Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-11-22
DANGER IN WRITING.
EXPERTS SAY THAT slANTINo SCRIPT
CAUSES DISEASE.

nseIea By The Highest Medical Author
is,es-Re.aiss of Extensive Experiments
Win school CsiIdr-s.
The method Of writing Taught in mod
ern schools and practiced by % people
cat Of every 100 has been declared dan
gerous and unhealthful by experts. By
the time the next generation natures it
win probably have been wiped ont. Tho
script then will be vertical instead of
slanting. and writers will sit square and
upright before their work instead Of side
ways and stopped. M at present.
The idea of this prospective reform or
iginated in Germany and overspreads
England while reaching this country.
Tho following resolution was adopted
not long ago by the international con-
gress Of school hygiene in London by a
vote Of 30 against 1:
Whereas. The Eygicnic advantages Of yerti-
cal writing have h'en clearly shown and e.
tablished both by m~dirai investigation aud
practical experience. and
Whereas, Its introduction obvia;es those per-
nicious Positions of the body which entail ra-
chitc diseases anil myopia,
Resolved. That We rccomme nj the iniroduc-
toe oe vertical writing in the schools Of the
Dpsp,e.
The effect VI 10 serious an action in a
country esteeming proper physical con-
ditions NJ England csterms them IL
readily TO be imagined.
The corresponding movement in the
Cnited States IL led by DR.. Burnham Of
CLARK university. His investigations
Aave brought the conviction that the or.
diDasy position in writing IL among the
foes0ost conditions Of school life and
methods Of training which must he
chaAged IN The interest Of health. The
vertical scripe, therefore. - stroagly
feco0nendsd. From 50 10 80 per cent
a lateral curvature Of the spine IL found
20 b caused IN school life, the curvature
b . 1arse PET cent Of these cases being
toward The right side, a. . result Of q
defective position in writing. and the
eyes st the same time are seriously in
jured by this slantea writing.
The practical advance " the newly
approved system In this country Is illus.
tr1tsd In the Worcester normal school
and The workingmen's school ut Fifty.
fourth street in this city. directed by
Professor Adler. where the vertical
writing 10 used in the lower grades and
now carried on TO the fourth and fifth
grades.
The observations Of foreign physician.
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-.
efgetic course followed by DR.. Shaw Of
the University Of the City Of New York
has given additional proof that the cause
q the difficulty Is 20 he attributed to the
desks which are generally in use. and
more especially to the bad position in
writing. the opinion being held with up
parent unanimity by investigators il
this country rs well rs abroad that al
bat two positions To le taken in the
school practice Of writing are improper
One judged To be correct is the obliqu,
central position and the other tn,
straight central position. between which
IN reference 10 final choice the contro
versy in Germany IL said to b. fierce.
The advocates Of reform observe tina
the child writes vertically when he frs
goes TO school. and that the teacher ha
70 work for the slant. The vertical writ
ing and the central position ut the deal
ere alike naturally indicated. At TIM
stage the controversy has led to the con
clusioa that the height Of the desk an,
thst a the seat mus: be equally adapte,
TO the growth II the pupil. In some o
The progressive schools, ~ Felix Adler
and ut south Orange. n. j.. adjustable
seats are being used.
The point In DR.. Shaw's recent expert
0ents, made with the aid of several n
sistants on more than 100 pupils in tn
New York and suburban schools, hx
been to SEE whether. with the paper di
Sectly In front a the pupil and with tn
eye closed, there could Ire any tendenc,
toward vertical writing. The pupil
were first requested to take the custom
sfy pusitioo IN writing. aud to write il
the ordinary manner the sentence. ''Johl
b flying his paper kite" This form q
exercise was selected on account at ;h
number Of long letters which IL contains
and ~ being one also that Is easy for TN
child 20 rein~ml-r. After having thu
written the sentence. the pupil was Iii
rect-d 20 take the straight central poi
tion. dip his Irn In the ink and with hi
eyes closed to- write the same again.
The closing II the eyes was 10 -limi
nate from The child> mind the CONSCIOUS
nese of the slant. The angle Ut slant !,
al the long letters in the test ImIs.rs wa
carefully MEASURED. tine angle of slant Il
the usual writing in each case being ais
found with the same precision. Tn
measurements aud the calculations ~,
up To 3.6Oo items. and among other Issue
a the work was tho invention by lad
q . machine for making the incasury
0ents.-Ncw York Ps~.s.
Cs0psw1Sse.
D.. Satth-Ym take thru Vt thes
pi1la every day and give up smoking IN