The morning times., 1896-07-26
BAD OFFICIAL SPELLING
Serious Blunder on the New
One Dollar Note.
SHORT On TRANQUILITY"
Treasury Officials AbbreSiatea WORD
From the Preamble to the Constt-
tuition of the United States-Otner
Idiosyncraeies of the Artistic
lumhia NJ Il Left-Handcd Teacher.
unw do You spell tranquility?

How do you spell tranquility?
There i $ AN inexcusablc blunder, accord
ing 10 the dictionaries, in spelling Oh the
new lone Silver Dollar silver certificate
recently issued by the Treasury Depart
ment. The word Tranquility is si'eiled
TRANQUILITY, one /. The silver certificate
photography is original either with The
designer or the cngravcr, but it is very
probable that the latter followed copy and
etched it just as it was written.
That such hlunder could have occurred
is all the more curious, inasinuch as both
the engraver's and designers work must
have fallen under the critical eyes of the
higher officials OF the Treasury Depart
ment.
1t has been suggested as an excuse for
this break that it was the intention or
the department to follow the original
copv. which, it was alleged had tranquility
spclIed with one a." but the fact is
that in all the reprints from the pre-
amble to the Constitution OF the United
Sattes from which the quotation Ill which
tranquility occurs, the word is spelled
with two s'i's.'
The quotation as it appears on the new
certificate is found on the lefthand page
OF the open book on the right OF the face
of the note, and s one of the most con
snicuous ornaments. As engraved, the
words are as Follows:
We III, pcople of the United States, in
order tn form moro perfect union establish
iustice insure domestic tranquility. provide
Tor the com mon defence, promote the general
welfare, aud secure tho blessings oil ioerty TO
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish This Constitution for the United
States of America.
As to the proper way OF spelling tran
ora,li,y, all OF the dictionaries give it with
two is, and there is very little in the sug-
yestion that it may have been spelled with
one | in Thomas Jeffersou's time. On the
contrary, the process OF eliminating one
of the double letters from many words is
something of comparatively recent date,
going back probably not more than twenty
years All old spelling is rather marked
with the multiplication of letters, rather
than their elimination.
II therei is no reason assiguabie by the gov
erntnent for the appearance of this common
word in this disrirured manner, and as an
object lesson in false photography to the
youth of the country, it is possible that the
note ought to be made over again.
LEFT-HANDED COLUMBIA.
Tie youth of the country, by the way,
las a very prominent place in the land
scape of this new silver certificate. The
two figures on the note represent Columbia
and Jonathan jr. Columbia holds Jona-
than the younger in her embrace with her
right hand and is directing the youths
attention evidently to the new way OF
spelling tranquility. She is pointing,
at least, directly at the page on which that
rnispeiled word las been engraved.
Another thing to be noted Is that Co
iumbia Is left-handed, for she is using
her left hand to point the moral of the
nsw photographic style. 1t should be stated
in Justice to Jonathan, jr., that the ex-
presaion on his face indicates that he
had seen the word spelled properly some
where else.
Perhaps Hon. j. Fount Tiliman, Register
of The Treasury. Treasurer Morgan. the
Commissioner OF Education, Artist st.
0audens, individually or collectively. may
- able 10 explain why all this is thus.