St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-09-09
MACHINE LETTER WRITING.

The typewriting machine. having con-
Quered the business world and made
wide conquests in the fields of litera.
ture, has invaded the domain of that
friendly intercourse of separated
friends in which the pen, with its own
inherent frailties, not to mention the
accessories of pale ink and the mis-
chances of photography, has been the
instrument whereby epistles, social,
friendly or tender, were inscribed. This
is indicated by the occasional remon-
STRANGE of some offended soul in the pub
lie prints against the innovation, and
the appeal to the all-knowing editor to
say to the machine, as old Canute said
to the rising tide, "Thus far and no
farther"
The march of the typewriter-the ma
chine and not the OpeTator-has been
marvel0usly rapid one. The advance of
the German armies into France was
hardly as resistless and rapid. 1t came
to the counting room to give time
saving, and it brought with it the bach
elor girl with her stenographic notebook
to further save the hard-worked brain
the drudgery of correspondence. 1t
swept into the editorial and reportorial
rooms to give the copy its clearness, and
to relieve the overworked compassion of
his load of blame fol typographical er-
rors: and authors and other writers had
either to surrender to the machine
themselves or enlist it in their service.
Even that staid refuge of conservatism,
the departments at Washington, where
innovations are repealed by reverence
for the old and established, has given
way, and the machine clicks in triumph
i'll the gloomy, stutfy rooms.
And now it is entering the epistoiary
field, and the question rises if there is
no end to its audacity. Is there no
place of the pen sacred from its intru-
sion? Is the ''prnted" letter to take
the place of the letter with all its indi-
vidualities Of character in the writing?
Will John declare in cold, unimpas-
stoned type his love for Sarah? And
will she pour out the warm, endearing
thoughts of her soul to him TO the ac-
cOmpanying patter of the machine?
viii the young Lowells who indlte let
tiers to their intimate friends, gossipy,
sprightly, gemmed with puns and wit
to charm their p0sthumouS readers also,
let the ink dry in the bottle and the pen
rust on the rack while they manipulate
the keys of the machine?
We have become accustomed to the
business letter written Oh the machine,
and there is something in the formality
of type which is in keeping with this
kind of letters. Copy" is more fifty
prepared with the machine than with
the pen or pencil, as it is to go into
type anyway; but there is jar in the
friendly letter when that comes to you
In type. There is an absence of the
personality OF the writer in it that robs
| it of part Of the pleasure of getting il.
1t puts him or her farther away from
| you. 1t is as if he or she had met you
| with stately formality when you eX-
pected It warm and hearty greeting. 1t
| gives you the sensation of shaking
| gloved hand.
Then there is its appalling frankness.
| Ii you area little behind the lexicOg-
raphers IN your spelling it is always
| possible with the pen or pencil to slur
the doubtful word SO as to leave 1t I'M
certain whether you have or have not
made mistake in spelling. and ones
friends are always indulgent enough to
give one the benefit OF that doubt. But
the machine bars out this little device
to cover the deficiencies of an imperfect
education. and your gaucheries Of SPELL
ing stand out with holiness and
openness that are terrifying. There is no
mercy in it, and escape from it is lis i'm
possible as from death or taxes. This
downrightness of the machine will deter
its use among those who are conscious
of their defective photography, but
there are so many who are in blissful
| ignorance of the defect. and who
slaughter Noah Webster on all oc.
casions in such delightful unconscious
ness of their offense. that this dread of
conscious souls will not greatly dimin-
ish the progress of the machine i'll it's
conquest of the field of personal corre-
| spondence. So we may expect the end
of-the-eentury young men and women.
| friends and lovers, to desert the pens
that rust and the ink that pales and the
| secretive blOtter that is never about
when wanted, and betake themselves to
the ever-ready machine to pour out on
paper their cOmmunings.
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