THE MECHANICAL--AND DAMNED

"The Terrible Typewriter" is the subject of one of the most recent outbursts of literary gentlemen, with a goodly number damning it with artistic fervor and almost as many arguing that its effect, if any upon the author's output is entirely beneficial Obviously like the color of ink this is a personal matter. But some of the more passionate are inclined to blame all the evils of modern literature free verse and the machine like quality of the American newspaper on the unoffending but nevertheless pernicious mechanism.

The argument of the opposition that Tennyson wrote, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" on a typewriter is exceedingly convincing although another asserts that nothing but asprin advertisements or "vers libre" is possible. The sanest opinion seems to be that while in some cases; the noise is disturbing the clearness with which the matter is set forth promotes "terseness, clearness and structural lucidity." And it is certainly true that in case where the writer's chirography is immoderately bad, the legibility of type adds to the case of revision.

On the other hand, men like Arnold Bennett who delight in beautiful and expressive hand writing find a fascination in peh and ink quite absent from the mechanical sameness of the machine. But such artists would not be the despair of their section-men; their writing is legible as well as beautiful. To the instructor who has the misfortune to have some dozens of reports of these to correct, the typewriter if he can persuade his students to use it proves an unqualified blessing. And the instructor's gratitude for finding a read able production cannot fail to reach perhaps unconsciously to the advantage of the sagacious author. Altogether, there seems to be no inconsiderable basis for the well-known advertisement "Typewrite your themes and get higher grades.