Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-11-29
faculty to cultivate trust in the

faculty to cultivate a trust in the
students.
The erroneous idea used to be
prevalent that school was a prepara-
ton for life. It seems to me
that I have heard speakers say it from
commencement platforms. Do they
mean to say that one is in dormant
state like butterfly in a cocoon dur
| ing the fifteen or sixteen formative
years Of his life, and suddenly bursts
forth on commencement day with a
fully developed individuality ready
for the strife of existence? I cannot
see it so. School is life itself. To call
| it preparation for life makes one
look for all happiness in the future,
and when it doesn't come, one has TO
learn after graduation what he should
have known all the time, that life is
a consciousness Of existence, and an
effort to improve that existence,
whether within college walls or be-
tween the plow handles.
I have made some Investigations,
and found that the average age Of
the Freshman at Smith College, is
seventeen, eighteen and nineteen
years, not so greatly different from
the average Southern school. Yet, the
freedom afforded the students is rath-.
er remarkable. Laws were made for
man, and not man for laws, and rules
were made for the benefit Of stu
dents and not students to fit group
of regulations.
The coming women Of affairs in
this country are the college women.
The sooner the conscience Of The in.
dividual becomes the highest law, and
self-condemnation instead of even
faculty condemnation the worst pun.
Iishment, the sooner will all the colleg-.
es be great force, not only for learn
ing, but for general stimulus in ideals
and social uphft. This is the spirit Of
the more progressive colleges Of
the day.
Smith was founded in 1871 by Miss
Sophia Smith, and built in with the,
stone foundations are some religious
! III
Sunday, there were no cars driving
through the campus, as I walked
through it. Driving is enjoyed only
between the hours of two and four
on Sunday afternoons. During church
hours, no victrolas are played. Chapel
exercises take place every morning
at eight-thirty.
I was very much interested in one
of the regulations for entrance to the
freshman class, that regarding the
speaking voice. When each new stu
dent enters Smith college he is CIV
en- voice test, and if the tones are
harsh or displeasing, that student is
required to take the course known as
spoken English. If the girls with un-'
cultivated voices are studying vocal
music, however, they are exempt
from the compulsory study of the
speech arts. The human voice plays
very important part in our daily
Lives. The unconscious effect of a
rasping or shrill voice upon the ear
is much more decided than the indi-
vidual realizes. 1t is vastly more i'm
portant for students to have pleas
I ing voices than it is for them to get
an accurate knowledge of Caesars
Gallo war, for perfection in speech
tends toward higher state of civili-
zation move than does knowledge Of
an abstract subject, among any group
of people.
The speaking voice is the univer-
sal means of self-expression. Lovely
thoughts interpreted by unlovely
sounds lose half their charm. The old
idea of taking in all the facts that one
could, is passing out, and the more
reasonable method of taking in some
things and learning how to pass them
on interestingly to some one else is
being substituted for it.
Next Tuesday afternoon the Vox
Club of the Spoken English depart
ment of Smith college is giving tea
for the Henry Jewett Players. The