The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-03


 BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER. Copyright, 1905. by Joseph B. Bowleso One of the prettiest sights in the world is that of the young people on their way to school between and g
 in the morning. I like to see the girls between IA and 1s as they go arm in arm, each with her pile of books in
 her hands, chatting gayly or talking confidentially, their day before them and not a cloud to dim their sky.
 What a sweet voice that girl has,, I heard some one say as Elizabeth ran across the street to meet Emily. call ing out her cheery good morning. It was indeed a sweet voice and had carrying power, clear as a bell or bird note. yet it was not loud. Voices are as different as faces. We pay great deal of attention in this country to training the singing voice. and we are willing to pay teachers large prices to
 develop the fine soprano or the rich l contralto that everyone admires. But far too little trouble is taken with the speaking voice, and it is a pity, for we sing only occasionally. and most of us talk from morning till night If you hear a group of girls talking on the campus or in a street car, you are OIbcu pdihCo py thS AoSA VI AhSAOes
 in their voices. Some are harsh and l rough, others are nasal; some are
 muffied and croaking; a few are pure and silvery. Shakespeare, who was an acute observer. in speaking of one of his heroines, said: Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low; an excellent thing in woman" First and last you find a good many allusions to voices in Shakespeare. There are families in set, fx t~xy | not he or she can be heard by speak i ing so loudly as to drown the rest :. This is always a mark of very ill., breeding No well-bred person screams or shouts in the family or anywhere else. low voice may be heard quite | as effectively as one that is loud and shrill, if its possessor has learned the art of managing it properly. Even in large building a person who speaks | slowly, giving every word its full value and throwing the voice from the | chest instead of from the head, will
 be heard distinctly. In order to have a I full, agreeable voice, 8 girl should practice deep breathing several times | day in the open air. The voice is | the expression of health. strength. character and personality. The lips. the teeth, the roof of the mouth. the | palate, the vocal cords and the lungs are all lnVOlVSQ III tuIS NotCo OL Oui sS which is our peculiar endowment, and | lifts us up to the highest plane in crc- ation.
 I will suppose that some girl for | whom am writing has contracted slovenly way of talking. that her voice | is not pleasant, and that her enuncia- | tion Is indistinct. How shall she | break herself of bad habits? Just as she would break herself of bad habit | in any other direction, she must set herself to work about this and be In downright earnest if she Is to accom- plish anything worth while. She must remind herself constantly if she is ac- customed to shrisk, that people around l her are not deaf, and that if they were | they would hear her as easily 1T she | spoke low as if she spoke loudly. Every | time she begins speaking as if she were | soldier on the warpath, let her call a halt, and drop her voice tone or | two If she has the needless method or I emitting the final and saying mornin' | for morning and evenin' for evening, | let her remedy that. If she run her words together. as too many of us do under the impression that there is no | time to spare, and that words must | tumble over each other as water tum-
 bles over rocks, let her pause and go more slowly.
 | TWO klTlS IuS OIiCi 01y "StS N-S cussing a third who was a student In New England college. but was ma tive of India; a high caste girl who had been taught English in her baby
 hood. You should hear her perfect English" one said to the other. She speaks more slowly than we do, and her voice Is like music She Is never the least in a hurry and there is the prettiest little accent like a fragrance" We often notice this crystalline per
 lection in foreigners who have ac" ouired English and speak 1t less reck- | lessly and with more precision than we who are to the manner born. Dear girls. take your time. There Is plenty | of it. Neither rush nor shout, nor cackle, nor make a shrill clamor when you are talking, but remember Shakes peare's low and gentle voice which is
 an excellent thing in woman.
 |
 Of course, no girl who respects her | Nr.AN