The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-03-17
PHONETIC SPELLING.
One Half tine Tine I'm the School
Room Saved.
MARCH 18th, 1878.

Editors OF the Register
You had an article about week ago
on spelling schools in which you Incl
dcntallv referred 30 the adoption of a
phonetic system Of spelling. While |
might not agree with you as to the pra-
ticabiity of adopting such system,
there can be no doubt as to the "wonder-
ful results If writing by sound were
adopted.
Does not the magnitude Of the task
which has caused the failure of all at
tempts to introduce system Of phonet-
les arise from mountain of prejudice
rather than from any real difficulties in
the way?
a writer in Appicton'S Journal thought
/. would spoil the looks Of our words, and
particularly some of the most familiar;
tongue, rough, ncighbor and other
words in which greater part of the
| letters are silent. What care we if we
/ yet the word, and it expresses what
| we want-this seems to me all q
mere whim-wc would get used to it.
| How horrible some of our fashions arc
| until we get used to them; then they are
! perfectly !ovcly-aS the ladies express 1t.
1t would indeed play sad havoc with
some of our proper names. But Won
would not notice much change on Baker
IL 10. 1t is true Fru " kamel would
look barbarous, Jul Pail and kokran not
egsaktly smooth, but we would soon learn
to give these gentlemen tho same re-
sprct We now do.
| became convert to this system when
studying photography, and L presume
! every short hand writer has had the
| same experience, and few terms spent
| in the school room, rs teacher, some
wears since, strengthened my convictions.
Fully one-third Of the time spent in the
study of the elementary branches of the
/ English languages Is spent in trying to
learn the hard words--lcarning to spell.
/ This and the study Of the tables in arith-
metic, which could BE- avoided by adopt
| ing metrical or decimal system-takes
up half the time OF the scholar, and
makes the school room, to say the least,
an unpleasant place. Precious time
| spent in the use of clumsy toUls-when
We can acquire the use OF something
| much better in half the time, But We
are in the rut and it is hard to turn out,
no matter how easy the driving after we
get out.
The spelling schools rs you suggest
may indirectly accomplish something
but in themselves, they amount to but
little except amusements-a certain
amount of which we must have.
1 suppose remember tic
cd smelling class, of which
your correspondent generally stood
at the wrong end to get tickets. Where
now are the smart girls, and pale boys
who stood head l have received letters
from some of them since, with one-third
of the words misspcllcd; and how the boy
who stood foot spells his, you can take
this communication, (which is pcnned IN
haste. and without the aid of dictionary
or spelling book.
Your explanation of the phonetic sys-
TEN" by giving copy" of same, l pre-
sumo wus.iutcnded as burlesque, or else
your compositors got things badly mixed.
, But you publishers are supposed to be op-
posed to any change in tie spelling as
it would cause Il change Of type, and q
new order ofthingS generally; what diff
ference does it make to
The Boy WHO STOOD FOOT.