The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-12-13
Writing and Printing.

This is an age Of writing. Paper il
cheap, pens are good, lamps and spec.
taclcs make night work possible and
and comfortable. Postage Is but
tenth Of what il was half q century
back. Everybody writes letters either
to his friends or to his paper, or in the
interests Of his business. In earlier
days the teacher Of English wore one
pen in his cap, If Of penmanship two, If
Of Latin three. But now children in
the primary schools write with either
pencil or pen, aud to make ones mark
Is sufficient evidence Of illiteracy. 1t
would seem that nothing is easier than
to learn reading and writing. Snch is
not the case. In our best elementary
schools from three to five years are
occupied in acquiring these simple
elements of education, and If the spell
ing is mastered, as many more. Read
ing opens the door to all knowledge,
and child that can read, write and
cipher is fairly we'll educatcd-at least
such can amuse themselves and do
business intelligently and successfully.
BY the phonetic method of spelling,
by shorthand writing, and by the in.
PRODUCTION Of better kinds Of type there
is no doubt that the three RS could be
much easier acquired, and their use
made much more general and efficient
than by the present spelling and type.
The English is a hybrid language. Its
pith aud core is Anglo Saxon; Latin
and French have been nodded with it;
its scientific and technical terms are
many Of Greek origin. There is, Of
course, benefit in the present style Of
spelling which preserves and suggests
the origin and etymology of the roots
and prefixes which compose English
words, but its spelling gives little in.
sight as to proper pronunciation. Over
forty different sounds are represented
by about half rs many letters, many OF
which do double or even quadruple
duty.
As to types and printing, these are
the outgrowth Of handwriting. They
reflect the progress of later centuries,
and have retained many useless vesti.
ges. No doubt far better system Of
type could I've devised, and shapes oi
letters introduced, which could he easier
read and less trying TO the eye. French
type is proverbially harder to read than
English or American. This is due to the
narrowness of French letters. In read
ing, no letter is examined in NIL its
parts. The eye travels horizontal
line, cutting all the short letters at q
point just below the top, as can readily
be proved by covering with cord the
upper half Of the short letters in line
of print, when it will be found impos
sible to read the line. If the upper
half is left exposed and the lower
covered, the line can be easily read.
The eye takes the upper track, because,
including capitals and accented letters,
rise above the upper part of the shor,
letters. The letters, then, should have
shapes which vary greatly in the par
along which the line of vision passes
but type founders, on the contrary, fol
the sake of uniformity, have fattened
the round letters-as a, c, g and O. -and
have rounded the corners of the square
letters. DR.. Joval, of Paris, who la.
published work on the physiology o
reading and writing, suggests that thu
letters which stand above and below
the line he shortened, and, in short
that return to the characteristics O
the old types may properly he made il
the interest of legibility. Putting space.
between the lines adds little to the leg
Utility, yet much to the expense; bn,
the spaces between the letters of word,
is of the greatest Importance, ant
should be increased. -IndidnapOli,
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