The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-10-21
Adieu to an old Friend.

We once had a friend who thru" the
mysterious dispensatiOn of Gods provi-
dence had the misfortune TO be caught
in what mankind calls an accident, as the
result of which his two legs were so mu-
ulated that in order to save his life the
surgeons amputated them at the hip Joint
"a rare operation even in this day of ad-
vanCed surgery. Our friend. although a
railroad brakeman. was a Christian man.
and submitted with sublime resignation
and courage TO the fate thus thrust upon
him. When We first saw him after his
discharge from the hospital he did not
look like his former self. His voice was
the same as Of old, though it betrayed
little tremOr Indicative Of the torture of
soul our legless friend suffered i'm the
knowledge that he must go about among
men on the palms of his hands. which his
changed condition made do the work that
formerly had been done by the soles Of
his feet Try as his friends might 60 so
depOrt themselves in his presence as TO
relieve him Of the feeling that they were
unmindful of his sawed-off appearance. ne
was never the same in spirit not 70 say
performance. Shame oppressed him. and
ne degeneTated soon into melaucholia and
died
The first word in the Presidents mes
sage TO Gov. Magoon, sent yesterday TO
extend 10 the people OF Cuba the pro
found sympathy which this country feels
for the misfortune which has befaHen
them is an old friend of ours that has
been amputated out of all sembIance to
its former self. Thru is the way the
President has been pleased TO spell this
word. It is one of the three hundred
agreed upon for reformation by the Spell
ing Reform Society. financed by the phil
anthropic Andrew Carnegie It's orthog-
raphy has been slaughtered, but its or
thoepy has not been touched. However
startling IL may be to the eye to the ear
it is still familiar It's functions, there
fore. IN oral speech have not been alter
ed in the least But its functions in writ
ten speech have been gTievousIy abridged
Peoples of alien tongues who are strug-
Cling desperately 20 master the language
Of the United States. now that We are
become Il world power Will gaze upon il
in amazement and then apply them
selves with renewed diligence to the task
of mastering our speech. Our critical
British cousins no doubt will treat il
scornfully, and all the "hands-across-the-
sea claptrap that can be employed VIII
not assuage the bitterness of the inter
national controversy that viii ensue.
in its UNIFORMED shape the word be-
longs to Il large family which we suspect
crept into the language after William the
COnQuerOr had swept down on The sur
prised Britishers and possessed himself Of
their tight little island. The diphthong
that formerly characterized the whole
family is the sign of what happened to
it when the Norman despOiler ruthlessIy
oppressed the British and forced upon
them multitude of reforms. Master VII
liam Shakespeare treated the family with
due respect, as did also Milton. and all
tho vast army Of writers who enriched
the literature Of the language in the
earlier but not better day of its strug-
giles. Chaucer had no respect for it. be
cause he was not much better than a
standardization.
We part with our old friend through"
with as much regret as We parted with
our old friend who lost his two legs.
We wish for the mutilated word a hap
pier existence than was the lot of him
VINO submitted with Christian resignation
to the mysterious dispensation Of Provi-
dence.