The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-01-31
r,,..ks. 0empsisnentS, and Correc-
sanr.-TMe Neon and Sevorni s"no-


a., moon mon the weather, and imagine |
that YOU published with peculiar sat's'act'on'
nnd with tender commiseration for snch iu-
,.r;cs or luna,ics rs I, the array OF FACTS
which lind in the Dispach OF the 2"d. bnt
fhe publication Is so conclusive IN supper.
ri nv theory that am constrained, ino>.
heartily. to thank you for it Us the very pes
thing on our side that I have ever seen III
Cnur raper. The evidence is so clear That =
hone by the use of it to dissipatc some Va
The clouds that overshadoW !Ee hi'''u. v.
several learned friends on TINS i'ppo, ~n'
subject. Please take notice that thit.s
places are named, and at twcnty-tnleS oI
these there was q disturbance III inc Weatnet
on the change Of the moon; II was elLnet
rainy or snowy, cloudy or threatening. tah
YOU. on any other hypothesis than tlla' "nlch
we hold, account for so general an 'hc'eM-
-arcys sBat what do YOU say Of the other
seven places!'' answer: II is very probable
that there was an increased dampncss in the
atmosphere at these places, and that the
weather became threatening. II not posi-
t;velv Indictment. after the kilograms were
f1ispatcbed: still more probable that the lh-
flucnce Of the moon brought rain the next
dov 7 have often noticed that when this
;nfiuence il TOO feeble, US in Il long drough1,
a nrotiuce rain, it still brings UP some
clouds about the horizon; and | have US
often observed that an almost impercept,pie
change on tie change OF the moon cu1Iia.
mates in falling weather the next day. l'ut
even allowing that il was clear at some rev
spots, the general contrary aspect III otael
places is sufficient 10 establish vet speli III
The country at large. Do we not CONSIDER
summer wet one in state or county "iieh
st is generally reported to be such, even
Cny,
has been dry all the season: The widest
nreyalcrcc Of any state Of weather stiil
leaves some gaps in the clouds, due TO 'he
fickic winds or local causes. With such
arguments to support me, / thank you
acain for the important faci thai out or Unit
~ widelv.scparated pieces IN this lind only
seven anparcntly escaped the Influence ci
The moon on sunday January is, 1874.
Descending now from the skies, pei NIT me
to endorse your general correctness III ques-
fions of grammar. and especially your We"
of the use Of the word haze IN the sentence,
<.Really this case is one Of the most unique
that have occurred" &c. One Of yourarSu-
ments alone ought to be sufficient even tor Il
d. D.-name!y. that ceases" Is understood
after unique" But, alas for human excel
Iepce, in your sensible criticism you fall into
q common error Of expression, and say,
wrote the best English Of any editor"
Can there be any defence of this construc-
ton, or any correct language i'll such a case
but "beSt of alll" Pest OF one" is as
correct as "best of any," for any is but one.
The same sentence that contains this mistake
ends with " objects to-" But l am opposed
to the hypercrtIcism that would hold an
editor responsible, in the hurry of daily
composition, for q slip of the pen. AS you
receive so many compliments for your decl,
sions in grammar, law, and history, and
have so much candor when convinced,
have used the liberty of friend in pointing
out your faults, intimating, in the same VEN
of fidelity, that little more susceptibility or
sensibility Of proof in questions ABOUT inc
moon would become 4 pclSon OF your lnlei-
ligence and fair mind.
/ would like to have your opinion as 10
the escape which our language alorQS from
such dilemma as this: Every pedestrian
prefers 10 choose HIS own way Is not cor
rect, because all pedestrians are not males.
To supply her would make them All females.
<'His or her" is awkward, and "thcir' al
ter crcry or each. though often used, is OBJ
yiou>ly ungrammatica], because it makes 4
plural pronoun refer 10 singular subject.
Shall we say "All pedestrians prefer to
choose their own ways which seems to be
the only grammatical form, but too high
S0unQlnH LOT cOliOQuial USE. Sudll Uc SlIu
If YOU will "risc 10 explain
/ corciude by informing you that the Dis
patch and the State Jou1na! can never tc re-
coglZrd as the authors Of the new move
meut" in favor of prepayment OF postage
on newspapers. | saw it proposed some
time before Christmas in sensible letter
written by postmaster in Tennessee, and
printed in postal magazine which is pub
lishcd at Chicago. Sic transit, &c.
TUCKAHoE.
Valley Of Virginia, January IS, 1874.
ANSWER.
/. We shall make short work Of our |
friends moon theories. lie is an A. 3. and |
a D. D., if not an A. NJ; and so we tell him
at once that it is impossible that he should
believe that the changes of the moon affect
the weather, seeing that he knows that there
are no changes in the moon. The moon
changes as much on the day before it is called
"new" as it does on that day. The moon
falls back so much every day-thatis is, changes
every day; and the day that it sets long
enough after the sun to be seen we Call 1t
"new," "Tuckahoe" knows this, and must
therefore know that it is simply Impossible
that the so-called changes Of the moon (Which
never occur should Influence the character
Of the weather. We don't use this argument
with the common people.
9. But "Tuckahoc" makes the point that
out of thirty places named, twenty three ex-
perienced disturbance Of the weather.
True; but wait till you see our summer re-
ports, Tor look back to the reports of last
summary and you will find that twenty
three places out of thirty experience dry
weather the day the moon changes. The |
winter brings the frequent rains. The sum-
mer will bring dry weather, let the moon !
change when it will.
3. We hive no apology to make for using
the phrase "wrote the best English Of any
editor" &c, except that it is a common form
of speech. We had determined before
s'Tuckahoe" called our attention to it to |
leave it TO Professor Joynes to defend as an |
sdiomatic phrase.
4. "Ohjects to" is q good ending for a |
sentence and is unexceptionabIe English. |
We are surprised that any educated man
should be found to raise question On the |
point. What the books say on the subject |
is arrant nonsense, and of piece with that |
foolish squeami>hness which sacrifices sense |
10 sound and refuses to repeat words where |
they ought to be repeated. There is no finer |
Spaciman nj EnuliSh ~ font Tho, ,h;, *.