National Republican., 1878-01-03
A Patent Alphabet.

|
But the saddest Of all was the wreck of the pies
A Patent Alphabet.
| soMETHING OF INTEREST TO sTENoGRAPHERs
The search after perfect system by which
to represent spoken language dates back before
the days Of Cicero, and that illustrious Roman
| is believed TO have but followed In the foot
steps of still more ancient philosophers when
he turned his mighty intellect to the task Of
| preparing q scheme of writing by means Of
which Tyro could crystalize for future genear-
tions the words that fell from the great orators
lips. True that ancient invention of the phi
losopher bears little kinship with our phonetics
Of today but, without doubt, Tyros pot;
hooks and quail-tracks were the little leavcn"
that has coursed up through the ages to frui-
tion in this; for ever since that time there has
been no period strongly marked by intellect
| ual activity that has not presented its quota
of research after correct Orthography. Those
celebrated emperors, Caius Cesar and Octavius
Augustus, both wrote on the subject; also,
Varro and Apion, Quintillian and Priscran,
and, later Erasmus, the two Scaligers, Lpsius,
Dalmassius, Vossins, Matthias, Mertherchus,
Malinchot, Bulloker and thousands Of others.
| In England alone, and since the Elizabethan
age, the names of those who have directed their
energies to the task Of improving upon faulty
English orthography would Gil volu e of no
mean mean dimensions, in which such as as
William Jones' Max Muller, Darwin,
| Dickens, Stoddar, Wesley, and Horne
Tooke shine conspicuous. The distinctive pho
netic movement, as everybody knows, owes its
| origin to the inventive genius of Mr.. Isaac
Pitman, of Bath England. Up to the year
1887 the letters Of the English alphabet had
been uniformly assumed as necessarily the
material out Of which the long -drcamcd-of
theoretical orthography must be constructed.
By some happy inspiration Mr.. Pitman was led
to temporarily shake off this incubus, which
had so long hampered the spirit of photographic
| reform. Making raid into the foreign domain
of geometry, he confscated timber therein
discovered suitable to his purpose, from which
he fashioned q series of symbols destined to
become the key to the long g.sought-fo pcriec-
| ton.
On Christmay Day letters patent were issued
to Mr. n. E. Dawson clerk to the Senate Com
| mittce on Indian Affairs upon
A NEW INVENTION
relating to phoneties which is considered tho
open sesame" to one of the most important
| educational improvements Of the age. The
number Of his patent is l9S, ,JO7, specifications
of which, with drawings complete, can be OBJ
tanned at the Patent Office. II proposes moth
ing less than complete supercedure of the
ordinary English alphabet, and revolution
in orthography. Mr. Dawson claims that
when an average child is ready to begin the
wrcstlc with his a. b. c. under dire ctiou Of an
ordinary teacher, that he will acquire this
alphabet in less than half the time required TO
learn that now in use; that from the time Of
learning IL he will be able 10 read and writo
| without further study, and always without
the necessity Of referring TO any dictionary To-
| correct spelling or proper pronunciation, and
that an adult of average intellect will learn
tho same in few hours with like subscqucu.
readiness Of reading and writing Grantini'
.NftI t,,t Ia.
of every child, which under the present ~
gime are consumed in tOilsome and oftc''
fruitless effort to become good reader ant
spcller, could be saved. precious
years of the seed time" ID
" !! GrvoIcu TO the acquiring OF a more advanced
education presaging the harvest of fitting him
earlier for the earnest affairs of life, which n,
best speeds away all too soon. Who amUnr
children Of a larger growth" darCs uIG -
| take the preparation OF an essay without
COPY OF WEBSTER
or Worcester at hand, and where are thu
heads, however educated, that do not some
times get muddled over the intricaciCs of -
and ie and other peculiarities of our language.
even in writing an ordinary letter. Th,-
only respectable hit that the Lydia Thompson
troupe made while in this country was that os
the man Friday, with the dictionary tied to
| him, in the absurd opera b0ufe OF "RObinso u
Crusoe" Blessings on patent alphabct's
that will dispense with the necessity OF all
such aids, and allow the shade of Noah Web
ster to rest at last in peace
Another important consideration claimed
for this photography is that by its use child
] ren would naturally acquire such an ease and
| rapidity of writing that by the time thew
were old enough to understand the work thew
could report rerGdfim: that it would be per-
fectly feasible for them to fix their owrl
| thoughts upon paper, as well as the Language
| - Ia.
| is q startling assertion, but Mr.. Dawson Is nO
visionary enthusiast, and his well.known skill
in reporting and undoubted honesty ofpurposs
| entities his claim to consideration II happily
| his hopes should reach fruition, the royal
road to learning will ut last have been dis
covered, and education become u pleasant past
time instead Onerous, steady digging after mug
gets of knowledge in the thOrny paths OF the
present Perhaps you say The old alphabet
does well enough. The road to learning thar
our fathers trOd, and that we ourselves came
up by, is good enough for our children" Just
SO might have said the gentleman in the dug
out" to whom Bob. lngcISoll so frequently re-
lers in regard to his boat and his tom tom
but had that small. .skulcd individuals opin-
ions been adhered to, progression would nevei
have given us the soul-stirring organ Of to-day
in lieu Of the tom tom, or the stately steamers
that now circle the world in place of the primi
| tive dug-out. Because you were labOriouslL
| switched along an uphill grade and forced
swallow the rudiments of education in homeO-
pathic doses, with infinite pains and an ovei
wcening desire to play truant, is that rcasa
why your children shouldn't take IL
| sUGAR.CoATED
! in largOr pOtons and in ways of pleasant
ness"
We understand that Mr. Dawson has u text
book in preparation more perfectly developing
his theory, hut when it will be published We arc
unable TO say. such an invcution has long
been considered within the bands OF po~sibil-
ity by scholars ot cmincnCC, and its accom-
pl>hmcnt sought for by well known socialists.
! The theory Of Il perfect alphabet was I'D
mirlhy stated many NCHTs ago by Dir
Latham, aud his rNlo,iIi'NI ul ii gave II frvsl
impetus to research and invention toward that
dcsJrfriVm. Tn, ,r,OrHauon proposed ia
most desirable The necessity Of il has been
long since admitted by tho Ludug minds OF
England and America, and scores Of volumes
written IN its "dyococE:
/ Nr. and Mrs. Aaron Ward, Us y, giyo 4
large dinner party this CN,Iunu, a. tHuapuiiS.
Mrs. Ward, nee Willis, is Il sister ut Mrs. Lieut..
/ Em"ry, [. :. y,
, The young people have hrru lpoNiug forward
with bright anticipation, To- Nlr. M.lriui'S
! Sunrr, which takes place Tonight. II viii he
IN informal affair, ~ most Ut the l,Li,s will
appear in street rustum,>.
/ Among many mott, ruhlr gurrls who are en-
liyruiuL Washington sorltIy by INrjr presence
during tho holidays, may he mentioned Miss
B,ckwith, IL p.iit, and ,lri -h,iy young lady Of
the hrun,tIr type, daughter of prominent
Cleveland nrrrhunt, who is visiting the Misses
. EuN No tOg huSsaC Chusptts avenue, Miss Emily