Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 March 1883 — A Good Word for the Next Letter. [ARTICLE]

A Good Word for the Next Letter.

The Trey Times says of the late Congressman Selye, of Rochester, that one of his idiosyncrasies was a fondness for rhetorical flourish and for -words which he thought would imply learning, though on ordinary occasions his language was plain and blunt to the verge of brutality. One evening he was sitting in the editorial-room of the Rochester Chronicle, which journal he then owned, and accidentally overheard a conversation between two members of the staff as to the proper construction of a sentence. They agreed between themselves that a certain expression might be considered tautological. Instantly Mr. Selye’s attention was aroused. “What’s that?” he demanded. “Taut—taut—what in blank did you say ? Let’s hear that word again. ” The word was repeated and he inquired its meaning. He was told, and then with an air of incredulity insisted upon hav ing it looked for in the dictionary. This was done, and adjusting his eye-glasses the old gentleman studied it intently for some moments. “ Humph—ha—hum,” he slowly ejaculated, “blanked good word; blanked if it ain’t. Then, taking a lead pencil, he painfully copied this new linguistic acquisition upon a piece of paper, whiuh he thrust into his vest pocket, exclaiming with increased emphasis, “That’s a blank blanked good word, and I’ll be blanked to blank if I don’t use it in the very next letter I write!”