The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-07-19

How :, resh three mours 10 spell a
Word

word
fsptc;as correspondence Of The Philadelphia Times.j
MATrsfoxY, Va, July IL.
We had queer ride Of fifteen miles. and
there were seyersi funny things about the
trip. The writer, decentralization, and
Lee-and. Jackson's dog made up our parts.
Iee-and-Jsekson YVES The name OF the
celored driver. When be cold me what ne
was called I asked him how In the world be
came 10 have such an odd name. "Sho'
nut Il am qusre," the driver said, showing
all his teeth IS be spoke; 'sdis am how Il
came 'pout Us wuz twins aud US wuz bon
4ndurin, de wah. Dis un WIZ name Lee,
nrter de.blg gen'nul, zen dat un was name
jackson, arter de udder gen'nnl."
"You were one Of the twins; which one,
Lee or Jaeksony"
g sho' now, boss, dunno. Tn oh dem
died de day arter he wuz bon. IL wuz my
brudder dat died zen wuz de IN DAT li6ed.n
aBut were you named Lee or JacksonY"
~Dnnno. sab uu ED US died Zen dey got
M mixed. specs l wuz Jackson. Emmy
way dew tuck zen Glib me b0fe names zen
Pse called Lee zen Jackson cher sence."
Just then we came to pleasant stream
md stopped TO water the horses. l asked
Lee flor generally people used only one OF
his names) what the stream was caped.
"De Maj, sab,"
"Spell It," said L.
"M.A.T-Mat," said be.
We irotted along through woods ana
fields for a few miles and came TO another
stream. asked Lee what the stream was
called.
aDe Ia, ssh."
"Spell it,"
UT.A-Ta."
Again we nut whip 10 our horses, and
after three more miles had been ieit Dehihu
we reached another small stream running
through piece OF woods. l asked Lee
what the stream was called.
"De To, sab"
"Sptl It,"
"P.O-Po."
By that time we were on the ROAD 10
Fredericksburg. Coming TO fourth rlVu'
let, asked Lee what the stream was
called.
"De Ny, sab"
"Spell It,"
"N-Y-Ny."
"The WHAT"
dar's.yo' Mat; den dar's yo' TIA, ZEN dar's
yo, Ia. zen yo' Malta, Zen yo' Malta
den dar's yo' Pc, zen dar's yO' Pc, zen yo'
M.A.T.T.A.P.O, zen yo' Mattapo; den
dar's yo' Ny, zen dar's yo' Ny, zen yo'
M.A-I.T-A.P.O Ny, zen dar yo' ha0 yO'
ribber Mottapony, which am Dig ITO
Der made up Oh desc TO- leetle, teeOy I'D
bers dat us Jess pass Ober!"
Lee was as serious as person al Iu-
neral. / had thought when be began hls
rigamarole that he was joking, but be was
In earnest. II actually did take three hours
for Lee to spell the word " Mattapony," ana
mean while we had travelled fifteen miles.
The 6rst syllable was spelled at $40 a. m.
when we crossed The Mat, the second about
800 when we crossed the Tia, the third at
1920 when we crossed the Po, and the
fourth at IL when we left the Ny behind.
II that isn't the longest word on record la
like TO know what word Is the longest.
The Mattapony is deep river, nearly 10
miles long. It unites with the PamuDRey
10 form York river, upon which is the
famous Yorktown, where CORVALLIS sur
rendered. The Indians gave the Mat
tapony It's present name. When the coun-
try was settled by white men they found
that The word was composed OF the names
OF the four head.streams the MAI, tue Ia
the Pc, and the Ny-which rise in Spotsyl'
yania county, and the names are commonly
used TO this day. In the summer these
streams can be iorded easily, but in the
winter they are goOd.siZed rivers ana
bridges are used 10 crossing them. There
are wild roses on the banks OF the Mat, the
Ia, the Pc, and the Ny, and away down ID
the Mallapony water.lllies are growing
now q. NJ.