The Washington herald., 1912-06-30
COMEDY SCREAMS
FROM ANNAPOLIS
ENTRANGEPAP
wierd Spelling and Worse Gram
mar Brought Out by
Examinations.

Candidates for admission to the United
States Naval Academy hailing from
every part Of the country may be consid-
cred representative Of American second
ary school training. Their answers to
questions in grammar, spelling, geogra-
ply, and history constitute material for
the investigator of educational conditions
throughout the United States.
II one may generalize from an analysis
OF Naval Academy entrance examinations
held during the last six years, the youth
Of the country seems e know less and
less each year about the spelling OF their
native tongue. A large majority failed
in the spelling examination six years ago.
This year over three-fourths OF the can
didates who took the examination In
April failed. Anthracite" was mis-
spelled by more than one-half Of the
candidates. Only one IN ten Of them
could spell ''garrulous." Here are some
of the stabs they made at Il: Girls"
mine instances), 'gerylust' ''geurallous,"
'garraIllous," "garalists," "granous,
"gaurleous," "guerIllous," ''gurles."
What. you will ask. was meant by the
lad who wrote ''bosanise7' He was try
ing to spell ''buoyancy." And ''appoli-
tion?" Appalachian. ''Porsuder" trans
lated means procedure; 'hervest'' is
"efrervesce;'' '.ntelligence" was actually
spelled "entelgense" ''Geyser'' erupts
into ''guIsu." "gyscier." ''gueyscer,
'glyoerIn," and 'geyeszer."
The Reign of Terror.
One candidate asked to comment briefly
on ths Reign Of Terror evolved this
classic: The Reign OF Terror was re-
voting In France. People were slaugh-
tered and cities destroyed. Blood was
thicker than water"
Two accounts OF the Pyramids Of
Egypt are memorable, namely ID They
keep growing smaller and smaller all the
time until there is nothing at ALL and
C9 There are two OF them-one is In
Paris and the other in Central Park.
n. Y"
Here are a few random shots in geo.
graphy: Pete CpeaU is the chief food
Of Ireland: ''Gret Briton is in Southern
Asia, in Northern China" Brazil Is
bounded on the south by Usury and on
the north by Gummia" (the Guianas?);
The Panama Canal is between the
United States and Canada Divides is
where the water flows in both directions
from that point" Mount Mckinley is
in the mountains in Alaska. DR.. Cooch is
the only man how every was to the top
that is Cmay BEL The dividing line
between Scotland and England is Mason
and Dixon's line" Eight islands north
of Australia are and Monna
Lisa"
In grammar one lad went so far as
to say that the plural OF She is 'wO-
men," and another in writing Of Lincoln
delivered this peroration: In them days,
when money and things was hard to get
at, he did not steal But l think he
lied. because all boys do that. with one
exception, George Washington "
Wore Long Hair.
The Dark Ages" wrote on boy, is
so called because very little is known
about them" All that one youth could
remember about Charles Of England
was that he wore long hair and a big
fancy star on his arm
What has been the schooling OF him
who writes Of julius Caesar as Juice
Caesar" although the correct spelling
stares him in the face on the examIna-
tion paper? Who taught geography TO
the candidate who can remember but
two cities on the Mississippi Missouri
and Ohio rivers, and those cities New
Orleans and Shreveport? What Is to he
done for the boy who thinks or at least
writes that "Cicily' is north OF Aus
tralia? The same boy included "Hatti''
and the japanese Islands" in the same
category Of islands north Of Australia.
The instructor who reads these papers, |
supposedly the work OF representative
young men OF America from seventeen
to twenty years old, comes tC the con-
clusiOn that something is wrong with the
school system. John Paul Jones. founder
Of the American Navy, was self-taught. !
yet his command Of English was superb, |
as any one must admit who reads his let |
ters TO the Marine Committee. The Eng
lish Of over 50 per cent Of this years |
Naval Academy entrance papers Is full |
Of illiteracy. unidiOmatic expressions !
blunders and crude phrase |
OlOgy.-St. Louis Post-Dispatch.