The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1883-08-16
1oone. Tenn J
August Is HISS {

wrote a short article for your paper
doticing Col. Gates excellent address
at this place. In that commuurca-
ton l expressed q desire to know the
opinion Of our worthy teachers Is to
the relative merits Of the different
Spoilers used as primary text books
In our schools. One Mr. Parker.
originally from Vermont, more re-
Gently from Mass, now from Chica-
60, had visited the Normal Institute
at jackson, Tenn, and. informed
the teachers there assembled that ~
text book Webster's Spelcr is a fail
ure and that it would be blessing
to the rising generation if this blue
backed nuisance could be piled in
one vast hecatomb and burned to
ashes. In your issue of August 2nd,
a person writing over the no,o de plume
"rcTcassir>llaunus,'; "wants to reply to
Hamburg" He then proceeds To
criticisc that good natured persons
logic, calls him an old fOgy farmer,
states the fact hat there are many
"Ham burgs" in our couatry and
finally EXPRESSES a nope that the last
one of them may get ou," as soon az
possible. All this because desire
had been expressed to hear from our
teachers before taking Parker's pre-
scrlption. Assuming that "iogy"
FARMER has the right to know some
things if he eau find them out, have
taken the trouble to pick up htt:t
information about Webster's Spcller.
l have two communications of re
cent date before me. One from the
President Of Yale College, the other
from the President of Harvard Uni
versiiy. These able scholars give the
book under discussion their unquali-
fled Endorsement. From the publish
ers ! have these exact figures, Oyer
IS, 900, 900 copies of Webster's Spell
Iers have been made and sold and
used in the schools in the United
States.
The average which still keeps mp is
! 900, 900 copies per annum lin 1882
1,052, 1861 and il will take all the
spelling books published by several
of the leading publishers of school
books to equal that figure in year.
The fact that the demand for Web
ster's Speller keeps up and without
any agency helps, such "a travel
ing agents or institute workers; such ms
are required by all the so called mo-
dern methods, seems proof beyond
n peradventure that there 10 a merit
in tho book itself that, were these
complainers honest, they would recog-
nize.
It seems quite the style OF some Of
these new workers to start out with
the supposition that all education up
to this time has been wrong and
worthless. Such pretences do not
last long. 1t is not strange that
certain persons object tn good books.
I believe have seen it somewhere
stated that Z. G.. Ingersoll has objec-
tions To the Bible. Every one knows
how thoroughly Webster's Dictionary
is the standard. No intelligent per-
son supposes that the Speller needs a
word spoken in its defense. The
sole object of this article is to prevent
certain well meaning young people
from masking serious mistakes now,
which viii have to be corrected later
in life. / viii not risk my reputa-
ton as a matter of fact farmer Of the
brown Jeans schoal by attacking any
Of the standard authors.
Parker & Co., attacking Webster
Whenl A tomtit attacking an eagle
The book burners have the floor with
the assurance that Hamburg" will
not ask for further division of time.
HAMBURG.