Hutchinson gazette., 1900-12-20
AIDING Tao M..4.--.
Ways to Develop aud Strengthen Thld
Faculty,

Many people complain OF having a
poor memory, and yet That faculty
can be developed rs easily rs eau the.
biccps musce, Nor Is 1t necessary to
90 TO any professor Of memory or 10
master aly elaborate System N ordte
to accomplish this result, one does
not have to go to gymnasium u
strengthen ones arm or back, Saw
Ing weed or rowing boat will no
IT, Similarly memory muy be cult
Vsl.ed by oGe's own Efforts aud amid
oa2's ord'anry pursuits,
One man made the Sunday service
of his church serve Gs memory eNer-
else. After lhe service he would en-
deuvor W recall the numbers OF ali
hymns sang the chapter and verse OF
the Scripture lesson, words Of anthem,
tests and poinls OF sermon, This re-
qulred the paying of close attention
and conscious effort TO impress
these things upon his mind. by this
and other equally simple means he
developed u memory that wns abs1lu-
tely Nt his command
Famous speakers who have memo
il2ed their speeches have adopted va
rlous simple devices to aid them. The
late Hon, John Bright fixed In mind
the different points In his speeches
by flrso drawing lUtle figures or
pictorial representatives, 1T part OF
his speech had to do with a bridge, he
would make little sketch OF such Il
structure or If with Ireland or Scot
land he would sketch 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
one by one rs he proceeded from point
to pohlt in the address, not having
any note or manuscript by him ut nll,
That wNs rhe method chat best suited
him.
Another way OF mcmorlHing the
points of nn address to be delivered,
one which the writer has frequently
used, Is by means Of Onagn2ms. II Is
very simple, Suppose one wee sailed
upon to deliver Fourth of July ora
tIon and wished to speak mainly on
these three points; First, hstroic
origin of the day; second, the success
of the experiment. in government then
tnaugurGDed; third, the destiny OF the
republic. 4 very suitable anngram 10
recall these points 10 mind would be
the csters L, S. A" lie could set his
topics down In this way:
Union proclaimed by Declaration
of Independence.
Success of experiment In govern
meni,
Al,er the present. what?
He GOes net need TO take any notes
with him en- the platform, lie con
eaSily remembers these letters. Re-
membcling them, they recall his top
ics,and remembering the general topic
VI win ib'ef suggest any subdivisions
pertaining to IT,
Cer,aln people possess what may be
called the bump of location. IL they
remember passage IN book, they
can cell YOU which side of the page
VI is ON and what part of the page.
There are students with THAT kind Of
memory who prepare their recltl-
lions by taking large sheet of paper
and writing dliferent parts of the
lesson in different places on the pap
er. they can rely on their sense Of
locntion 10 call to mind whatever they
may wish to remember.
Again, there are people who have n
keen eye for color. They will make
- ell nI N
difIcrent colors. Then simply calling
TO mind particular color will enable
them to remember the memorandum
aNsoclUted with that color, OF course
all Hhis * based ON what Is known rs
the faculty of association Of ideas,
Some people who can remember
words and phrases find difficulty In
remembering figures or numbers In
such Gases curious cNpedent has
sometimes been resorted to. A phrase
win he 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,
81 seek him." The letter | will sug-
gCt the figure I, the letter $ some
what resembles am s, and the two
perpendicular strokes Of the II sug-
gcst The Roman numerl II. A round-
about method this may be, but DIT has
served to fOsten figures in the mem
cry of people who had previously
found them troublesome,
l'rt perhaps the most wholesome
way In Ihc long run is simply by repe-
tlalon and effort to fix the thing In
Che memory directly without tricks
of memory, or artificial methods. by
mcmorl2mg one sentence or verse u
day from the bcst literature the mind
will socm have fine treasure of beau
Uiful thoughts and an enriched vocab-
ualy. DR.. William Punshon, a great
English preacher, did this, and his
fine prose may have been largely due
to his familiar acquaintance with the
bC,t literature.
For quotation purposes 1T Is neces-
AIRY TO remember verbatim, and,
though thiSis the hardest task of mem.
ory, 1t well repays the effort. Once
trained. the memory will be able to
recall the cNact words OF converse
tlUns, sermons and passages in books
Without having made any conscious
effort to commit them.-St. Louis
GlObe-Democrnt.