The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-10-02
DANGER IL WRITING.
EXPERTS SAY THAI SLANTiNG SCRIPT
CAUSES DISEASE.

i~ties-Re.uits of Extensive Experiments
with school Children.
The method Of writing taught in mod
.rn schools and practiced by 80 people
of every 100 has been declared dan.
gerous and Inhealthful by experts. By
the time the next generation natures Ii
will probably nave been wiped out. The
script then will be vertical instead OF
slanting. and writer's will sit square and
upright before their work instead OF side
ways and stopped, as at present.
The idea of this prospective reform OF.
iginated in Germany and overspreads
England while reaching this country.
The following resolution was adopted
not long ago by the international con
gress of school hygiene in London by .
vote of 229 against l:
Whereas, The hygienic advantages OF vertt.
cal writing have been clearly shown and Is
tablished both by medical investigation ana
practical experience. and
Whereas, Its introduction obviates those per.
nicious positions Of the body which entail ra'
chitic diseases and myopia,
Resolved. That We recommend the introduc'
ton Of vertical writing in the schools OF the
people.
The effect of SO serious ar action in q
country esteeming proper physical on
ditions as England esteems them IL
readily to be imagined.
The corresponding movement in the
United States is led by DR.. Burnham o,
Clark university. His investigations
have brought the conviction that the or
binary position in writing is among the
foremost conditions of school life and
methods of training which must be
changed in the interest Of health. The
vertical script, therefore, is strongly
recommended. From 80 to 80 per cent
Of lateral curvature of the spine is found
TO be caused in school life, the curvature
in a large per cent of these cases being
toward the right side, as a result OF a
defective position in writing, and the
eyes at the same time are seriously III
jured by this slanted writing.
The practical advance Of the newly
approved system in this country Is illus
trated in the Worcester normal school
and the Workingmen's school at Fifty.
fourth street in this city, directed by
Professor Adler. where the vertical
writing is used in the lower grades and
now carried on to the fourth and fifth
grades.
The observations of foreign physicians
showing that the prevalence Of myopia
and spinal curvature is regularly in.
creased in the advance through the
school grades are supplemented in this
country by work on novel lines. An en-
,.., ,,,r., f.11,v-nl ht- H. SInV- al
the University Of the City Of New Yorl
has given additional proof that the caust
Of the difficulty is to be attributed to the
desks which are generally in use. ant
more especially to the bad position il
writing, the opinion being held with ap
parent unanimity by investigators il
this country as we'll as abroad that al
but two positions to be taken in thu
school practice Of writing are improper
One judged to be correct is the obliqu'
central position and the other tn
straight central position, between whicl
in reference to final choice the contro
versy in Germany is said to be fierce.
The advocates Of reform observe tina
the child writes vertically when he frs
goes to school, and that the teacher la
to work for the slant. The vertical writ
ing and the central position at b desI
are alike naturally indicated. At thu
stage the controversy has led to the con
clusion that the height of the desk am
that of the seat must be equally adapte'
to the growth Of the pupil. In some o
the progressive schools, as Felix Adler
and at South Orange. N. j., adjustab.
seats are being used.
The point in DIR. Shaw's recent expert
ments, made with the aid Of several a.
~sistants on more than 300 pupils in tn
New York and suburban schools, ha
been to see whether. with the paper d
rectly in front Of the pupil and with tn
eyes closed, there could be any tendenc
toward vertical writing. The pupil
were first requested to take the custom
airy position Ia. writing, and to write i
the ordinary manner the sentence, "Joh
is flying his paper kite" This form c
exercise was selected on account Of th
number of long letter. which 1t contains
and as being one also that il easy for tn
child 10 remember. After having thr
written the sentence, the pupil WA d
rected to take the straight central pos
ton, dip his pen in the ink and with h
eyes closed to write the same again.
The closing Of the eyes was to elm
nate from the child's mind the conscioul
ness OF the slant. The angle Of slant ]
all the long letters in the test papers vi
carefully measured, the angle Of slant j
the usual writing in each case being ais
found with the same precision. I'll
measurements and the calculations "a
up to 1900 items, and among other ISSUE
of the work was the invention by a lad
Of a machine for making the measur
ments.-New York Press.
:. Club Rule In New Fork.
/ was somewhat shocked last wee
while sitting in the Knickerbocker clul
where ! was busily engaged In alternat
~ gazing on those tiresome wall pap
bouquets and garlsnds and in ksepir