The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-12-25 00:00:00

A "SPELLING BEE" IN LAMBETH.

The Daily News gives the following interesting account of
a "Spelling Bee" which was held in London the other
evening : •
The lists of the "Spelling Bee" were on Wednesday
night opened to all corners in a little schoolroom in
Lambeth, not remote from the Waterloo-road. The
charges for admission to spectators were not exorbitant,
threepence being the ordinary price, the aristo-
cracy being at liberty to pay sixpence for a re-
served seat if they pleased. Gentlemen competitors
paid an entrance-fee of eighteenpence, ladies being ad-
mitted to equal rights on payment of one shilling.
Eight o'clock was the hour fixed for the entertainment
to commence, and when, shortly after that time, a
reverend gentleman took the chair, the room was
about half full. At a given signal one-and-twenty
ladies and gentlemen filed out of a vestry near
the platform and seleeted their seats from amongst
six-and-twenty chairs conveniently ranged in a recess
behind the chairman's table. Four-and-twenty com-
petitors had entered, but three failed to put in an ap-
pearance. Of those who submitted to the ordeal, four
were ladies. After a few brief preliminaries, the con-
test began, a gentleman understood to be the head-
master of neighbouring schools undertaking the task
of interrogation. Beginning gently with words of one
syllable he got smoothly past the first row of can-
didates, but was not well into the second before
disaster befel one of the company. Asked to spell
"peninsula," he unhesitatingly added a final
"r" and, amid great cheering, was handed out,
and disappeared in the ranks of the audience.
The schoolmaster observed, in mitigation of the
offence against the accepted rules of orthography,
that 'nine out of ten educated Londoners in-
variably pronounce the word as if spelled 'penin-
sular'," a sweeping statement which will probably sur-
prise some people. The mode of procedure was that
the interrogator, holding a slip of paper in his hand,
read therefrom a list of words which he apparently had
prepared, putting a word in turn to each competitor.
The next to stumble was a lady, who came to grief
over the word "façade," which she ingeniously re n-
dered in accordance with the pronunciation, by int; o-
clueing an "s " before the cedilla. On the word
"mannikin," a curious incident arose. The gentleman
challenged spelled it as it is here written, but the
schoolmaster insisted that the fifth letter should be
"a " instead of " i." On reference to the dictionary it
was found that the interrogator was wrong, and the
candidate resumed his seat, to the great satisfaction of
the audience.
But before many minutes had passed the school-
master had a terrible revenge. He asked a well-grown
young man to spell "myrrh," and received the
astounding response " M-u-r-h I" When the judge
in a well-known case asked Sam Weller how he
spelled his name the witness replied, "That depends
upon the taste and fancy of the speller, my lord.' In
the course of the night's proceedings it was demon-
strated that the dictionary does occasionally allow some
latitude; but it was generally agreed that in this case
it had been inexcusably exceeded, and the candidate
was requested to withdraw. "Goitre" was the
next word that created a difficulty. The lady
whose turn it was to spell frankly declared
that she had "never heard of such a thing,"
and, ville,n explanations of its meaning were supplied,
she titnttly tried " g-o-i-to-u-r," which, the school-
master said, would not do, and she also retired. A few
minutes later she was joined by the third and penul-
timate lady. "Spell hawser,' said the interrogator,
blandly. " H-o-r--s," began the young lady, when a
roar of laughter checked her, and she gracefully
retired. A gentleman who had to spell " parallelo-
gram " tried it with two 11's, an economy which lost
him his chance of a prize. On the word "profuse-
ness" the schoolmaster again proved to be all abroad,
challenging the correct spelling, and claiming that
there was only one e. On "woeful" another contro-
versy arose, the question being whether the word
should be spelled woeful" or "woful," a difficulty
happily solved by the discovery that it might be
either. A gentleman retired with the conscious-
ness of having spelled "dissembler" with one "s,"
and a lady, the last of the sisterhood, sacrificed her
position by a hankering after the letter "e," which
she introduced in the middle of the word "lodgment."
A gentleman next failed with obsolete, which he
spelled " obselete ; " and another was impaled on
"vertex," a word 'of which he had never heard.
"Spell ' vertex,' " said the schoolmaster. Do you
mean vortex?" anxiously inquired the candidate.
" No, I mean vertex." I only knaw v-o-nt-e-a," re-
plied the candidate, mud that clearly not being vertex
he joined the general company. " Mezzo " proved a
hopeless puzzle for the gentleman to whose lot it fell.
He pluckily tried " m-e-t-t-o," after which there was
an interval and a little singing.
On the examination being resumed, fatalities oc-
curred with encouraging rapidity. "Accouter ed "
being tried with a single "c ' disposed of one of the
eleven remaining candidates ; the twelfth abjectly de
dined even to try "acquiescence," proving himself
worse than Captain Ragg in that famous spelling
bee," which Mr. Thackeray has illustrated both with
pen and pencil. "How do you spell struggle? Ensign
Famish asks his companion. "Don't know, my
boy," the Captain responded. " Twy thwee g's
in it." Number 12 at the Lambeth spelling-bee
posed with acquiescence, had not the heart even
to essay a few "s's," but slunk off the platform in a
glad manner that told how deep was his despair
The next gentleman asked to spell "anony-
mous," had got as far as a-n-n-o-n-n-o-n, when
he was stopped, and led off the platform. After
this there was a long tussle, in which the candidates
proved equal to the most determined efforts of the in-
terrogator. Then one spelled "incorrigiable," and
was dismissed. Coleoptera, spelled "colleeptera," got
rid of another, and, after a prolonged and exciting con-
test, the ichtliyosaurus, a pleasing creature, of which
the dictionary says that "it combines in the structure
of its skeleton the characteristics of a fish with these
of a crocodile," finally overcame the eighteenth can-
didate, and left the three prizes to be divided between
the three survivors of the struggle.

Tss ohf ethHeeltaav York
day
TimesHof
u‘ci:Nn'rounvt
em noticespbrt hr Y,ta the EuraFede m:1 ts, a
tErakttWhae bes NI
e thermometer
Tchh oEea
in N
ri n"e
ometeerwatYogrka, at
.m.
marked only 9 deg. Reports received stated that at
Albany it ranged throughout the day froit 2 to 8 deg.
below zero; at Montpelier, Vermont, it went 18 dec.
below zero, and at Bethlehem, New Hampshire, 22
deg. below. At Freyburg, Maine, the mercury was
14 deg. below zero at noon.
EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA.—The ship
Golden Sea, 1,418 tons, Captain Fergusson, chartered
by Messrs. Shaw, Sevin, and Co., th the Agent.
General for South Australia, sailed on Friday (the
17th) from Plymouth for Port Adelaide, carrying 424
emigrants, equal to 363 statute adults, comprising
agricultural and other labourers, various mechanics,
and 80 young single women. The emigrants are arida
the care of Dr. Angus Rees, and the single girls are
charge of the matron, Miss Borgins. The Agent-
General for South Australia despatches about the
same number of emigrants every month, and hopes to
despatch double the number per month in the Spring
and Summer.
GEOLOGICAL. —Where could you make a tre-
mendous Christmas pudling ? Why in the "London
basin" to be sure.—Judy.
AN ALPINE FOREST.— There is a wondrous
charm about these illimitable forests of pine which for
miles and miles clothe the huge buttresses of the Alps.
The charm is intensified at early morning, when a de-
licious fragrance steals up from innumerable wild
flowers in the various openings among the trees, and
from the green moss which clothes with such velvet
softness the rocks lying half hidden in the rich verdure.
Variegated lichens enrich with the colours of the
kaleidoscope these rocks and river-stumps ; wild straw-
berries peep out with their pretty pink eyes from the
shady grass, and, if we chance to look upward from
the wealth of beauty below through the rifts in the
dark foliage overhead, some pinnacle of snow is seen
soaring into the deep blue sky, as soft, and white, and
still, as the wing of a sleeping swan.—The Garden.
A DROLL WEDDING INTERRUPTION. The
Journal de Paris tells a very droll story of ani nter-
rupted marriage ceremony in a village near Metz.
appears that the bridegroom had announced his ageal
38 years, but on having to produce a certificate of birth
before the Maire of the place, he was found to be six
years older. This so exasperated the young bride,
that when her turn came to pronounce her consentto
the union, she said no very distinctly. The bride-
groom, amid the excitement of the assembled guests,
entreated her to pardon this subterfue, which
he laid to his ardent passion for the bride. The guests,
afraid of losing the opportunity of a genial feast at the
cost of the bridegroom also endeavoured to persuade
the bride to say yes, 'but all to no avail. Greatly
offended at having her dignity lowered, and being
slighted in this manner, the bride would not give way,
and the guests, to their great regret, had to depart
from the scene disappointed. The same afternoon,
however, the bride, having had time for reflection, let
herself be persuaded to grant pardon to the bridegroom
for slighting her by his false statement, and, arm in
arm, they went to the magistrate again, by whom they
were then united in the bonds of matrimony.
PRIMITIVE FOOD. —Alexander von Humboldt
relates that when journeying through South America
he came, at the close of a tiresome day, to a little
Indian settlement where the natives were takinitheir
evening meal. This consisted of a white mite ()catered
with black spots, eaten hot, and apparently relished.
Upon examination it proved to be no other than a
compound of ground ants and water, which was a
favourite dish in the wilds of the Rio Negro and
Guiana. The flavour of the cakes was pleasant; being
half sweet, half acid, from the formic acid secreted by
the ant. On account of the flavour given by this acid
the insects are often distilled with rye to flavour the
cheaper brandies of Sweden.
RAILWAY BILLS OF MORTALITY.—The returns
made to the Board of Trade show that in the first three
quarters of the present year 896 persons were killed by
railway accidents in the United Kinkdom, and 4,086
(or more than four times as many persons) were insured.
The persons who lost their lives comprised 91-passen-
gers, 531 servants of companies or of contractors, 50
persons passing over railways at level crossings, 187
other persons. The companies
report trespassers,
that amongd
i
passengers killed, 74 (or foura37 theol
in every five) lost their lives through their own mis-
conduct or want of caution, and among the 1,296 pas-
sengers injured, 401 (or less than one in three) had
themselves to blame. This leaves 17 passenger killed
and no less than 895 injured in the nine :months from
causes beyond their own control.
A " °ASV'S OMISSUS."—A German newspaper
relates the following rather ominous incident. At
one of the railway stations between Cologne and Berlin
a lady laden with parcels had for some time anxiously
awaited the arrival of the express. No sooner did it
dash into the station than a porter, compassionating
her weariness, hastily opened the door of the first
lady's carriage he could see and motioned her towards
it, when she started back in dismay. A dense cloud of
smoke escaped from the compartment, within which
she dimly descried two female forais in an attitude of
profound repose. Between the lips of. each of the re-
cumbent dames lay a small meerschaum, while the
expression of their features denoted that calm satisfac-
tion she had so often detected on the countenance of
the worthy Herr. at home when smoking his evening
pipe. She pointed to the smoke, and gazed in inquir-
ing horror at the railway official; he pointed to the
label on the carriage window, and stared blankly into
the coupe. The case was not provided for in the
regulations, and the situation was growing strained,
when a gentleman came forward, and banded the lady
into the "non-smoking" carriage, which on the better
maneged continental lines is stel provided.—Pall Mall
Gazette.

• -
•
C.
of
rig
ir-
le
ato
the
led,
ady
,tter
Vail
DAY
There
Li been
verthe-
es. As
ome to
.he ten-
oil sales
supplies
ling pro-
Lave been
any Lug-
d show of
In maize
ship have
In 1 at the
r EC :reAy
been o wer
Motive!.
he market
the a nnna
k, butchers
,wn grazing •
to, but they
an absence
day's prices
e quotation
at the more
Norfolk, &c.,
sbout HO, and
?ply has been
and Denmark,
te rates. The
still the trade
need in realis•
If breeds have
have changed
a dull. Coarse
1 quality ditto,
I.; prime Scots,
4s. Cid, to bs. 6d.;
Ai coarse woolled,
2d.; large coarse
6s. to 65. ;
ters, se. to ss. Bd.
LET.-MONDAY.
this morning, and
,ever, were ample
tire, 4s. to 4s. Bd. :
iall ditto, 55. 4d. to
,on, Si. to 4s • mid-
-55. 4d. to is. 4d. ;
id. to. es. BTh. by
-40fift*
a a moderate scale.
der :-Kent Regents,
; rocks, 855. to 905. ;
s. to 150 s. per ton.
!s, )1.6d to 25. Bd. :
3 Ss. 9d.; capercailzie,
35. ; hares, 45. 6d. to
;iirkeys, 7s. 6d. to 255.;
to 105 ; ditto Irish, 4a
fowls, 55. Vars.
to, 2s. M. to 21. 9d, ;
ls. 6d. to 213. DI each.
new Euglish Cloverseed
inch are again held for
hate or red, were fully as
Light advance with an im-
again held higher, with a
Mustardseeds were with-
!oreign Tares were dearer,
lish Rapeseed commanded
realized last week's quota-
se arrivals last week from
and 4,433 bales Bacon : and
;es Butter, and 1,123 bales
ler° was but little change to
ally finest Normandyies were
Factions in Corks. The Bacon
less transacted, but no c'hange
•
OW.
-r.Y.c. is steady at 53c per
low is quoted at 495. Sd. per
vorth 25. 4d. per Sibs. i
s. cl.
ißough Stuff, re" cwt. 17 9
Grosses 18 0
Good Dregs 6 0
535. Od. per cwt.
005.
:alio $1 60 8. Sd.„
„ 47.. 61. ~
Dec. 18.-'l'.c n; ket has been
and straw. Ti ade has been dull,
!. Quotation's have ruled as fol-
. to 1525.: inferior, 855. to 955.
1405.; inferior, 555. to 758. ; and
FISH.
175. 6d. per score ; crimped ditto,
s Is. 3d. to 4s. per pair; mackerels
/ice, 17s to 205. per basket : bloaters,
•ndred ; kippers, 2s. 61. to 4s. per
er lb. ; whiting, 10s. to 123. Cd. per.
34 61. each ; lobsters, 12s. to 80s. per
455. per barrel ; hallibut, 80. to 1.5.
£l2; pearl ditto, £3; common ditto,
HOPS.
mess transacted in the hop market
.as been restricted. Choice qualities
rce, have realised full rates, holders
nands, hut for inferior descriptions, of
?le supply, the trade has been slow.
le produce continue to fall off, and as
than on the Contiutnt, a further &mi..
East Kent Golding;, 1875, £6 10s. to
set° ; Weald of Rents, £2 58. to ail
Worcester, £4 105. to £.6 68. ; Fun-
• country, £5 ss. to A,6 ins. ; Yearlings,
11318, £3 10s. to £4; Bavarian, 1375,
' ist
14°. to £8 log. • Alsace, Lb to Lb ;
.o 10s. ; Alsace YeatliOge. tO ;
10s. to .e 5

p.

I