The sun., 1918-11-24

now before our readers:
"Small boys-evcn the not painfully
literate-use big words. They don't spell
them conyentionally, however. They do
not spell was 'wuz;' but critical is likely
to be 'crittacle' and ethical may become
'ethakal.' The richness of the small boys
misspelling is got when without being bru-
tai it is obfuseatory-when If gets you so
you cant be quite sure, when the boy SAYS
he's going to be tackle, that he hasn't
spelled wrong a word which is, lexico-
graphically, taekel. He spells just wrongly
enough TO seem right when he's wrong
and wrong when he's right. Too often
people 1Urite for small boy as the small
boy would talk-as 'o'' for of and the
'wuz' for was
"a small boy gives you endlessly varied
spcllings of the same word; he may spell
corporal six diff rent ways In succession
Like Japanese speaking the precisest
English, the small boy will be most cor
rect on the most formidable words; ON
lesser words he will be phonetic OF fan
tastic-but not In any way logical.
in punctuating, however, he is logical
in funny way of his own. His punk tew-
alton Is thing of color.
Perhaps we're spoiled for real boy
stuff by the too highly spieed conven-
tional messes. Most boy stories--stories
about boys-make the boys 60 through
such fancy stunts. For instance: In q
boys story they make the kids dig a
trench seven feet deep and 100 yards long.
The kids really go down, about fourteen
inches with the shovel and the rest of the
way Wit, their imaginations. Harrington
Is fine when be makes Penrod 60 down the
lamp lit street killing telegraph poles with
his own 'BingF Ny boys have terrible bat
ties sometimes without even stick 10 point
like gun. Just their own vocal fBang!
BangH Stays regiments.
an Sammy Jones's letters everything is
minor except Sammy's way of seeing
everything While the country is at war
the war colors all the facts Of existence:
after the war ends the Sammy Joueses
go serenely ahead with importanter mai
ters.'
IN a letter vet to be printed Sammy
Jones describes a visit TO the Mctropoli-
tan Museum of Art, New York, with his
aunt. The letter was impeached by one
who read il and after all it was necessary
to stop and reflect to see how fundamen-
tally funny it was-Sammy describing in
considerable detail Egyptian curiosities in
which his uncle at the front could hardly
be vltally Interested, The Impeachment
was carried TO Mr. Teall Ii turned out
that this was an actual letter. Il never
Sammy mouth." Mr.. Teall explained,
and added; 81 haven't il to put there~
To THE EpTToR OF BOOKS AND TTrE Book
NOgLI--.>ir: 1t was n rainy night and
the writer had saved David Martins
record Of the Wayfarer Books and the
Bosk World, October 27), to devour later
under the Pickering light in the fo'c's'le
Imaginary. Outside the wind moaned
among the old naples, now bare rs the
oliplIl VI lHC IChGu SdLILSJ Us uOhu
We drifted toward the Horn.
Another gust, bringing memories Of
such nights twenty years ago, when We
listened to the tales Of an old forty
miner, who had made trip through the
strait to the gold digSin's," coming back
across the Isthmus Il year or two later.
He described this Strait Of MageIlan read
about i'll history and geography and out
lined on maps, but which We had never
giimpsed before, as being about as wide
rs the Ohio Valley, with sheer walls of
rock on either siae and the weltering sea
rolling between. Perhaps he was think
ing Of the Narrows rather than the wider
stretches beyond, but the picture still re-
mains.
And now we have its companion piece.
"Rounding the Horn Above both we
place the scene in the wayfarer's fo'c'sle,
I'll, I'LL F-o,., a., ITII..