National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-03-30
1aTAoeRAPH1c wREsrIERs.
q BATTLE Last Night-Mrs. ?. h. Smith the
Vietnr


Victor.
There was q large attendance at the spslIIng
match at DIR. Sunderland's church last evening,
many OF whom went to struggle for photographic
honors and the Webster's Unabridged which was
offered as a prize.
Until o'clock the audience stared at a vacant
row Of chairs on the platform, relieved occasion
ally by the appearance OF SEINE nervous gentle
man in front, who would rise and look furtively
around the audience and then jot something down
on piece Of paper. Their attention was also
frequently distracted by the movements Of little
boy with short coat, rather tight under the
arms, and pencil behind his ear who kept dodg-
Ing ground before the platform: evidently as
signed to some very important duty, and fully
conscious Of bis own greatness.
At 8 O'Clock Mr.. Charles Darwin arose. and
which did not materially differ from those OF the
previous match, with the exception that q word
would not be passed to the next speller when
missed ny one, introduced the pedagogue, Prof.
PROP. sALLAuDRr,
after few wellchosen and humorous words OF
Introduction, which particularly amused the little
boy IN the tight coat, who fell Off his chair in
convulsiVe 1t Of laughter, explained that the
FIRST contest would not be for the prize but to get
up the spirit Of the combatants. He called for
nominations for leaders. Mrs. Schliecker and
Mr.. l. L. Crounse were chosen leaders.
Mr.. Crounse selected as his side, which It was
agreed, should be composed Of gentlemen, Messrs.
Gurisy, F. Miller. N. B. Whiteside. VIM. G Cur: II:
ley, DR.. Csthcart, W. J. Candy, N. Du BoIs and
q. StOrrs. Mrs. Schliecker chose Misses Mary
Thomas, Hannah Kelley, Rosa Sunderland, Mrs.
Cathcart, Mrs. Sheldon, Miss Julia Gilman Miss
Nannette Draper, Miss Laura Sunderland and
Miss Lizzie Johnston. In accordance with the
directions Of the rules Mr.. D. y. White was
elected referee by the audience, and Mr. Chas
Darwin appointed BY the pedagogue as his ssso-
ciate.
As the contestants struggled to their places on
the platform, the audience closed in q dense mass
The first word came out loud and clear. tame.
thyst," and Mr.. Crounse struggled with it and
came out with ny Ing eolors, amid the applause OF
Mrs SchIiecker then went out on ''baIuster."
Some very classical spelling then followed. such
''codieile" The boy with the tight coat had been
missing for some time, but when the word IAN
bient" was pronounced, he made his appearance
from behind the form Of portly gentleman with
gold spectacIes and spelled it ''ambiant" in q
voice that banished all solicitude concerning his
lungs, and when he was trotted of the stage he
sLAMMING DICTIONARIES
about in a vain hunt for the word "ambiant"
"Privative" was misspelled. Miss LAURA Sun
derland spelled "corrObbrate." One gentleman
red when he was informed Of his mistake. Tit
illate," "tessellate," gorilla" for guerrilla"
each represented q departure.
I'At length none remained standing but Mr.. VIM.
J. Candy and Miss Rosa Sunderland AfIer they
had each spelled several three-stOry words, Mr..
Candy was ruled out on ''railery," but after some
hTs
Canby's spelling was said to be correct, and the
match stood drawn between Miss Rosa Sunder-
land and Mr.. VIM. ]. Candy.
nat this point an intermissiOn OF a quarter of an
hour was taken to allow those who wished TO par
take of re freshments to do so.
After the coffee had all been gulped down,
Prof. Gallaudet called for volunteers to couteud
for the dictionary, and the following Responded,
including old and young Of every description:
THE ROLL CALL.
Mrs; Sheldon, Mrs. L. Johnston, Miss r. Jehu-
Mrs. Rodebaugh, Miss Fuller. Mrs. Cole, Miss
BeldeD, Mrs. Cathcart, Mrs. d. W. Brown, Miss
Addie Smith, Mrs. +. Smith. Mrs. Sunderland,
]. Baxter, Louis Johnston. John Ridout, +.
White, jr., N. b. Whiteside, H. L. Prince, W. l..
Marcy, H. A. Gibbs, Z, H. Patterson, E. T.
man, k. Gurley, ]. T. Reag, P. T. Mason, r. A
DillOtt, L. L. Scott and DR.. Z. L. Cathcart.
- The tIst werd given was baluster, which threw
DR.. Cathcart out Of the game. Calender struck
a tender spot in another. The young gentleman
with the brief garment, who had attracted so
much attention previously, distinguished himself
by spelling catechise correctly, and BY spelling
several words in succession, which so elated him
that he chewed away on the end OF his lead PEN
sion which said, "you better try me on o lew
Chinese words, hadn't you?" but chancellor"
sWooped him.
After s'chockolate,n "diIIitory,'' "dessecate.n
inflammation" ''titIiate," "slbyilne," '.csllon-
ade," "degragation" for degradation" "fala-
eeCus," "dignataTy" .ignious," ''salea6le,m,
''merritorious," .syitriousT and "shastii for
"sbasta" had done their work Of destruction on
the seventeenth round there were LEFT Miss
Draper, Miss Johnston and Mr. Howard L. Prince.
On the nineteenth round Miss Johnston retired
after an Intellectual struggle with "sirrus." al
though young lady in the audience was work
ing her mouth into all sorts of shapes in an en-
deavor to enlighteR the unfortunate contestant.
After a few turns Mr.. Prince gracefully LEFT
in behalf OF Mrs. F. Il. smith, who had been
taken down on "seriate.h 1t was claimed that
she had spelled the word which had been pro-
nounced, and Miss Draper offered to continue the
contest with Mrs. Smith. After some ine ohio
graphic sparTing, Miss Draper went 70 grass
On "ialeaee0us," and Mrs. Smith was declared
victor and owner Of the dictionary.
Spelling and Reading.
To the Editor orthe National Republican:
SIR: The spelling contests which are now en-
gaging the attention Of many are commendable
and worthy to be encouraged, serving as they do
not only as q means Of entertainment and socia-
bility, but possessing merit as promotIve Of an
acquisition so valuable, and by many so much
needed, as correctness in common orthograPhy.
These more public exercises, and the references
to them in the newspapers do much to stimulate
to similar contests in the family and workshops,
thus leading to q moro general photographed
correctness. If accuracy in photography be de-
sirable in every person who writes It doubtless
is TO all who desire TO avoid being considered illi
crate, how much more important is 1t that every
one should know how to read aloud, and should
understand the proper use OF the vocal powers
in effectively rendering the sense Of the author
by suitable tone. cadence, meditation, pause sc.
Even public readers too often fail in this Qualh-
cation essential to the satisfaction OF cultivated
hearers. This is written to suggest that classes
or org aniZatons be formed to hold public reading
exercises to be participated in by volunteers, by
giving brief examples Of common reading, subject
to comment and criticism by the audience. Juniors
excelling might be awarded prizes.
AUDITOR.
To the Editor Of the National Republican:
SIR: Please to inform Your correspondent 'In-
dex' that there are many earnest advocates Of .
reform in English spelling, who have for years
been making efforts to secure 1t. They would,
indeed rejoice If the assembled wisdom Of the
great Centennial" or some other influence,
would induce the educated men and women OF
our country to adopt perfect alphabet. This is
the reform demanded and it is feasible, simple,
easily understood and philOsOphically correct, If
accomplished upon the following basis, viz: Let
there be Just as many alphabetic characters as
there are simple elementary sounds, so that no
character should represent more than one sound,
and no sound should be represented by more than
one character. Such q reform would require forty
one, or at most forty-tWO elementary sounds and
as many letters, instead Of the tIenty-six actual
letters. With such an alphabet every word in
the English language could be spelled correctly
at once If pronounced correctly. OF course the
alphabet must be learned phonetically and thor
oUghly. VIA.
The Grammatical Ball.