The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-08-01
Isn't that some of the new spelling,

/ suppose it is. Isn't it horrid?"
| The man continued to read and soon
met thot, crost and MKT. These sud
den, uncouth currents through his sen
ses struck the educated electrons of
the atoms and shocked his brain. He
groaned, gasped, leaned over his chair
arm and would have fallen, if Maria
had not rushed into the room and sup
ported him. what is it, Pa? Oh,
you look dreadfully palev'
! 81 don't know, dear. Perhaps it is
from the salad, or the cheese or the
mince pie; but | am more inclined to
think my i'll turn is caused by this
abominable spelling. Just look at
that" he muttered family, pointing at
the offensive words with his trembling
| finger.
"T-h-o-t, c-r-o-s-t, Mkt" spelled
the good wife slowly, carefully. go,
ghosts of Webster, Worcester, and
Grant White appear and scare these
| lconoclasts back to sense and sanity"
cried she scornfully ''These editors
think they can force us to use this dis
tressing spelling, whether we will or
not. They shall not aggravate me, and
render my knowledge chaotic. | will
not support such an abomination, such
a mutllatlon of good words, and have
you made ill. Pa, we must stop the
| nanarf fThaf viii hrin no
his senses and restore our brains to nor
nal conditions"
But, Maria, must finish this story,
| was i'll the civil war, you know. and
this relation is food and drink to me-
and the good, gray veteran turned the
offending paper and continued to read
while his wife retired and muttered,
"W ell, you are too old dog to learn
new tricks and had better take my ad-
vice"
| The man read on comfortably for
awhile; the good wife started her sew
| ing machine and broke two needles in
| fifteen minutes. Then she took her
last Cycle magazine and glanced at its
pictures and pages. She had just seen
two words in the new spelling and
shuddered over them, when she heard
her husband gasp and saw him fall
out from his chair prone upon the floor.
| She screamed, rushed to him, turned
lis livid face upward from the rug and
called him frantically. A faint moan
answered her. She ran and got water
| smelling salts and camphor and applied
them vigorously to the insensible man.,
who lay with arms extended, his right
| hand clutching the newspaper. Her
assiduous attentions soon brought con-
seriousness to her beloved, but, alas .
his mouth was awry and his speech
was thick What is it, dear? Oh,
what can l do? will telephone to the
doctor" She sprang into the hail and
| telephoned and returned quickly to his
side.
"Where?-What'S matter? I'm all
right, only the room goes round and
round" he said. He rubbed his head
with his left hand-his right was mo:
tionless, but still grasping the paper.
Maria helped the stricken man into
his chair and continued to dose and
coddle him. She tried to remove the
paper from the systematically closed
hand, and noticed his thumb fixed be-
low line of print on which she read,
turnout and thoroly. The last word
was torn and the paper crushed around
it, showing the reader had struggled
mentally and physically over it. 1t
| had been undoubtedly the cause of the
cerebral commotion which had resulted
i'll shock.
The doctor arrived and after listen
ing to the history of the case and
administering remedies, diagnosed
a brain storm, which had resulted in
congestive apoplexy. He hoped recov-
cry would follow treatment, enjoined
absolute quiet of body and mind, and
explained the pathological lesion to the
fearful lady. you should know, my
dear madam, the brain cells have long
been accustomed to arrangements of
letters in a certain order of sequence,
which, like notes in correct tune, make
musical rythm. Elisi0n, substitution
or altered relation Of letters in words,
give new tones when spoken, as dis
cordant and noticeable as false notes
in music. They distress the educated
ear and the brain, as do the notes of a
musical composition played wrongly, or
on piano out of tune. When not spok-
en-, but transmitted along the optic