Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-24

In 1873. sitting with mamma while
she looking the manu-
regret used to her turn down the leaves OF the
must be scratched out And l remember part per
tickuarly which perfectly fascinating it was dreadful
we turn down the leaf which it was
written thought the book would be almost ruined
without it. But gradually to feel mamma did
IT would be ptyto replace the vivacityand quaint
and felicity of Susy's innocent free spelling
spelling book. Nearly all the grimness is taken out
Of the ''expergating of my books by the subtle
notification accidentally infused into the word by
Susy's modification of the spelling of it.
remember the special case mentioned by Susy,
and can the group yet,-two-thirds of it plead
ing for the life of the culprt sentence that was
fascinatngly dreadful, and the other third of it
patiently explaining why the court could not grant
the prayer of the pleaders; but l do not remember
what the condemned phrase was. 1t had much
company, and they all went to the gallows but it IS
possible that that specially dreadful one which gave
those little people 50 much delight was cunnngly
devised and put the book for just that function,
and not with any hope or expectation that 1t would
get by the expergator alive. 1t is possible; tor
had that custom
Susys quaint and effective spelling falls quite OPP
portunely into to-days atmosphere which is heavy
with the rumbings and grumblings and mutterings
of the Simphed Spelling Reform Andrew Carnegie
started this storm cople of years ago, by moving
simplifying of English orthography, and establishing
fund for the prosecution and maintenance of the
crusade. He began gently. He addressed circular
pfy the spelling of dozen of our badly spelt words
Il think they only words which end with the
superfDus ugh He asked that these friends use the
suggested spelngs in their private correspondence.
By this, one perceves that the beginning was
sufficiently quiet and unaggressive
Next stage: small committee appointed,
with Brander Matthews for managing director and
spokesman. 1t issued list of three hundred words,
of average Stiffness to spelling, and proposed new
and spellings for these words. The President
of the United States unsolicited adopted these SIM
plifed three hundred officially, and ordered that
they be used in the official documents of the Gov
eminent. 1t remarked by all the educated
and the thoughtful except the clergy that Sheol
to pay This most justly and comprehensvely
descriptive. The indignant British lion rose, with
that heard the Atlantic, and stood
there on his little isle gazing red eyed out over the
gooming SEAS snow fecked with driving spindrift,
and lashing his tai,-a most scary spectacle to
The lion outraged because we, nation of
children, without any grown up people among us.
with property in the language but using it merely
by courtesy of its owner the English nation
trying to defle the sacredness of it by removing from
it peculiarties which had been it's and
which had made it holy and beautiful for ages.
In truth there is certain sardonic propriety III
preserving our photography, since ours is mongrel
language which started with child's vocabulary of
three hundred words, and now consists of two hun
bred and twenty-five thousand; the whole lot, with
the exception of the original and legitimate three
hundred, borrowed, stolen Smouched, from every
unmatched language under the sun, the spelling of
each individual word of the lot locating the
of the theft and preserving the memory of the