Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1876-07-21
Blabber's Letter.


| Mr.. Editor Hot weather still ontinnes,
bnt so far there has been no serious results
from it in our neighborhood-no worse
/ than numerous cases of "giving out" Of
hands al work, and even most of these cases
were all right again by next day. lis good
result is making corn, and other crops grow
astonishingly. The heavy work of every
grange should fall this year on the Chaplain
| in giving thanks for the bounties vouchsated
his order as well as on all other kinds and
conditions Of men and it would be no more
than right that in This special duty every man,
Whether granger or something else, should
become Chaplain. The hot weather is also
a good thing 10 talk about. In fac, all kinds
or any kind OF weather, will be talked about,
but this exceedingly hot weather reduces so
many 10 a condition in which they can or win
do nothing else butaialk. pidyou ever notice
that every very hot or very cold day is pro-
nounced the hottest or the coldes; OF the
seas son, or, perhaps, forseyeral seasons2 YET
| there will be some oneio the community thai
remembers some especial day liar was hotter
or colder, leading you to infer that he is the
only one of that time remaining still on earth
to revive the memory of thai hotor cold day
GAINESVILLE, like other places, has its ditfsr-
ent grades Of society though it would be
very difficult to define the several grades -
These lines are about rs eccentric and iriegu-
lar MS the lines dividing Monlgc merry farms
First we have the color line, dividing white
and black but this line is hardly Just, for,
| think, there are some people on the ~ bite side
more fitted by nature and practice for the
black side can't, however, just now think
of any on the black side that should be on the
white Then we have our division by wealth,
AS they have in New York; by intellect, as
they have in Boston by blood, as in Phila-
delphia; by official position, as they have in
Washington. Now these several division
lines intersect each other "a, every imagina-
ole angle that we can pick ont frat grader
Of any one kind, but that we will find him
second or thru or maybe lower still in some
other kind. Taking it all together, the con
dition on the whole is satisfactory, for each
one can find some form Of classification in
which he is first grade and, of course, thinks
that is the only form in which it is worth
while being first grade. The best general in
dica!ion Of social grade, perhaps, after all, is
dress Now, young man may have box-toed
shoes, and striped stockings, and long skirt
ed coat, and dog-enred collar, those are all
well enough, and may pass him in third and
second class society; but 10 get into the first
class he must have a soft hat with a gravy
boat in the top Of it. Our people, foo,
generally happy people. There are but two
drawbacks TO our complete happiness, One
is having to work, and the other having 10
pay debts. II we could just get some cure
for those two diseases we would be II conienied
people, sure enough. True, there are some
few who do not allow themselves to he tTou-
BLEED much by these drawbacks, but their mum
Der is not sufficient to promote general happi
ness.
'Listtnerp has found out the eaning Of
the word slang, and, Of course, has to acquit
Blabber Of using slang, for he row is willing
to enter into controversy which he so alb
horred only a couple Of weeks since. Listen
er ought to have looked at the dictionary be-
fore he exposed his Ignorance. Since coz
sulting it, il is remarkable how his judgmeht
agrees with Webster. Instead however, Of
frankly admitting his error lie tries 20 bolster
up his reckless assertion, and after ransaCkng
BiAbbers letters finds three quotations that he
attempts to bring under the meaning Of the
word slang as he now understands il {iG his
Judgment and Webster's
The first quotation 10 from nv letter Of
June. and was in reference 10 Senator Conk-
lings defeat before the Cincinnati Con
vention. The phrase used then admitted
was inelegant hut TO any one who has ever
seen or heard the New York Senator think
it would be deemed appropriate. Listener
says il is low and vulgar" Well, TO "A low
and vulgar mind, perhaps it ia the Scrip
lures, however tell us that "to the pure uli
things are pure"
The next stang is my SAYING hat "yIAyes
won the prize ticket that will carry him up
Salt River next falln thought there was
no sane person in the United States, ten years
old or above that age, that did not understand
the meaning of the Salt River legend, but
Listener shows that he is isnoran, Of that,
too; and rs he will hardly find the definition
Of il in his dictionary must enlightsn him
Listen, then, Listener. A good many years
ago there was r man in some Of these United
States don't remember which--who became
candidate for some sflice-I don / know
L, 4 J. .14.. N
Salt River. Well, it came to pass that on
election day he didn't get votes enough TO
elect him, and SO he was defeated. He was
amongst the first to find out the result Of the
election ana as he had lost all interest 10
talking about il and didn want 10 hear ans
one else talk about it, and as he had not been
fishing for sometime he concluded early next
morning after election TO go up the river
fishing So when his friends called on him
that day to console him or his enemies to see
how he took it, why the only reply his wife
give them was that ''be had gone up The Salf
River.' Not long afterwards this incident
was related by some good storJteller in Con
gress and it has ever since been the custom
to say Of a defeated candidate that he has
gone up the Salt River"
| !. Now, Listener, Is it meaningless? If so.
| you must charge the slang of il to that defeat
cd candidates wife, for don't intend re-
/ tracing r.
The last Slang he quotes, ends with
somebody ought to be well showed up,
and he asks il il does not contain meaning
less phrase. No Sir, it does not contain q
meaningless phrase. Listener found meaning
1 enough in it in a former letter TO imagine THAI
/ he was the one that ought to be showed up
and accordingly made his iuexplicabIe expls-
! nation. There may be question of etyuolo-
4 gy as TO whether sho1eed might not be more
/ properly written shoJcR. Listener, however
1 does not care much about etymology -syntaI
/ is his forte. He virtually comedies that Bab-
i ber's letters are free enough from slang TO
! bear controversy with so pure a writer as he
| Listener, and being full of false syntax iua
suit to his hand He put controversial chip
/ on his shoulder and dares me 10 knock it of
| cant say which il is that causes him to say
i Blabber's last letter is so full of false syntnx
/ ignorance or disregard for truth but Judging
/ from the syntax in the opening of his letter of
July 10Th, think Il must be ignorance. It's
true, Bla6ber does not write in the Addiso-
nian style, nor would il be the proper style
! even it he could command il in which to treat
the subjects and objects of bis letter, hat he viii
/ defend his syntsx. So pitch in Listener. our
criticisms, if they be read may benefit the rls-
/ ing generation, but please avoid pedantry.
! Yours,
BLABBER
P. S. ! regret very much that one of the
parties ] mentioned last week in the burlesque
/ report of the horse.race has taken ofense at
! it. No otiense was intended, and had for
momen, thought it would be taken would
not have used his name. | trust he will
/ cert my regrets.
| Mr.. Bristow has sent letter to the Presi