The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-03-30
hIrsT BE TRAINED.
.,o, WHY MEMORY is SO
MA ,cc SEQ OF TREAcHERY.

ZEN AccsSeo Or
Nom. dependence on the Text OF
.,,s-ActOrs Anxious to Avoid
whenever Possible - The
,.r In German TheaterS'
= thc ACCUSATIONS most MOSTLY Ifeg eno,,,t,.
be Oh inst inst that convenient faculty
sh' ' ,Semory is that it's treacherous.
D as n rd,,g with every appearance OF |
lTe'Vtn a its owners faithful servant, |
sly - o,roitipg particularly awk-
l. poment, say the critics. 10 De'fay
inaniniously. 10 Is unquestlohably
lslu'" ,nodern memories, the best OF
'n"' ,noeneratcs when compared with
IAN ores If the task of perpetu-
anrlen' ~ "uiad" and "The Arabian
nun rl,,,a',o,tainmcnt" now depended
h ION some ones ability TO memo
!! lInng productions, il is quite safe
'n n,ne That the next generation would
sun tn,', man exceedingly abridged form.
't ,Io foult Of It's present weakness
w. laid altogether at the door OF
~. usrlf That is probably still cara
iiV'' e.r,,iuo yastly more than it ever
,,oeent but, like all servants, IL
~ trained and then kept UP 10 It's
Whether on the whole this Is worth
Ar another question. IL would nm
p,a1lv he most convenient on many oc-
NV 10 recall things at will, without
pu .,,tcp assistance. But considering
smc in which we live, when every
IT, worth remembering is printed, or
p without much trouble, there Is lit
Y,al need for much mcmorizing. The
trity Of people prefer 20 be dependent
~ hooks and notes rather than to con-
I, bcr bcods into storerooms, the stock
which is likely to be considerably jun
n m and, at least in part, rubbish.
Tisa pecullar fact that n speaker who
accustomed to rely upon some outside
lto his memory, even though he may,
mucb repetition, have learned the words
4 heart. is almost always thrown into
frfpsion if the usual aid is suddenly with
lawn. Episcopal clergymen who have
[ od the services Of the church for many
lars are good examples of this. Most of
hem confess to the worst of verbal mem
Ejs Although they actually know the
Mole substance Of the ritual as well as
Iey do their own names, they have grown
4 nsed to reading il that the absence of
he familiar printed lines would drive
lords and ideas completely out of their
leads Many Of them are "slaves of the
book" down TO the shortest portions of the
eryice, not even yenturing to recite the
lords Prayer without the text at hand.
M nfrcquently this absolute dependence
the cause of odd delays and mistakes.
There is certain clergyman who has,
,oweyer, a precisely opposite method. For
De thing he has memorized the marriage
eriyce so perfectly that he never refreshcs
lis mind on any point by reading it, and,
b fact, does not even have Il book within
each. This latter practice often appears
Ike tempting fate to those who hear him,
|nd many guest has speculatod, as he
istencd, upon what would happen if the
minister's memory suddenly played him
rick.
On the stage similar state of affairs
nay be found. 1t might be thought that
nce they are required by the nature OF
heir work to memorize so much, actors
IOuld find the task an easy one in time,
nd would not object to triile more or
IS Of it. But this is not so. AS "a rule
hey never learn anything which there is a
ossiblo chance for reading. II few lines
re to be spoken behind the scenes on any
here out of sight of the audience, the ac-
u has a copy of them and saves himself
ne trouble Of committing the passage to
emory All stage letters read 10y actors
re fully written out, and the player, in
lite of the number of times nc has repeat
the words, could not do so without the
lper before him TO save his life. Reading
18th view to remembering the exact
ords and reading without any such pur-
DSe are two entirely different operations.
Mrs. Kendall, however, does not believe
the customary way of managing the let
T business. She insists upon having any
ember Of her company under such CIR
get the letter by heart, so that
case the proper piece of paper should be
ST any blank sheet might be instantly
Instituted and the difference never be de-
cted.
In German theater, where it is usual
produce large number of plays chang
e the bill every two or three nights, the
ork of the actors would he exceedingly
'rd but for the extraordinary method oil
compiling which is employed. Instead OF
andlng in the wings and rendering his
rvicos only on the rare occasions when
me actor forgets his lines, the prompter
Is In hood, like that at the Metropolitan
pera House, directly in front of the mid
Q Of the stage. The hood looks somewhat
ke an exaggerated footlight, and its shape
rves to throw back the prompter's voice
ward the people on the stage. Sitting
re he reads the whole play through from
ginning to end, keeping justin line ahead
the actors. Such n process sounds as II
would be extremely confusing to every
'e In the play, but they have accustomed
to depend upon this support
ne rather low monotone in which tho
ompter reads Is not audible to the resi-
the house, except sometimes to those II
g iirst row or in the stage boxes. Al
g opera the prompter generally repeats
c ilrst words of each line of the air dur
g the performance.
singers are as much averse as actors x
arning what may just rs well be read
. Customary, who sang behind tn
enes, the part of the dragon Fafnel
"Siegfried," did so entirely from hi
ties, and Miss Schilling, the voice OF th'
ri, follows the same method. Yori
ribune.