Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1886-08-18
srAMM ERINa PEOPLE,
"a fainfui and Annoying Habit That
May he nasily Overcome

"A Painful and Annoying Habit This
II May be Hasily Overcoms.
A richly furnished suit OF apartment
on one of the thoroughfares of the cit
Is devoted to peculiar purpose.
gilded plate of modest dimensions, o.
which a name, and nothing more,
inscribed. is among the Haunting sign
by the main entrance to the building
Ascending one flight of stairs the visi
tors attention will be attracted by tn
marked care with which the door
; leading to the front apartments ar
curtained. He will understand at ono
that 1t is not private establishment
Tor the name which appears on til,
plate below is again inscribed on on,
OF the doors. A reporter was usheret
into small private apartment, wher,
tall and handsome gentleman in ,
fashionable suit waited on HIM. In
large parlor connecting with this ante
room by glass door a conversation wa,
going on. 1t ran in this wise:
i Try once again, please"
"Th-h-the th-thr-thrush th-th.
things th-th-thweetly in til tn the th
-thpwing Of th.th- the year"
A young lady was endea yoripg te
state in plain English that the thrush
sings sweetly in the spring of the year.
The place proved to be private
school for teaching persons who lisp.
stammer and stutter to articulate their
words distinctly. The instructor con
sented to explain the secrets OF his in
teresting business. He said that not
one in twenty of those who lisp and
stammer have any organic or natural
defect, and in proof of his assertion he
cited the fact that few children COM
mence to stammer before the ages of
5 or years
| various causes can be assigned for
suffering, lisping and stammering, -"
he proceeded. "Fright often causes
this result and sickness which does
not at all affect the vocal organs pro-
duces the same effect through nervous
action. Stammerins, too, is contagious,
and child whose speech is perfectly
i distinct will almost certainly become a
stammerer if permitted 10 play and as
sociate with stammerers. The habit is
acquired by sympathy"
! "Can persons whose habit of STAN
mering and lisping is matter of long
standing he taught to speak distinct
| ly?"
1.-THE habit can be overcome in n
very short space of time with training
and patient practice where there is no
Inflammation Of the vocal organs,
Take such veteran as william r.
Travers. He could be easily made to
converse like other people, but it
would he crime against society to
change his speech. If he spoke plainly
he would lose some of his iascina-
ton"
us il not true that many ladies pride
themselves on their ability to lisp pref
tilyl"
"ln some circles lisping is consid-
cred fashionable and desirable ar.
complishment. The trouble about
lisping is that when a lady has once
acquired the habit she can not adopt n
new style as she would a new dress
Most young ladies who take lessons in
lisping when frolicking with compau-
ions OF their own age, are sorry Tor it
later on, and the habit Il not then so
easily droppen.y
HOW 90 you distinguish between
: animeiets, Sufferers and lisp rss''
"Stammerltg is simply spasmodic
articulation, E'hile the sufferer spesks
from an exhausted chest, and is una
BILE to commence speech easily.
Both defects arise from a mis-
use of the vocal organs sometimes
brought about by ignorance and some
times the result of habit. Lisping
consists in giving the sound of til o
and z and some other of the conso-
nants. and is almost invariably an ac-
quired habit When not ACCOMPANIED
by serious difficulty in articulation it
Is surely unnatural and result Of the
forced use of natures organs
Are not the facial contortions
which frequently manifest themselves
when stutt rer tries to speak proofs
in themselves that some physical de-
feet eXists?n
"Not by any means. These contor-
tions result from misuse of the re-
spiratory organs Teach the sufferer
by word and example the proper use
OF these organs and gradually these
contortions disappear altogether. |
have seen persons who would almost
go into spasms on attempting to speak,
after careful training for two months.
converse with composure as dis
tinctly as you or |. The mechanical
part OF speech is an unconscious effort;
TO correct defects in speech it must be
made conscious-that is TO say, the at
tention must be concentrated upon the
vocal effort and the action OF the articu-
latory organ. The instructor ex-
planned tina ahc male stammerers ex-
coed the female in number In the pro-
portion OF seven or eight TO one, for
this reason, he said, that women pos
sess more mobility than men in the
organs of speech. A bad stammerer.
who has no physical defect in the
vocal organs, can be taught to speak
distinctly in from one to two months.
While under instructions, or immedi-
ately atterward, he must not be allow
ed TO associate with others who STAN
mer, or with persons who speak very
rapidly. Stammering and lisping are
more general among wealthy people
than among the poor, for some unac-
countable reason. Several clergymen
who stammer in ordinary conversation
articulate distinctly in the pulpit, but
only when they read their sermons
from manuscript. A leading lawyer
in Scranton, Pa, is the most accom-
plished stammerer in that section of