WHAT TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY GIRLS
CAN LEARN from ELSIE DINSMORE
RUNNER UP — 12 and UNDER CATEGORY
Kori Buchanan
Sometimes, when I am working in my garden, my flowers remind me of different character
qualities or virtues, sunflowers of cheerfulness, roses of love, etc. That causes
me to think on girls of today. Girls of today seem to lack virtues. I have wondered
why. After thinking on this problem, I have found the heart of the matter. Girls
of today need role models. They need someone better than movie stars and rock singers.
The first girl that comes to mind, who is well qualified for the job of role model
is Elsie Dinsmore. She is a godly young girl and she also possesses the three character
qualities that I think girls of today lack most: obedience, modesty and generosity.
The first and most important virtue is obedience. Have you ever heard of the obedience
plant? If you move one of its branches or leaves aside it stays there. Elsie Dinsmore
is the essence of obedience. Consider this scenario. Elsie went to a town called
Landsdale to live with her Aunt Wealthy Stanhope for the summer. While she was there,
she met a “gentleman” named Bromly Egerton (alias Tom Jackson). Mr. Egerton
pretended to fall in love with Elsie but was truly in love with her fortune. Sadly,
Elsie thought him to be the upright, christian gentleman he was portrayed to be,
and fell in love with him. Mr. Dinsmore, Elsie’s father, found out. He commanded
her to give him up. It was a terribly hard trial for Elsie. But, as painful as it
was, she trusted and obeyed. Later, she found out that her father knew what was
best for her. I doubt that few girls of today, if any, would obey with such sweet
trustfulness.
The second virtue is modesty. The flower that reminds me of modesty is the Shasta
Daisy. Its snow-white petals and bright yellow center look so simple, but so sweet.
This goes to show that elaborate is not always prettier than modest. Elsie shows
modesty not only in dress, but in attitude and behavior. Many times she has shown
this virtue, but this incident sticks out in my mind. Elsie, Mr. Dinsmore, Edward
Allison and his sister Rose Allison were spending a few weeks at a hotel. Also staying
at this hotel, was Miss Stevens, who’s companionship the Dinsmore’s and
Allison’s did not particularly enjoy. Miss Stevens however, was fond of Mr.
Dinsmore and Elsie in her own way. One day, Miss Stevens and Elsie were talking
and Miss Stevens remarked that Elsie should have more flounces on her skirt. To
that Elsie replied that her papa did not want many flounces on her skirts and nether
did she. Miss Stevens questioned her as to why. Elsie answered and said that her
papa did not like to see little girls loaded with finery, and that her clothes should
be of the best material and neatly made, but plain and simple. Most girls of today
would think nothing adding extra flounces to their dresses, much less thinking if
it was modest.
Last, but not least, is the virtue of generosity. The flower for generosity is the
Trailing Petunia. It’s creamy lavender blooms give away a sweet perfume, but
this is not the only way it is generous. If you pick one of its lovely flowers,
the next day it has added two more. I think that generosity is one of Elsie’s
main character traits. There are many times in which she was generous, but this
one is my favorite. Arthur Dinsmore, Elsie’s older cousin by two years, needed
some money to buy a splendid model ship. His sisters would not lend him the money,
so he went to Elsie. Arthur explained his problem, and asked Elsie to lend him the
five dollars necessary to purchase the ship. She refused, and Arthur walked away
very angry. When he left, Elsie called one of the house servants and asked him to
go into town to buy the ship Arthur told her about. She gave him five dollars of
her own money and sent him off. When the servant came back with the ship, she called
her nurse and asked her to put the ship, along with a note from herself on Arthur’s
desk in the school room. Do you not think that it was a very unselfish thing to
do? As you may have guessed from the way Arthur got angry with her, they were not
the best of friends. I don’t think that many girls of today would be generous
enough to buy a gift like that for a friend, much less an almost enemy!
It is not hard to see that girls of today lack virtues. The ones I have mentioned
here are only the beginning of the character qualities girls of today need. Just
as a well tended garden makes the flowers even more beautiful, the character qualities
Elsie exhibits makes her an ideal role model. The sweetest quality in her bouquet
of virtues is the flower of Christianity. I sincerely hope that all girls will take
Elsie as their role model so she can show them that being a child of God is the
best character quality anyone could have.
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