Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-10-29
Done, Heard, and Seen.


Coming from Antwerp TO Harrich on
the ship three young Americans We're
playing AT poker with matches and cigar
cites for chips. The smoking-room was
full Of Englshmen, and it developed that
none OF them knew the game. IL excited
their curiosity greatly. Finally one OF the
Britons asked:
II beg your pardon. but is this pokahy
Yes, replied one Of the youths.
You Americans go IN strongly Tor
pokah, do you notY'
Americans are fond Of poker l think.
responded the young man, as he
squeezed" his hand and peeped at the re
suit. The conversation once started, the
value Of the hands was explained 10 this
Englishman, while the other Of his cOun-
trymen I'm the room evinced a livery IN
terest.
ION. gee, I see" exclaimed the Eng
ishman. Really. its quite game now
isn't it?'
The Yankee had given a brief outline Of
the game. and was once more absorbed
I'm the run Of the cards The English
man was seated where he could see the
Americans hand. I'm order better TO learn.
Finally mis- teacher failed 10 catch open
ers,' had nothing TO draw TO, aud stood
pat for a blum.
mo cards for me. thank you" he said,
waving the dealer away.
What do | do?" he said, when the bet
reached him. II raise il 81
The Euglishman had grown nervous
for some time. but when the youth said
thus he ncOntinently exclaimed:
My dear fellow, you can't! You can't!
Don't YOU see you have nothing on earth
in your hand"
The Brltsher had seen his first case
Of bluff. The American lost a pot,
amidst general laughter.
ooh, that is what you call BLUM, en-
Now. that's clever. you know. Really,
what 2 clever sort Of game IS this
pokah." concluded the somewhat cha
grined and uninitiated son Of John Bull
This incident suggests another subject
10 me-that is the English and Ameri-
can pronunciation Of words. The differ
ence is very marked. and an American
is indicated perfectly well by his voice
i'm England. The main difference IS IN n
certain nasality in the American Nocall-
zatiOn. a sort Of deliberate whine as II
much emphasis We're being laid on the
important wOrds-like n sick man telling
a long story. Engishmen talk as II they
had 80 noses at an. The nose seems TO
take absolutely no part I'm Nocahzauo
This coupled with the broad y, which Is
common 10 the entire island, makes them
talk differently from all other English
speaking people Englishmen talk much
more rapidly than Americans.
But as for ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of course
the differences in good and bad and do
the sound OF the vowels-l believe that
gust here I'm the South we speak the VOW
els more nearly according TO the authorl'
ties on orthoepy than any other nation:
The English broaden the \ on almost al
words i'm which A has not the long, or
alphabet sound. For instance. they make
no distinction between \ I'm half and \
in "castle." while the dictionaries DO.
The letter has been totally corrupted In
England The honest. straight O, the
sound with the lips I'm a perfect circle
is never heard i'm England. II Is dip
thong with the English, ,yarying: from ron
and. in fact. about % per cent Of the peo-
ple on the island call "a" 81" | was
never more surprised when I heard girl
on the strand call out penny a ,spry' 10
look around and see n spray OF howers.
An Fnglishman may say that this Is the
American view Of II. but you can prove
Il on him When you can represent the
sound Of certain novels, as pronounced
by him, with other novels. that makes
IL sure that he has lost the art OF making
the distinction. II he calls a. 81"
that's n sign A has been lost. The dis
tinctiOn I'm the vowels, which IS, OF course,
the main sounds we hear from spoken
words is better preserved In the South
than anywhere I know. and sincerely. /
believe that a well-educated southerner'
using southern accent. comes nearer 10
dictionary orthoepy than any other man.
The New Englanders do fairly well. The
and independent coinage Of sounds, ana
thee make their own tongues tired when
they strike an ar"
The trouble with sOutherners Is laziness
I'm pronunciation. They are following out
the law Of word-science. whose operation
tends TO cut off final sounds and sylla-
bles. the loss Of the final &c" I'm words
ending I'm TING" being the best example.
This law IS what has turned hard old
Latin into soft sweet French. and which
sooner or later will change any language.
Thus. while I think the southern pronun-
citation Of vowels Is the most nearly cor
rect in the world. az the same time |
think the consonants are getting very lit
tie attention.
After n nations literature has reached
n meridian and the dictionaries are all
written. and men all agree on the vital
points in the language IL Is no good sign
20 see words shorten and soften and
sounds vanish. It's a sign the people are
getting lazy. The change I'm sound from
Caesar Augustus" to "saragossa' tells
a history. The men who said Caesar
Augustus" ruled the world Those who
say "Saracosso" can't conquer little re-
belliOus island.