Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1898 — INFLUENCE OF THE VOICE. [ARTICLE]

INFLUENCE OF THE VOICE.

Soft and Musical Speech Is One of Woman’s Greatest Charms. Eleanor Morton Parker, writing of “The Voice,” in the Woman’s Home Companion, says: "It has long been conceded that a pleasant voice is one of woman’s greatest charms. And many of us can verify this truth for ourselves by recalling the sweet influence of some woman, who, like the lovely Cordelia, spake in accents soft and low. A pretty face and a musical voice go well together, but of the two the latter Is preferable. The I>ower of a truly good woman possessing such a gift cannot be overestimated, especially if she Is refined and intellectual. Her harmonious tones fall with a restful cadence upon the ear of the invalid. They are peace for the weary, balm for the sorrowful, and are frequently more efficacious than a sermon in touching the obdurate hearts of the wayward. “On the contrary, we sometimes find rare beauty of feature seriously marred by the Incongruity of a disagreeable voice. It is said of the Empress Eugenie that the stranger was enraptured with her wonderful beauty, but the moment she all admiration was forgotten in the unpleasant sensation caused by her harsh Spanish voice. American women as a rule are not blessed with particularly musical voices. The colds, catarrh and bronchial trouble to which the sudden changes of our climate subject us more or less affect the vocal organs. In fact, soft, rippling utterance seems to belong more generally to lands of eternal summer. Yet any woman, no matter how great her natural defects may be, can, with few exceptions, bring her voice within a becoming key, and by proper care and exercise cultivate distinct, well-modulated tones. And it Is her duty to do so, since nothing will more certainly bring upon her social ostracism than neglect in this regard. “We are tired of being taunted by foreigners with our boisterous, loudtalking girls and women, when we know that many of those who make such unfavorable impressions upon strangers are at heart kind, gentle and refined. Let us hope that with the present movement for physical culture and voice culture and every other kind of culture the noisy, garrulous woman of street car and watering place fame will have soon passed away, and in her stead come a being who will not converse as though every one within hearing were deaf, and she were bound to finish the sentence she is bent on uttering that very moment or never. There is no greater assurance of a happy home than a calm, well-regulated voice, and the woman who possesses it has won half the victory toward social and domestic success.”