Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-03-20
Afternoon session.

Prof. More, after calling the conven-
ton to order, announced that the direc.
tors of the public library offered the
visiting teachers the freedom of that in
stitution. and invited them to visit the
same during their stay.
On motion of j. G. Kennedy, Mrs.
Mary Morrison, the secretary of the as
sociation, was allowed $50 as her ex-
penses for the two trips from the North
ern part of the State.
The Schumann quartette, of San
Diego, composed of Mrs. Annie Peck,
Miss Lizzie Bourse, Miss Carrie Worster
and Miss Rose Gleason, sang selection
SO excellently as to be enthusiastically
encored
Mr.. John Monteith. of San Diego in
an address upon the "Extravagances of
American Speech" introduced into the
convention the one gleam OF humor
that has thus far crept into the proceed
ings. One extract is as follows "Our
| country contains but few venerable OBJ
jects, but our language is the legacy of
| thousand years-our mother tongue.
Our great men are spoken of fippantly
or disparsgingly; our candidates for pub
lie offices have their names dragged
through the mud before election and be-
smirched afterwards; our national legis-
istive body is called the national bear
pit think with good reason, some
timeg-but can the despoiler not
spare us one of our honored
names to be still held up for popular
reverence and veneration, and can we
not spare our language. How our language
has been misused recently. Take the
word awful. have heard young lady
speak of a minister as being lawful fip,"
of magnificent sunset as being SO per-
| feet daisy" and the sublime falls of
Niagara were said to be "just too cute
for anything" When in England came
across little book on the American
Language" and as read it my indigna-
ton rose. The writer had hunted out all
the slang expressions in use in all sec
| tions of our country, with all the verbs
constructed from nouns and nouns con-
structed from verbs. In the collection
| remember seeing the word "excurse,"
derived from the noun excursion. There
was also a collection of trivial epithets
applied to sublime subjects, and great
sounding words applied to trivial sub
jects. Worse than all this, these various
horrors were represented as forming part
of the regular coloquial tongue Of Boston
Bostonians are afflicted with two diseases
culture and catarrh, but I never sus-
pected them of this affliction also.
When l afterwards travelled over my
own country more l began to feel
somewhat like the old deacon who pos
sessed spotless reputation until he ran
for some Office, when the papers pro-
ceeded to accuse him of many things.
The deacon's good wife was very angry,
go was the deacon, but from different
reasons. The old fellow said to his wife
one day: "Ah, Sallie. these things
make you mad because you think them
lies, but feel bad because know most
of them are true" When 1 first read
that Englishman's book l was like the
deacon's wife, thought it slander, but
when came to travel more found most
OF it true. actually found that word
"excurse," hoof, tail and horns, all COM
plete, turned loose on the afflicted COM
munity seeking whom it mignt devour.
The nomination committee here re-
ported the following: President. James
G. Kennedy, of San Francisco; vice.
presidents, d. @. Clark, Santa Cruz
Eugene DeBurn, San Diego; Mrs. A. L.
Mann, San Francisco; w. W. Seaman,
Lon Aukoicb, 6eClotAIy, MIb. mary T..
Morrison, San Francisco; treasurer, Jas.
II. Hamilton, San Francisco.
On motion these officers were elected
by rising vote.
| D. G. Clark, principal of the Santa
Cruz high school, read paper on the
"California Teachers Reading Circle
explaining it's aims and giving history
of the work accomplished. The conven.
tion then elected two counselors for the
year.
Hon. Ira G. Hoitt reported for the in
corporation committee that the California
Educational Association was duly incor-
porated, with capital stock of $3.50, 900,
divided into so, 600 shares of $5 each, and
calling on the teachers to become stock
holders in the association, which designs
to erect building in San Francisco con.
tanning hall for conventions, q library,
J offices, etc. The bylaws of the associs.
|, ton were circulated among the teachers
after the session. Mr.. Hoitt also 70
+ ported for the decoration committee
/ stating that the prize for the bes'