SPELLING BEE IN DUNEDIN.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VI, Issue 308, 6 October 1875, Page 6

SPELLING BEE IN DUNEDIN.

The Spelling Bee and Concert in aid of tjie funds of the Dunedin Cricket Club took place at the Temperance Hall last Thursday evening. There was a large attendance, and it was evident that the Bee was the great attraction to the vast majority of those present. After the ochcort the competitors took seats on the stage. The examiners were the Rev. R. L. Stanford, Professor Sale, Professor Macgregor, and Mr James Anderson, Mr Nome, Rjotor of the High School, was to have been pn examiner, but, it was mentioned, lie was prevented from attending by an accident which had happened to him. 30 gentlemen entered, and about 25 of them put in an appearance. - Among the defaulters was a well known medico, who was present in the audience, but who, to the great disappointment of many, did not take up a position on the stage. Ten ladies entered, and eight competed. The Rev. Mr Stanford, having read the rules under which, as he humorously put it, “ our fellowcreatures are to be tortured to-night,” the tourney commenced. The rule, “ One word wrong and the speller goes out,” was received with much laughter, as also the announcement that while, according to the rules ns advertised, no scientific words were to be spelled, the examiners had thought it worth while to keep a few in case of a close contest between two or three towards the end. The first victim was a gentleman all the way from classic Tuapeka, and known in trignometrical circles. He succumbed to “ abscess,” which he spelled “ abcess.” “ Apparel,” “abridgment,” “chrysalis,” “canister,” were correctly given by the next four competitors. Competitor No. 6, the manager of a mercantile establishment not 100 miles from Bailey’s hotel, made chandelier (spelling it chandalier) an extinguisher for himself. He put on his hat and walked, being the second to leave the platform—amidst,, of course, the deep sympathy of the audience, A lawyer spelled “ charlatan” properly. “ Daguerreotype,” announced the examiner, and roars of laughter greeted the young gentleman—a clerk on a morning paper—as he rose to spell it. “ D-a-g-u-e-r-r-o ” said he. He could not not get any more out, and gracefully retired from the stage. A gentleman whose ideas on the subjectof spelling “easel,” appeared to be rather hazy, said, slowly and solemnly, “ a-e-s-i-1.” He evidently was not a painter—we believe he is in the drapery line.. He endeavoured to improve upon his former attempt by saying “ easil,” but as no second trial was allowed by rule, and as his attempt did not appear to be an improvement, he retired from the stage. A young lady retired “ embarrassed she had dropped one of her “r’s." The next failure was on “ exhilarate.” “Exil— ” “ Wrong 1” interjected Mr Stanford, and a member of the legal profession withdrew anything but happy. “ Guttural” was the next cause of break down. A gentleman, known in connection with the law, the City Council, and the Press, said “ g-u-t-t-r----a-1.” He retired from the stage, and the laughter which greeted his unsuccessful attempt was about the heartiest of the evening. A competitor—a lady, strange to saybroke down with “ garrulous,” She was under the impression that it was “ garrilous.” Another lady, however, spelled the word properly. A competitor spelled “ hieroglyphic” in a way that was fearful and wonderful; another began spelling it “ hyer—” when he was checked. The second gentleman that failed on “ hieroglyphic” is in the telegraph office, and he had during the evening successfully spelled several puzzlers, “ Hypochondria” was next announced, and the party that had to spell it determined apparently not to give the audience a chance of knowing the extent of his learning, quietly got up and without saying a word left the platform—the audience literally roared. “ Impugn” was given “ impune” by a youthful candidate, who thereupon retired., The house went almost into convulsions at the mention of “ipecacuanha.” Two ladies failed A gentleman who had the misfortune to be a draper instead of a druggist retired. A barrister, not yet full fledged, broke down. He had got right almost to the end, but he put the final “a” before the “hj.” A lady spelled the word right, getting a hearty round of applause for doing so, A lady spelled “ loquacity” properly. A gentleman came to grief on “ inoculation” —he gave it two “n*s.” A young lady could not manage “ lack-a-daisi-cal,” and retired ; another lady gave it correctly. A gentleman well known in the pedestrian world put an “ hj” too many into philanthropy (he gave it “philanthrophy”) and walked off. A competitor was in such a hurry to spell “ parallel” that he jumped up, and blurted out “ pra,” whereupon, amidst much laughter, he instantly corrected himself, and spelled it as it should be. It is said that lawyers believe the sole use of the Bible to be in the swearing of affidavits; and without saying that the cover is the part they know best, it may be mentioned that a legal gentleman failed with the Scriptural “ Pharaoh” ; he spelled it Pharoah, and left the stage. “ Peccadillo” proved too much for a lady. The Spelling Bee was not a white occasion with a gentleman of the law, whose legal habitation is not far from the Daily Times. “ Rhododendron” was too much for him. He essayed thusly, “ R-h-o,” Then he said a second time “ R-h-o.” Here his feelings overpowered him, and he could say no more. He retired. As he was leaving, a gentleman of the “ Job’s-comforter” class, tried to administer balm of consolation. “ Can’t be helped ; it’s done now,” was the philosophic answer. A lady omitted an “n” from “tyrannical," A lady who had given many difficult words correctly retired with “stupefying,” giving an “i” Instead of an

“e.” “Secrecy” (the competitor spelled it “ secresy”) floored a barrister. “ crasy” was a word which showed that even an examiner is not infallible. “Wrong!” cried an examiner, but it appeared the speller was right. “ Gillyflower” was given respectively by two competitors as “gilliflower” and “giliflowor.” A lady left the “e” out of “ ichneumon.” “ Mendelssohn” was spelled by a gentleman with only one “s.” There were now only three left, but it was determined to call back those who had failed on the names of persons and give them a chance. “Pharaoh,” however, had the plagues of Egypt in the shape of the word “ plaguy,” which he rendered “ plaguey.” The “e” was too much. “ Pachydermatous” was a stumbling-block for a gentleman competitor, who made it “pachydermotis.” “Wassailer” proved too much for a gentleman, who, we believe, is a schoolteacher, and who, through the evening, spelled jawbreakers with the greatest of facility. “W-a-s-h-” he had uttered by the time he was stopped ; it was a matter of surprise that he failed in so simple a word, A musical gentleman failed on “barytone” and “violoncello,” spelling them * 4 baritone” and ‘ ‘ violincello. ” This brought the Bee to a conclusion. Mr H, Rose was declared to be the first prise taker, Mr Thomas Thomson the second, and Mr J. Richardson the third. Messrs Reith and Wilkie’s prize for a lady was, it appeared, for the lady who first retired. Miss Waldie was declared entitled to the first prize for the ladies. The Rev. Mr Stanford had quite an arduous task during the evening in doing the speaking fortheexaminers. Aftervarious votes of thanks, tlie proceedings terminated. Latham’s dictionary was the authority followed. —Daily Times.