Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1900-11-28
AIDING THE MEMORY.
Ways 20 Develop and Strengthen Ihis
Faculty.

ways 70 Develop and Strengthen Ih19
Faculty.
Many people complain of having q
poor memory, and yet that faculty
cam be developed as easily as can the
btceps muscle. Nor is it necessary to
go to any professor Of memory or 10
master amy elaborate system IN order
to accomplish this result. One does
not have to go to a gymnasium to
strengthen ones arm or back. Saw
Ing wood or rowing boat will do
Ut. Similarly memory may be culti-
Walled by ones own efforts and amid
ONES ordinary pursuits.
One MAN made the Sunday service
OF his church serve as a memory exer.
else. After THE service he would en-
deavor TO recall the numbers of all
hymns sang, the chapter and verse OF
the Scripture lesson, words of anthem,
texts and points of sermon. This re-
quired the paying of close attention
and conscious effort to impress
these things upon his mind. By this
and other equally simple means he
developed memory that was absolu.
tely alt his command.
Famous speakers who have memo
NDed their speeches have adopted va.
rtous simple devices to aid them. The
late Hon. John Bright fixed in mind
the different points in his speeches
by first drawing little figures or
pictorial representative If part Of
his speech had to do with bridge, he
would make little sketch of such .
structure or df with Ireland or Scot
land he would sketch a small map of
the country or the district. He could
remember these figures or pictures.
When he rose to his feet, he could see
them In imagination and select them
to point in the address, not having
any note or manuscript by him ait all.
That was the method that best suited
him.
Another way of memorizing the
points of an address to be delivered,
one which the writer has frequently
very simple. Suppose one were called
upon to deliver Fourth of July ora
tion and wished to speak mainly on
origin of the day; second, the success
tnauguraited; third. the destiny of the
recall these points to mind would be
topics down in this way:
Union proclaimed by Declaration
d Independence.
Success Of experiment IN govern
ment.
After the present, what?
He does not need to take any notes
with him Old the platform. He can
easily remer1 bers these letters. Re-
Numbering item, they recall his top
ics,and remeE bering the general topic
1t will itself suggest any subdivisions
pertaining to it.
Cera people possess what may be
called the bump of location. If they
remember passage in book, they
can tell you which side of the page
et is on and whab part of the page.
There are students with lthat kind of
memory who prepare their recita-
lions by taking large sheet of paper
and writing different parts of the
lesson in different places on the pap
er. They cam rely ON their sense of
location to call to mind whatever they
may wish to remember.
Again, there are people who have Q
keen eye for color. They will make
their memoranda on slips of paper of
different colors. Then simply calling
30 mind a particular color will enable
them to remember the memorandum
associated with that color. Of course
al this is based ON wha is known as
the faculty of association of ideas.
Some people who can remember
words and phrases find difficulty i'm
remembering figures or numbers. I'm
such caSes curious eXpedient has
sometimes been resorted to. A phrase
Will be devised, the initial letters of
which suggest the figures sought to
be remembered. For example, sup
pose some ones street number to be
1872. The suggestive phrase might be,
II seek him. The letter | VIII sug-
gest the figure 1, the letter some
what resembles am 8, and the two
perpendicular strokes of the II sug-
kest the Roman nnmeral II. A round.
about method this may be, but it has
served to fasten figures in the men,
DRY of people who had previously
found them troublesome.
But perhaps the most wholesome
way in the long run is simply by repe-
tlHion and effort to fix the thing In
the memory directly without tricks
Of memory, or artificial methods. By
memorizmg one sentence or verse q
day from the best literature the mind
win soon have fine treasure of beau
nful thoughts and an enriched vocab-
ulary.. DR.. William Pumshion. a great
English preacher, did this, and his
fine prose may have been largely due
20 his familiar acquaintance with the
best literature.
For quota tfon purposes it is neces-
Gy ITO remember verbatim, and,
though thisist the hardest task of mem
DRY, 1T well repays the effort. Once
TRAINED, the memory will be able to
recall the exact words of converse
tfous, sermons and passages in books
without having made any conscious
effort to commit them.-St. Louis
G0obe-Democrat.