Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1898-07-29
III SPLIT ,NF,N,T,vE.
q. Bernard shaw says the clamor Abo,,,
L. All NousausA.


q. Bernard shaw says the Clamor Abo,.s
It 10 All Nonsense.
In . letter to the editor Of the London
Chronicle g. Bernard Shaw writes:
I should .aave thought. now that We
have an acade Of letters. that il might
rescue NJ from the gentlemen who occa-
sionally write TO you to explain how
Engliah should be written. Some time
ago you let loose IN unhappy creature
to whom some competent person had
in~cautiously pointed out . common
blunder in the use Of land which,"
Not understanding the matter. he began
accusing every writer in whose works
he could discover land which" Of
writing bad English. With your per.
mission. I have extinguished him. and
he has not since been heard of. There
wa some excuse for that poor wretch,
because there unquestionable is q wrong
way Of using land which," but for the
"split infinitive'' pest there is no excuse
at all. There Is nothing whatever to
mislead him except his own nature. II
any man wero to object to o split Indie.
alive such as II greatly regret" or
. split subjunctive such az ~ should
greatly prefer" OF a split imperative
such as "come slowly up" what news
paper would waste an inch of space on
his foolish ignorance? And yet this split
infinitive nonsense is taken quite seri-
ously by editors who IRE sufficiently
good writer's to repeatedly use it them.
selves.
Tho infinitive is a mood in which the
position Of the adverb cannot possibly
produce ambiguity; consequently the
order Of the words is not q matter of
grammar, but Of style, of which the ear
is the only arbiter. Tho ear often de.
mands the split infinitive and will have
it in spite of all tho silly people who do
not know what style means.
When these infinite insects are dis.
posed Of, you will no doubt be attacked
In due course by the even more impu.
dent impostors who, though they pro.
nounce the word COLOR SO as to rhyme
with ''duller." aud v hear it aud
never have heard it and never will hear
it pronounced In any other way, from
time to time pretend to be shocked
when it Is spelt without "u." trust
you will always insist on these nui-
sanoes definitely stating whether they
pronounce it or "honor'' or "neighbor''
or "favor'' or behavior" so as to
rhyme with "our'' or "poor," as the
case may be, or whether they are merely
bogus MISUNDERSTANDING belated
Johnsons.
In other case you will DO justified in
recommending them to tho care Of their
relatives and suppressing their bob.
blings.
Black and White Effects.
Black and white effects again figure
largely in tho domain of both fashion.
able dress aud millinery. Black and
white silks, satins and brocades just
brought from over the sea are set forth
by leading importers. Black and white
taffetas, surahs, failles and other fancy
silks and liberty textiles appear. Black
and white checks and plaids are being
formed into stylish spring costumes
by tho fashionable dressmakers, and
Frenchwomen orc now wearing black
and white satin brooade shirt waists with
their stylish black cloth skirts. Waists
of black and white OR gray aud white
stripes or dots arc always good style,
whether mado In the manner of the cot.
ton shirt waists or with full fronts
turned back with white revers we q
tucked ohemisette of fabric to match.
A full blouse of cream white silk OF
satin, covered everywhere with . dra.
perry or yelling merely Of jetted black
net, often proves tho most becoming Of
all waists q slender woman Of indii1er.
emit complexion a select. Sometimes
cream ribbons matching the blouse are
the most satisfactory additions she can
make to the waist; again, a bow Of
soft pink or brilliant ceriso satin works
wonders Of improvement. New York
Post.