The Press., 1895-08-22
(For The Press.) SPELLING REFORM.
BY J. l.. EMO,

The proposal of New York paper in The Press of July 11th is by no means a new attempt to simplify the spellieg of the English language. The first attempt on record was made by Sir Thomas Smith, secretary of state under Queen Elizabeth; another was made by Dr. Gill, ceIebrat- ed master of St. Paul's school in London; another by Charles Butler; several at tempts were made in the reign of Charles I |; an attempt was made by Elphinstone in the last century; and another effort was made by Dr. Franklin, who compiled a dictionary on his scheme of reform; and a painstaking attempt to make our spell ing not only simpler, but more regular and uniform, was made by Noah Webster, in his earlier dictionaries, and also, it is said, by sending slips to printing offices exhibiting the principles of the reform.
 The leading philologists of America and England, after a meeting of the Philolog- ical Society, formed a Spelling Reform Association August IF, 1876. To some members of this association the writer sent scheme of spelling reform which he had previously had printed, but the asso- citation began work first on "Standard Phonetic Alphabet; ;" then an alphabetic list of amended spellings was begun, 1878, in the American Pathological Society, and in 1880 in the English. In 1883 a joint scheme was put forth by the two socie- ties, containing general rules of scientific change, and also limitations of the rules by considerations of etymolOgy and prac- tiOal difficulty and brief list of amended words. Several of these rules are identi- cal with those of the scheme previously mentioned. The first rule of the Philo- logical Societies is, "Drop silent when fonetically useless;" in the other scheme worded, "when such rejection interferes not with the etymology," and with certain limitations as to pronunciation. 2, "DrOp from ca having the sound of e in feath- r." ''shOrt e'' in the other scheme. 8, ''FOr having the sound Il in but, write u, in above (abuv), tongue (tung) and the like" 4, "Drop silent after before a, and in native English words, and drop final ue-g(u)ard, g(uess, catalog(ue), leag(ue)." 6, Dull consonants may be simplified when fonetically useless-bai- lifG), batl, writn, etc." 7, Change and ed final to t, when so pronounced, e. g., lookt, unless the affects the preceding sound, as in chafed 8, Change gh and nh tO uhon oO couDdod o0 opuf fODot ic. 9, Change to z, when so sounded. 10, Drop in tch, as ca(tch.
 Other less general rules were agreed upon. the total being 24. "This action has been widely published and approved, and the amended spellings have been used to considerable extent in public prints. In 1892 the Modern Language Association united with the Pathological Societies in recommending the rules and list. Almost all of the prominent linguists of the two countries are members of one or the other of these associations. Some of the most eminent scholars of England and America will be recognized among the officers of the Spelling Reform Association at the time this action was taken, viz. : Presi- dent, Francis A. March, l.. l.. D. Lafay- cite College, Pa. vice presidents, w. D. Whitney, l.. l.. D., Yale University, F. Max Muller, L. L. D., Oxford Univer- Oxford, England, Prof. w. w. Skeat, Cambridge University, England, J. A. H. Murray, L. l.. D., Oxford, editor of the Pathological Societys New English Die tionary, Drs. Richard Morris and H. Sweet of Londony Hon. Wm. T. Harris, U. S.. commissioner of education, Pres. Barnard of Columbia College, and other professors. The words which have the joint recom- mendatiOns above described have far higher authority than thousands of words which are in our dictionaries"
 Some six leading dictionaries form vir- tually the standard of spelling for England and America, in English. Webster's is the peoples dictionary in this country, though in it's time Worcester's was an able rival. The Century dictionary is some- thing of 8 luxury. The new Standard" aims to obtain a prominent standing; it has inserted the amended spelling recom- mended by joint action of the American and the English Pathological Society, with the signature "Phil. Society,"" On the whole, it seems that there is sufficiently good authority for some measure of spell ing reform, if the power of custom and conservatism can be overcome, under the leadership of the press and prominent writers. Some progress has been made under theWebsterian influence; the spell ing of such words as honor without the intruded u, and of verbs in ize with uni formly, is established in this country. The ending in for inc in the names of drugs and chemicals is growing in use, as in chlorin, bromin. This change is war ranted by their origin and their pronun- ciation. For the classical rule, see An drews and Stoddard's Latin Grammar, section 291, IF; Hardness, 324. The end ing ue, as in catalog(ue), is being dropped by many reputable newspapers; the Springfield Republican is a nearby exam pie. The endings from which this ue is derived contained neither nor e, gen. der ending, which to us is needless, for things without life.
 MT. NatanBl MortOnson, a well-knOwn citizen of Ishpeming, Mich, and editor Superior Posten, who, for a long time, suffered from the most excruciating pains of rheumatism, was cured eight years ago, by taking Ayers Sarsaparilla, having never felt a twinge of it since.