The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-04-01 00:00:00

.It4fr

RIDG

iA;

such an officer, but a person employed
with the cargo, and independently of the
The chairman ultimately decided, as between the two
referees who differed, in favour of the lady amid general
applause. The doom of other competitors was sealed
by "Tensile," net known in the sense of " hangieg ;"
"internecine," which a lady held to be ehnt ly " war-
like, ' instead of "mutually destructive ;" "ster-
torous," which a lady dcfised as "a loud, harsh voice,"
insteacLof "hard breathing '." "percolate," given &V' to
page through as water," instead of "to pass thitngh
by drops ;" and " spile' " not known as a "wooden
peg put into a cask of beer ;" " nescience," supposed
to be "knowledge," instead of its opt—
which caused much laughter; " peripate
.... _

was not connected with the walking philosophers of
Greece; "circumlocution," which was considered to be
"going about a point ; and "_piccaroon,Lunderelooe
as a "soldier" by a gentleman, who, when told that a
piecaroon was a "robber," unpatriotically consoled
himself for defeat by remarking that a soldier was a
robber. The words now necessarily rose in difficulty,
"marsupial," " cestus," " bathos, and other terms
stimulating the caution of rivals and increasing the
interest of all. Several ladies still eurviyed, in a com-
petitive sense, and they seemed well firmed for the
conflict. Altogether 22 victims fell in the second round
of questions, leaving more than 60 rivals still in the
field.

In the third round "recondite" was unfortunately
said to mean "very complete ; " "correlation" a lady
confessed to be to her an unknown term; " Bare°.
phagus " was inadequately defined by a gentleman;
"pleonasm " was given up by a lady, who said it was
"a word that was very seldom used," and was hi.
stantly informed of its connection with redundancy or
excess; "sciolism," defined as "a literary mistake,"
instead of "superficial knowledge ;" "banshee," con-
ceived to be a Scotch instead of an Irish fairy; and
"prehensile," given as "having the power of reaching
forward," the idea of catching or seizing an object
being fatally wanting. "Cenotaph," an empty tomb,
was confounded with "a sepnlchural monument;"
"fiscal," a term ruled as relating to the public treasury
or exchequer' made to relate to accounts. At.the end
•of the third round thirty-nine competitors remained
unscathed.
The questions then became increasingly difficult,
two hours and a half having already elapsed. "Ft,li-
ated," "scholium," stated to be a " tollege " instead of
a "marginal note " ; " daggle " having the meaning
"to dip in mire or water;" "woof," erroneously
thought to stand for anything woven; "naivete,"
mistaken for " slyness " ; "pellucid," said to be
" shining " instead of clear ; and " duenna," given as
"a lady of high rank" in place of "an elderly lady
kept to guard a younger one "—these and other words
further thinned the ranks of the competitors. The
contest was, however, not finished till a very late
hour.

oposit% au take
which- be_bltsert trp:m

about a _paint o.,:inAL!`_piecaroon,!: underd9od I root in thep,
- •*- • ' of the sword