The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-02-11
oRTHoGRApHIoAL EXERCISE.
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sss0ussW Wednesdayw evening, the wave.
which has been, sweeping over Northern
Ohio reached Canton, and d spelling
school was held in the lecture room of
the Presbyterian Church, which in the
matter of form in which it was con-
Quoted, tended to bring pleasant thoughts
of past years to the minds of the older
citizens present, as well as pleasure and
profit to the younger participants. The
spelling began ut s o'clock, In the hrst
contest, which continued for halfan hour,
two opposing sides, composed OF thirty
members each, with w, L. Bascom and
Henry Cock as Captains, spelled against
each other. Miss Emm Goodwill pro-
nounced the words, and M. A. Troutman
kept tally. At the close OF the limited
time, Mr.. Troutman announced that Mr..
Bascom's side had missed Is words and
the opposing side 10 words. A recess
was then announced, and for five min
utes the room seemed like an immense
beehive, photographed discussions were
carried on in all parts of the room, and,
the dictionary was in demand. At the
close of the recess, order was again re-
stored and about sixty confident persons
of both sexes, from ten to sixty years OF
age, ranged themselves in standing posi-
tions around the room, to participate in
the old time exercise of spelling down"
Mr. F. L. Case pronounced the words.
DURING the first few rounds the number
was greatly diminished by the unique
spelling of some of the younger and less
experienced participants. When the
number was reduced to about twenty
the amusement began to increase in in
terest, as those remaining were consld-
cred among the most reliable spoilers
present, and the words began to grow
more difficult. The first word that made
any considerable decrease in the number
of spoilers, was nnem0ntcS, which sent
several to rest among the audience. A..
w. Ballard, not having engaged seriously
in the pleasure for many years, found
the word WOoer strange one to his mind,
and spelled it with one Co." AS q conse-
quence he reclined in pew. ". W..
Clark was the next to stumble over q
word for which he was unprepared, and
he too reclined. Then came word that
racked the minds of several dubious
ones. 1t was Pleads, the name of a
cluster of seven stars in the constellation
Taurus. This word was twisted into all
conceivable shapes, divided into many
FORMS and before it was correctly spelled
by James McElhenie, c. Aultman & Co.
telegrapher, it sent VIM. Rank, Mr..
Miller and the timid reporter of this
paper to find seats among the audience.
Roq,isldur was the next puzzle that came
from the lips of Mr.. Case, and it sent the
senior editor of the Democrat to place
among the missing, and was correctly
spelled by Miss Josephine Kimball, who
in turn waltzed down an aisle after hav-
ing spelled word contrary to McGuffey.
One by one the ranks were thinned, until
but 1.-TWO remained. The audience grew
excited, and there was much confusion,
but Mr.. Case stood near the two contest
ants, w. D. Braden and Miss Ellen Holm,
each of whom spelled each word deliber-
ately, and evidently thought several dis
tinct times before uttering single sylla-
BILE. Finally, at the suggestion of some
one, Mr.. Case gave the word Pterodactyl.
Mr.. Braden deliberated a moment, and
then began to struggle with that speci-
men of geological nomenclature, which
ended in his defeat, and he took his seat
amid the confusion of applause occa-
stoned by the success of Miss Holm, who
sailed through the polysyllabic puzzle
with the utmost complacency, and with
outa wrong utterance.
This closed the evenings entertain
ment, which was one of pleasure and
profit. We are of the opinion that an
Improvement will be made many future
occasions ofthis kind, ifthe words can be
pronounced from some reliable literary
publication, either magazine, newspaper,
or volume. We know of several who
were SO thoroughly versed in the con-
tents ofthe spelling books used, that they
could tell just what words were coming
before they were pronounced, while
others whom we know, never spelled
from the classified pages of a spelling
book in their lives. This gave rise to
unequal chances, and brought about re-
suits that would not otherwise have oc-
Cured. We hope to see this profitable
kind of amusementea carried on, but would
rather hear the words given promiscu-
ously from the pages Of some reliable
and authentic publication.
/ Er11'y " q Sd 49, = -----E- H.ifH