The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-03-25
BOsTONs GREAT SPELLING MATCH.
THE SCHOOL ROys W.. 1nE
TYPOS.
4 spor, Of the Oiden Times.

delightful memories of the olden time the
announcement recalled TO those whose
school boy days are yelled with the mist Of
years. Who does not remember the spell
ing school, the charm of the winter even
ing, when youth and maiden choose sides
in the familiar old school room for the con
test? How many chose partners which
have aided them in mastering the great
school of life The modern mania Tor this
intellectual sport of the Olden time, though
Invested of some of the charms which rem
dercd the spelling matches attractive
quarter of a century ago, retains sufficient
novelty to please large audience, as the
three thousand or more people in the Music
Hall last evening bore ample testimony.
Then the old men and madens, the young
lads and the stately matrons gathered at
the call of the schoOlmaster and two of the
most popular were selected to "choose
sides. and alternately the choice was made
until the opposing ranks faced each other
with unbroken columns now the matter
is "cut and dried, the opposing tanks he.
ing enrolled in advance. Then the old
spelling book which Noah Webster
invented to puzzle the Juvenile brain
was the source from which the words
were drawn, and was the sole referee in
case of disputes now the ponderous quartos
of Webster and Worcester are ransacked
for words of difficult ortborraphy, and
committee of three consult the authorities
and exercise their judgment in cases of dis
putc whcn The legal photographers dis
agree. Then the words were put OUT by
the country schoolmaster or the law-gving
esquire" of the town, but now the gifted
elocutionist gives each difficult combination
the trill and emphasis of the studied mod
ern orthnpy. Such are some of the varia-
tions which characterize the modern spell
ing match, though the most conspicuous
departure in the match last evening was
the absence of the light-eYed school girls
and the grave specialized mothers who kept
faithful ward and watch over them IN the
good old days of yore. y spelling match
without the girls would never have been
tolerated in the days of lchabod era g.. ~
there is no accounting for NO lcin d-prl-
witty. Mr.. b. W. Wilirm-, Tie p ,ptldi
manager of the lecture burtau. seems to
have overlooked the ladies' in making his
plans for last evenings contest or perhaps
it was whispered that the boys AID The
typos would stand no chance of success in
contest with the keen students Of the
gentler sex. BE this as il may, however.
the error has been discovered, and Saturday
| afternoon there will he "fair chance for
the girls.
For last nights match fifty boys were
| selected from the English high, the Brm-
mcr and the Rice grammar schools, and the
| opposing side of equal number was made
up of proof'readers and compositors, main
| ly from the daily papers, who volunteered,
and three or four reporters.
Prof. Moses Il. Brown OF Tufts college,
thel well-known and popular eOcutionist,
was selected to pronounce the words and
| Moses H. Sargent, treasurer Of the Congre-
| gational publishing society William ii.
| Baldwin, president of the Young Mems
| Christian union, and Lucius A. Whcelock.
master of the Rice school, were selected as
the committee to supervise the exercises.
The seats on the floor of Music hall, the
balconies and all the available standing
room around the margin of the hall was
| filled, and when the school boys came in
and took their seats on the platform and
their opponents took the chairs assigned
them on the opposite side, there was q
warm outburst of applause. a richly.
bound copy of Worcester's masterpiece and
Websters unabridged, the prizes for the
| successful contestants, were conspicuously
displayed on table in the center of the
| platform, and when Prof. Brown made bis
| appearance about twenty minutes before
eight everybody was ready Tor the fun tc
| begin. The method of procedure wa:
| quickly announced. The words were to bt
spelled in order alternating from one side
| to another, and when word was missed
on the first trial the unfortunate spellei
| u n ttstan down and nnt' and 1aaun th(
| platform. Worcester was the recognized
authority, though word was not missed
which was spelled in accordance Will
either Of the leading authorities, wher
the authors disagreed. attorney wa!
the first word announced, and 1t was
promptly and correctly spelled by tho
printers side. Courtesy" was the fourtl
word named, and the school boy who
promptly responded c-o-u-r-t-e-s-e-y wa
dropped out of the contest. millennium
was spelled "Melleniun" by somebody OF
the printers side, who evidently had NJ
very clear ideas Of blissful future. Hi
attempt, however, was applauded, and h,
gracefully retired Another on the sam,
side put an extra in "Geranium." 'ltal
icize' was spelled with an S. "Farihace
ous' with two es, and superintendent
was the pass word by which an unfortunate
retired to privacy.
| The first genuine outburst of laughte
was when one of the printers spelled "let
tcc' for "lettucc," and there was genu
inc roar when another on the same sid
spelled "halibut" ''h-a.u-l-i-b-u-t :" and i
rather exhilarated the audience when on,
spelled e-x-h-i-l-i-ra physiology
was too much for one Of the boys, an,
"surfeit, resuscitate, tragedian, tortuous
slue, benefited, stanchion, evanescent
anomalous, epiphany, cantos, souchong, con
geries, fuschlas and traiiicking," are amonl
the words for the school boys TO prac,ic
with little more care. 'Antitype, coma
tose, cataclysm, filigree, duet, deleterious
foliaceous, indelible, quohaug and phocine
were among the words that were twic
missed, and ''eXacerbate' and one or TIVE
others were three times missed
The sides were remarkably well balance
though the school boys seemed to have til,
best of it throughout and the worst error
were made by their opponents. Two o
three words narrowed the contest down L
one printer and four boys and the audience
which had manifested the deepest interes
from the outset, were on the qUi Uice o
anxiety. The few reporters had been dis
tanced in the contest some time before
"empira~ for ''cmpyreal being the dir
calamity which caused the last to take hi
seat Finally only one was left upon
side and comfortable" caused MIR. Georg
f. Kimball, proof-reader of the Traus
cript to yield the field to Master Franz
Elsbree of the English High School, AM
that young gentleman received the warm
est congratulations of the audience as h
bore away the Russia-bound copy of Wor
ccster's dictionary and the Webster fell {
the lot of Mr.. Klmball. -Bost0n J0VRd',
Longevity.