Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1884-06-20
DESCRIPTIONS OF a REIIR-
ED YETERAN.

OBSERVATIONS OF a RET1R-
ED VETERAN.
The procession of the two regiments of
veterans through our streets few days
ago must have set good many of us re-
tired veterans who were not in the line,
to thinking. 1t did me. 1t set me to
thinking. not Of war, not Of peace, not OF
reunions, but of how time has changed us
all in twenty years. In a neighborlng
city where volunteered, the old compa-
ny, with the old name and the old uni
form, is still kept up by our young sue
cessors. saw it lately on parade, and as
I saw the trim looking young fellows OF
from nineteen to twenty-five, clad in the
same bright uniforms of twenty years ago,
and stepping out with all the brisk and
CHEEKY step of youth, it looked If there
had been resurrection Of the old days.
Could we old gray heads ever have looked
like these! Could that gay young spark
mounted on the leading caissOn horse and
furtively chatting No. 10 be Hillary
Hutchins come to life again Gould that
serious, slender boy, all attention to the
word of command be the grave and cleri-
cal Hale Houston Of this day gone back
to youth again. Can that sturdy No. 4
at the gun be old Boss Lumpkin. Could
we all have looked as fresh and full of
youth and as full of engaging humor and
good temper as these young fellows? 1
suppose we did, though it is hard to be be-
lieved even by ourselves. I can tell you
of a reunion that, if promised, would
bring more of the old boys together than
all the patriotism that can ever fill the
American heart. just promise them that
for that day they shall be young again !
Bless my heart what crowd you could
have! Young again. mark you. bosh in
mind and body. I don't know one
of the old fellows who. if he had the op-
ton, wouldn't take back the youth he had
twenty-three years ago with the war, fam
inc and hardship that followed. What a
deal of difference it does make to a man
whether the world is behind or in front of
him.
Do you know-of course this is conf
dential-that am glad the schools have
gone for the summer. Education has
been thorn in our family for some time
past, indeed since the younger members
got into the higher branches. Until lat e.
ly it has been the impression Of Mrs. Boy
zy and myself that we spoke the English
language with facility and much co rect.
ness, and as for facility I will put Mrs. B.
against any picked nine that may be
brought. But recently we have been great
ly Inundated by our eldest girl who comes
back daily from school with a new pro-
nunciation. Incredulity on our part is
met by Juggling the dictionary into the
conflict and we are defeated at once. So
victorious has the little one become that
we tremble when we hear Mamma how
do you pronounce so and so.'' and prepare
for another humiliation. My wife's plain
tive ut was pronounced so when was a
GIRL" is very touching to me, but when
did the young ever have mercy on the old!
The last conflict had-I hope it will be
the last-was over the word ''Squalor."-
The young one after setting the usual
trap of demanding how we pronounced it,
announced that it was spoken "squaylor. ,,
at this my wife, astonisheG into resistance.
made her last fight, and said with much
dignity. that that pronunciation was silly
and there must be mistake. In a mo-
ment more she was Frustrated by the we'll
directed dictionary. In the evening after
the children had gone up stairs, Mrs. B.
looked up from her sewing and remarked
that good deal of what is taught chill
dren in these days is nonsense. [ did not
reply. Had I, should have been forced
to remind her that she and put our par
ents through the same mill In which the
educational gods are now grinding US so
sharply. take it that pronunciation, ]
mean that of ordinary refinement and ed
ucation, varies pretty much as bonnets do
in style and, like them. is a matter that
taste has good deal to do with. And
locality as we'll. Forty years ago in the
jungles of East Virginia spoke of glahss.
fahst, ahnser; never heard Of papa and
mamma, but of father and mother
and find they are teaching the children
of this day to say that too. I was
taught to say g-yarden, c-yar, s-yuit, and,
Isuppose, that will also be resurrected
after while. Pronunciation. 1 take it.,
is matter of provincial taste. Reading
Chaucer. I have often wondered what
standard of that sparsely educated day
fixed the standard by which he could be
read aloud. And by the bye who, of this
more cultivated day, is authority for fix
ing the standard ? Not the Dictionaries,
for they differ. dare say that after all
we must fall back on taste. In the national
metropolis of America I have noticed a
half-dozen different pronunciations among
educated people. 80 distinct as to be
readily noticed. But the best opportunity
to be had is in an army gathered from all
quarters of a country, or even from all
quarters of a section, as the Confederat
army was. l think in that army noticed
dozen different recommendations, the two
from North Carolina and Georgia being
the most distinctly marked. 1 have heard
it said hastily, that all educated people
pronounce alike, but think with more
deliberation and more opportunity for
judging, it would be safer to say that all
uneducated people pronounce alike.