The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-27


week, but the only objection 1 find is
that it is not steady employment
Remember, l can furnish the best
of references from the time l left
school until the present day. Any
kind of a position will be satisfactory
to me, providing 1 receive steady work.
Thanking you in advance for your
kindness, l am, Yours sincerely,
This young man says he can. but
does not furnish the best of refer
ences." He says in one place that he
is twenty" and Immediately after
ward that he is "(2O" years of age.
He does not give his business expert
ence. His English is ineXcusably bad.
And his handwriting, like the hand
writing of the other young man whose
letter L have copied, is ragged, labored
and unattractive to the eye.
Now l have a permanent quarrel
with the modern school authorities
practically everywhere because of their
inexcusable neglect of the art of hand
writing.
Wretched Handwriting the Rule.
When 1 was of school age we were
obliged to learn to write at least legi-
bly,. We had copy books" with en-
graved copies" printed at the head of
each page. We were required to de-
vote a certain space of time each day
to initiating these copies, which were
really beautiful specimens of chiro-
graphical skill. Many of us were not
able to attain the beautiful in our own
handwriting, but none save the really
incorrigible were allowed to leave
school with the uniformed handwriting
that is so common among people OF all
sorts at the present time.
Why, even in our own bank the num-
Der of clerks who can write a good,
clear, legible hand is ridiculously
small. 1t is simply impossible to get
employees who can write handsomely,
and from what l am told this is true
of most banks, both in New York and
elsewhere. Indeed, L hardly need to be
told the facts in this matter by any
body. l see much correspondence writ
ten by bank employees, even in this
day of the typewriter's almost univer-
sal use, and nine-tenths of the hand
writing that comes before
me is unpleasant s. to the
eye, and much of it is positively ilieg
ible.
l have heard it said that the type
writer is responsible for the bad hand
writing of the present younger gener
alton, but this can not be true. In
spite of the prevalence of the writing
machine, the families that do not pos
SeSS one are very Illucn III Inc prepOIl-
derance. Anyway, We're the subject of
handwriting given the prominence it
deserves in the public schools, the
handwriting of the pupil would be
formed in spite of the typewriter. Its
very prevalence should make the au-
thorities the more insistent upon first
class autographed instruction in the
schools.
1 remember very we'll the good ma
fIJrad ri6inIJlo that used n he rOI1rpd
out in print upon the copy books of
other days and the goody, goody SEN
timents of the lines, but their aban-
donment has cost too much. l remem-
Der very well also the beginning of the
''anticopy book movement" if l may
so term it, This began with the young
women who started in some years ago
to acquire what they termed the Eng
lish hand" The characters thus af
fected are long, cramped, sprawling
and irregular, and their production
has cost thousands of fair creatures
much pain and trouble and worry of
mind, with the net result of illegibil
ity, ugliness and the utter ruination of
much good writing paper.
Current Contempt rOr Spelling.
In the old days, to, we gave much
time and attention to spelling. We
had written spelling lessons and oral
spelling lessons, and the spelling school,
held on specific evenings, in which the
grown-ups took active part, were reg
ular feature every winter.
But now the word method" has
come ill., Children are taught to rec
ognize each word by its. general APP
pearance, without regard to its COM
ponent parts. l have heard teachers
speak with elation of pupils who had
actually gone through school without
knowing the order of the letters of the
alphabet, without knowing anything at
all about spelling as we understood
it in my younger days. Those who be-
lieve in the word method" declare that
pupils educated under the new plan
spell quite as well in actual practice
as those who were educated under the
method of yesterday: but. so far as l
can Judge, the facts do not warrant
the declaration, and my view of the
matter is borne out by the observation
of many of my friends.
An editor of my acquaintance, for in
stance showed me the other day
manuscript on technical subject by
an expert on that subject, who was
also a graduate of standard uniVer-
sity and had passed through the best
technical school in his line. The ar
ticle was admirable as an exposition
of the subject, but its English was la
u,
nositiyely ungrammatical-and the
whole was disfigured with many errors
of spelling. AS to the handwriting of
an expert l can not speak, since the
manuscript was done on the typewrit-
er. The errors in spelling were his
own, however, for he had learned to
"use the machine" and had pounded
the stuff out" with his own hands.
As horrible example of spelling
as she is sometimes spelt," am going
to add letter of Endorsement which
received the other day, though it is
only fair to say that 1 do not know
whether the writer was an old or
Young man, a product of the schools
as they are or as they were;
Dear Sir:
sthis will enterduce my friend -
anev thing you can do for him will
apresit it very much.
IT have none him for years an up
right and onest man.
Yours very truly,
-.