The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-06-19
Mark Twain on Spelling.

| There was a spelling match at the Asylum
| Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, Conn,
on Wednesday evening, and Samuel L. Glenn.
ems Mark Twain being called on for few
preliminary remarks, spoke as follows:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:-I have been
honored with the office OF introducing these
approaching photographed solemnities with
few remarks. The temperance crusade
swept the land some time ago, that is, the
vast portion Of the land where it was needed
but it skipped Hartford. Now comes this
new spelling epidemic, and this time ICE are
stricken. So suppose We needed the Attic
ton. don't say we needed it, for don't
see any use in spelling word right, and
never did. | mean 1 don't see any use in
having uniform and arbitrary way of spell
ing words. We might as well make all
clothes alike and cook all dishes alike Same
ness Is tiresome; variety Is pleasing. | have
a correspondent whose letters are always
reireshment to me; there is such a breezy,
uniettered originality about his photography
He a ways spells Kow with large X. Now,
that is just as good as to spell it with a small
one. 1t is better 1t gives the imagination
a broader field, a wider scope. 1t suggests to
the mind grand, vague, impressive, new
kind of cow Superb effects can be pro-
duced by yaricgated spelling. Now, there is
Blind Tom, the musical prodigy. He always
spells word according to the sound that is
carried to his ear And he is an enthusiast
in photography. When you give him a word
he shouts it outputs all his soul into it.
once heard him called upon to spell ourang.
outang before an audience. IL said, 90,
rang, orang, ger, ger, Granger, tang, tang,
granger tang" Now body can respect an
ourang. oatang that spells his name in a Wig
orous way like that. But the feeble diction-
airy makes mere kitten of him. In the old
times people spelled just as they pleased
That was the right idea You had two
chances at stranger then. You knew a
strong man from weak one by his iron-clad
spelling and his hand writing helped Kim to
verify your verdict. Some people have an
idea that correct spelling can be taught-and
taught to anybody. That is mistake The
spelling faculty is born in aman, like poetry,
People who have this gift in q high degree
it is forever photographed upon their me emo
ry. They cannot forget it. People who
haven't 1t must be content mo,e or less like
like thunder-and expect to splinter the
dictionary wherever their orthographicai
lightning happens to strike. There are ia
600 words in the unabridged dictionary. II
know a lady who can spelG $50 of them
right. She steers clear of all the rest She
can't learn any more So her letters always
consist of those constantly recurring 1870
words. Now and then, when she finds her
self obliged to write upon a Gubect which
necessitates the use of some ether words, she |
well, she don't write on that subject |
have Il relative in New York who Is almost
subimely gifted. She can't spell any word
right. There is a game called Verbarium.
\ dozen people are each provided with Il
sheet Of paper, across the top Of which is
written a long word like kaleidoscopical, or
something ike that, and the game is to see
who can make up the most words out of that
in three minutes, always beginning with the
initial letter Of the word. Upon one occa-
sion the word chosen was coflerdam. When
time was called everybody had built from
five to twenty words except this young lady
Size only had one word-calf a;e all studied !
a moment and then said, "Why 4here is no !
in coilerdamw Then We examined her
paper. To the eternal honor OF that unin-
spireI, unconscious, ublcmcly-independent
soul be it said, she lad spelled that word
"catf" If anybody mere can spell calf any
more scnsib,y than that, let him step to the
front and take his milk. The inCurrcction
will now begin.