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Diary of a problem childMarion Parsons Robinson aa Goucher CollegePublished online: 05 Jun 2009.

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DIARY OF A PROBLEM CHILD 357

may be his most significant contributionto English prosody. Duple meter wasmastered in rimed form by certain of thenineteenth century poets, just as rimediambic pentameter had been masteredby the latter part of the sixteenth cen-tury. Shakespeare and other Elizabethansmastered it in unrimed form in the greatdramatic blank verse of that period, andMilton crowned this blank verse as Eng-lish heroic meter in his seventeenth cen-tury epics. Jeffers has done somethingcomparable for the duple iambic-ana-pestic meter. Here is a strong, yet flex-ible and nervous, measure, well adaptedto suggesting by itself and in the changesthat can be rung on it, the rapid, fever-ish, staggering rhythm of this age. In sofar as theme, point of view, and spiritare concerned, Jeffers is the outstandingpoet of this age of terrible passions letloose for wanton destruction and insaneruthlessness. Like every great artist whobecomes the voice of an age, the spokes-man for its Zeitgeist, Jeffers has caughtits rhythm, too. That spirit and rhythmare not in the tradition of Whitman andthe King James Bible, but in the tradi-

tion of Swinburne, the master of rimedduple meter, and the Ancient Greekdramatists, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euri-pides. Those four are poets of spiritualstrife, sometimes iconoclastic, sometimesattempting to reconcile warring forcesof superhuman strength. Jeffers can benumbered with them when his Art, thewell-matched combination of contentand form, is correctly sensed.-

Finally, should the counterpart of Jef-fers' rhythm be sought in the realm ofexternal nature, go to the Carmel coast,yes; but do not look at the movementsof its waters, for Whitman is theirbrother in rhythm even though he wasnurtured on the shores of the Atlanticrather than the Pacific. Instead, glanceupward! Observe the flight of the birds— eagles, gulls, hawks — especially thehawks, for they are kin to Jeffers in.bothspirit and rhythm. Think of Jeffers'lines, in particular: their length relation-ships; the way they soar and swoop.Above all things else in reading Jeffers'poetry aloud, don't forget that soar andswoop!

DIARY OF A PROBLEM CHILD

MARION PARSONS ROBINSONGoucher College

Without any doubt the one greatestproblem that confronts the^public speak-ing profession is that of oral expression.—Charles H. Woolbert (1915).

600 B. C, AthensDear Diary:Nobody understands me. That is why Iam starting to write you. Mother issplendid, of course, but she thinks be-cause her name is Literature, she mustbe always on her dignity. I think I mustbe more like Grandmother, greatly in-terested in vocal and bodily expression.

Five hundred years ago she used to goabout the country, visiting inns andhomes, and providing entertainment forthe people. Entertainment was not allshe provided either, for. she was thechief source of education in those daysbefore there were schools. Grandmoth-er's best friend was a man named Homer,a blind, rhapsodist, who recited to thepeople his wonderful poetic stories: theone about the Trojan War and the oneabout the trip home of one of its heroes,who took rather an unreasonable num.-

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ber of years to arrive. The people satspellbound while Homer told these long,long tales from memory. After Motherwas born, of course, they were writtendown.

As I was saying, I have no one to con-fide in. Father is terribly virile and asproud of his name as Mother is of hers.I think Oratory is a fine name too, butI don't see why Father can't be a littleless lofty and a little more intimate withhis child.

Of course Mother and Father keep re-minding me that I must live up to ourfamily name, Rhetoric, but it is difficultto know just what that means. Is it theart of expressive speech, of persuasion, ofmoving the minds of others by argu-ments, or is it a method of higher edu-cation? Is it a political science or aphilosophy? Or is it a whole way of lifeand a means of making the will ofGod prevail? You can see how compli-cated it is to try living up to a namewhich may mean so much or so little.

As for me, I love Mother's folk songsand lyrics and the great epics left forher by Homer—all these I love to speakaloud. Of both my parents I am thedaughter—and an important person inmy own right too, I think.

'460 B. C.

Father is all excited today. A man namedCorax over in Syracuse has founded forhim a System in which he makes use ofprobability. It is perhaps the first sys-tem Father ever had; so I suppose hehas reason to be excited.

450 B. C.

Lately I have been frequenting thea-tre and it is one of the places I like most.Today in the great theatre of Dionysis,in the shadow of our holy Acropolis,no less than twenty thousand peoplegathered and sat long hours on hardstone benches to witness a drama of the

poet Aeschylus. A chorus of Elders,grave old men, created the atmosphereof impending doom as they solemnlychanted together:No late libation, or incense-fume,Avails to save from a ruthless doomThe man who has angered, through mad desire,The powers that burn, but need no fire.

Then the poet himself spoke his mov-ing lines and I was proud to find my-self in that impressive and enchantedplace.

400 B. C.

Many men are paying me attention now,from the widest scholars to the greatestathletes. Yesterday I attended the gamesand was delighted to find that winninga race was considered no more commend-able and no more manly an accomplish-ment than the noble speaking of a poemby Pindar.

380 B. C.

I saw a procession of worshippers ap-proaching an altar decked with green.At the head of the band walked a groupof maidens clad in purple robes and "theLydian wimple that adorns the sweetand soft-eyed maid." They chanted apoem written for them by the great poet,Alcman. These were some of the wordsthey spoke:

We are come to the templeo£ great Demeter,nine in number, maidens all,clad all of us in fair robes,in fair robes cladand bright shining necklacesof carven ivorylike the daylight to behold.

375 B. C.I am a little worried about Father andthe company he is keeping. He is goingaround with the Sophists. Many of themseem respectable and intelligent men andcompetent teachers, with significant con-tributions for the thought of our time.But the great philosopher, Plato, has

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nothing good to say for some of them.He accuses them of devoting themselvesto "making the worse appear the bet-ter reason" and of thinking of nothingbut self-advancement and making mon-ey. I am dreadfully afraid Father willlose his good reputation.

355 B.C.The theatre is growing better and bet-ter. We have tragedies by Sophoclesand Euripides, and comedies by the wit-ty Aristophanes. I wish I had time, dearDiary, to tell you more. But I am rush-ed to death because my presence at theseperformances is indispensable!

345 B- C.Thank goodness, Father has found anew friend, a fine man named Isocrates.I think he is going to take Father's mindoff the Sophists and give him a new pointof view. He and Father are opening aschool and that will be good for bothof them.

370 B. C.

I just met two of Father's noblest fol-lowers, Demosthenes and Aristotle. Thelatter has very definite ideas about ourfamily. He sees Rhetoric as an instru-mental art, capable of being used forgood ends or bad, depending on thecharacter of the user. He sees four gooduses for Rhetoric: corrective, suggestive,instructive, and defensive. Like Corax,he considers probability, not truth, asthe concern of our family. Aristotle seessame use for me, and I think Fatherhas greater respect for his daughter.

225 B. C.

Since the Macedonian conquests initialed the exchange of cultures betweenGreece and Asia, I am enjoying a fur-ther distinction: people are discussingme. I hear much talk lately about voicequalities; heavy and light syllabic utter-ance; vocal quantity; concrete, discrete,

and continuous slides; acute, grave, andcircumflex inflection. I am not sure allthis does me a great deal of good, but atleast it serves to attract attention. Moth-er says I must take care not to grow vain.

50 B. C, RomeWe have moved! All that I have writ-ten to this time has been recorded inGreece. But Mother and Father de-cided that we should move on to a placewith a more promising future. I hatedto leave our beautiful country, especiallyAthens, but of course I could not staybehind by myself; so here I am in themost up-and-coming city in the world.It is a stimulating place, though it lacksthe artistic atmosphere of Athens. Thereis one remarkable man here who is al-ready a good friend of both Mother andFather, Marcus Tullius Cicero. He takessome notice of me under the name ofPronuntiatio.

90 A. D.

We have a family friend here in Rome-,a famous teacher named Quintilian. Hehas written a twelve-volume work aboutFather that won't do Father a bit ofharm in the future. There are someideas in it which I should remembertoo, such as, "The voice is the indexof the mind, and has as many variationsas the mind itself." I have many admir-ers and followers among the Romanyouths now—actors, readers, and dedaiin-ers. Some interpret the plays of Plautusand Terence and some are carefullytrained to recite the great «pic of Moth-er's friend, the gentle Vergil. Still I amnot as happy nor as healthy as I was inAthens.

1000 A. D.

Dear Diary:I have neglected you for a long time.The fact is, I have not been well. Noneof us has—Father or Mother or any ofour cousins, the other Arts. I think the

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epidemic began with that bad odorback in Rome six centuries ago. It is akind of sleeping sickness and most ener-vating.

1200 A. D.

Well, Diary, things are looking up. Weare all feeling better. Mother has beengreatly revived in some of the monasterylibraries and schools founded three orfour hundred years ago by Alfred theGreat and Charlemagne. Father has be-come religious. He spends most of histime in the pulpit. I am sorry to saythat he has become rather artificial andstrained, almost grotesque in his elo-quence. My cousin, Drama, and I havebeen stepping out a bit, mostly tochurch, and I fear our conduct is a bitcrude after our long illness. Our cous-ins, Architecture and Painting, are inbetter health as well as our own imme-diate family. A remarkable philosophyof peace, called Christianity, has led toa series of wars called Crusades and thesehave had a marked effect on govern-ment, commerce, science, and art. Uni-versities are springing up.

One of the most interesting changeshas1 come in Grandmother. She has beenretired for ages, but just lately she hasput in an appearance again and haswon many followers in all the countriesof Europe. Their activity is really muchlike that of her old friend, Homer. Ineach country these men are called bydifferent and fascinating names: in Eng-land they are "scops"; in Ireland, Scot-land and Wales, "bards"; in the Scandi-navian countries, "skalds"; in Germany,"minnesingers" (which means "singersof love songs") ; and in France, "min-strels" or "jongleurs" or "trouvères" or"troubadors." But all recite their poemsof battles, of knights and ladies in love,and of the heroism of the king. In awayside inn where pilgrims, merchants,and soldiers mingle about the hearth,

suddenly there rises the mellow voice.ofthe minstrel, chanting:

Lulley, lulley, lulley, lulley,The fawcon hath born ray make away!He bare him up, he bare him down,He bare him into an orchard brown.

As his story of love and disaster prog-resses, the wayfarers join in the rhythmof the repeated refrain:

Lulley, lulley, lulley, lulleyThe fawcon hath born my make awayl

1450 A. D.

How wonderful it is to be strong again!This is almost like the old days back inGreece. In fact, our whole family is busytrying to make western Europe as muchlike classic Athens as possible. Motherhas done a great deal with able supportfrom her friend, Petrarch. Our cousin,Architecture, is doing his best to makeEurope look like Athens. Our othercousin, Painting, has gone almost en-tirely religious.

1606 A. D., EnglandThere is an interesting man here namedWilliam Shakespeare, who writes poemsand plays, acts and produces. In oneplay that I like very much, he has aspeech addressed to a group of playersby the prince, which is really about me.Father likes another play about JuliusCaesar better.

17 j5 A.D.After Queen Bess died, we were not sowell for awhile, but now we all are bet-ter and beginning to feel quite at homein England. Father has gathered severalfollowers, among them Edmund Burkeand two men by the name of WilliamPitt, father and son. I have met someactors, the most talented of whom isDavid Garrick. Joshua Steele has justpublished an essay proposing a compli-cated system of markings to indicate vo-cal quality, stresses, rate, pauses, pitch,inflections. With these symbols a reader

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marks his copy of the selection he is tovoice and then follows the markingsmechanically. The plan has the doubt-ful virtue of making thinking almostentirely unnecessary, at least during per-formance. John Walker, a lexicographerbut also a teacher of oral reading forthe last fifteen years or so, follows a simi-lar system in teaching mechanical rulesfor delivery.

1J85 A.B.Artists and actors have long been amongmy followers. Now I am interested inmy association with some teachers. Aprofessor with the sturdy Scotch nameof Hugh Blair, introduced a new andrevolutionary idea when he advised his 'students "to copy the proper tones forexpressing every sentiment from thosewhich nature dictates to us, in conver-sation with others." If so simple an ideashould ever be generally accepted, doyou suppose I might cease to be eveninteresting? About twenty years ago,Thomas Sheridan, another teacher,wrote a book concerning me exclusively,in which he expressed sentiments thatdisagree with Walker and agree withBlair. He, too, claims to teach naturallaws as demonstrated in animated con-versation. He says he looks to naturefor examples of good technique andbases his methods on imitation of nat-ural speech forms. In practice, though,he leans toward the easier, mechanicalmethod, with its set of marks. This con-troversy appeals to me very much—butso does Mr. Sheridan's handsome son,Richard Brinsley. I might as well for-get him, though. He likes Mother butnot me, and his real devotion is to mycousin, Theatre. Oh, well!

1827 A. D., Philadelphia, U. S. A.I have emigrated! I never thought Iwould come to a crude country like theUnited States, but I had a very urgent

invitation from an American;physicianhere in Philadelphia. This Dr. Rushclaims to have created the "scientificmethod" of voice control and I thoughtI had better just come over ; and havea look.

1828 A.D.Perhaps I should have stayed in England.While Dr. Rush tinkers with his termsand instruments, a tutor over there atOxford, named Richard Whately,; hasjust made an eloquent attack upon thatmechanical method which I mistrustedfrom the first. He makes it seem ridic-ulous and proposes what might be call-ed, in contrast, the Natural System. Ofcourse he is most interested in teachingtheological students to read aloud theScripture and other parts of the churchservice. But the principles-he expoundsare equally applicable to the oral read-ing of secular literature. He advocatesforgetting about the voice and concen-trating on meaning, including both un-derstanding and feeling; forgettingabout the self and concentrating on thematerial. Thus and thus only, accord-ing to Whately, will anyone read reallywell. Is this absence of method or thepoint of departure for an entirely newphilosophy?

1850 A. D.Nearly a quarter of a century since Icame to America; and confidentially,clear Diary, I am not very happy in thisenvironment of measuring sticks andtest tubes. To be sure, the great doctorhas given the world its first scientificanalysis of the previously mystic phe-nomenon of human speech and has in-vented a terminology that I think islikely to go down though the ages. ButI am not a science; I am an art. Andfortunately it will no longer be necessaryfor me to live in this mansion of fig-ures and facts. I have a new friend, an

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actor, with the Scotch name of JamesMurdoch—not just an ordinary treaderof the boards, mind you, my Diary, buta scholarly and versatile gentleman, whohas long been devoted to the work ofthat English Shakespeare. He is deeplyinterested in Dr. Rush's scientific prin-ciples of voice development, but he willintroduce me to the public as Dr. Rushcould never do.

i860 A.D.Perhaps I shall not do so badly inAmerica after all. I can count amongmy friends a great scientist, a great per-former, and now, a great teacher—a dis-ciple of the scientist and an associate ofthe performer. His name is WilliamRussell, à Scotchman, delicate, tubercu-lar, but gifted with the will power toaccomplish much more than most heal-thy people. He teaches speech, but hisinterests are far wider. He is the firsteditor of the American Journal of Edu-cation. In addition to voluminous writ-ing, he lectures widely. Perhaps mostimportant of all, he is beginning thestudy of educational psychology and at-tempting to effect a compromise betweenthe old Mechanical and the NaturalSchools. This forward-looking scholarholds that a follower of mine shouldhave a healthy body (which he neverhad), an active mind, and a powerfulimagination—and the greatest of these isthe active mind.

1863 A. D., Boston

I like this city. Its cultured atmosphereseems suited to my temperament. I havefound another great teacher here too,Lewis B. Monroe, one who, though Deanof Oratory in Boston University, likesto teach good oral reading to little chil-dren. He is a student of both the FrenchDelsarte and the American Rush, but isdetermined to shake off the limitationsof any mechanical school. Devoted to

Mother, he always turns to her whensolving a problem in his work.

1871 A. D.

The last time I wrote, I mentioned thegreat Frenchman, Delsarte. Today hedied at the age of sixty. He was a singer,a composer, a playwright, an actor. Helost his voice once and, being of a scien-tific and curious turn of mind, undertookto find the physiological cause and cureof such difficulty. His search led himinto the area of thinking that was tooccupy the rest of his life. And heemerged with this idea: "Expression isthe interior, mind or soul, manifestingitself through the exterior, substance or

' body." It sounds simple, but there isnothing simple about his "system." Be-cause he conceived of the body as theagent of expression for the inner soul,because he was always groping to fit hisideas into a "system," and because hisphilosophy was never recorded in an or-derly fashion, a world eager for help inits hunger to express itself, seized uponthe system, which it proceeded to mis-understand and abuse—and missed thephilosophy altogether.

1879 A.D.A German gentleman here in America,named Werner, is starting a magazinecalled The Voice, all about me and mycousin, Singing. You may be sure, thismakes us feel very important.

1890 A. D.

A new book about me recently was writ-ten by Moses True Brown, a student ofLewis Monroe and now a successfulteacher and reader himself, specializingin the reading of Dickens, since the visitof that novelist to this country. He isan avowed apostle of Delsarte and prob-ably the most articulate of all who haveattempted to record the theories of themaster. To those theories he has addedcurrent conclusions of philosophy and

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science. Of the seventeen chapters inhis book, thirteen are on the use of thebody. Mr. Brown's principal gift to meis his sane, understandable, fair inter-pretation of Delsarte, not only in thebook, but in many magazine articles.

1892 A. D.

Diary, I am excited about my first club—"The National Association of PublicReaders and Teachers of Elocution."One of the leaders in the organizing ofit was my friend, Moses True Brown.

1893 A. D. .After one year my friends have decidedthat the name of the club is too clumsy.From now on it is to be "The NationalAssociation of Elocutionists" and theyare going to publish their Proceedings.

1894 A. D.

Do you remember my telling you aboutDelsarte's death at the age of sixty? Well,his favorite and most talented pupil,James Steele Mackaye, just died atfifty-two. He built theatres, wrote andproduced plays (the most famous ofwhich was Hazel Kirke), acted and con-ducted a school of the theatre, but henever made much money and neverfound time from his multitudinous in-terests to do the writing for which thepublic was pressing him. All his ven-tures failed and he died in ill repute,with his most important work still un-done. His bringing of the Delsarte ideasto America proved to be a good notunmixed with harm, for they were seizedupon by many incompetent people, putto improper use and brought into dis-favor. Another tragic figure!

1899 A.B.

Dear Diary:No matter how long I live, the end of acentury always seems a dramatic timeto me. The end of this one finds meseventy-three years in America. My first

years here were difficult, but I havegrown more important and happier allthe time. The last ten years have beenthe best of all. These years have beencharacterized by qualities which mademe flourish—grace, culture, polish, a loveand pursuit of the arts. The nameElocution has been on all cultured lipsand I number many teachers among myfollowers.

One of these is named Charles Wes-ley Emerson, a physician, a Doctor ofDivinity, a preacher for many years, anenthusiastic, adored teacher. Twentyyears ago he founded his own schoolhere in Boston, named after himself'andFather, The Emerson College of Ora-tory—though I believe I am the one inwhom he is most interested. In someways this is the most successful of thespecial schools of speech. Emerson'stheory is that the ontogeny of the oralreader of literature recapitulates that ofthe infant and both follow the theoryof evolution. I like this idea which heexpressed: "Culture through expressionis disciplinary. That which we expressis not only given to others but becomesmore fully our own."

Still another man is Arthur EdwardPhillips, an Englishman now conduct-ing his own school in what I have heardis the most American city of them all,Chicago. His greater interest is in thecomposition of speeches, but he likesme too, in an analytical sort of way. Heinvented for me "the tone system," basedon "the principle that the most effec-tive way to develop the power to por-tray feeling is, first, to practice the ren-dering of familiar phrases, sentences andselections that make a direct appeal tothe student's experience and then torealize their emotional resemblance, inessence, to the less familiar situations ofliterature and drama." This is an al-most startling idea. I wonder if it will

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last. I think his book, Effective Speak-ing, will. In both fields he is a thought-ful, meticulous scholar.

Perhaps the most revolutionary ofthese teachers of today is Samuel SilasCurry. While a graduate student atBoston University, like Delsarte beforehim, he lost his voice, and in an effortto regain it he studied with many fa-mous teachers in America and Europe.Two of these, Professor Monroe andSteele Mackaye, impressed him so deeplythat he decided the development of thespoken word afforded the field for ex-ercise of the highest form of helpful-ness to others. And so to this calling heconsecrated the rest of his life. Thatmotive is characteristic of the man andsignificant to me. He is also laboring towin a more prominent place for our fam-ily in the educational institutions. Hehas several degrees, one in Divinity, andhas taught at a number of different col-leges and seminaries and preached wide-ly. He, too, has his own school here,just a few blocks from The EmersonSchool. His wife, a graduate of the Uni-versity of Boston School of Oratory, isdean and a talented teacher herself. Mr.Curry writes more books about me thanany other person and among them isthe first one ever written about my per-sonality. Through his writing, teaching,and lecturing, he is doing much to ex-tricate me from the.meshes of the vari-ous mechanistic schools. In an age of"systems," he .thinks there should benone.

I like Mr. Curry so much that I amgoing to let him change my name! Ihate to give up the good old name ofElocution, which I have borne for manyyears, and which means, appropriately,"a speaking out." But Mr. Curry's argu-ments are good. He says that Rush andMurdoch and Delsarte and some of theearly proponents of the mechanical

"schools" were wise, sincere, capablemen; but that many of their followershave tried to capitalize on the public'seagerness to learn about me and to findan avenue of self-expression and havetaught with insufficient preparation andvery meagre vmderstanding. Not com-prehending the basic ideas of the greatoriginators of the theories, they haveseized upon external manifestations-manipulations of the voice and move-ments of the body—and have producedperformances which, increasingly, causethe discreet to shudder. All this hassoiled my good old name and so I musttake a new one and start my life over.Mr. Curry wants to emphasize the factthat I exist only because people think,because they have gained definite im-pressions. And so, Diary, I am havingmy face lifted and taking a brand newname—call me Expression after today.

1907 A. D.

Dear Diary:Do you know what someone called metoday? Me, of the most respectable par-entage and of the most honorable his-tory? Someone called me—I am blush-ing from shame and indignation—some-one called me "a bastard art"! And asif that were not enough—do you remem-ber that club of mine? Well, they havechanged the name of it. I suppose "TheAssociation of Elocutionists" is a bitpasse now. But couldn't they have calledit "The Association of Expressionists" orsomething like that? Oh no, they aregoing to call it "The National SpeechArts Association." Even all this is nothumiliation enough. Yale and Harvardare not going to let me attend classes anymore! In the time of Rush and Mur-doch, they received me with open arms,but now they say I have been keepingbad company and that no study can beworth while which can be mastered insix weeks. 1 can no longer associate with

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the educational disciplines, they say, butmust descend to a position somewherebetween an extra and an outcast with themere mechanical subjects. — Oh Diary,how can I bear all this—I who, a fewshort years ago, was the toast of societyand the colleges?

1915 A. D.My club and my magazine were prettyfeeble last year and now they havequietly died. But even worse is a refer-ence to me in the very first number ofThe Quarterly Journal of Public Speak-ing. An article by Charles H. Woolbertspeaks of me as "the greatest problemfacing the profession." It seems to meI could not bear this unsavory publicitybut for the solace of two friends, whomay be able to do something for me inthe future.

One is a neighbor of mine here inBoston, a dynamic little man .who stud-ied with both Monroe and Curry andwho married Daisy Carol Hoyt of theEmerson College. Together how theyoperate The Leland Powers School ofthe Spoken Word, financially one of themost successful of its kind. Mr. Powersnot only teaches; he tours the countryfrequently, sometimes for forty weeks ata time, presenting "impersonated plays,"a form of one-man show which he in-vented. He has prepared over twentyplays in this way, all completely memo-rized, including some of Shakespeare'sand Rostand's. About his most popularis David Garrick, about my old actorfriend back in London. He also pre-sents programs from Dickens. Here isthe highest paid reader of this time andperhaps of any time. He uses no read-ing stand, but completely acts all theparts, moving freely about the stage andkeeping as many as eight or ten peoplein the scene at one time. I had to laughat one announcement of his appearance:"Leland Powers and his company of

players will now present—." This mantranslates words into pulsating life andderives satisfaction from the thoughtthat whatever material prosperity he en-joys comes from pleasure he gives toother people. Surely he lias given mea tonic at a time when I sorely neededone. He has really created a new artform. I wonder if it will live.

The other friend I mentioned is lessspectacular, but I have a feeling thathis influence will reach further andmore strongly into the future. His nameis Solomon Henry Levy, but is known asS. H. Clark. He wants me to changemy name. Just as Mr. Curry thoughtElocution had acquired a bad flavor, Mr.Clark thinks the same of Expression. Hewants to call me Interpretation and Irather like the idea. I am growing ac-customed to having my name changed.B.ut there is one name by which I havesometimes been called through the agesand that I shall never like—Dßdamation.In the first place, it means "a cryingout," which certainly does not describeme at my best. And furthermore, in re-cent years at least, the term has beenconnected mostly with contests, oftenrather sordid affairs. Of course I used tothink contests were the thing back in theold days at Athens. Perhaps the differ-ence is less in the contests than in thefact that I was younger then. But to goback to Mr. Clark. I was pretty skepticalabout him for a while because he is nota Boston man at all. In fact, though hecame from New York originally and stillspends his summers at the school inChautauqua, he does most of his teach-ing in Chicago. Mr. Clark is a splendidteacher though, even if he does live inChicago, and he does much to make goodreading important in the educationalsystem. . He enjoys an enviable reputa-tion as a reader of all sorts of literatureand notably of the Scripture. Surely his

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366 THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SPEECH

is one of the most magnificent voicesever raised in my behalf. He is anartist of the highest rank. Among hisimportant innovations are analyses ofthe technique of word grouping and themeanings of punctuation. And he actu-ally does not think performance the mostimportant goal in teaching. He goes sofar as to say, "To enjoy literature forits beauty, for the emotions it engenderswithin us, for the stimulus it gives toour imagination, for the noble impulsesit calls up in us—this is the goal of lit-erary study."

1916 A.D.Today death broke up one of the mostimportant teams in the speech profes-sion. Robert Fulton and Thomas True-blood were both students of James Mur-doch. They taught together and wrotetogether for thirty-eight years. Both per-formed indispensable services in makingspeech a college subject with full aca-demic credit and in originating collegedepartments of speech in the MiddleWest. They were more interested inFather than in me, but also in my be-half they were crusaders. Trueblood con-demned the common and malicious ap-proach to me which he called the "in-stuffo" and advocated the truly "e-duco"method. While both taught in manyplaces and usually not in the same place,they will always be remembered to-gether, though now Trueblood mustcarry on alone.

A. D.Dear Diary:That Quarterly Journal has changed itsname again. Oh, don't think it is nowThe Journal of Interpretation—nothinglike that! But neither is it any longerThe Journal of Public Speaking. It isnow The Quarterly Journal of SpeecliEducation. That may be pedagogicaland stuffy, but it is an improvement.

1920 A. D.

A revolutionary book has just been pub-lished, about our family and partly aboutme, written by that Woolbert personwho regards me as such a problem. Thisbook establishes him as a leader in hisprofession, a position he has attained bya Horatio Alger sort of rise from pov-erty. He applies the principles of be-havioristic' or monistic psychology to allphases of speech. Here is a book thatwill not soon be forgotten. Some dayhe must write one about me alone.

1925 A.D. .Do you remember my telling you aboutDr. Emerson? Well, he died some yearsago and I have never told you about hissuccessor, Henry Lawrence Southwick.This man is another in the long list ofdistinguished students of Lewis Monroe.He was a teacher and then dean at Em-erson College of Oratory before becom-ing its president. But though he is acapable teacher and administrator, per-haps just as important to me are histours for lecturing and reading. Alwayshe uses a book and stand because hedoes not want his reading to be a per-formance. He is a great Shakespearanscholar and has eight or ten of the playsmemorized. Still, he always uses a book,though it need not be a copy of the playhe is reading. A hymn book will dovery well.

1928 A. D.The magazine now has become TheQuarterly Journal of Speech, a sensiblename. That sort of lets me in again.

Robert McLean Cummock died today.He was another Scotchman and a teach-er most of his life at his own school ofspeech near Chicago. I hope some daythis will be part of a great university.He was especially a student of the Bibleand of Shakespeare. Always he taughton a meagre salary and received far less

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SELECTION AND TRAINING OF BATTLE TELEPHONE TALKERS 3<">7

recognition than his work deserved. Rep-resenting no special "school," he taughtproficiency by an eclectic method. Hepublished no texts, but two anthologiesof selections.

1945 A.D.Dear Diary:I have decided to settle down in theMiddle West, at least for a time. It isnot like Athens, nor even like Boston,but I know now what is meant by west-ern hospitality. Also I am received ina friendly spirit by the colleges and uni-versities. In fact, I now devote a lot ofenergy—and I cannot help wondering ifit is well spent—to keeping or makingmyself what they call "academically re-

spectable." This process involves a lotof bookkeeping and I am not sure justwhat else it involves.

Times have certainly changed. I usedto have a separate course in deliver)'.Then scientific inquiry began, rules werelaid down, facts were isolated and classi-fied, the voice was subjected to an elabo-rate scheme of labeling. Alexander Mel-ville Bell and others created a compro-mise between the Natural and the Me-chanical schools. The philosophy ofpragmatism and the new psychology en-tered the picture. Now training hasbecome more specialized. More atten-tion is given to appreciation and to myaesthetic aspects. I guess I am at last areason for my own existence.

THE SELECTION AND TRAININGOF BATTLE TELEPHONE TALKERS*

JOHN C. SNIDECORSanta Barbara College

andLOUIS A. MALLORY

Brooklyn College

THE complexity of a moden fightingship makes it imperative that the

activities of all of its departments beclosely coordinated, and it" is largelythrough speedy communication over tele-phones that this coordination is achiev-ed. The Captain must be constantly in

* EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is a summary inpopular form of the research in voice communi-cations undertaken by Project N-109, Office ofScientific Research and Development, AppliedPsychology Panel. The contractor was The Psy-chological Corporation, New York City. Devel-opment of the program reported here was theresult of research and administrative duties ofmany individuals. Alphabetically listed, thosemost active in the research program were: T.Gaylord Andrews, George K. Bennett, John W.Black, James F. Curtis, Grant Fairbanks, Ed-ward L. Hearsey, George Hibbitt, Louis A. Mal-lory, John C. Snidecor. A second article on fieldtraining will appear soon.

touch with control stations throughoutthe ship so • that he may receive, accu-rately and rapidly, all the informationhe needs to make a vital decision in-stantly. The Gunnery Officer must getinformation to his gun crews so thatthe guns may be aimed and tired withaccuracy. The Engineering Officer mustbe able to pass the word immediately ifsome vital engine or generator is dam-aged.

In nearly every case, information ofthis kind is sent from one station to an-other by means of sound-powered tele-phones.1

1 The sound-powered telephone generates itsown electrical current from the power of thevoice. No outside source of power is needed.

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