_The Tone of Voice._--Not only in giving orders but in all your verbal intercourse, the tone of your voice plays a part quite worthy of your consideration. It is a potent element of your personality in its effect on others, and easily within your control. It may interest you to the point of regarding your tones hereafter to realize the important part that human speech has played in our development from pure animalism. Centuries no doubt passed before primitive man learned the use of language. It was the one big step by which he proved his superiority over the other animals of creation and assured his progress. For language is the foundation, as it is the agent, of all knowledge; and alone made possible the mental processes necessary for our present accomplishment. Yet we see men to-day so blind to this, so indifferent to this fundamental difference between themselves and the beasts, that they allow themselves to roar and growl and whine and chatter in close similarity to certain well-known species. Others bungle the use of their voice deplorably; so one may barely catch their fading tones, or must shrink inwardly from their rasping one. Men actually attempt to win the minds of others and yet speak in tones so repellent that convention alone makes us stay to listen to them. It is a pity they do not think to hear themselves as others hear them, and thus learn not to sacrifice longer this natural asset. For half the power of speech is in the tone. We can all recall cases where it was the tone of voice that caused the trouble. "It wasn't so much the thing he said, as the nasty way he said it" has caused many a man to go to the mat. But it is not alone in making trouble that the tone of voice can accomplish so much. We have also seen the cool, quiet tone of a leader bringing order out of chaos and re-establishing control and confidence among excited men; the virile animated tone putting "pep" into men's work; and the firm, confident tone winning obedient following through danger and hardship. The power of speech is thus seen to be tremendous--let us use it to advantage, and as becomes members of the human race. _The Mob Spirit._--As any man may have occasion to deal with the "crowd spirit" and even with the "mob spirit," it is well to have some idea of how these things come about and are controlled. In normal circumstances the members of a community as individuals are law-abiding and self-restrained in deference to public opinion and their own sense of responsibility. Some sense of common wrong may unite certain ones into a group for the common purpose of obtaining redress or instituting improvement. This group may start with no intention of committing any overt act or even of actually doing any particular thing, and yet end by being led into most unfortunate excesses.