Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1875-05-29

There was a spelling match ct
Hartford on Wednesday evening,
and Mr.. Sam'l L. Clemens, MARK
Twain being called on, spoke ~
| follows:
Ladies and Ge,,tiemcn II have
been honored with the Office Of In
Producing these solemnitios with
n few remarks. The temperance
crusade swept tho land some time
ago, that is, that vast portion Of
the land where II was needed, but
| 1t skipped Hartford. Now comes
this new spelling epidemic, and
| this time zoe are stricken So 4
suppose we needed the affection.
I don't say we needed 1t, for I don't
see any use in spelling a word
right, and never did. / mean I
don't see any use in having q uni
form and arbitrary way Of spelling
words.
We might as well make all our
clothes alike and cook all dishes
alike. Sameness Is tiresome va
riety Ii pleasing. | have a CORES
pondent whose letters aregalwayS
u retreshment to me, there Is such
breezy, unfettered originality a.
bout his photography. lie always
spells Kow with large K. Now
that is just as good as to spell Il
with a small one. 1t Is better. IL
gives the imagination a broader
field, d wider scope. 1t suggests to
the mind a grand, vague, Impress
i've, new kind Of n COW. Superb
effects can be produced by varic-
gated spelling. Now, there IL
Blind Tom, the musical prodigy.
lie always spells word according
to the sound that Is carried to his
ear; and he il an enthusiast in or
biography. When you give him
word he shouts 1t outputs all
his soul into 1t. 1 once heard him
called upon to spell 0rang 0utang
before large audience. And he
said. 20, r-a-ng-g-e-r, ger, Granger
t-a-n-g, tang: Granger tang r.
Now body can respect an orang-
outang that spells his name In q
vigorous way like that But the
feeble dictionary makes mere kit
ten out OF him. In the old times
people spelled just as they pleased
That was the right idea. You had
two chances at stranger then. 49,
You know a strong man from
weak one by his iron-clad spelling,
and his handwriting helped you
to verify your verdict. Some pe0-
pie have an idea that correct spell
Ing can be taught--and taught to
anybody. That Is q mistake. The
spelling faculty is born In q man,
like poetry, music and art. Ii Is
a gift; it is talent. People who
have this gift in high degree on
ly need to see word once in print
and 1t IL forever photographed on
their memory. They cannot for
get 1t. People who haven't 1t must
be content to spell more or less
like-like thunder--and expect to
splinter the dictionary wherever
their photographed lig htning just
happens to strike.
There are la, ZOO words In the
unabridged dictionary. / know
lady who can spell just only $50 Of
them right. She steers clear OfalI
the rest. She can't learn any more.
So her letters always consist Of
those constantly recurring $50
words. Now and then, when she
finds herself obliged to write upon
a subject which necessitate5 the
use or some other words, She
we'll, she don't write on that SUBJ
ject. / have relative In New
York who Is almost sublimely gift
cd. She can't spell any word right.
There is game called Verbarlim.
A dozen people are each provided
with q sheet Of paper, across the
top Of which is written long word
like kaleidascopical. or something
like that, and The game Is to see
who can make up the most words
out Of that In three minutes, al
WAYS beginning with the initial
letter Of the word. Upon one oc-
casion the word chosen was Golfer
dam. When time was called, ev-
erybody had built from five to
twenty words except this young
lady. She had only one word
calf. We all studied a moment,
and then said: why, there is no I
in coffer-damp Then we examin-
ed her paper. To the eternal hon.
or Of that uninspired, unconscious,
sublimely independent soul, be y
said, she had spelled that word
q caffiu If anybody here can spell
calf any more sensibly than that,
let him step to the front and take
his milk. The insurrection will
now begin.
Eo.,~tt, ~ f,.lu IL IN M, celebrated