The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1898-08-19
CAPABILITIES or ENGLISH
Ct Is a Most Flexible and Mobile
Tongue.


AS our alphabet now stands-even
after 5000 years of perfecting--it Is q
string of singularly ambiguous signs,
and affords an unequaled opportunity
for tormentors, Just as man who cam
not express himself clearly can be
plagued with sophisticated questions.
The confusion Of English sound and
letters Is well Illustrated by spelling
coffee without one correct letter-kau-
ply, which spelling is nearer the origi-
nal than the one in use, for pamph-
let was printed in Oxford in 1853 on
1.-THE Nature Of the Drink Kauphi, or
Coffee"
The artistically bad orthography of
many of our funny writers Is made
possible by the glaring Inconsistencies
of our alphabet. But some instances
of naturally funny bad spelling are per
haps equal to any artificial ones. Here
Is a note that was sent to a doctor:
"Cer-Yole oblige me uf yole KUN TN
Sc me hev Bad kowd am Hill an hev
lost my Happy Tight"
The following, received by schoOlmas-
ter was likely to be misunderstood:
tend to inter my son In your skull"
Here is a bill sent to q gentleman:
aoSafada ?I oo
otacinonimomagin Sc
Pade-J-Jnxn.
The items are not apothecaries' arti-
cles, as might be supposed, but merely
"A horse half a day and q taking OF
him home again."
Many eccentric devices of literaturs
depend on the peculiar arrangement OF
| letters. Some of these have fine-sound-
| ing names, and are recognized as fe
nous recreations Of the learned. THE
palindrome, which Is line that reads
| alike backward and forward, Is one OF
the most difficult of all feats of letter
| Juggling, and has engaged the atten
ton Of the worlds cleverest brains.
While in exile, Napoleon was asked
by an Englishman If he thought he
could have sacked London, and re
Piled: "Able was / ere saw Elba'-
she most skillful palindrome on rec
ord. Run the letters of the reply back
ward if you would test it. A famou;
Latin example is the lawyers motto
Isl Nummi immunis." The following
sentence is not only palindrome, bu
extraordinary in other respects, "Satol
arepo tenet opera rotas."
This spells the same backward ant
forward; all the first letters of thu
words spell the first word; the SECOND
letters of the words spell the second
word, and so On through the third
fourth and fifth. The last letters spell
the last word; the next to the last OF
each word spell the next word, and 81
On to the beginning.
The anagram has occupied mos
pretentious place In literature. Witt
and wiseacres Of the olden times look
I'd Into the names and places for sa
tires and for omens. Several astrono
mers have used anagrams to secure tht
credit Of discoveries which they did moi
wish to reveal. Louis XIII. retained IL
his service an anagrammatist named
Thomas Billion, with pension Of 1,20t
livres.
Calvin calls himself by the anagram
matte name Of Alcuinus, in the it'll
of his "Institutes," printed at Stras
burg. Alcuinus was the great restol
er Of learning In the time of Charlie
magne, and substituting for v tht
letters In those days being equivalent
the name is an anagram for Calvinus
1t was deemed prophecy Of fat
when it was found that the name o
Louis de Bouherat could be transposet
to "est la bouehe du roi Qs the mouth
piece of the kiag)," that Of Francis d.
veloys to "de facon suis royal (of roy
al strain). The fascinating Marie Tou
chet procured a liberal pension for tn
writer who deduced from her name
"Je charme tous" q charm AID.
But history doesn't mention anythfn:
about Napoleon Bonaparte pensionin:
the transposer Of his name into. "bon;
ropts leno pone" (rascaL yield up you
stolen possessions).-Lond Mail.