense of freedom and abandonment to perfect joy that is so necessary If one is to do jeal nature dancing. The costume, to a very considerable extent, puts me in the right receptive which I can feel the hidden poetry of THE SONG OF THE BROOK. Winnifred and her troupe of dancers listening to the magical music of nature, which furnishes them with inspiration for their rhythmic figures. From left to right the dancers are Miss Gilraine, Alice Pilcer, Flora Merrell, Muriel Enwright and Abbie McKay.

Rut there was no answer. The violet eves had disappeared beneath the drooping lids, the little breast rose and fell and just a whisper of breath came and went. Hardly was she asleep before she to the angels," you know. as nearly at the house as a squad of secret service men would let me get. And that was right at the porch railing next the door, for these secret service fellows nearly as dreadful as we are led to believe.

'Well, anyway, Miss Margaret Wilson flew up I Pretty Maternal Scene the steps and gathered little I Over her bent the mother. And as mother in her arms and kissed her right brforr evervbodv. ah- is a daush- 1 ,1 I ter of the President of the United Ukanors grandfather tollowcd a I more dignified manner and Mrs. Sayre forgotten everything except that a second embrace. Then, as she was the mother of that precious.

the re.st of the party were greeted, a grand fatherly gleam came into the gray eyes of the President and he hurried into the house, some remark about floating back. little parcel of humanity. One chubby fist had closed about a finger of the mother. Ever so gently, Mrs. Sayre withdrew the finger and the baby slumbered peacefully on.

she pretty?" I softly asked. "The deare.st little girl in the an.swered the mother, just a.s whe an.swer. Then, the baby borne off to the nxir.sery, Mrs. Sayre, in a very few told me all about Eleanor. juh't a dear, rtily-poly, healthy little girl, an-1 hlie has hardly been ill ill her seven of life.

trying to rear her in a manner that will develop her naturally into a fine, true American young woman. "1 wish you could see Francis. Little Stranger May A few moments latr-r shriek after Bcream shattered the calmriess of the Wllli.amstown afternoon. The secret service men pricked uji their ears and moved toward the door. P.ut when the lamentations settled down into the treble cry of an infant, the members of the body-guard smiled i and relaxed and a bystander remarked that the Sayre baby certainly had healthy lungs.

I Maybe her extreme youth makes her actions excusable, but, just the same, I think it was hardly right for Eleanor Sayre to yell so at the Presi- I dent of the United States, even though he is of the family. It Was the Dog It was certainly little Miss day in YVllliamstown, whether she ap- i preelated It or not. The Preeident of in hnglHild may the United Staten came to see her. so eventual bearer of a hiiitoric did the President's wife and his daugh- name and inherit the great wealth of ter and his cousin; all of them came Lord Gerard. on a special train just to sy.e that the fjthe latest society woman to baby got the right start in life.

And besides these notables, she drew sent her husband with a son and heir is to the little village in the Berkshires Charles Gerard, whose husband A whole raft of secret service officers, 1. i itt newspapermen without number, a i fhe eldest son of the Hon. Robert could be was on hand to see the christening party enter the church. At the station, when the ITesldent arrived, there had been a great deal of cheering and applause, but now' the crowd was silent. As the machine drew up to the church, lusty wails died away and she kept silence as, in her arms and attended by Mrs.

Sayre and President and Mrs. WlLson, she was carried into the low-studded room. Rut even before Joe Murphy, chief of the Pre.sidenl’s bodyguard, got the oaken door shut, the little lamentations broke out with renewed vigor and she made the church resound all during the ceremon.v. Well, that about all there pretty near Eleanor big day; probably never have a bigger day if she lives to be a hundred. Once again, in the evening, I was In front of the comfortable homey-looking Sayre residence.

A crow'd of cheering Democrats, wdth a fife and drum corps and a brass l)and and red light and everything had come out from North Adams to pay their respects to the Ko received them on the front Mr. Sayre stood beside him and smiled hut there w'as a troubled look on his face. bet he was thinking, "I wi.sh get done before they wake the instinct 1 have always been a dancer. M'hat led me to Mrs. Wyman, whose pupil I am, as you may know.

But as 1 try to develop my art along original lines, for myself, I find that books and systematic study are of less Importance than actual contact with nature. I have peen so many thlngt that are untruq to nature in books. "Of course, there are the Greek vases and paintings. From these one can al- get Ideas of grace and beauty. But nothing to me quite equal to the experience of going out among the trees and flowers themselves, watching them as the wind sw'ays the branches so gently, bending them in the softest and most exquisite of curves, or when it ripples over a field of blossoms and makes your very heart dance for joy.

"Anyone who can observe these wonderful studies In motion that nature presents and not want to translate them into terms of bodily rhythm seems to me to be without the spirit of appreciation of the modern dance. And anyone who oan so translate them has acquired something very beautiful and valuable, you think? Is Charmed by Nature what I try to do. P'or 1 be- I lieve that the actual movements of only of trees, of course, I but of winds, brooks, clouds and all the beautiful face of the fields can be suggested, more or less successfully, by the dance. Especially Is this true when graceful, trained dancers are moving In groups. Then almost any sugges- tlon of the beauty of nature is possl- the flight of the bird up- ward to greet the sunrise to the slow, majestic progress of a great white fleecy cloud across the blue summer sky.

And somehow 1 always feel more I able to dance with poetic truth after i W'atchlng these things. was It said that they could love more intensely after holding a red rose? can understand that. And 1 think I could dance more gayly after i gathering daisies. There are flowers that Inspire passion, flowens that inspire faithfulness, and flowers which Inspire wild, sprltellke gayety. Perhaps these last are the ones the dancer loves best.

the trees are no wonderful for the dancer! I can well understand the ancient belief that the trees were only the hard, outer bodies of delicate and I shy spirits. The Dryads, they were called, these tree spirits of the woods, and I often half believe that they correspond to some actual existence In nature. The Souls of Trees "la It so unreasonable to believe tliat living things like trees have souls? You walk among them, especially at the nottest hour of a summer day, and they se.em to be full of life and interested in things that are hap- and drinking in the warmth brightnes.s of the Then the wind comes and rocks branches, almost humanly, and you have all jou can do not to believe that the tree is not a conscious prsonality like yourself. "I once heard of a man who believed he was haunted by the spirits of trees. Doctors had said thtrt he w.as a little out of his mind, and iierhaps he was.

But I know that he had been a forester for many years, and had done so much to protect the down from them the vines that destroy their growth, clearing away harmful underbrush, lopping off decaying limbs, and doing everything a good forester should do. "He had grown very old in the service, and the delusion came over him tliat the trees wanted' to have him always with them. At night he used to lock himself in his little house, bolt, and bar every door and window, and sit late by the fire. Ho imagined that HAWAII AX DA.VCE. Not the Hula Hula, hut a development from Hawaiian motives worked out by Miss Gilraine and her dancers.

From left to right, above, Muriel Enwright, Flora Merrell and Miss Gilraine; in front, Abbie McKay. he should weaken for a. moment they would send In a spirit messenger that would take his own spirit from his the trees were calling him, and that if i body and carry it away to live with the trees. "I suppose, of course, that he was mad. But it was a rather beautiful sort of madness, you think? And it shows how the spirit of nature can take possession of one and make one forgetful of the stupid conventions of the everyday Bear Great Title WHITNEY WARREN CALLED FIRST CIVILIAN AT VERDUN DESCRIBES HORRORS legion of camera men and a moving picture operator or two.

In the rear of this formidable array, most of Wll- Itamstown gathered around the place arhere Eleanor with her father fUid mother, to say nothing of her older brother, Francis Woodrow Sayre. But nose is out of joint now. year and a half ago, he exerted the pull that brought Mr. YVilson on his first trip to Williamstown, but thbs year he had to give way to his little sister. But Francis waste any over that; he was sick in bed i troubles enough of his own.

jdld Eleanor very much ver it. think that under the conditions would have periled up and taken an Interest In things, you? But she put In the whole afternoon after the arrival of her grandfather making the welkin ring. In of all this, I want you thlnlf that Eleknor Sayre a ghty nice little girl. Because she Is. 'I went out to interview her in the morning, before the arrival of the President and his party upset the tranquility of the village and the homestead, and she was very nice to me.

It Is a fact that she seemed more Interested in getting back to sleep than was In any newspaperman, but still the meeting was very satisfactory. Loyal to Her Grandfather "What do you think of your grandfather, I asked her. 00 0 answered Miss Sayre, "To be be said I. "Of course, he's a good man, just as you and the people of the United States have shown that they like him for a President, but waren't you kind of frightened when those fir.st returns began to come answered the UUle lady. J.

Gerard-Dicconson, who in turn is heir-presumptive to Baron Orard. Previous to her marriage, Mrs. (4er- erd, who is exceedingly pretty, was Miss Aimee Clarke, the youngest daughter of Sir Rupert Clarke and I.ady Philip Grey Egerton, her father, being the second baronet of Rupertswood, Victoria, Austria. The T.ad.v Grey Edgerton obtained a divorce and eventually married Sir Philip Grey Edgerton, whose first marriage, mean- w'hlle had also been dissolved. The baronet, the 12th In his line, first married a beautiful American, Miss Mary ('uyler, daughterof Major Wayne Cuyler, of New York.

Their marriage took place in 1893, a and heir, the elder of twin boys, being born In 1895. The first Grey Edgerton, who w'as prominent and pop- In Ixindon society, obtained a di- from Sir Philip In 1996, and, a later, married Richard McCreery, one of the three sons of a California millionaire, and a renowned polo player nnd hunting man. His wedding to Lady Egerton was, in fact, the sequel to a friendship formed in the hunting field. The Emperor Napoleon III, was once a guest at one of Lord resl- icnces, Lancashire, and the rooms he occupied are furnished in mahogany and upholstered in crimson. King and Queen have also been to Garswood Hall.

The Queen when Princess of Wales, paid a private visit to see the pictures of members of the (terard family. Just now a haliy, particularly a boy baby, gets a heartier welcome than ever before in England, and nowhere nmre so tnan in titled families. The birth a few days ago of a boy to I Whitney Warren is back from the I jaws of Hell. i To his many other distinctions, this famous architect and one- time Boston man has added that of being the first civilian to enter Fort Vaux, recently wrested from the Gcr-1 mans by the French, He has also, under the personal I guidance of General Nivelle, inspected the battlefield between Douaumont and Vaux, where the fiercest fighting and most terrible carnage of the war took place. Horror of what he has seen, mingled with unbounded admiration of the French spirit, is the impression he brings back.

No other American has been permitted to see what Mr. Warren has seen. Not only that, but no PYenchman who Is not an officer or immediately engaged on the ground, has been allowed to see It. Called The reason.s are two. Mr.

Warren is one of the moat active champions of the cause of he identifies with the of In America and in France itself. He has none more to create a strong pro-French sentiment In this country than almost any other one man, with the possible exception of former Ambassador Herrick. In France they speak of him as American he Mrs. Charles Gerard caused special bears no title or decoration. He it is told to this American citzen secrets and thoughts of his innermost mind that he had told to no other living soul.

Only last year. General Joffre explained to Mr. Warren his calculation that the war would last at least two years more, and announce the fact dead now, to the number of half a million men. regained here the men were massed thickest of any spot along the whole western front. And here they were by oncoming masses of Germans, the flower of the army under the command of the crown pminilted him to tln-ough the American press.

Mr. Warren and his wife have been most active in the work of collecting funds for the PAench wounded. Mrs. Warren, while in New Y'ork a little more than a season ago, organized her own special fund which, when raised, formed a very appreciable addition to the fund of the Secours National. the enemy it was a shambles.

Unaccustomed to the terrific hell of fire before which they were commanded to stand up, they had no to walk forward to certain death. Germany has paid fearfully high in. human live.s for the crown of oak leaves placed on the brow of the crown prince by William the Baby Killer. "And the losses of the were also terribly heavy, soil was lit- In passing over the battlefield, which erally watered with blood and steam- Like a Lunar Landscape I occupies some 18 square ing with the hot life-blood of brave I said Mr. Warren, was amazed by the 1 men caught at a merciless dlsadvant- terrlflc destruction wrought by the shell fire.

The field resembles a lunarland- one of those great photographs of the surface that are seen now in astronomical laboratories. Every few feet were craters. Often In an were cap- said they Not many minutes later the relief detachment of 10 arrived and surrendered as soon as the.v saw what had happened. "Verdun is undoubtedly the grave of Prussian militarism. It cannot survive this decisive defeat.

At the same time the war may go on for a long time yet, perhaps more than another year, as General Joffre think.3.” Mr. Warren was a resident of Boston In 1909 when he was elected a member of the Academio des Beaux Arts, as a recognition of his pro-eminence in architecture. Since that time he has also become a member of Institut, the highest honor of the sort that P'rance can confer. He has since that time changed his re.sidence to NtAv where ha Is a member of the firm of Warren W'etmore, architects. At the outbreak of the war he went immediately to France, "where I felt as if I were C'dlled a.s to the assistance of friends in he said.

At that time he gained permission, through his personal acquaintance with General Joffre and otlier prominent men In Prance, to take an exhaustive series of photographs of the destruction to monuments of as the town hall at Arras, for by the rejoicing. beauty. The mother is a noted MAKES EVERYBODY CRY I "Do you she simpered, are the real actor ever met. It the itarts created by the master dia- matists like Shakspere "Now you're he broKe in. "1 JtxSt eat that Shakspere stuff alive, I played in iTou I exclaimed.

be intemtlnf'to met ''East for two who has Implanted In the French mind Whitney Warren, the famous Ameri- the Idea that the American republic Is, spiritually at least, the sister of the though political make it impossible for this country to join its sister nation in arms. In the second place, Mr. Warren is an intimate friend of more than one FYench At the the an age by machines. Y'et the lighter, quicker and more intelligently handled artiller.v of tho French, combined with the infinitely superior mettle of men as fighting units and their courage when it was a question of carrying a they interlocked, like the ravages of a position, proved more than a match for discasp on the fair surface of the land, the 42-centimetre arms and tactics of and seemed to penetrate deep down in- the Germans. Their mass formations to the flesh.

have proved a failure, just as their "These fields will need little harrow- strategic idea of sheer force has proved Germans. These he brought to the ing nnd ploughing when they are first i a failure. They will have to reorgan- in sunj)crt of his argu- planted. it is a ize the German army to win, and that ment that to fight for P'rance was lu frightful will need little will mean something more than a re- i fight for the freedom of humanltj. fertilization, for much of the ground is vision of the plan.s of field ---------------------------------------still brown where the dried blood has it will mean a revision of the German; HIQ UOIIDAGPV not quite soaked in, and who can say temperament.

wncKC a how many mangled fragments of bodies Dn.csinno said the chairman of lie just below the surface? Here and rrussians Keaiize ueieai political committee in a south of Ire- there a guess Is to a "This can never be accomplished. The land city, "to ask you to take this nom- ghastly bits of human bone Prussians feel they are beaten already. Ination. The city needs a man you lie scattered beside a crater, not yet Their claim that they abandoned tho -strong, brave, self-reliant, owning no bleached white by the sun which purl- Vaux fort to retire to a po- master, fearing no man." fles eventually all things of the earih- is sheer bluff, intended for the i The great man was visibly touched, can architect and fgrmer The bones are blackened, although most consumption of the Ameriean public, nov he said, "that j'our kin 1 man, who has just returned from France, where he was the first civilian to he allowed to visit Fort Vaux and the battlefield of Douaumont, wrested from enemy by the SYench. News Service.) of the flesh is of the air eaten from them by Saw Fighting "North of the fort there Is still fighting going qn, and anyone has been permitted, aa I' bave, to wltneaa that The truth is that they were forced out by superior nerul.ship and braver men "The Gnman soldiers I have seen were a pitiable sight.

They have lost all tlieir Cfie set, of prisoners 1 inspected were dazed, dejected on- let me words have shaken my resolution. I trust that, if elected 1 may ju.stify confidence and pi-ovc ihct 1 it, strong, brave, lian.t 1 o.v.i no master and fear no man. fciupposu you wait a minute tiii iice if iiiy wife.