Evening Star Newspaper, October 11, 1931, Page 76

SUNDAY v How Fuji looked when she was 6 years old. F you take a tiny infant, bring it up n ignorance of the ways of its forefathers, and educate it according to a definite set of standards, will the grown child revert to the customs of its ancestors? Or will it rather feel cut off from its ancestral background and prefer only the things and the culture it has been taught to appreciate? In other words—which is stronger, environ- ment or heredity? Ever since there have been psychologists, there has been this question. Some psycholo- gists have insisted that the habits of the father and mother, of the grandmother and the grandfather, are bound to crop out sooner or later in the progeny. The other groups have been just as certain that surroundings, schools, acquaintances are all important, and that the praduct is purely a result of what the child from birth has been taught to do and like and hate. Mrs. William Baeder Adamson, the wife of a millionaire glue manufacturer and prominent clubman of Philadelphia, was no scientific or professional psychologist. But some years ago the became interested in this problem. She subscribed to the theory that environment was far stronger than heredity, and she wanted to prove her beliefs by experiment. The results satisfied her that she was right. A wealthy woman, surrounded by every com- fort, Mrs. Adamson had no children of her own, but she adored the tiny, slant-eyed, black- haired infant, Fuji, who was born to her Japanese maid and gardener, Mitsu and Moto- goru Hashimoto. It was this girl child on whom Mrs. Adamson set to work to test her theory. That was 19 years ago, and today what has become of the subject of Mrs. Adamson’s ex- periment? Is she Eastern or Western in her tastes and her desires? Does she love Japan, the land from. which her parents came, and the country to which they returned, or does she feel loyalty to America, the land of her birth and education? And what country does she intend to make her permanent home now that she is old enough to make up her own mind? 'HE truth is that Puji Hashimoto, to whose name have been added the American names of Hale Adamson, never saw Japan and never warils to see it. Although she can speak French and German as glibly as she can talk English, and as well, she can’t even say “Hello” in Nipponese. And she has no intention of studying it. She has never worn a kimono, except in her bed room. American sports clothes, American sport cars, American games, these are her delight. Of course Fuji, or “Fudge,” as she is known to her intimate friends, happened to be an unusually lucky girl in the matter of foster parcnts. The Adamsons are a millionaire family. After Mrs. Adamson died two years ago, Willlam Baeder Adamson, a childless widower, legally adopted Fuji, and made a new will which made her the principal beneficiary of his substantial estate. Last May Mr. Adamson died, and today Fuji Hashimoto Hale Adamson is mistress of a 20-room mansion in one of Philadelphia’s most beautiful suburbs, has servants, cars, luxuries STAR, WASHINGYON, D. C, OCTOBER 11, - 1931. Hozw Fuji Hashimoto, Gardener’s Dau ghter, IWas Adopted by a Philadelphia Million- aire, Became “Fudge” Adamson, 1 ypical American Heiress, Environment Over- coming Heredity. galore, and. receives an income frouys $300,000, as well as a goodly sum outright. Not only Fuji's tastes, but even her luck has turned out to be American. Fuji Hashimoto, or “Wistaria Blossom,” as her name means in the language of Japan, was born when the Adamsons lived in Stoke Hall, Villanova, near Haverford. The estate was a 10-acre showplace with an English manor house, luxurious Japanese gardens, cared for by Fuji’s father, numerous lakes and ponds, and spacious lawns, S'I'RANGELY enough, baby Fuji never showed any preference for the Japanese park with its Nipponese bridge and stone lanterns. She seemed to prefer playing on the green lawns and watching the miniature sailboats float on the ponds. Often she sat and called to the dogs and the sheep and the cows. She selected as her pet_of all the animals a friendly St. Bernard, called Bismarck. Mrs. Adamson observed the small child closely. She made up her mind. She_ would take PFuji from her parents, who gladly con- sented, would not tell her that her skin was yellow until the child began to realize that she was different in some way from other children, and would bring her up as her very own. When Fuji was 4 years old, her parents left the employ of the Adamsons. They bought a farm in New Jersey and there they worked until 1917, when they had saved up enough money to return to their native land. Fuji thought of Mrs. Adamson and her hus- band as the only parents she knew. She called them mommy and daddy, and forgot all about Mitsu and Motcgoru Hashimoto, who had been willing to leave her with the Ameri- cans. The first thing Mrs. Adamson did for her foster child was to equip a large and modern American nursery with every kind of a toy Where the Japanese Cinderella now makes her home. and comfort. ‘Then she engaged a capable and intelligent American governess and the official Westernizing process of the 4-year-old child began. FUJI had straight, black hair, deep, dark eyes, & trifle tilted, a round face with a glow- ing, golden skin, and cheeks in which the pink color was peeping out: Then as now, she was charming to Jook at. £ She was not too lively a baby in the be- ginning. A little shy, she used to sit “Ina lump” in the center of the floor in the nursery. But soon all her shyness began to disappear. Her governess taught her how to run and jump and laugh, to kick and play and romp. Puji loved play and fun and she learned quickly. Athletic equipment was installed in the nursery and on the spacious grounds of Stoke Hall. Fuji was given a regular course in gym- nastics. Mrs. Adamson didn't want her protege to be a puny, short, stunted Japanese foster daughter, but a wiry, athletic, American girl. Fuji didn’t wear the traditional kimonos of the land of her ancestors. She was dressed in sensible rompers that gave her ample freedom. When company came to the Adamson house Fuji put on starched white muslin dresses that set off her shiny black hair. She charmed all the guests by her quaint old-fashioned Ameri- can curtseys. When Fuji had become active and playful enough to suit any American mother Mrs. Adamson and a governess gave her her kinder- garten training. “Wistaria Blossom” learned her lessons rapidly and well. The words she seemed fondest of repeating were “I love mommy.” As the dpinty Japanese-American child grew she took more and more notice of her surround- ings. She seemed to be interested in every- thing around her. William Baeder Adamson always kept a few cars in his spacious garage. Fuji had been eyeing them with longing. When she was only Hale Adamson. As American as any native-born flap- per. Fuji Hashimoto. 11 years old she sneaked a big car out of ths garage and went for a ride alone. She seemed born to the wheel and became an expert driver at an unusually early age. THE older Fuji became the more American in her tastes and habits she secmed. There came a time when she did notice that her skin was yellower than that of her playmates, that her eyes were more slanty and that her hair was slecker and blacker. Her foster mother told her about her Japanese parents and Fuji never scemed to worly any more about her heritage once it had been explained to her. The Adamsons chose the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr for Fuji's preparatory school edu- cation. In this exclusive private school Fujl learned to speak and read French and German fluently and to understand all the other sub- jects which the cultured young Yankee miss needs for an education. Today Fuji Hashimoto Hale Adamson is a charming young woman of 19. She is five feet tall and she weighs just 100 pounds. Oh, yes, of course, she diets carefully, for she wants to keep her trim, attractive, schoolgirl figure. She wears her hair bobbed short, she dresses in the latest mode, and she goes to bridges and teas with her Ame:ican playmates. Does she want to go to Japan? Oh, no. Continued on Eleventh Page TheAdamson home in Haverford, Pa., residence of Fuji Hashimote