The Washington herald., 1915-11-02
Lille at d Time.
Bx Holm D. DAIRY,

\
There is teacher of dietion who deplores on
slpshod ways of speaking in this country He say
they could be easily corrected. Actors often z,
to him to have their speech made clearer To al
| of them he says the same thing: Nothing ii
the world is easier than speaking clearly Al
you have to do is to know how TO pronounce on
letter"
As rule, the pupils don't understand
Then the teacher explains. Most of US speak, h,
says, carelessly because try to do severa
things at once. We swallow parts of words. L
we took each word easily as it came along ant
pronounced all the letters that ought to be pro
nounced, the word would be clearly spoken. Tit
only work that has to be done is on each letter
pronounced, that is, on one letter.
This teacher always begins his work with the
pupil by showing how each sound that we use in
the language is made by the machinery of speech
very simple process. Then he takes short words
and makes his pupils use them for practice. Grad
ually he instlls into the mind respect for speech
sounds. 1t leads to- interest and liking, and il
develops that habit of listening to speech and not
ing its beauty its ugliness In this way the
teacher often converts careless and hafintellgible
speakers into clear speakers.
When Theodore Roosevelt about 10 years
old, they used to say he would not live through
the winter. He had the will to live, however. He
began to take systematic exercises. Slowly, day
by day. he developed his puny frame into its
present vigorous proportions. The work must
have taken many years. Pictures of Roosevelt
as a Harvard student show that he was by no
means husky. After leaving college he spent
some time on a ranch, still building UP the diff
ference between the vigorous of today and
the puny boy. 1t seems like feat But it mere
ly shows the result of slow and regular growth.
When brilliant singer came to San Francisco
a few months ago and repeated the success she
had won in New York and all along the way out.
she told about her early experiences She
loved singing, and she wanted to be a singer;
but she had only small voice. Moreover. the
quality was not considered particularly good. She
consulted a great teacher. He told her that,
though she believed her voice to be contralto,
it would develop into mezzo-soprano. He also
said that she could overcome all her handicaps,
as singing was less a matter OF special endow-
ment than a general intelligence. For three
years she worked, gradually developing the dra-
matte mezzo-soprano that made her singing no.
table. Naturally, those who had heard her sing
before she went to the teacher felt if miracle
had been accomplished. They were right But
they didn't understand the nature OF the miracle
steady work. little each day, OF the greatest
miracles known and OF the most underrated-
People often speak TO about the tremen-
dous amount of work done by this writer that.
Jack London is frequently cited example.
How can he possibly do much? The answer
is easy. He does little each day. He never
lets day go by without doing a little. He never
seems overworkcd. He has plenty of leisure.
Apart from his writing he leads life of varied
interests and healthy activity, largely out of doors
He never seems hurried Meanwhile, his daily
adds to his accommodating.
The point is obvious 1t is simply that every
thing is easy. Unless make this discovery for
ourselves, we lose ono of the most important benc
fits of experience So many OF appalled,
and discouraged by the seeming magnitude OF
worthwhile accomplishment. In the it looms
like mountain How are we to have the strength
10 conquer so many difficulties, to overcome so
many obstacles: II we have judgment, shall
not try to conquer more than one at a time. That
done, we shall go on to the next obstacle,
strength increased after each victory As
tinue meeting obstacle after obstacle, the work at
times will seem almost too easy. We shall feel
like laughing. We shall know the peace that goes
with the right way OF doing things. the enjoyment.
the intoxication.
The same law applies to the inner life, some
times called moral. II, conscious OF weak
nesses, we project in imagination a strong
character and tell that must identify it with
our own, we are disheartened, perhaps panic
stricken. We can think of magic to give the
needed power to flabby thing oneself. Now
we are simply following the wrong way. All VIC
need is little daily exercise secured by meeting
each little trial simply and quietly and sensibly.
Soon we shall see that mysterious forces are oper
atng making the tests easier as they go along,
and bringing into life increasing understanding
and surprising rewards.
The Honest Thing To Do