Kilts

Andrew Carnegie, dressed in a Scottish kilt with a hat labeled “Andru” with the “u” crossed out and replaced with “ew,” looks at a man fallen on the ground labeled “Simplified Spelling Order” kicked down by the U.S. Capitol building. A teddy bear runs off into the distance.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Among the playthings of Andrew Carnegie, having sold his steel businesses and reputedly the richest man in the world, was a faddist obsession with changing — “simplifying” — the spelling of words in the English language. Apparent anomalies in English are to due its origins in diverse language groups, yet rules that seemed challenging, flummoxed people like Carnegie, Mark Twain, and Theodore Roosevelt.

President Roosevelt expresses his concern that Robert Harry Munro Ferguson was recently admitted to Roosevelt Hospital; he strongly encourages Ferguson to take a year off work to fully recuperate. Roosevelt recalls a recent trip to Puerto Rico, where the area’s Secretary of the Interior Laurence H. Grahame impressed local residents with his Scottish kilt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-01

President Roosevelt describes his trip to Puerto Rico. They were greeted in Ponce by Governor Winthrop Beekman and Commissioner of the Interior Laurence H. Grahame then drove by car to San Juan. He describes the plants of the area as well as the character of Grahame and his wearing of a kilt. He comments on Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s hatred of car rides. In a postscript, Roosevelt describes his welcome to Puerto Rico by various military members.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-23