The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1898-10-29
FadS in Penmanslip.

AA.s IL
1t is unfortunate that those in charge
OF our public schools, before setting out
to Introduce a new style of penmanship
SO widely at variance with previous
models as the so-called vertical system,
did not call INTO consultation a number
of experts whose daily work would
seem to qualify them for speaking with
authority as to the alleged merits of the
new system A committee of news
paper editors and compostors, for in
stance-Of men who constantly handle
masses of manuscript of every conceiy-
able rarietv--would appear to be far
judgment as to the clearness, legblity
and general dcsirabiiitv of any given
style than any committee of teachers or
superintendent that could be got to-
gether in the United States. And if to
such committee had been added an
experienced ocu!ist or two, to pass up
on the comparative amount of labor i'm
posed upon the human eye in decipher-
ing different styles OF chirography sub
| mltted to his judgment, the committee
would hayc formed an ideal tribunal.
1t ls because our school authorities
have passed from one fad to another,
| in the selection of models for teaching
| penmanship, without consultation with
such experts, that the chirography of
our people is, on the whole, so damn
ably poor. And it is all the worse be-
cause each successive fad has had such
a wide sweep as to cover pretty nearly
| the entire country, SO that there has
| been little of the relief which might
| have come from the prevalence of a
greater variety of models. 1t il sale to
| say that neither editors, cOmpCstors
nor oculists would have placed tie
| SpenCerian model in our schools; still
| less would they have crucifed reason,
taste and eyesight by recommending
| the prevailing vertical model Before
either they would have recommended
| the Oldtashloned "round hand" Of our
grand fathers. When an editor, with
eyes wearied by tracing the delicate
| lines OF Spencerlan yotary, or the
| short, unshaded, ugly strokes of the
vertical crank. get hold of some old
| manuscript in round hand, with it's
| pleasing alterations OF light and shad-
| ed stokes, its moderate slope and its
ascending and descending letters given
| just the length desirable for per
! feet leglbility he wonders how writing
masters could ever have discarded such
a model in favor of any modern atroc-
ity.
The main objections to the vertical
| system, as exemDlifed in the ccpy
| books IN use, are the uniform thinness
OF the lines from absence of shading,
the shortness of ascending and de-
sCendlng strokes, and certain some
thing which may, perhaps, be best de-
fined as lumplness. In the hands Of
an expert, even, who can initiate the
copy books TO perfection, the page is as
unattractlye auC wearsome to the eve
as one printed in the so-called geo
metric" or outline" type once popu-
lar among printers. In the hands of an
ordinary pupil, when the uniform
thinness" of the lines is changed to a
uniform thickness, the result is hor-
rible.
The style Of writing which a board of
| CculISts would recommend may be in
! f,rr,l - II
by committee of distinguished oculists
for Western medical journal, to
whom, when the journal was establish
! ed, the selection was referred. They
discarded all the modern thin faces ami
all wherein the lines approached uni
| iormity in thickness, and selected a fat
| type, with decided alteration of
, light and heavy lines and a moderate
! length to the ascending and descend
! ing letters-sOmething the nearest APP
proach 10 which IN pcnnanship would
| be found in the old fashioned round
! hand.
Quite probably. however, better than
the adoption of any one system. to the
! exclusion of others, would be the en-
couracement of individuality among
| the teachers Of penmanshlp and their
! pupils. ANY teacher who writes clear,
! legible hand might well be encouraged
/ in an endeavor to impart it 10 his or
her pupils; but when a pupil is observ-
ed to be developing a characteristic
hand of his own. it may be Well for
! the teacher TO Contine his efforts to
/ making that hand clear and attractive
without making il less characteristic.
Attempts at compulsory uniformity are
apt to result in almost uniform usli-
nesS.-Pioneer Press.