During this decade, with its emphasis on order and efficiency, the spelling of the words in English language came to seem cumbersome and overly complex. Not only was it difficult for immigrants to learn to spell in English, but it was a challenge for native speakers as well. Why, people wondered, should the letters ough have several different pronunciations? Why not spell words the way they sounded? Andrew Carnegie, among others, supported a move to simplify spelling. They founded the Spelling Reform Association, which promoted the cause of rational spelling. The movement went so far that in August 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the government to simplify three hundred words in official publications. Theatre became theater; centre became center. Other changes included eliminating the u's in colour, honour, and rumour, altering omelette to omelet, catalogue to catalog, and removing traces of the French origins in...