The sun., 1896-10-24
THE TYPEWRITER BRAIN.
Explanations or tho Bluuders Made by
w. a., and Advice.

w. a., and Advice.
To THE EDITOR OF THE sUS-Sfr: The inquiry from
q Philadelphia typewriter who wishes to know II
there 10 an afiic.on among OF profession
known as tho typewriter brain, is interesting. She
says that after nearly three years experience at her
work, she finds difficulty in typewrltng even some OF
the simplest words correctly. "State" and almost"
for example. appear as "stae" and "aimsot" her
finished page. As jumbling the type in that fashion
Is common practice among typewritcrs, the opinion
OF experts as to the OF the bunders may
in some measure to lessen their frequency.
The peculiar arrangement OF the keys of type
writer's at first confuses every who tries to
manipulate them. Instead of being arranged alpha
betcally they distributed with utter disregard OF
alphabetical order The for this which should
be clear to every type writer that desirable that
the vowels and other used letters should occupy
places where they can be quickly found and easily
struck Years wcro spent In determining the position
which the letters should occupy on the keyboards of
nrstclass typewriters- As a result, words which
recur frequently may be formed by moving the
fingers over very small space
majority of typcwriters feel, like the correspond
ent referred to, that two three years practice
whether methodical or otherwise, should entirely
move their tendency TO transpose the letters
pie and easily spelled words Experts, however. be-
eve differently. They say that transposed letters
result from want Of proper elementary training.
and that ten years OF undisciplned practice would
not remedy the fault The speediest and most accur-
ate operators spent months in learning typewrlte
mechanically. and many OF them could write with
absolute accuracy II blindtoded. In actual work
their fingers nnd the right keys while their eyes
tho page which is being copied and their brain
perhaps engaged In transcriblng shorthand notes
Typewriters who tind employment before they have
thoroughly mastered their art usually less atten
uon to systematic practice afterward than they
should. The secret OF accurate and expert type
writing lies IN faithfully ard methodically following
the advice of good teacher book OF Instruction
One who does that will seldom strike the wrong keys
OF his machine and Will show no sign OF having
abnormal or typewriter brain. srESoGRAPHER-
NEW YORK, Oct 22.
To THE EDITOR OF THE sUN-Sir wv. j." who writes
to you from Philadelphia regarding typewrting blum.
ders 10 only ono OF thousands who have learned to
operate the machine without manual or e. expert In.
structIon whose mode OF lingering is defective. and
who liable TO persistent of the nature
described.
The operation OF a typewriting machine becomes
in time quite mechanical. and little effort
certainly less than in copying with pen. is required
to strike the proper keys But with crude system
lingering this element OF Involuntary selection OF
keys will often manifest itself PERSISTENT in or
more particular comb nations of letters Incorrect
spelings. The moro defective the method OF finger.
ing the the mental effort correct
copy. When this effort unconsciously relaxes the
errors creep in.
In some people. when they commence to operate q
typewritng machine. there is . distinct tendency to
nrst. and in other the opposite tendency Is shown
This should be overcome by practice according to
approved manual II It is not It will manifest ITSELF
on the relaxation OF mental effort in such
'W. j." mentions.
There is not typewriter brain any more than there
is piano 1t Is sim ply iack of correct method
/ suggest a manual and some diligent practice for
"W. J.'s" case. B.M.T.
NEW YORK. Oct. 20.
To THE EDITOR or THE SrS-Sr: The communica alton
OF your correspondent "W. j." in THE srS OF this
morning both interested and amused me- l am 7o
years old. and have used typewriter for three or
four years The blunders Of which your correspond.
ent speaks have been common TO me. had supposed
they were peculiar 10 myself. The errors which
make principally in words OF one RylabIc OF,
to in. and Others in which the letters trans
posed. Sometimes, but less frequently, the transpo-
stlons occur In longer words. I AM curious know
IL other writer's affected In the way. How
is II to be explained? May 1t not be due the dual
character OF the mind. OF which the learned in such
matters tell us? Can little rivalry spring up be-
the two Iobes OF the brain. that In spite of
the will hand Is forced in advance OF the other
when It should fall behind1 Is there not the posi-
b,lity OF curious problem here7 Can It be charac-
terstic OF any particular mAchine1 WARREN.
terest tn" blunders spoken OF committed on a
typewriter by W. J. OF Philadelphia in THE SuN OF
to-day. and advise w. J. to call upon oculist and
have his eyes examined OLD TYPEWRITER.
KINGSTON Oct. 90.