Evening star., 1932-09-27
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| What one does toward . thing Il
| more than what one does away from
it, and we do not mean in physical
action solely, but in mental approach
more.
When the lecture was the supreme
example, next to the drama, and opera
Of entertainment, and in America even
outshone those ancient art forms,
tion and the desire of all to aget
ahead" it was necessary for its ad-
herents tthey would be called "lec-
ture fans" today to form q definite
idea in their minds of going to hear
the lecture.
After they made up their minds 10
this they bought tickets. perhaps. OF
at least saw to it that they had enough
money in their pockets to purchase
their admittance, and then they actual
ly had to go, in physical sense, to
the scene
The power of this self determination
and this going, is evidenced every day
In the American year by the crowds
which converge on the movies.
Depression or no depression, the mo-
tion picture houses are filled morning
afternoon and night, furnishing q most
| interesting demonstration of an old
truth, that human beings enjoy MOTH
Ing quite so much as something which
they put themselves into. at least to
the extent of selecting where to 60
and then actually going to it.
The future of Oratory, then, would
be viewed with some alarm If 1t were
not for the excellent work being done
in the schools Of the Nation in the
interest of our spoken speech.
| The various oratory contests, both in
the secondary schools and the colleges
stimulate a desire to think a speech
first of ell, and then to deliver it, by
making the delivery depend upon the
thinking, and the thinking upon the
delivery.
He who listens to speech over the
radio can never get quite the same re-
action, We believe, as he who sallies
forth to the hall, opera house or meet
ing place and listens to it-with his
own ears, We were about to say! But
one listens to radio with zones own
| ears" of course: the ears are the same
but the determining actions were not
the same.
And it Is the determining action In
human affairs which has the final say
so as to whether one gets anything out
of books. plays, lectures, speeches,
movies, art.
The real need Is for putting ones
self into the books one reads. the plays
one hears. the speeches one listens to,
the paintings and buildings which one
aspires to like or not to like.
Some attempt at critical judgment is
necessary, and 1t may be submitted
that when 1t Is easy come" as 1t Is over
radio, 1t also may be easy 60
| At least that is the danger.
| We believe that this risk Is not SO
great with music, somehow the neceS-
! sity for attuned attention is not as
| large. 1t is possible to listen to music
at the same time one reads and still get
something from the notes. but it is
scarcely feasible action to read and
attempt to listen to a speech at one
and the same time. as so many do.
| Even in the automobile proceeding
| down quiet street at slow pace there
| is little room for undivided attention to
| the words of an orator Spouting away
/ before a microphone. 1t makes no dif-
| ference how many thousands OF miles
| away
! The distance of the orator makes no
/ difference. but the speed of the vehicle
/ does. and the attendant duties Of motor
car propulsion do.
The greatest handicap. after all> does
not lie in the lack Of comprehension OF
| the thoughts of the speaker tmany OF
their ideas are perhaps not worth in
tellectual straining after. but rather in
tn, lack of mental and physical going
| toward the speech.
/ This is psychological necessity
which no amount of invention what
/ soever can wipe out, or take away, or
even change. What mankind does with
eyes and ears and mind also must be
done with hands and feet. 1t is the law.