Oxford Democrat., 1921-03-15
Here and There.

One Of the worst cases Of mulierosity
since the days OF the Mormons was
brought 70 light In the New York courts
last week. A young man, Harold Ham
mond by name, and only twenty years
old, has been married fourteen times in
three years, to say nothing OF desertlng
from both army and navy during that
time. He did not try the Bluebeard on
any OF his wives either. They are oil
alive. This revelation was brought
about by wives numbers one and two
bringing proceedings for snnulment Of
marriage. Hammond enlisted in the
army in the fall Of 1917 and was sent to
Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont. he was
there but short time when he deserted
and went TO New York City, whore he
entered upon his frst venture In matri-
mony. The next day after bis marriage
he was arrested and returned to his post.
He again deserted and enlisted In the
navy under an assumed name. In the
navy he lived up to the precepts OF 3
sailor and not only had q sweetheart in
every port but wife or two as we'll. he
married girls all the way from Maine to
Virginia, and even established q record
of marrying two in one day. He is now
serving Q term in the Portsmouth IN.
H. naval prison.
How many different words does 40
average person use In written and spoken
dIscourseS OF course the number varies
with individuals, some having q larger
vocabulary than others but the average
10 only about 800 words, II We can be-
lieye those who have investigated the
subject. That means most people have
little use for the bigger portion OF q
dictionary. Perhaps people have 8
larger vocabulary than they did years
ago? At any rate the English language
10 growing and growing fast, and what
10 the use Of its growing II IL isn't used?
Old English literature used about $4,000
words but modern dictionaries list about
400, 900 words. How did we come by
thems To be frank to bluntness,-we
stole them. English speaking people
are found the world over. They come
In contact with about all the spoken and
written languages there are, and when
they hear q word they like the sound OF
they ''salvage" II, to use an army word
which has been stretched to cover q
variety of meanings; or perhaps II II
looks odd on paper surrounded by plain
English words. It Is used In about the
same way o foreign shrub Is ssndwiched
In among native vines and roses.
Colonel Henry W. Watterson Is taking
q hand In the Shakespearean contro-
vsrsy. he says William Shakespeare
couldn't have written the plays ascribed
to him because be could neither read
nor write. Neither does he have any
faith In the Bsconian theory. he thinks
Christopher Marlowe was the culprit.
Marlowe had written several successful
plays bearing his name, when he got
Into tavern brawl and killed . man, 80
hed to the continent, where he con-,
tinued his vocation as Q playwright,
sending the product to his friend
Shakespeare, who had by this time be-
come theatre manager. The first col
lectsd works attributed to Shakespeare
were not published for seven years after
that noteworthy's death, and were prob
ably gathered for the use of actors, with
little regard to authorship; SO, knowing
the lack Of education possessed by the
"immortal William" the controversy
regarding the creator 10 understood essi-
ly enough, and II Msrse Henry can dis.
entangle the snsrl he should receive the
thanks Of FIVE continents.
Women are now able TO hold any civil
Office In Maine, according TO an opinion
handed down by the Supreme Court at
the request of Governor Percival P.
Baxter, that is, II she can get 10.