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Show SUNDAY HERALD, SUNDAY. AUGUST 15, 1926. PFwOVO li Because She. Clutched His Finger and ' Abroad to Study Under at) .. l)hS&U -- - 4 7- r. At Left: Another rhotonph ot Bby Virrni Marie vA Her Mother, Mr, tllikm Burbid Taken at the Timi of Their First Estate. Meetinrrith r , lit u- - v - i - ' - U th-La- Financier. i V) - ... Plutocrat's - 'I . - - 'A rrS "N' - f i a - i t'l'i" ST the palntine which . had interested her the ;,jind.. others, in.And neighborhood. none thei froup waa headed by other than the elder J. P. Morgan, at that time president of the aeum and one of its most inter v nI art was cmeny a 7. t success. He shoved them into " X on evening, attending a with his mind vaguely set .. theatre, fate ruled otherwise, He tound ..waiting him a. message callinghim to a rush job. And just before he left ha , ; -- . iMseithe.tkkta4 a remarau "Here, jou might take Virginia over to the museum tonight These will let you in. and it will give you something to do to pass the eve- a genius is made, not born. ; And Virginia Marie Burbidge is now proclaimed as one of these. For the late J. P. ' Morgan, in a momentary whim, heaped art " honors on the pretty girl at a time when she was only a cooing infant. And the baby has sincemore than proved herself worthy of the multimillionaire's chance interest. , Back in 1909. a struggling young electrician, William Burbidge," secured temporary 70b witir the Metropolitan Museum of Art. that great pile of granite in New York City which houses one of the most famous art collections in the world and which te the main cultural interest of hundreds of wealthy patrons. One day the superin- - ning.7' Mrs. Burbidge took the tickets with a laugh But later in the evening, with no sign of her husband's return, she dressed her infant daughter and set out from their Third Avehue flat for the great Fifth Avenue museum. The doorman tared at the plainly dressed woman with the eooingbaby in her armsr'butthe tickets Tirere correct, o Mrs. Burbidge passed through the great hall and into one of the side rooms where she found a bench. ; tendentt!f . tbebulldinghanded Burbidge a couple of bits of pasteboard, after the electrician "Here,'! he said. V-- - i ney- - are - noia-- - ..! . You're of German descent. mg a special German art ex hibit in the muse uiii: starting t o n 1 g h It might interest you and your wife."' , " - ww T Burbidge took the ; paste- boards with a laughing mark that re- his knowledge, of ' miirwirvrJ Ktanrhnc in awe i ajrot . i arms was thumb.' For a moment the dktmguished group halted. Then a frosty smile lit the fierce, wrinkled face of the great financier. Without a word to hia waggled 1 guesU he stepped forward and clumsily the a black gloved finger under the nose of ;,. "Uada," fthoughttully remarKea we Daoy. Then seeming to make up its mind, it cooed its "Dada" ag&m in' very positive fashion and took a una gnp e nnger that was "It y.- on-tn- J. P.- - trose."" Morgan broke into, a ami- - , Mrs. - BurKSge as She Is Today, the Prett.r - J3ghteen-Year-01d.GirnV- h, .Leaves Shortly for Europe to Continue Her Art Studies in - . '. Fulfillment of the v copies of their many publications and reports. Years went by. As soon as she could grasp the idea, Virginia was told the story of Mr. Morgan's gift. - It early turned the child's attention to art and made 'her resolve to become' orthy of the great banker's first opinion of her. r A a she grew oldr.ahe.4me44iwRt4he-nugeamr-Threscue and re- ' Burbidges at times were not in .lUKnriousw lease his linger. circumstances, but money was always found for art lessons.. And by the time she. had all the sowhile' 'Virginia's reached her teens she was a familiar figure at deepblushing the Metropolitan gatherings, and was already ly' and stammer-- , in with such" considered an authority on the museum's conu si on' that she tents as well as a' promjsingyoung painter, . .esnf could hardly answer his Throughout, her mother had not let Virginia negiect Tier school work. .She attended, the Suestions regarding name. parochial school of Our Lady of Good Counsol "That's a clever In-- f and later St. John's Academy of Brooklyn.. Her I'm . going . to ant. house-hol- d mo tb her all ,the dutie-of-t- he make her a Life Fellow and she grew up an entirely normal girl ex of the museum," Mr. cept for her passion for painting. In fact, recentMorgan .remarked to ly, when she attended one of the museum meet-friends as he re d friend and trustee smilingly ings, a Join e d them. They-- remaned: "We .will how hear from 01 our body, who knows member,- i dare-say, laughed. cut he sighow to dance the .Charleston." And a minuta naled for his secretary him to . and instructed later, this pretty girl, who does know all the latest dance steps, was bhuher feet giving an. learn the child's idenauthoritative opinion on a complicated matter of . had tity af terthey on - and the ;. -artistic evaluatipnr," r 'v, passed mother's spe e c h 1 e s s wnen 4. rierppnt Morgan died in id 13. one e m b a r r assment had of his most sincere mourners was " subsided. ' Virginia. She had only met the great banker once after her first meeting at the age of six Four days later a months, but he had freauentlv shown an - in. package was delivered terest in her welfare, and hadnquired after her at t a number of times. At the time of the famous humbla borne.. It was Hudson-Fulto- n ceruncare Exhibit of Art, Virginia had been ; a taken to the museum to exercise her perogative proclaimed thf thai Virginia Ma as a Member in Perpetuity, and. Mr. Morgan, ' while oing through the, ftalleries with friends, 7 ne fioxpidge naa had again caught sight of her. He had broken away from his multimillionaire friends long enough to ohuck" Miss Burbidge nnder-th- e chin, and hold her up so tliat she could ireb a better view-of a-held rVwithalLthe: that pastoral atudy interest. 'And shortly afterward the child was that ' privileges in at tears the news of the great man's deaths aceompanytht. But Mn Morgan's. interest In the child's career ' hopor. The date a was a' was January 4, did not cease with his life. d 1909, the night girl of thirteeh,TiAunting the parks with her sketch book, she was informed by a com- - ' J. P. Morgan had mittee from the museum that Mr. Morgi-.- i hod seen the child, . and t he certifl- -' arranged ft $5,000 scholarship for her stUi'y, become effective on her. eifhteehth birthday ,Aiu! cate was person-If any added inducement was needed to stimu- -' " signed by the ally late her interest in an art career, It was the op- financier himself. The-- messenger exdaisy by saying portunfty that this scholarship offered. plained the four-da- y Marie Burbidge .. A Jw days ago Virginiai that owing to are 'error m the address reached her eighteenth birthday. She has already a newspaper, ad-they had to resort-texhibited mock work.. .Her teachers have all pro. vertisemenC to locate - the Burbidge claimed that unquestionably, the girl has geniu3 T:T'44; t,. ','..,; 777 .family, and she already hr.s a following among hsr many little Virginia Such-wa- s of start the ' Marie millionaire friends" artr- Burbidge's artistic career. The J.Cr . organ's 15,000 nj--" . thousand dollars that . MriM organ " - - S Virginia investing i in further art education. She sails had paid the museum for her member' this Fall for two or three years', study in the of priva to her entitled variety " ship continental art schools.- And her. many friends memberileges. It carried a permanent in the Metropolitan Museum proclaim it mopey a- - leather case, , enclosed in ticket, ship - which (granted her v admittance for , well invested. They. say that Virginia ta. her ea country, with an cgtabliabe4 4m rputa. . . herself anaVter friedsr-thmR, ... uuu. auu uuj vuimu i.nis ro1u(jle T the pay ;days.fit carnea a sunaing in of how genius can be made instead of, being vitation to aU the great formal receptions given born, when a man like the late J. P. Monran v. tu. .r.tn; if TABvn firkpfa tsi a -takes-- a fancy-to-tne jop r-r- -: yariety f -- I the-onl- -- -- ld . irtmtot , her-child- ish F - When-Virgini- . long-legge- n v This Country. ' 1 -- - e , -- A frosty smile lit ine fierce, wrinkled face of the great -: f iasneier. Wit hout a hwNeets he stepped forward and clumsily waggled a black--,, gloved Dnger under the Boat Above: ' d-l- I I I la - - a .... i i i y Kmw riii . . .:. . - '.7,l.ni .' , , ; , ; : 1!'': -. V.- Swflt ' vi:r7riLii-"jr''g:;- ' . i . "TO ; $5,000 Endowment She Received from ' 'Mr. Morgan. gray-haire- Into one of these Mrs. Burbidge had wanderet- L- For a . time . she . sat quietly on a bench in the shadows. . Then, becoming interested in the somber tones of a great painting opposite her, she wandered across the gallery to get a closer view. So Interested did she become in her study that for a few minutes she forgot the baby in her arms and forgot even her whereabouts. But she came to suddenly when she found herself the center of a largfr groupof distinguished look--ln- g people, who were examining; : - Above: Vtrglnir Marie ex-ta- m's Left: The Late J. I. Morgan, Whose Chance Interest in Little Virginia Marie Burbidg Has Made Her One of the Most Promising; Yotang Painters in I ' . view in America. The result was that hundreds of. New York's most prominent art patrons, Bociety women and art authorities were makinsr an awed and excited round f tne falleries where the exhibit was. : J ; Burbidge finally, had to com to the financier's' It happened that that night was the opening 01 the uerman Art exhibit, it was an invitation priceless art treasures were being placed on affaiMndr-thairst-tinie-Kaiser-Wilhel- V . - J . hoarse h ti ckle. ' When he at last tried to withdraw his finger, it was a case of one iron-wi- ll pitted against ..another. I r thf shabbily dressed, 'and in her babies, spntentedly sucking bluest of blue-eye- d not f i huee heforea : j V -- ' . t 4r t -- ... . a particularly neat bit of work in the , his pocket and sauntered " home mat "S.: office.- - ; ture Above: Little Virginia Marie -- Burbidge, DauKhter of the Obscure Art ' Museum Electrician, at the Aft of Z ! X; j?" ' . d Years, Shortly. After. She Fellow In Perpetuity Bten Made of the Metropolitan Museum of Art" by the Late J. P. Morgan. had done mutter of liirht and shade. Noth- ir.f Void him mat on those tickets hinged his little " d au hter chances f or f u ested patrons. He had been showing a group of his millionaire friends through the German Exhibit, of which he waa very proud. From masterpiece to masterpiece they wandered, admiring, criticizing and exclaiming. ' And suddenly they came upon a bit of living statuary that was as out 01 piace 9 -- is the great museum as jwua jt 1HS, 1 ;i ''"","i".'t '" In ".J ' " ... . ' ' rrs- - A- - |