Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1875-05-27
mark rv,lu on Spelling.

" -
.rhere was a spelling match At the
Asylum Hin Congregational Church.
Hartford. Connecticut, recently. and Mr..
Samuel L. Clemens MARX Twain) being
called on for q few preliminary remarks,
spoke rs follows: $40
LADIES AND GESrIExxS: I have been
honored with tho Office Of introducing
these approaching photographed sol.
etnnities with . few remarks. The tenn
perance crusade swept the land some
time ago-that II, that vast portion Of
the land where 10 was nseded-but II
skipped Hartford. Now comes this nav
spelling epidemic. and this time We are
stricken. So ! suppose We needed the
affection. I don't say we needed II, for
I don't sec any use In spelling q word
right, and never did. I mean I don't
nee any use in having q uniform and
arbitrary way Of spelling words. We
might as we'll mako all clothes and cook
all dishes alike. Sameness is tirosome;
variety il pleasing. I have a correspond
emit whose letters are always q refresh
ment to me, there Ia such o breezy, I'M
fettored originality about his orthog-
rsphy. He always spells kow with q
large X. Now that Is just Al good as to
spell Il with q small one. II Ia better.
Il gives the Imagination . broader field,
q wider scope. II suggests TO the mind
a grand, vague, impressive. new kind OF
q kow.
Superb effects can DO produced by va
riegAted spelling. Now. there Is Blind
Tom. the musical prodigy. He always
spells q word according TO the sound
that il carried to his ear. And he Is an
enthusiast in photography. When you
give him a word. no shouts II outputs
all his sonl into II. l onco heard him
called upon to spell o~nng-outang before
an audience. lie said: 30, r.a-n.g.
orang. c-c-r. ger. Granger. tang. tang.
Granger tang!" Now. q body a ro-
spcct IN orang-outang that spells his
namo in n vigorous way like that. But
the feeble dictionary makes q mere kit
ten Of him. In the old times people
spelled just rs they pleased. That was
tho right idea. You had two chances at
q stranger then. You knew q strong
man from a weak ono by his iron-clad
spelling. and his handwriting helped
you TO verify your verdict.
Some people have an idea that correct
spelling can DO taught-and taught to
anybody. That is n mistake. The spoil.
ing faculty Is born in n man. like music.
poetry and art. II il q gift; II IL q tai
snt. People who have this gift In q
high degree only need to sec a word once
in print, and II Is forever photographed
upon their memory. They cannot for
get II. People who haven't II must be
content to spell more or less like-like
thunder-and expect TO splinter the die
tionary wherever their photographed
lightning happens to strike. There are
lii,O00 words intho unabridged diction-
AIRY. l know a lady who can spell only
$50 Of them right. She steers clear OF
all the rest. She can't learn any more.
So her letters always consists Of those
constantly recurring $50 words. Now
and then, when she finds herself obliged
to write upon q subject which necessi-
lltth tuo uso VI npiic btuti Nutust wv
we'll. she don't write on that subject.
l have n relative in New York who is
almost sublimoly gifted. She can't spell
any word right. There is a gamo called
verbarium. A dozen people arc each
provided with q sheet Of paper. across
the top Of which il written n long word.
like kalsidoscopical, or something like
that, and tho gamo Is to SEQ who can
mako up tho most woris out Of that in
three minutes, always beginning with
the initial letter Of that word. Upon
one occasion the word chosen was cot.
feriam. When time was called every
body had built from five to twonty words
except this young lady. She only had
ono word-calf. We all studied u mo-
ment and then said. "why thors Is no
I In c~offerdam." Then we examined her
paper. To the eternal honor OF that
uninspired. unconscious. sublimely in.
dependent soul DO il said. she had spelt
the word "caff I" II anybody hero can
spell calf any moro sensibly than that,
lot him step to the front and take his
milk. The instruction will now begin.