Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-08
TRICKS OF THE MEMORY.
Speakers and Writers Sometimes Con-
fronted with Embarrassing Dlmculty.

speakers and writers Sometimes Con-
fronted with Embarrassing Dimculty.
One Of the queernesses with which writer's
have to contend is An occasional puzzleheaded-
ness over perfectly well-known point Of or
biography or grammar. A word that one has
probably spelled correctly all ones life sud
denly swerves over into the doubtful orthogrs-
ply column. Il it 'ingulf," "engulf'' or "en-
gulp h2' one queries, with pen poised. IL IL
'appal" or "apsllp" Fantasy" or "phantasyf"
and so on indefinitely. To be sure, there is the
dictionary, but, asks the Boston Common
,redhh, who wants to learn his b Cs over
again OF to look up the spelling Of every
day wordsr 1t is a curious fact that, left to
themselves, the fingers will generally spell
word correctly. 1t Is in the hesitation that GER
tainty Is lost There can be no doubt that the
fingers OF writer acquire a sort of automatic
education. Even when doubt to the right
spelling OF q word has crossed the mind the
hand will usually bring the letters into form if
given Its course. 1t is as il II consciously rea-
soned, Il have always driven the pen so and so,
having begun So" But once hampered by the
spirit OF investigation, the irresoiute hand in
clines toward the unabridged
The matter Is worse where parts of speech
entangle themselves. Rules and regulations
hatten themselves out and only a helpless
corrclatives seems for the time possible In
one OF Wilkie Collins published letters he
writes: For the last week. while was finish
Ing the story, galloped along without feel
Ing 1t, like the old post horses. Do you remem-
Der how the fore legs of those post horses
quivered and how their heads dropped when
they came 20 the journeys end? That's me,
my dear. that's me- Good God, IL me gram
MARI Ought 1t to be II? My poor father paid
ESQ year for my education and I give YOU
my sacred word of honor l am not sure
whether it is me or t." Probably Wilkie
Collins could have made a pretty straight guess
on this point, but those little alterations come
upon US sometimes when We should be slow to
stake anything upon our correctness; though
another person, laundering in the same way.
would be instantly arraigned before the bar Of
our correct and scandalized Judgment Just AS
we serve merited condemnation upon fellow
mortals who display the identical faults Of
which we are ourselves guilty.
Noluble speakers and vouminous writers
probably experience little Of this trouble The
spouting geyser of words never fails them, and
for this they are to be congratulated; yet it is
a consolation to those Of less oratorical ability
TO know that great writers and speakers learn
to curb their flowing speech rather than give
vent to it. Prof. Shedd states that in the last
half of Websters public life he learned to re-
ject the vague words that come thick and
thronging when the mind is aroused He grew
more select and precise. and presently, as one
said. every word weighed a pound" This
style OF speaking or writing cannot be driven
through with the velocity enioved when one is
more careless of results. The word ftlv chosen
l5 The word to be striven for. and, such is the
peryersity OF inanmate things. it is precisely
the word that sometimes fails to come at call.