davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18

with all their sounds, syllables and
letters. Our present system of spell
Ing Is unwieldy, confusing, irregular
and fncomprehensible to the child or
the foreigner who attempts it for the
first time. This is due mainly to the
Inconsistency between spelling and
pronunciation, eve In such simple
words as gave" and shave" The
best illustration Of this Inconsistency
Is In words containing cough" which
has eight different recommendations, as
illustrated In the following rhyme:
Through the rough cough and hic-
cough plough me through
l ought to rub your horses hough for
you.
Each Of these words, therefore, can
be pronounced eight different WAYS.
Thus, according to the laws of mathe-
matics. eight times 8xSxSx8xSxSxs
equals 16,777,216 different ~pronuncia-
tons of the entire sentence. And only
n of that number will be right
Or take the word foolish" He can
show 613,975 different ways Of spelling
1t, since the sound "f' has seven differ
ent ways of spelling; the sound 100"
20; the sound a." IL; the sound T''
20; and the sound Ssh" IL. One way
In which this word could be spelled
and yet pronounced as 1t is would be
"pphoughtliapshe" Gas in the words
sapphire" through" hustle" "mar-
riage" and "pshaw").
Under Doctor Dewey's system In
the "Fonetic Key Alfabet," there is a
symbol for each sound. In the major
|, ity OF cases these symbols look exact
ly like the letters Of the present al
phabet or are SO similar to them that
1t is easy to distinguish them. Cap
1tals have been dispensed with, since
they waste time. Instead, In printing,
the first letter of every sentence
would be set in bold face type and
would be blacker than the others. In
writing, a little cross Is placed above
and to the left of the letter to In
dictate that 1t is the beginning of a
sentence or is a capital letter. The
pronouns would be entirely changed
and If you (only we should say "yu")
wanted to refer to yourself, instead
of the present capital 81" you would
write a small letter "a" with a dot
over 1t (see first character in A DIFF
thongs In the alfabet shown above).
In the present way Of spelling one
hundred average words contain 43S
letters. Under Doctor Dewey's plan
100 words can be printed with 365 let
tiers. So by removing many of the
super1uous letters and syllables In
our present words, such as the cough"
and the final &c" IN a large number
of words a great saving In time and
effort could be effected. In fact. there
are three positive benefits claimed by
the originator of the Fonetic Key AL
fabet If his plan Is adopted. They are
as follows:
1. An initial saving of 5000, 600. 600
and a corresponding saving in the
time of this nation. Working hours
Of printers will be shortened. Typists
and stenographers will have less work
to do and less stationery will be re-
quired for business correspondence.
2. A saving of one and one-half
years for each child. 1t is estimated
that adoption of the Alfabet would
save the country annually $500. 000,O 600
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18

In the first four grades alone. Books
would be thinner and children could
progress faster with the English
language simplifed for them If they
did not have to waste time and effort
figuring out queerly spelled words.
3. The Alfabet would enable for
eigners to learn English more easily
and would help break down the
prejudices which prevent the adoption
Of English as a universal language.
Radio has brought the need Of such a
universal language to the attention
Of the whole world. English, because
Of its cosmopolitan vocabulary and
grammatical simplicity, is well fitted
for destiny as the universal language.
But it's spelling needs to be straight
ened out.
1t is as q teaching system that
Doctor Dewey hopes to have the new
Alfabet adopted. He believes b a 1t
will prove it's value there and that
fact will lead to its general adoption.
To test his theory that a child can
learn the new system easily, he
taught it to his daughter at the age Of
seven. After five hours study she
could use the new Alfabet correctly In
writing a letter to her mother. Doctor
Dewey realizes that general adoption
of the system would necessitate new
printing type, but he is firmly con-
WINGED that the eventual saving would
make up for the immediate cost. He
estimates that 1t can become univer-
sally established within three genera
tons and Of general public use in one.
Already 1t has passed one barrier, In
that a typewriter with the new pho
netic type has been made by n OF
the oldest typewriting manufacturing
companies and Is available for public
use.
Although Doctor Dewey is secretary
Of the Simplified Spelling board, the
new Alfabet is not connected with the
new simplifed spelling, except that 1t,
too, Is a part of a growing movement
to write as we speak. His Alfabet is
based upon a similar one often re-
ferred to as the National Education
Association Alfabet, used as key one
of the New Standard dictionary. This
Alfabet recognizes 4S different sounds,
but Doctor Dewey has reduced that
number to Al. "Only one sound for
each sign and only n sign for each
sound" Is the slogan through which
he hopes to make the new Alfabet
popular.
The new Alfabet Is not only a
hobby with him. 1t is an ideal and
something of an inheritance. His IA
Their, Melvil Dewey, was one Of the
founders of an international confer
ence for the amendment of English
photography 80 years ago. As a boy
Doctor Dewey was a natural speller
and champion In many a school SPELL
ing bee. He has been studying short
hand for 80 years and during the last
six or eight years has been concen-
trating on the new Alfabet for general
use. He was graduated from Harvard
in 1909 and returned for a master Of
education degree in 1921, receiving
his doctor of education degree last
year.. In 1923 he published a book
"The Relative Frequency of English
Speech Sounds" which was a rorerun-
ner of the new Alfabet which he has
evolved from his years of study.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
Record for Geraghty

Agnes G~eraghty, New York mer-
maid, hung up a worlds record in the
women's national senior swimming
championships. Swimming against
Matilda ~Scheurich, a teammate of the
women's Swimming association of
New York city, and Marie Hillegas, of
the Philadelphia Turngemeinde, Miss
Geraghty lei by 20 feet at the finish
Of 22O yards. The old mark Of 3:21-3-5
was clipped to 800. Miss Geraghty
IS expected to set more records this
gear.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
Fat and Forty

Too many fat women have fat
minds, said Lady Barrett, president Of
the Medical Women's International as
ISOLATION.
Half the trouble In middle age with
women is due to lack of mental stim-
ulation,' asserted the doctor In an adj
dress. Mental exercise Is just as nee
nessary to women as to men, as an
active mind needs an active outlet
Men have their work to occupy their
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18

and so on through the alphabet until
you ended triumphantly "X-Y-Z and
SO forth? Remember that queer lit
tie wiggly symbol which stood for
land so forth" and how, when you
grew a little older and knew what
$50 forth meant, you wondered why
1t said land so forth when there
were just 26 letters in the alphabet
and no more?
Well, that sand so forth" is coming
true If a certain Harvard graduate
has his way about 1t. For DR.. Godfrey
Dewey has a new system of A-B-C's
which adds Is letters to the present
alphabet. OF course, modern peda-
gogy has done away with the old
commit the alphabet to memory be-
fore he begins to learn words, and the
schools of today start the child imme-
diately upon the task of putting the
letters together to form words In
stead of his learning them as individ-
ual symbols in a certain sequence.
This is considered a vast improve
ment over the old-fashioned chanting
procedure, but Doctor Dewey believes
that even it car be improved upon
and the speaking and writing Of Eng
fish simplifed by charging the alpha
bet. During all these years, says he,
we have been trying to a a cos
mopolitan language, made up of diff
ferent elements from many tongues,
into 20 Latin symbols and he thinks
that by using Al symbols we can
straighten out the Mother Tongue and
avoid working some of our present 20
symbols overtime. Incidentally, he be-
lieves that he car save the nation a
billion dollars a year on its printing
bill by eliminating the waste due to
the use of the present alphabet.
Doctor Dewey proposes to make
these sweeping changes by a "Fonetic
Key Alfabet," consisting Of "a con-
sonants, 10 vowels, four difthongs and
a supplementary sign for the word
"the." That one word, incidentally, Is
the source of greatest waste in our
language, says Doctor Dewey, who as
secretary Of the Simplifed Spelling
board, founded and endowed by the
late Andrew Carnegie, has studied the
English language carefully for many
years. He has found that In modern
printed literature the word "the' ap-
pears 1910 times in every 100000
words and that z per cent of all print
ed paper is covered with "the's.'' A
sheer waste, he declares, and 1t can be
remedied by using n symbol to take
the place of this word made up Of
three symbols.
The ten commonest words In our
speech and writing, he also finds, are
"the," "of," "and," "to," "a" "in,"
shat" "it," SIS" and ST." and these
compose % per cent Of the written
language. By c~ondensing these words,
but more especially by condensing
much longer words which are bur-
dened with superfluous letters, he es-
Inmates that the total cost of writing
and printing in this country, which
has been estimated at $4,000, 900, 900
q be reduced one-sixth or to $780,
100000.
Doctor Dewey, basing his conclu-
sions upon eight years of research in
the matter, declares that one-sixth Of
the letters we use In writing words are
useless. And he believes that his
statement is based upon sufficient evil
dence, for during the eight years he has
counted and tabulated 100000 words
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
Vegetarian Dogs

London hears from Calcutta that a
village has been purchased near Baro-
da by a Hindu millionaire and turned
into a settlement for vegetarian dogs.
1t is called Kutta-Nagar, kutta being
the Hindu word for dog and magyar for
city. The millionaire belongs to a
Hindu sect which absolutely discoun-
tenances the killing Of any living
thing in any form, and he founded his
dog-town I'm order to wean away fierce
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18

minds. and women need something,
too. Inertia of the body is pretty bad,
but inertia Of the mind is worse; 1t
helps to produce that worst of all mid
die age horrors-fat. A fat body
usually indicates a fat mind, and fat
means a very serious increase to the
work Of the body"
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
Scientific kissing

Forty thousand germs are said to
be transferred with each goodnight
kiss. The scientifically educated flap
per, when her sweetie asks for a good
night kiss, win reply. Don't bacilhi"
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
SeH-AndIysis

1t is for you to decide as you an
alyze your own life whether you are
good or not, whether you are as good
as you know how to be, and whether
you are better this year than You
were last-Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
UncomplimentaryF Fact

at certainly isn't very ~fiattering
when you come to think about it."
unused Smith. swell, I'm no mind
reader, but I'm willing to think about
1t. Spill it." said Brown. "Oh, / was
just thinking how small 1t makes a
husband feel to see how deadly afraid
of a mouse his wife is and how deadly
unafraid Of him she is," replied Smith.
Cincinnati Enquirer.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
Training for Derby

Osmand, ace Of ]. E. Widener's
three-year-olds and winter book
favorite to win the fifty-third re-
newal Of the Kentucky derby,
arrived at the track from Mr.. Wi
dener's Elmdorf farm near Lex
ington, to enter training for the
classic.
Mr.. Widener also has named
Chance Shot and KEW for the
derby, but Osmand, a gelding, Is
considered his best bet.
Pete Coyne, recently signed
by Mr.. Widener to train his
horses, will have charge Of Os-
mand during his preparation for
the $4,000 added race to be run
at Churchill Downs May IA.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
Predict Tight Race

Ty Cobb and Eddie Collins,
two of the outstanding stars of
the American league, predict a
tight race for 1927. Both play
ers say the Boston Red Sox is
the only team you can definitely
count out in the winter books.
Each likes the chances Of
Philadelphia and Washington
best, with little to choose be-
tween New York and Cleveland.
They rate Detroit, st. Louis and
Chicago in the third tier of cor
tenders.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18

To attract attention to It, a new
attachment for an automobile rear
stop light causes It to fash on and
or about go times a minute when q
cars brakes are applied
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
ey ELMO SCOTT WATSON

IMEMbEh CHt UdyS WHeH
you started on the royal
road to learning by dill
gent study in the front of
the old first reader and
then, at the command Of
teacher" you, in COM
pany with other neo-
phytes in formal educa-
ton as offered in the old
district school, chanted
in chorus ~"A-B-C-D-E-F"
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18

NeUer Fails
Ted-Do you think there Is a meth
cd to tell If a man is lying? Have
you seen the instrument?
Bill-Sure. / married one.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18

not allowed in the village.-Chicago
Daily News.
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08
LiUs Food No Longer
GiUen Captive Snakes

In order to satisfy numerous
readers who protested against
feeding the snakes live pigeons at
the zoo, the Post Dispatch arranged
for a visit by Its reporters at feed
ing time.
The reptiles are no longer given
anything actually alive for food,
Actuated by desire to meet the
objections of humane persons to
this method of feeding, the zoo au-
thorities corresponded with the New
York zoo curator, who said that
freshly killed food could be subsu-
tuted for living creatures If the
substitution were done with skill
and understanding, meaning, no
doubt, If the serpent could be
fooled into the belief that what was
offered was still alive. This Is
done by dangling the stunned or
killed rabbit or bird before the
hungry snake. He has to be
hungry, however, some snakes be-
ing able to 60 without food for
weeks or months.
SO we SILL leu Iuc uOIIlu ESp-
tiles, as so many women delight In
calling them, although from the rec
ords Of geological gardens they are
the most popular denizens of these
places. But we kill their food for
them. We assume the guilt, If
there be any, of shedding innocent
blood. An easy matter for the
lords Of creation, who slaughter
everything, including each other
st. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08
Simple Device Made
Revolution in Music

According to manuscripts, the
playing Of the steel guitar, which
has made Hawaiian music famous
throughout the world, was origi-
mated by Hawaiian lad In 1898,
who found that by placing an ar
ticle on the fingerboard of the
guitar while playing, novel sound
could be produced. The boy, Jo-
seph Kekuku, then a student at
Kamehameha school, first got the
idea when he placed a pocket comb
on the fingerboard and brought a
new twang from the instrument.
This was followed by experiments
with, the blade of pocket knife
and resulted in the use of a piece
of thick steel for the purpose. The
new music" took the islands by
storm and later spread over the en-
tie world.
'This invention of the Hawaiian
schoolboy," says Survey, is the
most significant contribution of Ha-
wafi to music, the Introduction of
an entirely new technique for the
playing of stringed instruments, at
least as far as the western world
is concerned, although the japanese
employ a similar technique with
one of their stringed instruments,
and some African tribes north and
south of the Congo do the same
with the musical bow, using a shell
or a knife blade"
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08
Pleasure in Hot Dishes

zone Of the delights Of a summer
in a country boarding house was
getting meals piping hot" said a
city woman. II had about forgot
ten how delicious a dish was when
1T was served smoking hot. For 50
long I have had dishes brought
to the table by the maid only warm
or at the best merely hot. Now,
there is a wide difference between
a piping hot dish and a hot dish,
a difference which may make O
meal huge success or an indiffer-
ent affair;
"But Ii these days of gas stoves
1t is not a simple matter to keep
vegetables hot, and so one has al
most become accustomed to them
just past the warm stage. But when
a smoking meal Is dished up right
from the coal stove in a waiting
covered dish there is a heartiness,
a geniality about the entire meal
which makes for good digestion and
neutrality-suspicious. Union.
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08
The crucible

The passing over from one year
to the next offers opportunity for
stock-taking or inventory-making In
life. What interest in service has
my life yielded7 Life has been
considered by some one as doing
business under the firm name OF
"Soul d Company" Soul lie the
senior partner. Body Is the asso-
ciata January first Is the time to
set down the income and the outgo
OF the character, to consider how
life's business prospeis; to deter
mine whether "Soul & Company"
are rich in the coin Of heaven or
are facing moral insolvency
Chsesmau A. Herrick.
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08
Valuable Wood

Bird's-eye maple is found from
Newfoundland to Georgia and west
ward to the northern shores Of the
Great lakes, eastern Nebraska and
Kansas. When the grain has a pro-
nounced wavy appearance the wood
is called bird's-eye maple and Is
used RS a veneer. The forest serv-
ice says that there Is a parasite
growth that gets into the wood Of
the maple and causes a swelling,
which when cut OFF straight by the
saw appears as eyes. This does
not harm the wood, but makes 1t
more valuable. Generally speaking,
this wood Is scarce.
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08
On the Smoker

A house painter once sat next to
the great Sargent and asked him
for the loan of match. Then, no.
ticing the great painters brushes,
easel and box of colors, he said
genially:
II see we're both in the same
line"
81 see we are" said Sargent, with
a laugh.
"I've been whitewashin' a barn
today" said the house painter.
"How's trade with your
Brisk" said Sargent. II coated
q village this morning and gave
second coats to a castle, river
and a mountain this afternoon. I
finished up the day with a fash of
lightning = gold-leafed her, you
know"
"Gosh, some hustlin' I" said the
house painter. @You sure must be
on piecework."
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08

One Of the cadets was graduated
one year and forthwith had a pair
of twins.
The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-09-08

ing cup to the officer of the corps
who has the first baby after grad
uation.
Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-12-18
Weekly Copper ReOiew
EY OE1AEGE4EO IT. WHhLAo,
editor The Mining JOurnall

Activity in copper metal has now
slowed up and, while sales are large
particularly on foreign account, the
consumers have their immediate needs
filled and are standing by watching
for further market changes. The price
has remained firm at IA cents net to
the producers although the sale of
miscellaneous small lots are givin g
higher quotations The average price
received by the producers for copper
average for the month of November
was 13 1-3 cents
Lead and zinc are having normal
sale with no tendency towards any
price change, lead remaining at $50
while zinc has weakened a few cents
to SITS. There is nothing about the
market for either of these metals that
indicates an early change.
The increasing price of copper has
had no noticeable effect upon foreign
consumers which evidences the. fact
that we have every reason to expect
a continued large European demand
Domestic consumers are buying only
enough to fulfill immediate require
ments and this requires large quaint
ity of the metal. While there was
some falling off in domestic demands
during the early part of the year, the
improvement during the last half OF
the year has been such as to bring
domestic consumption practically back
to the 1926 figures for the same period.
Foreign shipments of copper have
averaged 52,621 tons monthly during
1927 as against 1881 tons during 1926.
The big gain, however, is during the
last three months when over 60,000I
tons monthly have been taken and
this three months period is probably
larger in copper takings than any
Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-12-18

the world demand can be profitably
produced at that price and it will take
almost another cent advance to reach
normal position where approximate
ly IS per cent Of the copper necessary
can be profitably produced. At the
price prevailing but few weeks ago.
13Ac, less than 60 per cent was being
profitably handled.
Much Of the domestic prosperity in
the copper industry hinges around the
condition and outlook for the electri-
cal business, hence there should be
an interest in a recent statement made
by Gerard Swope, the president Of the
General Electric company. Mr.. Swope
says:
'"The electrical manufacturing busi-
ness for 1927 has, on the whole, been
satisfactory, and about the same in
volume as the previous year. The use
cf electric current in homes and fac
tories has. increased Z per cent over
1926, and with the exception of 1921
has shown an increase each year since
1919 when the index was first pre-
pared, and the consumption in 1927
was more than double what it was in
1919. This is becoming one of the best
indices of general and industrial con-
ditions in America.
"The outlook for 1923. is on the
whole, favorable. Economic conditions
are sound and the satisfaction of the
demand of 12O.OOO,OOO people should
provide ample business activities with
the usual attendant improvement in
the art. Earnings Of labor have never
been so high md with continuance
Of good business their earnings should
continue and employment become
Steadier."
Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-12-18

NEW YORK, Dec II lP - Heavy
accumulation of the copper shares in
further reflection of improving trade
conditions lifted nearly all active
members of that group to their high
est prices in years in today's brief ses-
sion of the market. Some irregularity
developed in the general list as a re-
suit of heavy weekend profit taking,
but the line of least resistance was
unmisbakably upward The average of
20 leading industrials again reaching
a new record Trading was conducted
at a terrific pace, total sales for the
two hours running about 1908, 200
shares, establishing new Saturday
record
Despite the fears of "a credit string
ency, aroused in sons quarters by the
heavy exports of gold from the United
States in the last few weeks, operators
for the rise expressed confidence that
no immediate tightening of rates was
in prospect, emphasizing the stability
and ease Of the call money market this
week in the face OF a heavy mid-month
turnover of funds and large with
drawalS of currency in anticipation of
holiday requirements. The improve
ment shown in the basic industries also
was stressed as a "bull" factor.
Much of today's realizing probably
was inspired by commission house ad-
vices, suggesting that the recent ad-
vance was too rapid and that the mar
ket was entitled to breathing spell