The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-04-06
GYMNAsT1O ARTIOULATORs.
Il,s Funny 80 Everybody but the
Fellow Who Does It.

horse, a great joke to every one except
the man who has to manage it. 1t goes
along smooth over the highway Of
words until suddenly at some little un-
expected upturned cObblestODe OF
syllable beginning with B, ID, P, or T,
il puts down it's resolute forefeet and
refuses to bulge an inch. In vain
is it coaxed and wheeled, whipped
and scoIded aud backed up for q fresh |
start. 1t stays there and stares at that
syllable until every one thinks il is |
stationary, and then suddenly it is over
it with bound. galloping wildly to-
ward the next obstruction which 1t
sees afar off and makes ready for
Every stammerer has some word or
letter which it troubles him most to
articulate, and the diabolical energy
which that word displays in crowding
itself into every sentence he tries to
utter, waiting round the corner OF
every phrase to intimidate him, and
barring the way to every burst OF
eloquence, is only another proof OF the
natural depravity Of inanimate things.
Stammering and suffering are not
alike or produced in the same way.
Suffering ia a difficulty In producing
sound, and Is the fault of the respira-
tory and vocal organs, while stammer-
ing is the fault of the articulatory
organs, aud both affections are treated
in Prof. Bryant's school in New York,
where pupils are of all ages from to
so, and where tongues are most unruly
members, either refusing to say b at
all or insisting on saying 1t seven or
eight times in succession. The pro-
fessor regards the subject very serious.
ly, for he was once q stammerer him.
self, and insists that it is as much Q
disease as pneumonia, and needs scien.
tifc treatment.
The subterfuge stammerers use In
their efforts to Outwit the treacberous
words that work their ruin are many
aud amusing. One found relief in
splitting, and would say: "Prof-f-f-f
(spiD lessor, how do you th-th (spiD
ink am odd (spiD ing!' Another
asks; "P-p-p (aheml very Loudly pro-
lessor, d.d-d.o (aheml still louder) do
you think am lmprovingT Another
brought himself up with q relieving
expletive,as follows: "My n-n-n (d-n
itD My n.n.n (d--n IT'D Here's my
card, SIR" One of the pupils OF this
school was an editor who could meyer
articulate the name of his own paper,
and was q novelist who wrote charm
ingly, but whose conversation resem-
bled the progress and migration Of
| wheezy switch engine on q strike. One
unfortunate could get over difficulties
by singing the words, another some-
times got the better of his words by
shutting his eyes, and q third could
sometimes coax the refractory words
by putting his hand over his mouth.
| The professor eschews these make
shifts, and begins the lesson by putting
the pupil, be he young or old, through
q course of respiratory gymnastics,
which gives him better control OF the
great voice producing power, the
breath. Then gradually he elicits from
the pupils prolonged vowel sounds,
which apparently come from their
boots. In this way they get control Of
the diaphragm, and have kind of q
boy to push behind when the throat
baiks over q consonant. Very eau
tiously the different consonants are
combined with the vowels 80 sur
reptitiously that the refractory or
gans of speech haven't time to mutiny
before It is too late. One great trouble
with the stammerer is that he Is con-
scious of the word he can't say, he
secs it way down in the sentence, and
he gets nervous and can't talk at all.
The classes are taught in concert, for
in the reading exercises one stammer
helps another, and they read together
with a peculiar continuity OF sound
that keeps the vocal organs constantly
relaxed and prevents the unmanageable
lips from getting pressed against the
4 IN,
read, too, with two fingers set between
their teeth, one on top of the other.
One of the Sufferers faults 10 too
great force of utterance, and this shuts
his teeth 80 tightly into his fingers that
his efforts.
After all these vocal calisthenics of
various kinds have been practiced, the
real business of the day begins. The
professor insists that for the first three
or four days his pupils shall not talk at
all, only in the school room before him.
He asks Johnnie, aged about II, if he
has beIn skating to-day, and johnnie
) takes long breath through his nose,
bitches it like q cable to his vocal Or
gans, and slowly drswls forth. ono,
s-i-r."
| " tuO 1OuhS uou WIN UiS
brown moustache he puts some ques-
tions, all of which are answered by
first inhsling slowly through the nos
trils and using the breath sparingly in
speech. Save for slOwness OF utter
ance one would fancy there were nc
suffering tongues in the class until the
young man becomes interested in talk
ing of his own infrmity and the cable
loses its grip. "There is q great deal
of l-luck in the way you tart in, you
know. II you happen tt (goes back
and hooks on the cable and tries II
AGAIN., if you happen to have just
inhaled your breath you can talk, you
see; but if you don't, you get stuck the
first thing"
"Can you always anticipate the word
you cannot say?"
"Y-y-es--that's the trouble. If you
didn't you couldn't-( another hitch
talk very we'll. Sometimes you put
'and' before the hard word, and you
can get past it that way"
"How long does it take a pupil to
learn to talk, professorr
"About three months, if they prac
tice and are patient. There Is q certain
|, rate of speech that every one can talk
we'll at, but the trouble is that they are
bound to talk faster than that. Oi
course older people learn much more
slowly than children, for children take
on new habits more readily and are
more amenable to discipline. A child
that is learning to walk trips when il
tries to run, and so my pupils some
times try their convslescing speech too
hard and they fall into old habits again.
believe it is possible for every stam-
merer to be cured entirely, as have
been myself, and have some pupils
who talk quite as readily as If they had
never had any defective organs"
! MAUD SIS ONLY RIVAL.
ROhert Rnnnar NAV ha,o,o, 49,