Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-05-06
vITRIoLIC.

Some slight objection was made to the
use of this word the other day as ap,
piled to a speech made. or about to be
made, by the President in New Jersey.
1t was feared that in the use of that
word we had put the president III a bad
light. Readers of The Herald know he
has no greater admirer in this cOmmuI-
ity than The Herald. which has cordial
ly supported him from the beginning
from the hour he was first mentioned as
a candidate till now. If we had said the
president was to be vituperative. we
should have been a proper object of re-
proof. If we had said he yillificd any
one, that would have been an insult to
him.
AS to the word vitriOlic. that is diff
ferent. There is no more favored word
in all newspaperdom. You meet it every
dav somewhere in some of the exchanges
that come to the table. 1t is a good
word without even a hint of c%OarsenesS
in it-or a suggestion of cOarsenesS In
the man who has been described as Wit
riolic. 1t is derived from vitrol-sulfur-
ic acid-Or rather s~ulfuric acid is derived
from %vitriol. 1t is an acid that scorches
and burns. whose corrosive effects only
gold can withstand. Consulting the die
tiOnaries, we find:
"EITRIOL. A sulphatc Of any one of
various metals. as Of copper. (blue Wit
riOl), iron green v~itriol), zine white
vitriol). so called because Of the CLASSY
lustre of many of these salts. ,. Hence
any thing likcned to vitriol as SALTS
Webster.
VITRIOLIC. OF or pertaining to vitri-
oil: derived from or resembling v%itriol:
hence %caustic, biting: as y~itriolic TEN
per; a y%itriolic pen-WebSter.
VITRIOL. /. Sulfuric acid; so called be
cause originally made from green %vitriol:
more commonly called v%itriOlic oil, or
oil of vitriOl. :. Any Of the salts Of
sulfuric acid.-Standard Dictionary.
VITRIOLIC. /. Derived from a vitriol;
as green vitriOl; as v~itriolic acid (sul
furic acid. ,. OF or pertaining to such
a deriyative; hence. corrosive. burning.
or caustics; as Il vitriolic criticism
Standard Dictionary.
So the president became vitriOlic-nOt
vituperatiye. 1t requires little violence
to sprinkle a few drops of vitriol where
it will do the most good. The v~itriolic
speaker and the v~itriolic writer need not
be either loud or coarse. One of the
most v~itriolic speakers of his day was
the late Senator Ingalls, of Kansas. He
was sauve and pleasant as Il dancing
master; he was balmy as a spring morn
ing; bland as the south wind among the
flowers. Our president is not Il loud
coarse man. He is a quiet cultured
southern gentleman-eXactly the man it
takes to become effectively vitriolic.
When Wilson's back was turned the
old gang tried to get back i'm the saddle
in New Jersey. The president became
vitriolic in his treatment of them. Ii
was severe medicine for the patients, we
admit that, but we may be Snre it was
administered as humancly as the nature
Of the case would admit. A perfect gen
tleman and Il most estimable Christian
can sometimes place a drop of "vitrioI
where it will burn a hole i'm the cpider
mis- Of any %rhinoceros in the Jungle. 1t
can be effectively applied with a feather
if haste is made before the feather is
burned up.