The Newtown bee., 1898-02-04
Local Affairs.
More Quotation Marks.
0. O. w TO R S H

admire exactnoss; it is a noble trait
OF character. /, G &c III M Human
thar, "IDdi>criminate use Of qantatio0
max. s undesirable" G. w. B. in nv
opinion, quotes too much aud too often.
| Ike him best when he il most original.
No doubt so many quotations indicate
wide acquaintance with literature, slang,
and the conn o. ayings of the people.
but like to know who it is that is quoted
even if l never heard Of him. 1t is worth
something to me to know whether wei,
turned phrase originated in the current
speech of Shiloh, Oxford Or Newtown
Street; CT was taken from some CT lc-
brated author or literary critic. | do
nO5 read mary books and have a poor
memory of WORDS The Bible, the
Century Dictionary and The BEE are the
principal authorities upon which [ de-
pend, and when these fail me I 90 into
the village stores and listen, and ask
questions. l have read only about a
dozen works through, within the last u
months.
Now this quotation business is very
important matter and am glad it is get
ting such an airing by one who is up iB
that line l confess to ignorance in ger
eral, and to lack of suitable authority on
this point in particular. OF course [ did
not mean to misrepresent Mr. Human,
and | am sure that | was not careless,
and so If he cannot accept my explana-
ton, in The BEE Of December "a, [ shall
have to come in under the head of ''craes
ignorance" as expressed by Elk
Mayor Hewitt. like all the rules given
in the last BEE and think they should be
strictly adhered to, especially in the of
fees of the Departments Of State.
Would it not be good plan for the Sec
rotary of State, or the Secretary of the
State Board of Education, or better still
perhaps, the chief clerks of those two Of
fees to get their heads together and pub
lish State Document On the subject
with view to securing uniformity?
1t seems, however, that strictly speak
iog.I did not quote Mr. Human at sll. Il
simrly quoted a common phrase to ex-
press the logical inference which drew
from his language. If he did not mean
that which his words implied, then his
explanation ought to vindicate him with
out impeaching my motives.
After all, Mr. Rinman's rules leave
ample room for differences of opinion,
and custom and usage still have the force
OF law. L find that other d'ssinguis he'd
men of letters beside G. W. B. and N.Y. |
self use quotation marks freely, inclosi ing
what seem to be common phrases, with |
out citing authorities; and even without |
usingscapitals in some cases. Here is one |
from Emerson's Essay on Self Reliance,
''the foolish face of praise" right in the
middle of sentence. Here are three, on
one page of Carlyle's "Past and Present, -
which so far as know do not need any
marks. Even in the s'Autocrat of the
Breakfast Table, find this for ex.
but 'snobs' do shat.
''Crass ignorance no doubt, and trust
we shall profit by this SION. Let us be
though the heavens cave in ne
IN our heads.-EO o Wright.
with this epistle this pr ocular di
sussion closes so far as TIE BEE is cor
Both parties have had three
each printed in these
columns, so no complaint Of unfair treat
nent can be made. While the contro- |
Jersey has been conducted with evident
rood nature and consideration, there
must come an end to all good things. /
seyond cersain point even the most