The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-04-03

cataclysm of words hurled at him by the
valiant Shoemaker, but bit the dust by de-
claring with his dying breath that " ODE
lisk' ended in "que." When one of the
gentlemen spelled "heifer" his successful
effort was greeted with cries of "buH(y)
for you"' which produced much laughter.
"Synthesis proved destructive bomb,
blasting the chances of at least one promis-
ing youth. Coruscation" shattered the
hopes of an ambitious youth who wanted
to place two "r's" in the first syllable.
The number on the ragged edge had at
this point gradually dwindled down to
eleven on each side, and the excitement
increased in intensity. Baccalaureate "
was rather heavy for one of the eleven
males, and with amazement depicted on
his countenance he quietly subsidized after
attempting to spell out the first syllable.
The word "sutler" floored another typo.
as, losing confidence in himself, he doubled
the st." "Reviewal" brought down
another male victim. This was quickly
followed by two additional masculines trip
ping up on enforcement and "accrue-
ment," in both of which the vanquished
dropped the seq of the second syllable.
An old lady made an Intellectual attempt to
spell "pontitic with two "fs." The
general firing along the line had now re
and eight of the fair sex. Vaccination"
"empiric," gopher" Chinchilla," ''sa-
ponaceous " and "lorgnette F" brought the
number down to two masculines and six
femnines. These were seated in the cen
ter of the stage, the females in the middle,
the males playing the part of "end- men. y
The excitement, which had now risen to
fever-heat, was still more increased by the
fact of the contestants each spelling his
word in turn successfully. On the second
bout one lady fell out on ''practician, by
spelling it with at" Another school
teacher retired on "scirrhus with an o.
But six were left, and whatever would be
the result each would necessarily secure a
prize. Professor Shoemaker slung in his
iaw-breaking hendecasyllablcs, and sew
eral rounds were made without any failures
Miss Annie Graham thought that "per :"
was the proper way in which to start on
puryiew," but at the Professors signal
she modestly retreated. "Testaceous !"
muddled the funny boy of the evening.
He struck out on an 81" drew the reins
tight, jumped up in the air and came down
with an awful thud, demolishing all chances
of his victory. One of the contestants,
whom the Shoemaker seemed to delight in
,oelting with hard words, slid out the words,
"Tilt on, Shoemaker, but I'll Beet ch)yer, 5"
but his PRIDE DaG a sudden Iail as he turl-
bled on 81 azarine," looking mighty blue
Mr.. William F. Hughes, when asked to
elucidate distention," said that if it
meant "the act of stretching" it should
have an "s" in the last syllable. He was
ruled out, but a glance at Webster's I'm
abridged will show that either way is cor
rect Miss f. c. Rock spelled infinitesi-
NAL =" with double s." but the commit
tee, after examining Webster, said that
there should only he a single "s," and she
retired. This action of the committee,
excited considerable comment, many pei
sons declaring that the decision was unfair.
Only two ladies now remained in the field.
Miss Laura Rose stumbled on "hawser, :"
using an Gu" for "w." Miss Lizzie j.
Rock was now awarded Zell's Encyclo-
pedia " as the first prize. Mr.. Spangler in
presenting it said this was another exem
pliication of the old adage that Women
will always have the last word" Miss
Laura Rose took the second prize; Miss E.
c. Rock, sister of the winner of the first
prize, was third; William F. Hughes, of
Pottstown, Montgomery county, fourth
prize; II. NJ. Griffith, the fifth, and Miss
Annie Graham the sixth prize. This closed
the exercises of the evening.