Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1876 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

Spelling, Pronouncing and Musical Rees in London.

Tub spellingbee mania continues to increase in intensity., and is also taking developments in various directions. The night before last there was what was called a “grand spelling-bee,’’ under distinguished patronage, at St. James’ Hall. There was a Queen’s Counsel in the chair, a reverend Professor as interrogator, two barristers and a Colonel U 3 referees. The band of the Fusijeqr " Guards was also in the programme. The large hall was densely crowded, chiefly by ladies. There were 214 competitors —of whom eighty were women—for the prizes, which amounted to twenty-five pounds In money. Almost all the competitors had come armed with dictionaries, some of which were of huge dimensions, andj up to the moment when the proceedings began, were conning over the hard words. Before the competition be§an, however, it was suggested that the ictionaries should be taken away from the competitors, for fear they should make unfair use of them; so, after touch altercation and concision, they were collected by persons connected with the entertainment. The first batch of words included sheriff, echerif, shagreen, broach, bight, battered, referred, occurrence, cobbler, cable and other comparatively easy words, but many competitors broke down. Then came a harder series, such as aerolite, mortise, apopththegm (so given in the Timet, but 1 should say apothegm was enough), phthisic, phfllipic, shottgh, mulligatawney, psychology, ptarmigan, vinaigrette (which is not English), triptych, chough, phyllopods, tael, systole, synedoche, chouan#, phthisipneumony, etc., which rapidly reduced the number to seventeen. By this time the proceedings had lasted about three hours, and the large hall was wanted for another purpose. So the company hud to adjourn to a smaller hall, where there was room for only a fraction of them, and there was much uproar, ~ protesting and confusion. After a while the people were turned out of the room also, and nobody knows who got the prize-money. It looks in short, very like a swindle, the distinguished patronage notwithstanding. Last night there was a “definition’.’ bee, as a change from spelling. There were about 100 persons present, but the ladies were not so strong as at the spelling-bees. The prizes ranged from ten shillings to five pounds. The words to be selected were from the current literature-of *i*e day, excluding purely technical, scientific or obsolete words. Vulpine was the first word, and then followed dank, bruit (not English), bittern, gregarious (guessed by a lady to mean grain-feeding), cogency (which another lady Refined as reasoning powers), reeve (who was recognized as a bird, but not as a public officer), nescience (which some one defined as knowledge), ana so on. The contest was kept up to a very late hour A musical bee has also been started, priz.s to the value of thirty pounds being offered to the best pianoplayers and singers at sight, who must be amateurs. Questions on musical subjects are also to be put. Mr. Brinley Richards, a well knownJprdfessional, will preside.— London Cor. N. Y. Timet.