The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-06-10

70 SPLIT OR NOT no sPLIT

TO SPLIT OR NOT TO SPLIT.
Ihere mas been considerable discus
over the subject of 1.-THE split infin-
tive Much of the argument has
been put forward by estimable gen.
tIemen who would not know a split
infinitive if they found one in the
road.
The purists have maintained that
the use of a split infinitive is equiva-
lent to petit larceny and should for
ever bar the offender from polite lit
erary society. The writer's of modern
f1nitives. like some cuss words. have
their places in the best of literature.
A large number of innocent by
ISLANDERS have suffered patiently not
knowing whether the split infinitive
is an animal or a vegetable, or wheth
err it should be revised upward or
downward. To such and to all who
will admit that they never had split
infinitive and if they did have one
would not know whether to go to a
clearly set forth this explanation.
A split infinitive is an infinitive
between the "to" Of which and the
second word, an adverb is carelessly
or purposely placed. For example:
Use the infinitive "to place. Then
say: ito carelessly place." and you
have the split infinitive, the "care-
lessly'' being the splitter. The purist
would scream at such a. phrase and
would demand that it be recalled and
written: ito place carelessly-" When
you ask a friend to quickly send you
a five, you ought to ask him to send
it quickly. When you beg your OPP
ponent to honestly state his position,
you mean that you wish him to state
honestly his position.
Now you see what all the fuss is
about? To split or not to split, that
is the question. Some say split, some
say don't split, and some don't give
darn whether you do or do not,
which is most of us.
When a split infinitive is clear and
concise. and more forcible than an
unsplit with the adverb following, let
her split.-Hutchinson News.
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS OUT.
Just got to keep going. After flying
what? Well, says Doctor Peelgaric,
of Boston, we must turn our minds to
tremendous things. There is the force
of the SUMS rays. On every thirty
rays strike they pour potential en-
ergy of one horsepower Practically
all this strength is lost today, so far as
mechanical uses to man are concerned.
And it is the same with the tremendous
energies of the tides, which are suf-
ficient by mere friction to slow down
the speed of the earth in its daily ro-
tation. Finally there is "the thing
called intra-atomic energy such as
that given out by the element known
as radium. I'VE may believe that in
time ships will navigate the ocean
without fuel for their engines: that
freight trains and passenger trains will
traverse the continents without loco
motives; that aeroplanes, breathing en-
ergy from the element they move in,
will fit and soar as freely as the but
terf1ies and the birds; that mills and
factories will hum with power drawn
out of the worthless of the ether; that
night will be illuminated by light with
out heat. hitherto the secret of the
FREELY and the glow-Worm; and that
wireless transmission of power now
the unrealzed dream of enthusiasts,
will seem the ineffective device of
primitive age" 1t is the dream of an
ina ginative scientist But by the light
even of the present. stage of progress
what is to prevent its fulfillment?-El
Dorado ReDub1ca0.