By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
F, WHILE you're
yOu come across a word,
meaning of which you
not know, what do you do?
The chances are that you
usk somebody to tell you
what it means, and the
chances are, that that
somebody will teil you to
“look it up in the big book™
or to “consult Mr. Webster.”
For that is what Americans have been
doing now for exactly a hundred years
—"looking it up in the big or
“consulting Mr. Webster.” For it was
just one hundred years ago this sum
mer that a scene of unusual activity
was taking place in the print shop of
Hezekiah Howe in New Haven, Conn.
and just one hundred years ago this
autumn there came forth the first
edition of Noah Webster's “American
Dictionary of the English Language.”
Now, the issuing of a dictionary Is
not in itself a unique event, but the
issuing of Noah Webster's dictionary
away back there in 18I8 was a note-
worthy event, and in some respects
the book itself was unique. Hereto-
fore the English-speaking world had
depended upon Dr. Samuel Johnson's
for authoritative spelling and defi
nition of words. But when the ed
ition 2,500 copies of the new die
tionary, each consisting of two bulky
quarto volumes of more than 1,000
pages each, appeared, Doctor John-
son's work was already obsolete. For
Webster's book listed, defined and fii
lustrated with appropriate quotations
somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000
words und included 12,000 words and
nearly 40,000 definitions which had
never before appeared in any diction-
%ry of the English tongue. Most of
the definitions Webster had coined
unew, doing virtually all of both the
mental and manual labor involved un-
assisted. He also did some revising
and simplifying, and it is to him that
we owe the fact that we write It
“honor” instead of “honour™ and “trav-
eler” instead of “traveller.” But more
than that, his dictionary was almost
an encyclopedia In which he set a
standard for accuracy and complete
ness of definition which governs the
lexicographer’s art of this date. In
fact, nearly all of the later diction-
aries have been based upon Webster's
work and have preserved hie identical
words In a Jarge number of their defi-
nitions,
reading,
the
do
also,
book”
of
From that little edition of 2.000
vies issued in 1828 have
millions of dictionaries whi
be found in the homes,
offices of the English-speaking world
of today, and every one of these dic
tionaries whether it bears his name
on its cover or not Is a
No Webster,
3
the
{o
grown
ch are
the Yankee school
wyer, wi
ght of his life
which has iriched our
measurably. Altho
*Webster” and
onymousg In the mi
but few us- know much about
man, Noah Webster, Nine out of
perbaps would confuse him with
distant relative, Daniel Webster, the
orator and statesman. Yet it is not
too much to say perhaps, that the con
tribution of Noah Webster to Ameri-
can life will be an important one
after that of Daniel Webster will have
been forgotten entirely.
ah
0 devoted for
ty-el yea
irda
#50
Ls,
the
ten
nary”
nds of most
of
his
Noah Webster was the son of
New England farmer of West Hart
ford, Conn., who in 1774, when Noah,
Jr, was sixteen years old, mortgaged
his farm to pay his ;on's expenses in
Yale college from which the hoy was
graduated four years later. Upon the
day of his graduation his father gave
him an eight-dollar Continental kill
(worth about four dollars at the time)
and told him that he could do no more
for him. Although young Webster had
intended to become a lawyer, he had
no means to continue his studies into
that field, so he had to resort to teach-
ing to make a living while he studied
law by himself-—-so successfully, It
proved, that he was admitted to the
bar in Hartford in 1781. He was un
able to walt for a practice, however,
80 he ugain engaged in school teach.
ing, {his time at Goshen, N, Y., where
he established a classical ‘school.
a poor
There in 1782, foreseeing that Amer:
ica, after separation from the mother
country would need to have its own
school texts, he planned a “Grammat-
ical institute” to Include a speller, a
reader and a grammar. The spelier
was issued first, In 1783, followed in
1784 by the grammar, and In 1785 by
the reader. The, success of the now.
famous “blue-back speller,” still fa-
miliar to the older generation of
Americans of today, was instantane-
ous and must have been amazing to
the young schoolmaster. In prepar
jog it, he had shown the same skill
and wound sense which characterized
his dictionary later. It was arranged’
|
|
|
NZ
in a more logical and serviceable
ner than Dilworth's spel the
previously ysed,
from
man
er, work
ingtead of the
Scriptures,
ary
he used
anecdotes whic
itely to the chi
vext hundred years
parsages
int
h ay
ergst
homely, pealed im-
medi
were to be’ im
the moral of these stories
By 1515 the sales of the speller were
risen to 350060 cor
by
year
154% th wor
As inte us
ng, and
that more than
have been
Webster's fame may
his dic but
its ©
oy
ening
ns
. todd
eslimated
copies sold since
1783.
upon
the
the
rest mainly
in a sense
ristence to
remainder
the
tionary,
diction
speller,
ary owes
for during the
life, and
he spent
most of the
his family came the profits of
this little blue-backed 15-penny book
In 1800 he gave up all his other work
devote himself to his dic
His original plan was to correct
errors and supply the omissions
er dictionaries, especially
So he spent a number of years
lecting words, Th
lack of knowledge as to the orig
words he changed his plan. Ver
next ten years he devoted himsel
comparative study of words, an:
he was sixty-six years old, having ex
hausted all the resources of libraries
in this country, he went to France
and England to complete his work
Finally hie great task was done. aml
in the nutumn of IBIS it came from
the press. Not content to rest after
a quarter-century of incessant labor
on one exacting task, the sturdy
Yankee set about revising some of his
earlier works, In 1840 he published a
révised edition of his dictionary and
he wag in the midst of a seeond re
vieion in 1843 when death came
claim him,
So the next time you come across
a word whose theaning you do not un-
derstand, before you ask somebody
what it means, think of the admoni
tion of one chronicler of Webster's
career—"If there is one too lazy to
take the half-dozen steps necessary
to reach the dictionary, let him pie.
ture the Connecticut scholar spend
ing twenty-five years pacing about be.
fore his huge semicircular table, inden
with dictionaries of all languages from
Arable to Icelandic, so that he might
especially
compiling
support of
years in
from
to tionary
the
in old
Johr S671 RB
ol
en realizing Lis oun
old
io
Bubble in a Sapphire
There Is exhibited In the British mu-
geum a sapphire welghing nine carats
and containing a bubble that appears
and disappears with changes of tem
perature. It is believed that a cavity In
the gum iIncloses a quantity of car
bonie acld gas under great pressure.
When the temperature is such as to
correspond with the “critical point”
for the gas, under the particular pres.
sure to which it is subjected In its
brilliant prison house, It liquefies and
becomes visible as a bubble,
Valuable Nettle
Nettles are usually associated with
unpleasant sensations, but a species
of the plant 1s widely cultivated In
China for the manufacture of a soft
silk-like fabric for textile purposes,
In strength, beauty and texture it is
sald to compare favorably with the
finest grades of silk and is lesa cost
ly. The “grass cloth” of China has
been used for more than 4,000 years
Pineapple fiber Is also employed in
the manufacture of handkerchiefs
and other articles.
s——
Air Sickness Antidote
An apparatus has been Installed at
Tempelhof field, near Berlin, Germany,
for passengers suffering from alr sick:
ness. Any passenger who fears that
he may become airzick may inhale the
antidote, which eonsiets in the main of
oxygen and cinnamon. The mixture
has a quieting effect upon the nerves
of the diaphragm,
1 Experiments Show de
Value of Light Baths
Ay taking a holiday In Bwitzerland
and sitting in the sun, five pit boys
from the mines in Mansfield, England,
have demonstrated the value of light
baths for men and boys who work un-
derground., A report of the commit
tee which has been testing the useful
ness of light in industrial hygiene has
just been published. Following the
Swiss experiment with sunlight baths,
a clinic was opened and 50 volunteers
from the mines, fourteen to seventeen
years old, have had ultra-violet light
baths several times a week for three
months, At the end of the time, the
boy® had gained in weight an aver
age of more than four pounds,
of the same ages who did not
Hght baths gained a little
fwe and a half pounds
game three months, The
had the light baths galped in
more than the boys who did not,
clinic Wit be continued, and the
mittee report recommends that wi
ever pithead baths are provided, 1
baths should be established with them
The report warns, however, that
fioial light baths should be
under medical supervision,
Joys
get the
more than
during the
boys who
helght
The
com
er.
git
arti
given only
Shoot at “Hate Targets”
At BO per of fue
tories in Russian the workmen engage
daily in rifle practice. The prop ngan
da department of the cor riat of
education Is supplying them with tar
gets, which take the
hated Cne of
{target
ten
cent the Soviet
form of popu
persons. the fave
8 is a representation of
of Sir
berl wenring his
wile, The
to the
mond
prize
“Girl” in the Scriptures
The
Jomes version of the Bild
word “girl King
gl ocCur
Ein iu
once In the singular
Mural. Joel B:3
for
bay
Cast ots
for
wine
8:5
city sl
ave
old a
given =
girl for
Zech
of the
and girls playing
thereof
i
have
h
84
SHOVE:
boys
Who Knows
impatiently of
hinder our
We often speak
that
in our shortsi
sadly mistaking values, It
} i “s 5
ghtedness we
few minutes
important work of our
the favorite
Engli
Gloves were once
the
gift among
i
Important+-these hot days!
12
Playing children and working grown-ups
require this light but nourishing food!
Delicious with fruit ---« Easy to digest
TRISCUILT - AWafer that's good for everybody
VISITORS WELCOME TO ALL FACTORIES
Uncle Eben
“A pood
a i8
Forming Gold Atom
that if an
into the nucleus of
one electron
talker,” sald
many
mit de sense an’
Physicists say electron
driven
atom ang
ite valence electrons,
formed
Uncle Eben,
arguments by
turnin’ his end
vocal solo” — Washington
be able to win
eavin’
of It into a
Star.
removers)
from
gold would he
an stom of
Non-poisonous,
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The lec on every pack.
It eg 1
a age 8 your guarantee
Kills pds ion,
Them! | °
Tres insect
cealer can
write
McCormick & Co.
yp Dalticaore, Md.
ig La
eS: 21!
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(cipAn ODOR 1)
Bert TF. or Both
Mother And Child
Regular use of the Soap, as-
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required, nct only cleanses and
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cause of pimples and other un-
sightly conditions.
Sosy Se. Diotment 5 and Oe. Talowm We. Gold
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Moan.
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t Four offers such desirable
tions
) $485; Roadster (with rumble seat)
Cabriolet (with top) $595. Whippet
TOLEDO. OHIO