The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-08-12

MRS. SARA NEVILLE.
1t was largely the voice that first put the idea
OF becoming n stump speaker into Mrs. Neyille's
head. She realized that she possessed some-
thing which was more than she required as an
actress; something, moreover, that was rare
and might be in demand.
1T occurred 10 me that l might make some.
thing OF my voice as a voice. said Mrs. Neville
TO a SUN reporter. THE idea struck me a long
time ago, during the last Republican and Demo-
cratic Conventions. You will probably remem-
Der that the speakers had extreme difficulty in
making themselves heard on those occasions.
Well. IL was then that | began to think OF it.
Ever since have been taking notes of tho in
competence, so far as voice is concerned, of our
public speakers.
"Several weeks hgo l went to William Brook
field, Chairman ~ the Republican state Conn
mittee, and told him what | had In nina. He
questioned me and tried my voice, and said no
would think OF II. A few days afterward he
sent for me-, and told me that he would give me
a trial. He set me to work studying up the tariff
question, aud that Is what l shall speak on first,
I suppose.
"Of course I don't expect TO rival the party's
orators at the very start-that is. in eloquence
and political knowledge-hut I do expect to DO
ahead of them in making myself heard. AS for
what effect 1 shall have on my, audiences, that
here that in so far as being u woman I don't see
why shouldn't 3et as much consiieration as II
shall l compose my own speechesr Well,
now, that dephnds.. ] suppose at the hrst j shall
be guided in what shall say, by what I'm told.
But l think that after a while l shall get so in
the way Of IT that ! can get up n pretty fair polit-
ioal speech OF my own. I'm not . Roiitician: : is
stand some things. Above all, I'm not a woman
sptrragist. Please don't put me down as that:
than | have now, which is the right to earn my
living honorahly., l have always thought that
woman that is clever gets all tho rights she's
Here Mrs. Neville smiled. 1t was a very en-
gaging smile; her white teeth shone and her
dark eyes sparkled.
30 you expect 10 take the stump In the Pres
'ds sTbat eds snssds a e. as.e sh th re rf iPsd /: You Sc.
nearly everything depends Ia a womnn's life. II
the Repn6iicah state committee likes m1 h..iipn
One thing | wish you'd please remember about
me in, connection with this matter: | haven't
gone into the thing thoughtlessly, or as a fad;
I have had mature Elaboration. and I've deter.
mined 10 make il my occupa!ion-mE mission
failure in II / intend 10 stick to IL. l don't SEQ
why shouldn't make a distinct place for my
Mrs. Neville's extraordinary voice was not
wholly, born In her. She has increased its scosp
appearance she is plump, and dark as an Italian:
va: sdueased in the south and sID went e
ssR Rs S SsTly y,,t Age ,.5 che her w xSIHc. Witch on tMss s sssSe
pupil OF Prot. Herman Linde OF this city, who
made her exercise her voice for eight hours
softly modulated, bur very penetrating and dis
tinct. She is particular as u her enunciation.
she H sSid. ps SfKt i. aS either ru too much int trouble ibSi,stfS for
them, or they don't know how. Nearly all the
that my voice !. very aeIisls:; ass
Very heavy to the iisktesRt Comedy. People arc
so ignorant about the matter that few Of them
sys@ k tRoTe how that !" OF caltiSat RiTGPe u The voice voice In In
schools could be very advantaReously done, In
the gq / !, so OF D sSisIqssly What's %5s, so SfISGpS% s m:a.
beautiful than a voice properly trained as 70
tone and expressiont And what Is more raref
most, how much more power a public speaker
would have with II voice that could be heard;
expect stAt 10 become inS'S orator.. How can they ever
become orators, whatever their eloqusnce,, IT
forth nothing but noise: Noisn isn't voice, any
more than speech Is thought. Ihs shlity 20
these days. In the time ~ Cicero and Demos
themes "A speaker could be heard hy 22;QoO OF
10000 people; now no cant 6s heard by Sd
"There's another thing, | think that my dra-
matte training ought 10 Dc Nety us,Iui !, ms:
able 10 make herself very dTaniat.', even on the
stump. BY dramatic don't mean Theatre.
matte art Is the true reflection OF nature, so its
greatest eAPonents are the most natural. mink
my eaTuestuess would make me natural, ana That
i would gain In the powered influence BY 1t;
and | can tell you I'm terribly in earnest. Ina
word, ! Canunt hut think that n speeCh-eyenR
stump speech with dramatic expression would
be just that much more effective. When You
take into consideration the fact that most
speakers Of To-Day have neither voice nor eI-
PRECISION, don't you think that a speRSer who had
both even II She were n woman would be that
much more valuable In pOliI!csf
Do | r~calizr tho strain Il public speakeris
subjected 10, ard dol think my voice will stand
III Most certainly. I have never felt ths
slightest III effect from any demand that has
ever been put on my voice. The more use ~
have no fears On that score al all. have NJ
fears un any score. for that matter, Tor t9lh
you WAS determined. and when a person ls De-
termIned half The battle Is wuU.'
Tuen Mrs. Neville smiled again; and Il Was
emile that surely ought "a win voters