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Show Noah Webster Learned Value Of Competition 5LwL5"wi Friends And Influence People" . (1ti if scares the pants off some 'aV'No,h W,b,tr wj, , Pr .. .Ojnj tionary he wanted to go to Enana to siu y that he had to borrow money -"or to door; that is. the ZlX nyot?ef bgeenUbpSrd? he fold coupons good for the book "SudnrcompeK- swooped down upon him. He had had a he.peSrUnaemeyd Joseph E. Worcester who had ,ef and got financ.a backing and parted a rival dionary calle er S Universal r cTlin New including Harvard. Webster was worried He could not, he said, stand such competition. More, the rountTy could not support two dictionaries, and his rival had greater firZctel backing than he had. The big work of his life would amount to nthinen suddenl there sprang up something which the newspapers called "the war of the dictionaries." It was the talk of the day; cartoons celebrated it, people took sides. It was Webster vs. Worcester. There was a town in Massachusetts named Worcester a railroad center. A branch line ran from there to a town named Webster The conductor used to go through the train singing out, This is Worcester- all change for Webster." Now Noah Webster, who at first had quaked at the thought of competition a supposed enemy found that it actually was working to his advantage. This country had become dictionary-conscious, the big step leading to sales. . When the first edition was published, Webster a success was assured Sales were far, far greater than he had dared hope they would be. Little by little he forged ahead. Finally, he said "Thank God for Worcester; he gave me my start." -i Webster's dictionary got so far out in front that Worcester finally gave up and his dictionary no longer was published. Today Webster's is booming along; in fact when the next edition comes out, 300 people will have worked on it. I |