The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-02

| Dfsccurage Too Much Memorfxinw for sman chfldren--Develop Attention l --Tricks of Association Which Aid Msmory.--xec0vcrfng Memory An ] CT Serious sics<ness.
 l BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER. | (Copyright 1906 by Joseph B. Bowles.) carry safely whatever is entrusted to ! him. if it be properly fastened and adjusted. If the latter precautions are neglected he Is liable to drop bits | of his load along the highway, and the strong probability Is that they will not be worth picking up.
 Memory is servant. sometimes well trained and responsible. some- times lazy and inefhcient. Memory is a useful friend or a treacherous foe. Memory is a mechanical device. convenient so long as 1t is in smooth working order and exasperating when it slips out of gear at an unlucky mo- mant. TO drop simiie. memory is a quality of the brain which 1t is in your power to strengthen or weaken precisely as you please
 The familear adage that in early childhood impressions are most last l ing and that the mind is then wax to receive and marble to retain. has be- come commonplace. During the ! earliest years there is great activity
 in the human mind, growth and devel- opment are extremely rapid, there is expansion on every side. and children E learn with great facility. One often observes with amazement the won-
 derful memory of precocious infant.
 who recites with accuracy long
 acquired the trick of perfect speech. To hear a baby iuently repeat nurs- cry jingies in pretty broken English fs very amusing, yet the exercise is by no means wholesome nor does 1t
 necessarily imply that the memory win be retentive at later date. Par ents would better discourage too
 much meuorizins by very small chill dren AS they grow older and begin | the foundations for q trustworthy memory of incidents and events by the thoroughness and exactness with which they perform their school du- ties. The ease with which children
 and young people memorize would
 never be lost if. as they grow older. they continue the habit of study
 Tn many people memory becomes
 atrophied. just as would an arm
 were 1t tied up ana kept stationary l for months at a time. They give memory nothing to do and it loses
 the faculty of doing anything when
 called upon.
 To retain 6 vigorous memory 1t is
 we'll to give it daily exercise. The | Rev. F. W. Robertson, a famous dt-
 vine in his day, and one whose infiu-
 ence was felt around the globe, mem orized the entire Gretk Testament by
 the method of learning two or three
 verses every morning while he was
 dressing.
 The honored and beloved pr. Malt | bic Babcock. of New York, whose | sudden death some years ago. was
 widely mourned. had made it his cus- tom to commit to memory 100 lines | of poetry from Wordsworth. Milton Tennyson or Browning every day of | his life. never intermitting the task 4 brilliant and clever woman in her
 eighties keeps up her lifelong custom | of studying and reciting a page from i a favorite author every day. The phrase 'conimit to memory in in- stances like these Is happily descrip- | tive. When on has thus trained
 memory. treasures may be commit | ted to 1t as silver is sent on occasion
 to q safe deposit vault or money is
 entrusted to the bank. M
 | The principal aids to memory are
 attention and association. If one ts aware that memory is weak, instead
 of lamenting the fact or parading it
 as though 1t were an afliction that
 must be borne with philosophy. set to work as speedily as possible to re- pair its losses. Ascertain where it ta
 least serviceable and begin the task of strengthening it fin that place. There are people who have a good memory for dates and for figures but have only slight memory for faces, and who forget whatever they hear almost as soon as they leave the speakers presence. They have prob ably allowed their attention to wan