The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-11-13
A CuRE FOR sTAMMERING.
The Instructions Laid Down In an
EOId Freneh World.

IRA Jones in Detroit Free Pres.l
A few years ago in my wanderings among
the old bookstores of New York, searching
for copies Of rare works, a favorite pastime
of mine, in a store on Ann street, at the bot
tom of a pile Of old magazines l saw two vol
umes in paper covers, and on the back OF each
was written the word with pen and ink, "Or-
t~hophonRa." That is a curious title, thought
i. Perhaps they are music books, for orthos
in Greek means fright" and phone, Sound"
They are either music or books that treat on
the correct sound OF something; we will dig
down and bring them to light anyhow. And
so we did, and when we reached them,
found they were tied together with a piece
of faded blue ribbon. Having separated
them and seeking out the title page of the
first volume, found they were printed in Paris
and in the French language. The title in
English reads thus: Treatise on all De-
fects of Speech, and Particularly on STAN
mering or Theoretical and Practical Re-
searches on Ortbophony."
In looking through one l found il contained
a description Of the vocal organs, and a num-
Der of rare anatomical engravings. l had
never met a book like this before nor since,
and of course | purchased the two volumes
and had them bound in one, and there Is the
book in its case opposite me as / write this
letter. Now l do not wish to let this cure lie
buried in these volumes. / give it in as CON
dcnScd u form Us I eau Ia answer 10 a request
for a cure for stammering: Draw a long
breath so as to fill the lungs with air to their
fullest extent, and divide the sentence you
wish to speak into syllables, beating time for
each syllable by bringing the first jngero of the
right hand and thumb together. Have con
fdence in yourself, and do not be embarrassed
in the presence of strangers Get some good
poem and read 1t through, always beating
time and drawing a full breath at the end of
every second line. "Gray's Elegy in a Coun-
try C~hurchyard" is a good poem to read; so
is Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered" Shakes
peare, Virgil, by Dryden, or any good book
of poetry will do.
II you have none of these, take the bible
and repeat the psalms of David or the pro-
verbs OF Solomon, as 1 have directed, always
following the rule and reading aloud. You
must also use the measured syllables in CON
versation at home and in your workshop. If
you are "a ~schoolboy, in your classes, take
care never to speak without draw
ing a full breath. This rule must be followed
for at least four weeks, or perhaps longer IL
an adult. Do not be ashamed of the monot-
ony of your measured syllables; be convinced
that your new method of speaking will not
last long, and hat in all cases it is better
than the grimaces and painful contortions of
the mouth that some stammerers have to
make in order to articulate certain words.
These directions, il faithfully and ener-
gctically followed, will cure the worst case of
stammering, IL the upper and lower incisive
teeth are perfect, and the lips, tongue and
larynx are not deformed. The habit cannot
be broken too early; it grows with the age
of the individual and gets fixed, so that it is
much easier to cure a child when he is 10
years OF age than when he is 81.