The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1901-01-17
WAYS 70 DEVELOP AND STRENGTH.
EN- THIS FACULTY.

sirnp1s Devices Used as an Aid to
Memory by Public speskers-Good
Exercises by wsIch Faulty RecoI-
lection May he Corrected.
Many people complain of having a
poor memory, and yet that faculty can
be developed as easily as can the BIZ
ceps muscle. Nor Is 1t necessary to go
to any professor of memory or to mas
ter any elaborate system in order to ac-
complish this result. One does not
have to go to gymnasium to strength
en- ones arm or back. Saving wood or
rowing boat will do II. Similarly
memory may be cultivated by ones
own efforts and amid ones ordinary
pursuits.
One man made the Sunday service
of his church serve as memory exer-
else. After the service he would en-
deavor to recall the numbers of all
hymns sung. the chapter and verse of
| the Scripture lesson, words of anthem,
texts and points of sermon. This re-
| qulred the paying Of close attention
and conscious effort to Impress these
other equally simple means he develop
ed n memory that was absolutely at
his command.
Famous speakers who have memo
rized their speeches have adopted va
rious 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 picto-
| rial representations. IL part OF his
speech had to do with bridge, he
| would make q little sketch Of such q
structure or f 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 sec
them In imagination and select them
one by one as he proceeded from point
to point in the address, not having any
note or manuscript by him at 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
| used, Is by means of anagrams. 1t is
| very simple. Suppose one were called
| upon to deliver a Fourth of July ora
| tlon and wished to speak mainly on
| these three points: First, historic orr
| gin of the day; second. the success Of
the experiment In government then in
augurated; third. the destiny of the re-
public. A very suitable anagram to re-
I call these points to mind would be the
letters U. S. A. He could set his top
les down in this way:
Union proclaimed by Declaration Of
Independence.
Success OF experiment In government.
After the present, what?
He does not need to take any notes
with him on the platform. He can cas-
lily remember these letters. Remem-
bering them, they recall his topics. and
remembering the general topic 1t will
itself suggest any subdivisions per-
tanning to 1t.
Certain people possess what may be
called the bump Of location. IL they
remember a passage In book, they
can tell you which side of the page 1t
Is on and what part Of the page. There
are students with that kind of men,
taking large sheet Of paper and writ
ing different parts of the lesson in diff
ferent places on the paper. They then
rely on their sense of location to call to
mind whatever they may wish to re-
member.
Again, there are people who have a
keen eye for color. They will make
their memoranda on slips Of paper Of
different colors. Then simply calling
to mind particular color will enable
them to remember the memorandum
associated with that color. or course
all this Is based on what Is known as
the faculty of association .eas.
Some people who 'emember
words and phrases find difficulty In re-
membering figures or numbers. In
such cases q curious eXpedient has
sometimes been resorted to. phrase
will be devised the initial letters of
which suggest the figures sought to be
remembered. For example, suppose
some ones street number to be 1872.
The suggestive phrase might be. II
seek him." The letter | will suggest
the figure 1, the letter s somewhat re-
sembles an 8. and the two perpendicu-
lar strokes Of the H suggest the Ro-
man numeral ii. A roundabout meth
cd this may be. but II has served to
fasten figures In the memory Of people
who had previously found them trou-
blesome.
But perhaps the most wholesome
way In the long run ls simply by repe-
tition and effort to fix the thing In the
memory directly without tricks Of
memory or artificial methods. BY
memorizlng one sentence or verse
day from the best literature the mind
will soon have a fine treasure of beau
tiful thoughts and an enriched yocab-
ulary. DIR, William Punshion. great
English preacher. did this. and his fine
prose may have been largely due to Ills
familiar acquaintance with the best
literature.
For quotation purposes II Is neces-
sary to remember verbatim, and.
though this liz the hardest task of men,
ory, 1t well repays the effort. Once
trained, the memory will be able to re-
call the exact words Of conversations,
sermons and passages in books with
out having made any conscious effort
to commit them.-St Louis Globe-Dem-
ocrat.
Only an Amateur Now.
| NNn sir ~ an id fha p,op MI IN Ind haava