The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-08-04
Frederic Ha slIin's Letter
Al Unspeakabls Speech.

slang and respects his yove,. =,
"ing's" usually has his life msa .au
burden by his school mates To
girl who uses cultivated acc.o, :
usually regarded as 4 prude :. :.
the jazzy maiden with the ieI =
voice and the jargon Of the str ,s. /
who is popular with her NV
teanporaries. s0a-
Our young people are usine -.
language of the underworld > ,ss ~
Mrs. Robbins, "and its effect NM.
their characters is fae-reachinv ~
serious. Cheap, vulgar lansasss
soon induces d cheap vulxar M
tude Of mind. 1t is but a stem frs-
laxfty Of speech to laxity of mora:
Think OF our grandmothers nnss
tioning the shimmy for instanrs :
Mrs. Robbins shuddered a.
changed the subject.
1T is not only for the sake !,
our children that we should vnta
Tor better speech" she continu,s
I'VE have a certain responsibili.v
for our foreign population.
TIE Poor Immigrant Again.
Besides making the foreigner
better citizen, better speech MIN
give him a richer life, by eiv;n,
him . finer means of self-expres.
sion. The Lithuanian girl who ID.
her coat in hospital during ths
recent epidemic gave pathetic AZ.
ample Of the inadequacy of a limitek
vocabulary. For three days she
wandered up and down the hospital
halls moaning, Gee, ma plusha
coata, Ge ma plusha coata, Gee
GEE! Gee was the only word
America had given her to express
\ feeling.
las matter of fact We aren't
much better off than the Lithuanian
girl. Cute, swell, and fierce seem
Ito be the only three adjectives in
the language as far as the grow
ing generation is concerned. Good
speech is decadent in America. Il
is our boast that We are satisfied
with nothing but the best when il
comes to the convenienceS and lux
uries of civilization. But apparent.
ly we are satisfied with a very in
ferior brand of language. Our
speech is becoming not only less
beautiful but less efficient"
/ Many business houses through
the country are realizing the value
! of the better speech movement al
an aid to efficiency. Among thest
is the Marshall and llsey bank d
| Milwaukee. For three years they
have held classes in grammar and
literature for the young women EN-
ployes in the bank, knowing that {
stenographer with real intereb
in English will be more valuable Il
them as we'll as to herself. Tn,
bank contributes half the time de
voted to the class from workin,
hours and the stenographers Civ
the other half.
THE object of these classes is +
get young WOlHeu W ledi, tdih wv
and finally study the best in litera
ture," says Mr.. Puelicher, presided
OF the bank. "They are enthusiast
about them and agree that they Dc
!. rive Unreasonable good from then
Does the bank? Well, imagine
| stenographer with a real interest |
English and your question is an
swered. We are also working wit
the bank messengers. We wan
these young citizens to speak Emf
fish correctly; We want to he'
them with the little courtesies an
the big truths, that they may D
come strong and earnest men.
A cynic might say that M
, puelicher expects lot from ii
human race if he thinks that a
hour or two devoted to gramms
will develop race of strong an
, earnest men. But it is fact tina
, an interest in good reading is q
important essential in successf'
!, living. Look at some OF our pres
5 dents.