The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-06
SPELLING ERRORS
AND PUNCTUATION
Are Pointed Out BY University
Professor
NEWS FROM CHAPEL HILL
Historical Reference to State
. University Fifty Years Ago,
43O Students There Then
Make up of 1914 Football
Schedule - Dr.. RoySteI
Makes a Glazing Exhibit.
(By S. X.

Chanel Hill. Jan. Bad spelling |
slipshoddy punctuation, violation OF
the laws OF unity, and similar Other
offenses against the English hguaS
are among the c~atalogued SINS 80
commonly lodged against the college
trained youth. III too many stanc
the indictment holds forth for rea-
sons Of the college bred mans in
ability to produce a clean STATE IN
verbal and written expression OF the
English language. The frequency at
tending the commital of such COM
mon errors by such a large percent
age Of the freshman class OF the
University of North Carolina has led
DIR. James r. Register, head OF the
department of English of the UnlVer-
sity, TO inquire into the causation for
such a multitude OF errors III English
composition. His Investigation re-
solves itself into a plan for more
emphatic high school instruction in
The fairly simple matters of Enslish
compositions"
The article, which appears in the
quarterly number of the North Caro-
lima High School Bulletin, makes a
glazing exhibit of errors of spelling,
punctuation, sentence structure, eec.,
as gathered from a batch OF some
eight thousand themes written by the
freshman class of the University in
the ldll OF lSJZ, i lie eIIoIS VI SpStl-
ing are arrayed In the detailed ex-
hibit. and the English professor en-
phatically urges that it is better that
the teacher should spend q week, If 9
week is necessary, in teaching-a pupl
that there is one and only one C ir
necessary, and that there are two
as in separate rather than the in
,structor should spend ten minutes II
making the students spelling OF OBJ
sequious and cataciysm sure. SOm'
of the representative errors set fortl
in the list Of m~isspelled words are
Wheather for whether, speach 70
speech, ~sentance for sentence; pre-
pair for epa whipped for whipped
.ment for meant, and atheietic 70
athletic.
y DIR. Register makes ii unmistakabl
plain that the rudimentS of correC
suppression should AVE clear right-of
3vay over attempts at beauties Q
1style, figures Of speech and the nice
ties OF sentence structure. For, say
h University professor Of English
do you expect the ordinary hig
school student TO lake great car
about the construction of his ser
fences or the fulneSs Of his punctus
ton IL you ask him to express h
ideas about the LAGOON group tt
grandeur of the mountain scenery,
tho romantic qualities of Burn
verse ."
Reading its column of What ~;
News Fifty Years Ago. as reprintt
from its own sheet OF a half centul
ago, Thursdays Richmond Time
Dispatch carries this historical no
of the University of North Carolin
'In 1860. there were 430 students
chapel Hill; i'll 1858 there were 81
ty-three, all of whom were either I,
young to go into the army or we
physically incapacitated for servit
The senior class of 1860 number
81 men. O~ne-seventh of the class
known to have fallen in battle.
eight Of that class who received q
tinction. four are in their graves,
fifth Is in prison, and the rest are
the Confederate army. The fires
man class of 1856 entered the arr
with such impetuosity that but one
that class is now in college. A nu.
her of the faculty are in the arr
empt from service Fifteen Ct
II men IF the village of Cha
Hill have died in the army, cons
tuting one-half Of the total numl
OF Chapel Hills young men"
Tentative arrangements in
makeup of Cardinals 1914 foott
schedule provide for the follow
games: Richmond College at Cha
Hill on September IS; Davidson c
lege at Winston-Salem on Octobe
University of South Carolina at c
pei Hill on October IL; University
Georgia at Atlanta on October
Vanderbilt University at Nashvi
Tenn. on October "a; Wake Fo,
at Raleigh on october 81; and
University Of Virginia at Richm
on Thanksgiving Day. Two dates
open for engagements and nego
tions are on 70 supply them '