The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-29

ing devoid of Objectionable fiOuriShes.
A telegraph operator takes pride in his
work and he is careful 10 have every
letter formed so that all messages pass
ing through his hands can be read by
persons of limited education"
The question is met on neutral ground
by Charles ). Burton. cashier of the
State Bank of Utah He said when the
subject was preached to him:
So far this subject applies to
banking, do not think il requires more
than d passing thought. OF course, 1t
is essential at all times that handwrit-
ing should be easily decipherable. yet in
these days when most of the CONNER
cial correspondence is worked of on
typewriters, there is not so much value
attached to individuality as there was
decade or two ago. The banking
system i'm the United States has been
reduced to an almost perfect science.
made necessary by the bold work of
criminals skilled in forgery. The dep
relations during recent years made il
obligatory for bank officials to hedge
themselves about with all the safe
guards that human ingenuity could de-
wise, and as a result it Will be found
that the ramifcations in vogue today
have minimized the dangers of the past
TO point where it is extremely diff
cult for the criminal to play his craft.
Judged from another point of view.
however. it is generally conceded that
the SDencerian is superior to that now
taught in the public schools. and for all
around purposes 1 think it has many
advantages lacking in the other"
What TeIeeraphers Think.
"The discussion throughout the
country, especially between the boards
of education of our public schools and
the newspapers, as TO the adoption of
the vertical or Spencerian systems of
penmanship in the schools said Lo-
cal Manager Adolph II. May of the
Western Union Telegraph company.
seems to have gone TO the extent OF
a campaign of education"
Personally, i favor the vertical sys-
tenn, for general business, as compared
with the Spencerian, for the reason
that it is much more easily read. and
this, in my opinion, is the great de-
Sidera tum; the possession or lack of
individuality should have no bearing
in this connection. The study of char
acteriStics as displayed in handwriting
may be a fascinating study for experts,
but the majority OF business men of
the present day have no time
for this. their object being to save
time. 1t was this saving that has
brought the typewriter into such gen.
eral use within the past few years,
but as the typewriter is impracticable
for many purposes and is considered
a luxury by the smaller business man.
we should have the next best thing
a system of penmanhip that is cas-
lily read and one that can be rapidly
written.
Telegraph operators have a style
of handwriting peculiar to themselves,
probably due to copying to the even
gait of a telegraph instrument. This
style of writing, which is almost YER
teal, has a bold round face, is plain
and easily read In addition to this,
it can be written with great speed Be
| fore the adoption of the typewriter in
telegraph offices several years ago,
this system was at its height of popu-
larity and it was considered only an
| ordinary matter for expert operators
in their daily work to copy MESA ges
and press report continuously for
hours at the rate of from forty to fifty
words per minute. A person not IA
miliar with this system knows how
quickly he would be overcome with
writer's cramp or paralysis should he
attempt such feat, using the Spen-
cerian system.
Full Free Arm Method Used.
I'm this system the full free arm
method is used. with a very light grip
on the pen There is practically no
wrist movement, although the wrist is
not held rigid The grip on the pen
is back further than is taught by the
present vertical and Spencerian sys-
TENS: it is this which adds SO much
to the speed
while this system may never be
at present, yet / believe that in a mOdi-
fed form It would become quite popu-
lar with the general public While
the adoption of the typewriter has
somewhat reduced the standard Of
pen work among telegrapheTs of late
years, yet ] believe a majority of the
business public Will bear me out in the
statement that this system of writing
is much more legible than that of the
Spencerian.''
Local Manager a. f. Wilder of the
Postal company agrees with Mr.. May.
He said that in the principal offices of
the Postal company in Chicago and
New York all the employees were en-
couraged to cultivate the modified YER
| teal system. and long practice has
brought the style up 10 a point where
telegraphers have an individuality pc
culiarly their own. The writing is per-
! fectly legible. and it combines some
of the attractive features of the Spen-
cerian. coupled with the principal char
acteristicS of the vertical. He eXhib-
tied number of specimens of writing
from men in all kinds of positions con-
nected with the company. and. while
there was a kind of sameness. yet on
close examination one could discern a
degree of individuality, especially in
the signatures
Miss Blanche McManis of Colorado
Springs. author of several of the YER
teal system textbooks now in use in
the Salt Lake public schools is in the
city on visit. She was asked to make
/ a statement as to the advantages of
the vertical system. but she declined
TO be interviewed on the subject. She
took the position that the opposition of
business men and others could make
I no difference. as her textbooks had
been adopted for five years. and the
term of contract had not expired.