Evening star., 1899-02-11
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There is hardly one out OIL Il huiuAtu
sons if he saw the word choir spelled quire'
bnt would suppose that the spelling was
wrong" explained Mr.. Chas. F. Homl!ier
OF the War department TO a Star reporter,
but it would be right just the same Tor
o-u-i-r-e spells and means choir Just as
much as if spelled choir. For twenty years
Websters dictionary has given both spell
ings of the word as applying to a cholr OF
a congregation Of singers, church qulre-
The word quire also applies TO that part OF
a church where the choir or quire Is gen
orally located in the immediate vicinity OF
the organ. Webster. like many others, pre-
ferred spelling the Word cnoir. as Ii Is gen
orally spelled choir. though he maintained
that either is correct and other lexlcograpn-
ers and more modern dictionary architects
agree with him. Up to twenty-five years
ago none of the dictionaries as far as /
have been able to discover gave the double
spelling for the same word. Quire up 10
that time related exclusively to a certain
quantity of other things than church or
other singers. but since it is applied TO
both. l remember in my bUyhood days at
tending singing skuies and old folks con-
ceTtS, when the WORD CHOIR was Lften spelled
on the program q-u-e-e-r- The speIlns was
more correct than otherwise, though ala
not think so then. We have plenty of cholrs
nowadays that nave queer singers in them
and who make queer sounding music. TfOD-
ably to he more elegant and perfectly cor
rect they should be called queer qulres or
choirs, you desire. In every case IN
which / have intimated that both SpeInnSS
of the word under discussion was correct,
i have been so unanimously and enthusl-
aStically sat upon that | have come to the
conclusion that the double spelling has pass
ed notice or at least that the knowledge of it
is only possessed by those who have learned
what spelling they know in the past twen-
ty-fiye years. Those of US who antedate
81 he Oi5 5-fa Sbi
time. and in choir or quire there Is no ex-
ception TO the. rule"
There is an idea prevalent throughout
the country that the average government
clerk is a time server: that he is simply
machine wound up to run seven hours each
day. and that he does but little work in
those hours" remarked n gentleman who
is the principal craftsman for one of the
large shipbuilding corporations to a Star
reporter. but as l have had experience as
government emplOye and as an employe
of several private corporations | am free
to say that this idea is very erroneous The
fact of the matter is that the average gov
ernment emplOye turns out more good and
reliable work IN the seven hours in which
he * daily engaged than the average clerk
employed for longer hours under private
corporations. Now, | don't mean TO be un-
derstoOd as saying that the emplOye of pri-
Vate corporations does not turn out more
work each day. but that the quality of il
Is not as good as that done by the govern
ment clerk. and that, on the whole, ii would
be better for private corporations if they
Old not insist on ten or more hours each
day But the private corporations do no.
view the matter as | do, and | suppose they
will continue to have their way about it,
as they pay the bills. and, you know,
money talks. Many of the large railroad
corporations. electric lighting companies.
iron and steel plants have large number of
dl aftsmen in their employ, and these come
in contact with very frequently. They think
that they do an enormous amount OF work
in q day. but / can assure you that their
average is less both in character and quality
and quantity then that of the craftsmen in
the departmental service. In the contract
ing, construction and auditing branches of
these corporations the same state of things
exists, though the employees always laugh
when / tell them that | know government
clerks doing similar work perform more
work each day. Immediately they answer
that the fact that they give three hours
more per day is proof that they do more
work. But this is no answer. for IL is pos
sibie that by better and more thorough
system of work more work can be and is
turned out in seven hours here in Washing
ton than they can do by less comprehen-
siVe system in the three additional hours.
In my own line OF work. drafting, the best
work OF the kind done in the world is done
in the Navy and War and Treasury and
Interior Departments and their bureaus.
and every one in my profession recognizes
IL as a fact The same is equally true in
some other lines of work; but go where you
government clerk that be is little but a
salary drawer at best The men who sneer
this way are about the first 10 change their
minds when they have experience at gov
ernment work"
8 x = x X
ITO those housekeepers who frequently
make ice creams and frozen custards, now
is the time for them to prepare to put up
snow for future use remarked a lady to
a Star reporter. For the past three weeks
have used with snow, and / have packed
away enough to last me a month or SO.
even if We do not have any more SHOWS.
Snow is much easier to use in freezers than
ice and freezes much more rapidly, not re-
quiring one-fOurth the quantity OF salt. My
plan Of putting up snow is to pack it in
barrels Thee Is no expense about it, eX-
eept the barrels, and most cellars have
enough barrels TO furnish the facilities for
Securing all the snow that can be used. OF
course there has been no occasion to use
barrels this week for the snow was plenty
enough The indications are also that there
Will be more SHOWS. but to be on the
safe side. have a half dozen extra barrels
ready. II well packed the snow will keep
SIX weeks or more during the weather We
usually have in February and March, but
Il there are to be no more SHOWS and il only
lasted month, that much would be gained
or saved in the way of being able to save
the expense of ice. The barrels containing
the stock of snow should be placed in the
yard, not IN the cellar, and, If possible, on
the shady side of the yard and as near the
fence as possible. so as to cut off wind
drafts that carry with them the hot air.
There should be tops on them. and a couple
OF days after the first filling. when they
have settled down. they should be repacked
and pounded down In time the snow be-
comes almost solid and lasts almost as long
rs a piece of ice Of the same size. The ad-
vantage in its favor is that il practically
costs nothing, gives the children some fun
In packing IL away, cleans up the yard to
the extent Of getting rid of that much
snow and freezes your foods quicker than
ice, besides saving the salt. Is it Yankee
trick? Oh, yes. learned it up in Vermont
but lot of good things are learned up
there"
The travelling salesman. or commissioner
of trade. as he calls himself. of the present
day Observed a representative of a large
commercial house to a Star reporter ito
he successful has to be phrenologfst a
psychologist and hypnotist combined. II
he c1es not have these powers and know
how 20 apply them his sales will fall some
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