The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-12-06
SPEECH WORK IS GOING AHEAD AS
 AN AID IN WAR
To the Editor of The Are-I1erald.

To the Editor of The Age Herald:
 Permit mo to tell the home people 1 through your columns, about some thinI. of general interest that came upon whil
 I was attending, last week, 8 meet ting o the National Council of Teachers of Eng
 fish In Chicago.
 The dominant suggestions made bv the various speakers were d) Let us Ameri- canize our children; (2) let us bring actua life and the teaching of English closer | together, or let us socialize the teaching o1 1 English; (3) let us keep Tn mind/the hu- Iman side of teaching, or let us e1npha. size more the importance of close, synpa- thetic relationship between teacher and pupil.
 one of the best speeches of the meeting was made by Dean Marcus of the Socio- logical department of the Ford Motor company. He pleaded especially for the sympathetic relationship in teaching, and by way of illustration cited instances from his company's dealings with em- ployes.
 The national council passed a resolu- ton to be addressed to the public. urg- ing that the teaching of English be em- phaSzed as never before as a means of Americanizing our children. The author or the resolution, MT. Stratton of St. Louis, said that in one of our cities hay ing large German population there was | expended yearly before the war with 1 Germany $150000 for the teaching of Ger man in the grades. How much better would it have been in the light of pres- ent events" he said, had that money been spent upon the teaching of Eng fish"
 on Saturday afternoon I was invited to speak informally before the Woman $ club of Chicago about the speech move ment in Alabama. That club, I find. is dolng more for the speech moyement than any agency among the women of America. When remarked that in Ala pafna We had held up a little in our work outside Of the schools because of the war work, l little realized what barrage of
 taking issue" discussion I was arous- ing The women feel that at this time or all times, for the sake of gaining soli- darity among our people, we shouId Iurther the speech movement vigorously. They are conducting, at present, an ambi- tlous survey in Chicago to see what is be- Ing done In and out of school for speech improvement. They hold open montbIv meetings for the purpose of disciissing Q the movement. Tn the discussion Satur- aay these facts were mentioned. An or ncer in charge of the examination of afarted men said that two-thirds of the men rejected were rejected because of their speech Evidently physical fitness In these days is not the only desideratum or soldier. Furthermore the officers at Fort Sheridan, many of them, after giving commands for while. were rorced to have treatment from the throa, speciallsts-a clear evidence of the need or training in voice.
 After the meeting was over I met a Chlcago lady, Mrs. Seeberger, who had Just returned from a visit in Montgom cry With her daughter, Mrs. Capt. Frank cist. She spoke beautifully of what the Alabama women are doing for the visit Ing soldiers comfort and pleasure. Pa triotism IS, of course, evident on every hand in Chicago When Mischa, Flman began The Star-Spangled Banner" and iater when the orchestra began the song the audiences were upon their feet in- stantiy In demonstration on Micb;- gan avenue, when the flag passed. imme- olately men removed their hats
 CLAUDIA CRUMPTON.
 En Route from Chicago to MontevalIo
 Ala, December 3, 1917