Girls High School - Yearbook (Reading, PA)

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Since the publication of Volapuk there have been many interna- tional language schemes published, but none have been acceptable. In 1887 a committee, appointed by the American Philosophical Society, of Philadelphia, met to consider the subject of an international language and also the value of Volapuk. This committee did not think Vola- puk well-adapted for the purpose, and suggested that there be a meet- ing of a Congress composed of learned men of several countries to ad- vance a new language scheme. This meeting has not yet been held, and England especially has not been responsive to any such plan. There are what you may call limited universal languages. Techni- cal terms and symbols of the sciences are a kind of limited universal lan- guage. These embody mathematical signs, chemical symbols and Arabic figures, which are intelligible to all civilized nations. The arts, too, are a means of expression. The sculptor and the painter express their ideas in marble or on canvas, and we interpret them. In Millet's picture, The Angelus, do we not see the devotion, goodness, and gratitude in the pure and simple hearts of that peasant man and woman as he with head bare and she with hands folded stand in the field with heads devoutly bowed, the village church spire showing in the distance? Can we not almost hear those bells ringing? We do not have to read the inscriptions on all of the works of art to understand them. Music is a language which many can understand. Music not only ex- presses the moods of the composer, but also interprets the voice of na- ture. Do we not hear the twittering of birds and the rustling of leaves, the tolling of bells and the peals of thunder, the babbling of the brook and the fierce rush of the torrent? In the ages long, long, ago, all that was known of music was man's attempt to imitate the sounds of nature. He then used his art in charm- ing and influencing others. Thus long ago, Iire heaving bellows learned to blow, VVhile organs yet were mute, Timotheus, to his breathing flute And sounding lyre, Could swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire. Music controls our emotions. VVhy is it that tears come to our eyes when we hear a certain composition? VVhy do our spirits rise and our feet tap time when we hear some music? VVhy does our blood tingle when we hear a patriotic air? It is not the association of the words set to the music, but the music itself that appeals to the human heart. But in art there are many like unto VVordsworth's Dulhead, to whom, A primrose by a river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more. The deaf-and-dumb language is a language common to those unfor- tunate ones who can neither speak nor hear. It is taught in special schools. Then there is the Indian Sign-Language. This is a means of com- munication which can be understood and used by any one of the var- ious tribes, each one of which uses a different Indian language. Every gesture and every look is significant. The simple affirmative is signified by gesticulating with the extended forefinger, and the negative by a wave of the hand from front to right. A symbol for a drink is the hol- lowed hand presented to the lips. Darkness is represented by a simul- taneous movement of the hands, palms up, from the sides, in a circling manner until the palms, one above the other, rest in front of the body. I3 .

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She drank in, with her thirsty eyes, the unequalled charm of the wild lands, and breathed into her soul the scented air of the forests. The dark and murky city with its heavy, unhealthy air, was upon them, and nothing was left of the land of her dreams but memories. The city had held her its prisoner for long, endless weeks, crushing her soul with its maddening noises and its oppressing closeness, and steal- ing, bit by bit, the life from her frail body. Finally the city, reeking with terrible diseases, gave her its deadliest fever. For days in her de- lirium, she would call feebly for the open, with its free spaces, its pure air, its music of whispering winds and laughing waters. But she called in Vain, and finally called no more, for the soul of her was preparing for flight. At last, in the small, dark hours of the night, when the evil spirits glide softly to and fro, death stalked in, and claimed its own. The soul of the pale, sweet llower that had blossomed in the heart of the caravan, passed silently away like the Arabs of old. Again it was spring, and the caravan was moving, but mournfully, for back there in the city rested the body of the one it loved, the flower ol' the caravan. lllll, . ii.ji3i:'f h I ,,....i,q,igi T e nzversa iflll, ' illlllll illfl Milil.li'M - g g Lan ua e '- j-.E -9 llflllfllilllulvllff 'S 'Uhlilllilllifllllf 'fm Jlflary F1 Deem And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. In the beginning there was but one language. Imagine then the con- fusion which reigned when, during the building of the tower of Babel, the workmen were made to speak various languages, which rendered them mutually unintelligible. The same obstacle to intercourse exists today. We have of course an advantage in being able to learn a few languages in addition to our own, but the difficulty of learning even a few discourages us. Many attempts have been made to found a language which would be simple and easy enough for any one to understand. In some localities a sort of international dialect has been adopted. Such are t'Pigeon Eng- lish, spoken in China, Chinook, on the Pacific Coast of America, and Lingua Franca near the Mediterranean Sea. Even our own Berks County Dutch is such a dialect. One of the first systems of which we have record was that of Bishop VVilkins, constructed in 1668 on the principal of correlation of ideas. An- other system was that of Stephen Pearl Andrews in l8G9 which he named Alwato. This was supposed to have been based on philosophical prin- ciples. These two, along with several minor inventions, were unsuccess- ful. The only system which was put into actual use was Volapuk. This was advised by Johann Martin Schleyer, and published in 1879. Its prin- clple of eclecticism, or the selection of that which was the most excel- lent in each of various languages. This language is now known to some extent in every civilized country and taught in several schools and col- leges. I2

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Daylight is this movement reversed. The sign for a woman is made by drawing the fingers through the hair as though combing it. That for a man is A woman-nof' Perhaps the most interesting signs are those re- lating to time and to the seasons, each of which has a special symbol. It is said that two Indians of different-speaking tribes can converse for more than an hour by merely using gestures. This is, however, a universal language usedextensively by each and every one of us, whether we are cognizant of it or not. It is the simple and effective sign-language. If asked whether yo'u use this universal language, you might, without forethought, answer, No.', But you do. By this language we express our moods, desires, and even our thoughts. In a baby the signs are always the same. A cry indicates pain or a want of some kind, a coo, happiness, and even its drowsy, drooping eyelids spell contentment. But in older persons the feelings are expressd in dif- ferent ways. lust a right hand extended shows friendliness, and a shrug of the shoulders and a toss of the head, disdain. Nods of the head are either negative or affirmative. ' More suggestive even those gestures are our facial expressions. A smile or a frown shows whether we are pleased or displeased. The eyes have been said to be the windows of the soul, and they truly conlirm that statement. The twinkling of the eye marks mischief, and a bright flash anger. How expressive they arel What can we not read in them? Although every one uses the sign-language, some peoples use it more extensively than others. The Latin races are born hand-talkers and sel- dom utter a word which is not accompanied by some gesture. School children are extensive users of the sign-language. They use it in school and they use it in play. But the one who employs it continually through- out the day, in the larger cities, is the traliic officer. Of course, being un- able to speak his commands, he must resort to this never-failing means. His gestures suggest chieiiy, 'fCome ahead, stay back, to the right, and to the left. The street car conductor, too, uses this means of com- municating. Hfe says, Give my your money, and How many? many times a day, without saying a word. Our soldier lads, most of them knowing only their native language, found themselves in a strange country with a strange tongue. Never at a loss, however, they made thair wants known and were even able to converse with their foreign comrades. In a restaurant they got some- thing to eat toot sweet, as they said, by supplying their want of words with a fluency of gestures. When Columbus and his followers landed on the American Continent and they found the Indians as the inhabitants of these shores, they were able to converse and communicate with them, as were also other later explorers. They all made use of the sign-language. W'hen William Penn founded Pennsylvania and made a treaty with the Indians, he was not able to speak the Indian language. How then did he deal with these Pennsylvania natives if he did not use the sign-language? Our missionaries and explorers must depend largely upon the sign- language in their work among foreign peoples. While the sign-language is a universal language, it is not used ex- clusively. There are disadvantages as well as advantages in the use of a sign-language. While it is a silent language and can be used in a noise and an uproar, it cannot be used in the dark nor when the persons con- versing are not within sight of each other. What we must have as a universal language is something that will serve for the intercourse of foreigners, for commercial and general cor- respondenceg for diploinatic communications and documents, and for scientific treatises. A language thus devised would prove a valuable benefit to all men and nations. . I4