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Items of Interest Gathered Here and There
Is "Widolv Woman” Correct?
Numerous indeed are the motives which have led
• and still lead men to resort to expletives. Certain
of those now in use contain little more than a repe
tition of the same idea expressed by two different
words. A part of the compound has become obso
lete or archaic; hence it needs, or needed, to have
its meaning strengthened. Luke, for instance,
meant “tepid”; but as it came to be somewhat
unfamiliar, the sense was brought out with pre
cision by adding to it warm. Different from this,
though possibly allied to it, may be the attributive
use of widow in the expression widow woman.
The second word of the combination is clearly un
necessary; but it may not have been always so.
The difference of the final vowel in the original
Anglo-Saxon words constituted the sole distinction
between widuwa a “widower” and widuwe a “wid
ow.” When the leveling processes that went on after
the Conquest gave to both these words the same
ending -e, a natural way to fix definitely the idea
of femininity, before -er was added to create the
masculine form, would be to append “woman” to
the common word. If this were so, it would be al
most inevitable that the combination would survive
long after the necessity for it had disappeared.
However, this may be, the expression has subsisted
for centuries in our speech. When in our version
of the Bible the woman of Tekoah tells King David,
“I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband
is dead,” we are supplied in the same short sen
tence with illustrations of two different sorts of
expletives. For the one, the original Hebrew is
necessarily responsible; for the other, the sixteenth
century translators. The Wycliffite version of the
fourteenth century had “woman-widow.” But
whatever the origin, the expression has come down
to the present time. Nor is it confined, as is often
asserted, to colloquial speech. To cite one instance
out of many, it is used in Barnaby Rudge, by Dick
ens, when speaking in his own person: “To find
this widow woman,” he says .... “linked
mysteriously with an ill-omened man ....
was a discovery that pained as much as startled
him.”—Thomas R. Lounsbury, in Harper’s for Oc
tober.
The Happy Season.
The golden sun of autumn shines with peculiar
brilliance upon the happy land called the United
States. The busy harvest fields, the rushing trains
and steamers, the teeming and smoking cities, the
countless herds, and the belching mouths of mines,
make the greatest and most varied picture of hu
man happiness that the rolling globe turns to the
sun. It is a mighty scene, too large to be grasped
by man’s imagination, even though winged with
genius. The fruit of a year’s toil is being gathered
up into a million barns. The corn of nourishment
the wine of refreshment, and the oil of joy are
filling bin and cask and urn to overflowing. The
music of healthy work, the laughter of muscle and
steam, and the confusion of a thousand prosperities
mingle in a symphony more majestic than the
dreams of Beethoven. These are the sounds of peace
and health, and doubtless are rightly construed by
Providence as unconscious praise and thanksgiving.
Sunburned and with the strength of youth, this
glorious country faces winter and another year.
The account of 1907 has been made up. Nothing
remains but to store the fruits. Is there anything
melancholy in the approach of winter and rough
weather in such a land? In the hard old days win
ter meant a living death to the farmer. Now it is
the season of enjoyment, when thrift feeds on the
fatness it stored up betimes. Social pleasures make
the dark days bright, and the roaring fire makes
delightful contrast to the sleety blast. In the cities
there is no cause for mournfulness in the short
days and long nights. They are most welcome to all
men of open mind and cheerful soul Especially in
Washington, the nest of winter delights, does sum
mer end joyfully and autumn unfolds her husk of
sweets. October comes as Robin Hood came t:,
Sherwood Forest. This brown and jolly month
dances in, his aim encircling; the balmy and buxom
The Golden Age for October 10, 1W?.
waist of Ceres, and the wassail flows merrily as
they whir] through the scarlet woods. Jack Frost,
the magician, is master of the revels. He hangs
strange colors in the trees, and conjures up a mys
terious change in the sun’s light. Common things
begin to seem unreal in this Indian summer radi
ance. The astonished mortal, before he is aware,
finds himself in a land of faery, and must pinch
himself to be certain he is not translated.
October a mournful month? Bah! It is the
happiest time of the year to honest men. Only the
mole-eyed, soured and thriftless wight, “whose
downward eye still looketh for a grave,” has a right
to be melancholy in October. —Washington Post.
H It
7he Longest Word.
There is a discussion on as to the longest word
in the English language. Several have been sug
gested as entitled to this distinction. One indi
vidual, who has had the patience to investigate the
dictionary with the view of ascertaining the infor
mation, confidently thought he had found the prize
word is “nonintereommunicability,” which has
twenty-three letters. But another inquisitive mind
has corrected this idea by quoting the word “anti
disestablishmentarians, ” which he found in the
diary of Archbishop Benson. It occurs in this sen
tence: “But the Free Kirk of the North of Scot
land are strong amidisestablishmentarians. ” The
word has twenty-six letters. But “antidisestab
lishmentarians” is a baby alongside the name
of a village in Anglesey, the spelling of which
is, according to Sir Herbert Maxwell, “Llan
f airp wllgwy ngl Igogerc hyrmy drob wi llandisilli ogoch.''
This surely looks to have been pied by the printing
machine. It requires fifty-three letters to spell this
name. It is called by the natives “Sillygo.” We
don’t see how they do it. In speaking of the spell
ing of the name, Sir Herbert Maxwell says “it is
a Welsh attempt in perfect good faith to describe a
certain place so that it will not be mistaken for
others.” The Italian language contains a word of
twenty-six letters —“ precipitevolissimevolmente. ”It
is the original of the proverb, “He who rises
too high oft falls most precipitately. ’ ’ If any of our
readers know of a longer word than those above
quoted, they may send it to us in instalments, and
we will publish it in serial form.—The Macon Tele
graph.
'Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford.
The Outlook recently published an article from
the Oxford secretary of the Rhodes trustees in de
fense of the American Rhodes scholars at Oxford,
in which attention was called to the fact that it
was impossible to judge of their scholastic per
formances because comparatively few of them had
completed their courses. The first contingent has
now returned to America, and some information
on the subject may perhaps be of interest. Forty
three Americans took up their residence at Oxford
in October, 1904, of whom two have since died,
while one resigned his scholarship before the end
of the three years. The record of the remaining
fortv is as follows:
Twenty-four entered the regular courses or
“schools” leading to the B.A. degree, covering so
varied a field as classics (3), history (7), law (6),
English literature (4), theology (2), German (1),
and geology (1). In the published class lists, six
were placed in the first class, eight in the second,
seven in the third and three in the fourth. A
“second” is considered very good, so that it will
be seen that over half have acquitted themselves
with distinction; while various circumstances, which
can not be detailed here, will explain many of the
lower results.
Five pursued the work leading to the degree of
Bachelor of Civil Law. This is admittedly the
hardest examination at Oxford, and is usually taken
by Englishmen only after completing the ordinary
course in law and several years’ practice at the
bar. One American “took” a first, one a second,
the others third.
Eight pursued special or research work analogous
to that required for the degree of Ph.D, in Ameri-
ca, three of whom were forced —one hesitates to
say it —to abandon it for lack of adequate instruc
tion or direction, and this at a time when it was
impossible to begin other work. Three secured tneir
degrees, while two, unfortunately, were turned
down, one of them under circumstances which even
Oxford does admit to have been at once peculiar
and unparalleled.
Os the other three scholars, one decided to
“read” for any degree, and followed an independ
ent course of study; the other two entered’schools
which it is impossible to finish within three years.
One of them is “staying up” a fourth year at his
own expense, while the other has arranged to con
tinue his work in absentia.
It is not maintained that the results attained aie
brilliant, but it is submitted that they are very
creditable. It should be remembered that these
scholars are pioneers, that they were suddenly
brought face to face with a system in every respect
utterly different from our own. Most of them have
acquired a speaking knowledge of one or more of
the modern European languages and have traveled
extensively; above all, they have acquired what The
Outlook recently set forth as the essentials of a
college training, and which constitute one of Ox
ford’s surest claims to greatness—“ increased ca
pacity for friendship, for loyalty, for co-cperation
with others, for appreciating many points of view
besides one’s own, for feeling the power of beauty
in works of ait.” It is hoped that this statement
will convince doubting Thomases that American
Rhodes scholars have at least held their own.
•t M
The Hague Conference Not a “Failure.
The conference at The Hague is running to its
close, and it appears that nothing remarkably con
structive and progressive will have been accomp
lished. “Fiasco” is the word which is being used
to characterize the present effort of the civilized
powers to establish away for the peaceful settle
ment of international disputes. But fiasco is not
the fact, notwithstanding this summary characteri
zation of the merits of the difficult undertaking.
The. powers have met seeking a great end. This
is a precedent, and they can meet again. A moral
victory has been won. Ways and means have been
discussed to lessen the chances of war, and the
world has had put before it for its consideration,
by the American people, a plan for the improve
ment of the machinery of international arbitration.
A real, judicial tribunal has been considered as a
step forward. Better let the nations call the work
of the passing conference preliminaries to future
congresses whose action, thus made ready, will
surely lead to operative agreements for human wel
fare. Something has been done by The Hague Con
ference. While the powers have not agreed To limit
armaments, they have agreed that limitation is an
imminent problem. Furthermore in the way of
positive achievement the conference has declared
against the abolition of force in the collection of
contractural debts, and it has instituted an inter
national prize court. Surely there is no discourage
ment in the limited accomplishment of a gathering
of men representing interests instinctively selfish,
and which can approach co-operative action only by
stages slow and marked with more or less con
flict. —The Standard.
HMM
A Cruller Cameo.
The cruller delicious
And luscious slips down
And makes me imagine
I’m wearing a crown.
And yet, while I’m happy
As any live thing,
I hold up the mirror
To truth as I sing:
Os you, gentle cruller,
The hole is the best,
Because ’tis the only
Part man ean digest.
-New Ywk Werld.
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