Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-06-25
PEOPLE WHO STANNER.
Painful Habit, That May Be Easily Over
come
New York Mail and Express.

New York Mail and Express
A richly furnished suite of apartments
one of the thoroughfsres of the city is
devoted TO a peculiar purpose. gilded
plate of modest dimensions, on which a
name, and nothing more, is Inscribed, is
among the Haunting signs by the main
entrance 10 the building. Ascending one
flight Of stairs the visitors attention will
be attracted by the marked care with
which the doors leading to the front
apartmente are curtsined. He will under
stand at once that il is not private es-
adjustment, for the name which appears
on the plate below Is again inscribed on
one OF the doors. reporter was usher
ed INTO small room, where q tall and
/ handsome gentleman in a fashionable
spring suit waited on him. In a large
parlor connecting with this anteroom hy
q glass door a conversation was going on.
1t ran in this wise;
Try once again, please"
"Th-th-the- th-th- -thr-thruSh- things III
th-thweetly in th-th-the th-th-thpwing of
th-th-the year"
Young lady was endeavoring to state
IN plain English that the thrush sings
sings Sweetly in the spring of the year.
The place proved to be private school
for teaching persons who lisp stammer,
and Stntter to articulate their words dis
tlnctly. The Instructor consented to ex-
plain the secrets of his interesting bust
ness. He said that not one in twenty of
those wao lisp and Stammer have any or
ganic or natural defect, and i'll proof of
his assertion he citded the fact that few
children commence to stammer before
the ages of or ) years.
Various causes can be assigned for
hSping, suffering and Stammeriug, he
proceeded. Fright often causes this re
suit, and sickness which does not at all
affect the vocal organs produces the same
effect through nervous action. Stammer-
ing, too, is contagious, and a child whose
speech is perfectly distinct will almost
certainly become stammerer if permit
ted to play and associate with stammers.
The habit is acquired by sympathy
Can persons whose habit of stammer-
ing and lisping is Il matter of long stand
ing be taught to speak distinctly"
The habit can be overcome in a very
short time with raining and patient
practice whore there's no inflammation of
the vocal organs. Take such q man rs
Mr.. TraverS. He could be easily made to
converse like other people, but IT would
de crime against society to change his
speech
lis 1t not true that many ladies pride
themselves ON their ability to lisp pref
tily!"
In some circles lispiug Is considered Il
fashionable and desirable accomplishment
The trouble about hSpiug is that when
lady has once acquired the habit she can
not adopt a new style as she would dress.
Most young ladies who take lessons IN
hsping when frolicking with companions
of their ON age are sorry for II later ON,
and the habit Is not then SO easily drop
ped"
How do you distinguish between STAN
mers, Sufferers, and lispersy"
"Stammeriug is simply spasmodiC artiC-
ulatiOu, while the sufferer speaks from
an exhausted chest, and is unable to begin
speech easily. Both defects arise from n
misuse of the vocal organs, sometimes
brought about by ignorance and some
times the result of habit. Lisping con
sists in giving the sound of tn to and 2
and some other of the consouants, and is
almost invariably an acquired habit. When
not accompanied by serious difficulty in
articulation IT Is surely unnatural and is
result of the forced use of natures or
gans."
Are not the facial contortions which
frequently manifest themselves when n
stuttercr tries To speak proofs in them
selves that some physical defect exists
Not by any. means. These contortions
result from a misuse of the respiratory
organs. Teach the sufferer by word and
example the proper use of these organs
and gradually these contortions disappear
altogether. | have seen persons who
ing to speak after careful training for
two months converse with perfect com
posure as distinctly as you or |. The me
chanical part of speech is an unconscious
effort: to correct defeats in speech il
must be made conscious that Is To say,
the attention must be concentrated upon
the vocal effort and the action of the ar
ticulatory organs" The instructor ex-
planned that the male stammerers exceed
the female in number in the proportion
of seven or eight to one, for the reason,
he said. that women possess more mobility
than men Ill the organs of speech. bad
stammerer. who has no physical defeat
in the vocal organs can be taught to speak
distinctly in from one to two months.
While under instructions, or immediately
afterward, he must not be allowed to
associate with others who stammer, or
with persons who speak very rapidly.
Stammering and lisping are more gen
eral among wealthy people than among
the poor, for some unaccountable reason.
Several clergymen who stammer in ordi-
nary conversation articulate distinctly i'll
the pulpit, but only when they read their
sermons from manuscript. A leading
lawyer in Scranton, Pa. is the most ac-
complished stammerer in that section of
the country.