Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-05-21
The Dictionary.
- q 0aii Kennedy WIN
10 oont0nto

IN the old days. down In ArSansass
said the stranger With the goatee and
black string tie, bill Kennedy was .
railroad contractor on the Memphis .
Little Rock. Bill has gone up In the
world since then. 10 = millionaire ono
or two times over. and ownA I reckon.
one or two little railroads himself. But
Bill, in those days. was kept hustling
to keep tho mules fed up on hay. and
what with swamp fever and poor -
Inmates. Arkansas did not look too
good to him.
But Bill was always plucky. BE-
lieved right along that he would come
to the top. and there 10 no saying
where . man with q belief like that
will end. Bill lost no chances In CIV
ing Providence a tip In the line OF
helping . good man who surely helped
himself. He stuck to his contract.
and With the aid Of the missus In tho
cookhouse. and Red Mike on the
dump, kept his head above the
swamps. and finally pulled out some
thing, II not much, to the good.
In his leisure moments. which
we're not frequent. he would turn his
attention to what the missus thought
would improve his mind, and help him
not to disgrace his wealth when It
came. Bill had no fear but that 1t
would come all right.
"One of Bills weak points was his
spelling. Through the aid Of his wife
he had mastered the mysteries Of
writing. for Bill. before being married.
had moments Of grave difficulty In At.
fixing his John Henry Hancock to o.
pay check. Bnt the wicked incense.
quence Of English spelling put him on
the run. and while he never had any
difficulty in saying what he wanted to
say in . letter. . remarkable SD
pernuity Of vowel and consonants
harassed his efforts in . more or less
legible expression Of his views.
Nov Bill had an old bookkeeper In
those days-probably has him yet-s
thin. dried up runt Of . man. whom
Bill kept to shave and muddle his
subcontractor's estimates. and used -
q safety valve to let OF bad language
that might otherwise have brought
him into trouble with Q hard-nsted
son Of ireland.
"Old man Drury had made several
attempts to get away from Bill. and
cussed him freely, but privately. BE-
hind his back a. slave driver. but
nobody else ever seemed to want him,
and he always drifted back to Bill. So.
because and for the reason that he
was cheap. and though he drank On
the sly, Bill thought him sober. he was
lept on a. . sort OF charitable object
lesson.
ITO Drury. in his struggles With
English literature. Bill turned tor a.
sistancs.
What in thunder. Drury.' he asked.
can get to help me to spell? I can't
learn It There il no rule to tell you
why q word 10 spelled that way. You
Just simply have to know. With me it's
all Euesswork. Amt there q book can
get that l can look up when I'm
stumped for q word. and 1t viii give
me the right hang Of It.!
"'Sure,' says old man Drury. You
get . dictionary. All you have to do ID
to get Q dictionary. and when you're
stumped for the spelling. all you have
to do IL to look the word up in the
dictionary, and there you have the
spelling all correct
This looked good to Bill. and he
GAVE old man Drury . check and told
him to 90 out apd buy the biggest ana
best dictionary In the market 90 old
man Drury went out and bought N
enlarged and comprehensive editioa,
with luminous wood cuts and explana-
tory foot notes. aid al right saA|
proper TO enlighten the ignorance q d
man Hike Bill. Thea he planted Tie
dictionary in IN exposed and consStcu-
ous place on Bits deek. For Bilrs
correspondence needed . desk By this
time, and he had to give up his old
corner On the commissary counter.
which was now relesated to IT. proper
uss of storing dry-saltsd sides for the
niggers.
Bits literary explorations went es
swimminsly. and 10 found more words
in the dictionary and more ways O.
spelling them than he had ever drsamtI
Of. One day. however. the trouble
came. Old man Drury was dozinS over
his desk, when . violsnt expsossoc
occurred IN Bilrs Once. and the dc
tionary came hurting past old msa
Drury's head and into the room burst
Blu himself. apparently under he In
auence Of violent emotion
"Drury,' yelled Ban, 'ths& book 81
no good
why. what's Tie nafterr fainffy
asked the astonished Drury. what's
the matter, Mr. Kennedy! What's
wrorg With the dictionary