davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

that come spontaneously to the
mouths OF cultivated people. and con-
sequently they have. an air of would
be smartness, as if the writer WAS
above common folks talk.
Some instances of these fantasticali-
ties will explain my meaning better
than any statement OF theory. To be-
gin with then-have our ladies given
UP wearing jewels? And have both
sexes given up wearing clothes? One
would think 50 TO read the way in
which Gocorati2e metal work and
bodily raiineBt are generally described
1t is all '.jewelry" and clothing" Now
jewelry and clothing are all righ.
enough as descriptive of the articles in
Massachusetts. A dealer In jewelry, or
. dealer IN clothing, when large stocks
of ornaments and garments are to be
obtained. are correct terms But to say
a lady was robbed of her "jewclry."
when the value of all her icwels to
gether was rot nearly Il hundred doh
lars, or that d trunk of clothing was
left at the station. when it contained
single suit not wsrth SIS, ii is too
silly.
Does nobody ever make UP nova
days? Or does he never make any
body else up? Or. letting alone propo-
sitjons. which are running riot in cur
rent English, tumbling in and drop
ping out by NO rule. does nobody ever
wake. Or wake another person? 1t is
all awaken" active or neuter Half
the world "awakens" and then It
"awakens" the other iialf Now here
again. wake" awake and awaken"
are all good English words perhaps
the second OF the three has the largest
usage among the more serious writer's
But te thrust that extra syllable upon
every unfortunate mortal who has to
be q hero in the never rcmitted trag-
edy of getting up ("rising,'' or perhaps
even 'arfsinS" l suppose some OF my
prim spinster friends will prefer /
should say) is too pondcrous and pe-
dantic- Ben Jonson's Catiline told his
friends to wake; Millions Satan told
him to awake; neither could wait for
that extra syllable
Some thirt. seven years ago / wrote
a boys book 1 spoke of the teacher,
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

acute mind can conceive about the
growth. decadence and permanence OF
ordinary speech is TO be found in
Horare's letter to the Pisos
Yet an old fogy' is not wholly hos
tiis TO the changes in uses. He
knows that new words will come up,
and he knows that some of them ere
good. He KNOWS that we cannot. put
our fbger OIL. the year when Innb
and sham entered our language. ,Je
knows What q gain * WAS whCr,
about The same time selfish was in
VISITED. and he believes that every
age Will thus add its quota of really
valuable additions. A real sover Of
good speech Is not unwilling to ao-
credit absolute current slang, pro-
vided it fills real gap. Such word
IS dope" The peculiar effect on
body and mind of drug like opium
or chlo-al reeds word 10 express
IT. and q word that has a real 1e-nac-
ular SOUND, unlike stupor. on the
othe- hand, SUCH 4 friend 10 sound
speech is more ~frritated by what al
ways seei5s the affected revival of Il
dead word. VIXEN Browning revived
wiasome and coined artistry. per-
haps he was cnrlching the English
tongue from old stores and new quar-
ries perhaps hc wa5 not ] hope /.
rarely been moro irritated than when
a former pupil OF mine, meaning 20
be complimentary. declared shat as q
Latin teacher in college I was win
come. Winsome. Charming capti-
vsting. winning, even, il my too
friendly adnirer SO pleases. but win
some" AS II a teacher of Iivy was
a bud" of IL
Where the chief annoyance comes
10 the ear OF thoughtful student of
language in middle or past life is IN
the straining- after novelty which
substitutes for words and phrases that
do their whole work with '-clearness,
force and elegance" to adopt the re-
frain Of our teachers of rhetorical
mechanism, other words which add
nothing TO any OF these qualities. The
substituted words arc generally good
enough English and fill place in
speech, bat they are rot the words
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
ARE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TOO SMART IN THEIR TALK?

ideas, 1t will be observed.) What
blessing II must be, instead of the ium-
bering about steam navigation COM
pany" one can use the straightfor-
ward single compound word. dampf-
hinahrtsgesellschaft I have heard
that telegraph companies in England
and France have struck against trans
hitting these elegant contour, or as
Humpty Dumpty would say port
manteau words as one, when Com
pagnie de Navigation a Vapeur' is Ave.
Who was the priggish person who or
dered us old fogies to discriminate be-
tween healthy, ''healthful" and
wholesome" distinction that / re-
gret to see is favored by so thoroughly
sensible writer as Professor A. S.
Hill. The old authors use them indis-
criifinatcly, or rather, feeling the great
advantage OF possessing synonyms.
used them to differentiate sounds
rather than sense. But nobody regards
sound in prose now; scarcely in verse.
tits all for the eye and what is called
the wind. When Mr.. Webster uttered
his thrilling description Of the White
murder, he spoke OF Captain White
asleep as a 'healthful old man" Mod
ern purists would insist that it was the
sleep that was healthfuI, the sleeper
healthy The old, that is the true.
usage would use either adjective with
either noun. But just try healthy" in
stead OF 'healthful" in Mr. websterss
description, and see where has flown
the enforced pause in the middle OF
the word, that gives the NECESSARY de-
liberation to the story which its i'm
pressfventss requires. But poor Mr..
Webster had never studied the Century
Dictionary. though in many parts of
the country he had the injurious ren,.-
tation of writing his own.
Is there to be In future no more
hesitation expectation or occupa
tiong' Are we all to be subject to
'.hesitancy and expectancy? I felt
as one does who sees an old friend
after long absence when cams
upon hesitation" In an English novel
yesterday. The forms of these words
as at present used are no doubt legiti-
mately developed; they would, by the
general analogy of language. refer
rather to a continuous and protractcd
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
DR.. WILLIAM EVERETT
ON WORD FADS.

be called. 20 most forcefuI Feeble 10
looks. too, as if "masterly'--i. e.. in.
the style of master-would be
wholly banished TO give way TO mas
terfuL" which meaTis tnperioQs.
"Conservative'-an excellent and
necessary word in its true sense. 1t
first won extensive currency about 1879
when the Tory party IN England had
been knocked fat by the nrSt. reform.
act. and Sir Robert Peel rallied +Fhat
was left of them and In no long time
built. up the new and vigorous Con-
servative party--a party professedly
not adverse to all chan ges. but insist
ing that changes shall be made with a
view of preserving and not destroying
the essentials of the English constftu-
ton A conservative statesman. a con-
servative policy. a conservative temper.
are phrases plain simple and .indisperi-
sable But now. comes a new set OF
writer's believe the innovation start
ed in the Stock Exchan an9e-who ,sa
the word TO mean tfnnfd. cautious ,ne,s-
crate. reasonable--a whole ganaut of
meanings. not one OF which properly
belongs to the original word. sym
pnony Hall was open to the public last
night for the first time A conservative
estimate puts the audience at 4000~
SonseFvattve of what. in the name OF
Ruskin or Lowell? As IL a conserv,,-
tive politician was not often recklase
and unreasonable in temper. and a con-
seryative policy wholly undiseerning,
My objection TO all these words is
definite; they are most of~them Is~ifi-
mate English. OF no surreptitious co.r..
age, and to be found In good dfctien-
aries but they have been taken up In
the last few years purely as faas a,x9
fashions. tortured and strained ot:. ~
their original meaning. Supplying no
real need. but oussing other woras
which have had currency alike in ele-
yated and in familiar style tor ..en-ra-
tions. Their prevalent Use is swia1 "a
desire to- be srnart--to pat q li.tIe
must be commonplace however Sa1f,r
anu useful InSir dsc eacIenes nesrf..-r
sense nor music. and only gratiies
their authors. who feel. after such
words have dropped from their pen
that they nave done something ans.
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

or the boys, having found out" some
thing. The proofreader marked it; not
in the least understanding what he
meant. | disregarded the mark, and
used the word again in the next chap
ter. Whereupon l was treated TO this
marvellous comment: "Colioquial; but is
not discover or ascertain better in
printed book" whereupon Mr. Proof
reader got quotations from King
James Bible, Shakespeare, Milton, Dry
den and ADDISON all in passages of the
most elevated sentiment. suspect he
discovered B. good deal about me and
ascertained several things about au-
thors hitherto unknown to him. But
that was generation ago, and such
fondncss for Latin words was relic
OF al older generation yet. My first
tutor would say, when / had read Ave
lines IN Latin. That will suffice" Yet
he was capital teacher, and very
noble teacher. One chess champion of
Gfty years ago. who could scarcely hear
at all. when in spite of an ear trumpet
he failed to catch what you said, would
reply What did you observer" The
great gun of Andover Academy, one
of the six or eight "Arnolds Of Amer
ica used after prayers to say The
following individuals are requested to
remain" He meant The boys whose
names / shall read will stop
Such things have gone out. Instead
there came in, under the influence of
much Carlyle, an elaborate Latinizfng
of our language. Old Saxon stocks
were dug up and new German grated
on them Hence we got "standpoint,
bad enough, but better than view
point There are no more results"
or events" except In athletic sports;
all is "outcome;" there are no more
prospects" all are .outlooks ks'-where's
the gain?
In this adoption of German COM
pounds there has been a vast gain for
those writer's who are paid by the mod
ern system OF words, l have an article
OF 1900 words to write; there is q cer-
tain idea which In ordinary talk would
require four words; let me turn 1t into
one compound word, and | have left
1899 for my other ideas instead of only
1i3G. q have not acquired three new
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

D.. Was Noah's- arr an airs.rip?
For airsh5ps. there were thousands of
golden years: before the days. of the
wicked world that perished by the
mood
he material. Of. which the .airboats
were made was either wood or metal.
The eAeIier. ones were built of wood
the boards used being exceedingly thin,
but tbs, snjections of -sonae substance
which did not:*aGd materially 10 the
weight while lit gave leather-like
toughRess "provided the. necessary COM
binatien- Of lightness and strength.
When metal WIS used Il was generally
an aiIoy-tvg0 white cofofed metals and
one red oae. e5rfeTiil 3. into its compost
tion. The RESULTANT was White colored,
like aluurinuIn@ and even lighter in
we glt.. oyer the. rough frame work of
tie airbeat WAS extended a large sheet
of this metal, which was then beaten
izeO shape and electrically welded
where necessars..* But whether built of
metal or: wood, their outside surface
was appareIltly y; seagale ess and perfectly
smooth. and* they rsilcne. in the dark as
* coated with luminous paint.
In shape: they. were boatlike, but they
Were invarta b ii. .deck ked- over, for when
at full speed It .c0lIr1 not have been
convenient even II " safe fer any on
board TO remain. on the. upper; deck.
Their prope3ltng: and - steering gear
could be brought. into Use stt* either end.
But the all interesting question is
that relating 1o.tlie pewer by WHICH
they were propelled" In the earlier
times il: seems to have been. personal
Yril that supplied the motive power,
whether used in Conjunction with. any
nec ecRanical -contrlNance. or not matters
little Nrii..s :s: the personal. power
winch BuIWeC sLxtton describes fairly
accurately in his Coming Race and
which. the colleges for the higfler train
ing of the Youth OF. atlantis were spe-
.ciai}y oecUpied IN developing.
But in later@d days the airhoats were
operated bv 2 forge swhicn was. gene
rated in what is TO us an unknown
msnRey,. and :Agas employed with detin-
ite mechanical arr rangements. This
force, though mot YET discovered by
science, more nearly: approached the
perfect motor than cae electric. power
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

Dc Americans rua 10 .swcrd fsds -
Has simple speHising sna writing gone
out Of dafe in fke EFFORT TO be pie.
turesqaet DR.. William Everett OF
Boston declares that there arc many
new expressieDse that vex former
genefation, although he admits thai
some slang terms are acceptable, be
czase expressive, but altogether the
man Of aecltaius years has serious OBJ
ieetiOns 20 fhs smart new phrases OF
bis ,grandckfldreu.
suppose 80 man IL tao decline of
life ever gets thoroughly reconcilea
20 the changes ta language that make
the writing and speech of his song
and grandsons. and their contern-
poraries. He learned 10 speak and
write when p child from parents and
teachers whose own taste haG been
formed alany years before; sa thai
IT j. really the tore of tarso genera
lions hack, to which he was trained
that lie misses 50 seriously In tho
talk aEa writings % the dav. cvca
more than he does The tone IF 4 period
aot half SO remote, which he him.
sslf had some Share in forming. He
Is angry rhat his gr2adcAildreE do
not say what thesr parents learned
rom his lips: be e perhaps ever
ai.grier that they do not say what
he learned from his parents lips
Yet the changes viii core Horace
has told as SO; an6 when Horace has
told us anything about human lsfc
there is EOthinE 10 DC but to accept
& as true 7 d. 9aot propose to trans
late his rerls1rkS in the Ars Poeticae
Horace cannot. be translated, and he
stands enc Of the many proofs that
great master OF language must be
read in his own tongue. and that the
Idea thai a satisfactory .snowIe6 sc
can be attained Of the matter With
out the forra is az absurd as TO think
We can get a correct idea % .. man
from the psanll1iu OF anss anatomical
laboratory i'or those VINO ciinuot
read Lalir-becanse they won't--let I,
tufilce to soy that everything tint an
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

state than to a single instance. yet
tney are absolutely forcing out the old
and familiar forms. with no difference
of meaning and no POSSIBLE gain to
any element of expression. | am de-
cidedly given to hesitation; perhaps
morbidly SO; but l protest 1 never
acted in my life either with or with
out .hesftancy." l saw announced In
Boston paper some time ago a ser
mon on the Joyous Expectancy of
Heaven" Why not the joyful-better
still, the glad expectation? Such a
phrase would be like the discourse on
the experience of the saints of all
ages. the form adopted is painfully up
TO date. The heaven that raises Joy
ous'' expectancy is hardly inhabited
by Baxter or Cooper. Henry Martyr or
James Walker. Why do people say
rental instead OF the simple rent" I?
When the collector OF Boston tells the
congressional committee that the Gov
ernment pays rental" OF so many
premfses--when the committee of a
parish says the expenses are hardly
paid by the rentals of the pews, don't
they mean simply rent" and pew
rents and why don't they say so?
When some generalization is entered
into, some average struck. some com
parison of year with year and prop
rlhy utctQcs lDeTt may Dc a use for
such coined word as rental" but
generally speaking the people who use
II think it sounds iit,Ie bigger than
rent" And the words suggest it's
modern use as verb. Have Ameri-
cans wholly given UP letting and hir-
ing buildings? Why always ito lease"
and ito rent. turning nouns into
verbs as If one was an impressionist
poet.
''ForcefuI Is no doubt II legitimate
word. as far back as Shakespeare: but
for generations nobody used 1T except
poets under pressure OF meter. The
familiar Wort also as old as Shake
speare. was ''f0rcible." 10 which
'forceful. if used at all. was hardly an
equivalent; now most writer's utterly
disdafn the familiar and seek to Give
force to their writings. make every
man and thing .forceful," decidedly
suggesting. modification of Sir John
Falstaff's phrase. truly they deserve to
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

nature the enemy Of man, In fanny
or obstinate investigators of her Sc
crets. Not for power over eacn other
must we think not for wealth, but now
to be masters of the whole power OF
the earth. and with it rule for the oene-
nit Of life. for happiness OF meh-
For freedom of men. that they may
deyelon their searching minds. that
thew may foreknow such misfortunes as
those 1 at Fgve occurred in Naples anu
san Franefscot More knowledge 70
men. more labor for the progress OF
science. We on our earth are aioRe IN
the spaces of the universe Let tnis
solitude. unite Us all in one family
against the eHizrnas Of life Then ire
win be beautiful. when men Will De
rich with knowledge: only then VII!
aaen be masters Of nature. then all VIII
be equal And all will be WORKING TOT
the same aim. for victory over nature,
over her power, which Is our enemy
and which destroys u.s.
Il believe In the mind of man; Pc
lieve that he Will divine all. and. Will
conquer all. 1 am certain in time ne
will beforehand know what is being
created In the dark depths of the eartns
And ne Will have power To fOreless mis-
fortunes like that of San Francisco In
all the hard moments of life my heart
always sings one hymn: Long Live
MAN.,
:. Others from afar have marvefed that.
we are strangers to Despair and that
Hone has come 80 DEVIL with US. What
more emblematic Of hope than Bern
hardt in the Greek Theater. the summit
OF dramatic art, while the ruins stin
smoIder.
r-alifornfans are a sturdy race. Ce-
nnented BY a brotherhood born OF the
disaster. what limit can be placed to
.tbair destiny? Broken walls still
frown down upon the city. but over on
st. Mary,s Church the shattered front
still shows the inscription. Hail fun OF
Grace. the Lord Is with Thee"
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
OUR PAPER CURRENCY TOO BIG.

the present they have been obliged to use
our stamps, surcharged-tha is to say,
with the. words Philippine Islands
across the face.
The labor for the engraving division in
volved by the creation of so many new
designs for paper currency and postage
stamps has been, of course, very large.
To engrave a portrait for note or stamp
requires four or five months. and the exc
cution of a vignette (such as that of the
volcano on the twenty-pesos bill) takes
considerably longer time. 1t is by the
way. a regular task of the Bureau of En-
craving when new President comes into
Office. to make picture of him ON steel;
and there is kept att the present time in
the vaults complete series of the tPresi-
dents engraved on scale suitable for use
in the printing of money. When Mr.
Roosevelt came into the White House he
was Immediately asked to pick out a
photograph of himself for this purpose. and
sooner@or later he will inevitably appear
ON the national currency of one denomin-
alton or another. and possibly on post
age stamp. though not until after he is
dead.
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

waves, now approaching and now re-
ceding from the earth. The elevation
at which the vessels travelled was only
a few hundred feet Indeed, when high
mountains lay in the line of their track
il was necessary to change their course
and go around them, the more rarefied
air no longer supplying the fuicrum.
BILLS about 1000 feet were the highest
they could cross. The means by which
the vessel was brought to stop on
reaching it's destination-and this could
be done equally well in midair-was to
give escape to some of the current
force through the tube at that end
which pointed toward its destination.
and the current impinged on the land
or air in front and acted as drag,
while the propelling force behind was
gradually reduced by the closing of the
valve.
The reason has still to be given for
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

Al this moment there. is q deal of
tsiB or. 9he muck rate II. is. indeed
q good sllGs@ fnr-{fs IN california TO turn
our eyes. from ,the debris about us 10
the Celestial Grown .ahoye. .-.
ID dofng 50 osFr. FIRST: Thoughts IN this
neemosia l.sea - l-.are OF those. who have
persisted and of these. to. whom they
vtene bcuna. by. Tie. tIes:of love, What
man mas .5T2lIt, he can rebuitd. but the
human }il-es hIotted .olt are lost 10 US
forever .:<....
TAe eertla Qua ke. and fire have come.
not as the wrath oif:cah avenEing .Diety
upon wicked people, but rather as an
set ef. 3 sfttJre: ,slitch snail serve as one
Of the gre4lests lessons ever taught TO
nan. ...:..- =
In the FIRST place the disaster has
shown The true basis of. organization
for Red cross work in time or peace.
The society .lisas. directed its chief ener-
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

turned upside down might be. righted
and placed again ON level keel was
accomplished by using the four tubes
pointing downward at one side of the
vessel only while the four at the other
side were kept closed.
Marvellous things are. being revealed
of those dark. times, the gloom of which
was preceded by long sunlit eras of
mems power and progress. A group
of Englishmen, whose work has been
summarized by Scott-Elliott of London.
pursued one series of Investigations,
Ignatius Donnelly carried on another.
and both have located the antediluvian
world at the bottom of the sea. Atlan-
tbs was the world before the flood.
stretching far and wide over the space
now flooded by the Atlantic Ocean. :
Ignatius Donneily takes the testi-
mony of the sea, of the flora, and of
the fauna, of history, legend and scien-
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

widespread wings. The voices of the
Reds have been stilled. Will their
TRADES ever find attentive ear again
in San Francisco?
The lesson In city construction has
been well learned. All that has been
expended on public squares and parks
has come back hundred fold. Great
Golden Gate Park spread it's broad
lawns as the bed of the homeless and
canopied the couch with her ample
foliage The big Dutch windmill
caught the breeze and worked through
the days in it's mission of mercy.
But above all in the count of lasting
good are the faith and love born of the
catastrophe. All for which religion has
sought in the thousand years of time
was realized in the fash of a moment
The message of Christianity reached
the human heart. The people. were
nodded into great brotherhood; mold
ed by sorrow. age and by fear, but their
watchward was not Despair; IL was
Hope They have become armed with
the weapons which carried Christian
to the Wicket Gate.
In the great tragedy were number
less exemplifcations of true human
sympathy. On the first evening of the
fire vast throng of the homeless had
gathered in Union Square. They sat
diseonsolate upon the green. They
were weary and famfshed. There was
nothing to eat. At length man at
one end of the square procured bottle
of milk.
Pass it on" he said to his neigh
bor There are sav sr;ti mothers with
babies in their arms" The bottle
passed from hand to hand, each mother
pressing it TO the lips of her child and
then handing IL to her neighbor. In
time the bottle had made the complete
circle of the park and returned to its
source not yet emptied. Each woman
had feared lest she deprive another.
This was the spirit from one end of
the city to another