The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1906-09-15
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent. }


Compositors at the Government
| Bureau of Printing are struggling
with the three hundred words in the
reformed spelling ordered by the
President and are painfully unlarnine
to spell the ones which many of them
were originally thrashed into learn
ing. After many years effort they
had learned to recognize and differ
entiate through and through at a
glance and the sequence of "e's" and
is IN such words as "their" and
friend had become mechanical with
them and now at one fell swoop this
part of their education is undone and
at time when learning new tricks
IS serious matter, they are com
PEELED TO take to thes pelling book
again. The lamentations are 1oud
and deep but the order of Public
Printer Stillings, following the direc-
ton of the President. that all Gov
ernment documents shall be spelled
after the new phonetic method. has
gone into effect and each co mpositor
IS supplied with a spelling book which
he IS supposed to put in his spare
time studying If, aftdr certain
period of experimentation, it shall be
io@ssd that the new spelling does not
meet with popular approval, the old
fashioned way may be re-adopted ant
1t will then be strange, indeed if such
confusion does not lead to even an
other system all of the printers own.
The Civil Service Commission has
announced that the applicants under
going Civil Service examinations will
be given the option of spelling the
three hundred words in the Presi-
dents reformed spelling book, but
ambitious applicants will do well to
provide themselves with one of the
spelling books if they want to prove
that they are really up-to-date in their
accomplishments.
Tact of that kind, if used after the
sea battle of Santiago, would have
spared us national humiliation and
international ridicule has recently
been displayed in army circles and
given rise to the hope that the self
seeking. So prominent among officers
OF the service, may be giving place to
higher motives of courtesy and good
feeling By the retirement next week
of Lieut.. Gen. Corbin and the adj
vancement of Ma1or Gen. Macarthur,
a vacancy was created which afforded
the President the opportunity, long
desired, to advance the present chief
of staff, Brig. Gen Bell, to the rank
of Major General This office is the
administrative head in the army and
carried salary honors and position of
the highest order in the army. But
General Bell has declined it in order
that Brig. Gen. Jesse M. Lee, who
belonged to the old Fighting Ninth
Infantry, and who now commands a
Department in the PHILIPPINES might
attain to the rank and pay of Major
General before being retired for age
next January The action of General
Bell in this matter has aroused CON
siderable enthusiasm for him in Mill
Lafy and official circles and may serve
% set an example in a service which,
or small jealousies and extreme ego
SIN. has been second only to theatri-
al stars and prina donnas.
Brig. Gen. William S. McCaskev. |
the Southern Division |
If the army. has inst sent IN. his an
lual report to the War Department
nd has furnished material for discus
ion in regard to instruction camps
md extended marches The recent
riders. he says. relative to marches T
n the infantry service. will have SER
ous and disastrous effect On re-en-I
isfments- Writing of It, he says, Il
m of the opinion that camps Of in
truction. as now conducted, are toe
ong in duration Three weeks in
amp should be sufficient Marches
hould be less than 1oo miles and
nything beyond this IS unnecessary
nd is disapproved by the majority
+ officers and men u-f,x, n h,,-a ;y..sI