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Show . 'His His uHis "His " ' Fine SpencerianHand Spencerian Hand " - By ELMO SCOTT WATSONr WATSON WATSONBO 0 YOU remember rememberID rememberthe rememberthe r BO the days " when "hen hen hcn "pen pen "pen- "penmanshIp "pen- "pen pen "penmanship "penmanship " - - ID IDthe " manship was one oneof oneof oneof of the most impor impor- important important important - - tant subjects taughtin taught taughtin in district school 5hool : - ? And do you re- re remember remember re remember - member how you dreaded the thecomll1g thecorning thecoming comll1g corning of the datlyHwflting daily"writing daily datly Hwflting "writing writing HwfltingpractIce "writingpractice "writingpractice writingpractice " practIce ' " " ' because it meant that thatfor , for a period peflod which seemedm seemedin seemed m- m in- in mternl1nable interminable in interminable - terminable ternl1nable , you had to sit stiff stIff- stIffly stiffly stiffly - ly erect at your desk ( SeeUKey See UKey "Key Key UKeyto "Keyto "Keyto Keyto " to Correct Position " ) ; hold holdyour holdyour holdyour your pen just so ( Sec See "Key Key " to toCorrect toCorrect toCorrect Correct Pen - Holding Holdmg " , ) andwrite andwrite and jwrite , write in ) your our "copybook copybook " " suchprecepts such jprecepts precepts as "Practice Practice " is the thebest thebest thebest best of all instructors " and "Re Re "Re- "ReceIve "Receive "Receive " - ceive an injury rather than do doone doone doone one " and "Wisely Wisely "Wtsely Wtsely " improve the thePresent thePresent thePresent Present , it is thine . " And woe be to you if you dipped your yourpen yourpen yourpen pen too deeply in the inkwell inkwellthat inkwellthat inkwellthat ( that kind that had the lIttle lIttleiron littleiron littleiron iron lid on it-remember it remember it - remember7) remember7 ? ) and andyou andyou andyou you made a big blot on thepage the thepage page ! And do you remember how bow care caretul careful careful tul ful you v . were ere , under the watchfuJ watchful watchfuJeye watchfuleye watchfuleye eye of "teacher teacher " , " to "put put " the fore fore- forefinger forefinger forefinger - - finger flat upon the barrel barre1 of the thepen thepen thepen pen holder , " to "keep keep "heep heep " " the top of the thepen thepen thepen pen holder pointing p01ntlng to the right rightshoulder rightshoulder rightshoulder shoulder ' and to "use use " the whole wholearm wholearm wholearm arm Invr1t1ng In \ writing \vr1t1ng vr1t1ng with an easy , flow flow- flowing flowing flowing - ing motion motion"I "I I " ' ' , And then then , , as soon as asshe asshe asshe she bad had passed pacged : ; along to the ne newt newtearnest nextearnest t tearnest earnest exponent of the tbe fine art of ofpenmanship ofpenmanship ofpenmanship penmanship , do you remember how howqu1cklv howquickly howquicklv qu1cklv quickly your forefinger "humped humped " up ' , 'on on on the pen holder so that you were weresoon weresoon weresoon soon clutching it in a n death likegrip llke like llkegrIp likegrip grIp and you forgot all about that that'easy thateasy ' easy . , flowing motion motton of ot the whole wholearm wholearm wholearm arm " " ? Remember ReTiember how you "hunch hunch "hunchea hunchea "huncheaover "hunchedover hunchedover " eo eoover over " the desk and . with v.lth vlth your tongue tonguesticking tonguesticking tooguesticking sticking out , as though thougb It cou1d could cou1dhelp couldhelp couldhelp help push the pen , you burrled hurried burrledthrough hurriedthrough hurriedthrough through \ writing rlting the required num number number number ber of lines llnes in your cop copybook book so sothat sothat sothat that you could be among the first firstto firstto firstto to dash for the door when "teach teach "teach- "teacher "teacher " - er " said "That That " will be enough writ Wrlt- Wrlt writ- WrltIng writing writing - ing practice for today . . . , put away awayyour awayyour awayyour your books boohs for recess'1 recess1 recess ' ? ' Perhaps though , , you weren't werent ' one oneof oneof oneof of those who wbo dieaded dleaded dreaded that dally daily dallywriting dailywriting daily"writing dailywriting writing " practice and looked upon uponit uponit uponit I it as an ordeal to be gotten throughwith throughwith through throughwith I with as quickly Qulc1.ly Qulc1ly . and painlessly as aspossible aspossible aspossible i possible Perhaps Perh'lps Perhlps ' you were one of ofthose ofthose ofthose those " who "ho ho believed beheved with the COPy COPybool"s copybooks copvbooks bool"s bools books " that "practice practice " is tlie the best b'st bst ( ' of ofall ofall ofall all instructors " So you weie WC1e were faIth faIthiul faithful faithful iul ful In that practice pracUce because you youwanted youwanted youwanted wanted your "hand\\ "hand hand "handw handw "handvvnting handvvnting "handutlng " \ utlng uting to looh look loohnice looknice looknice . nice ' " when you wrote in 10 a friend's friends friend'sautograph friend'sautograph friend'sautograph friendsautograph ' ' autograph book some such sentI sentIment sentimeat sentiment ment meat asfly as asMy I - My -fly fly ' pen Is poor , , . \ My l\fy l fy Inl Ink < la Is pille pale pilleBut paleBut paleBut But my love 10e lose 10\ 10 \ e for youWilt youwill you youWill Will Wilt never fallAnd tall fall tallAnd . And .And then , of couise comse coutse , there was 11 al 11ways always ' always ways the possibility of tliat that further furtherre furtherreward furtherreward re reward " ard of having people say S'ly Sly ' of vou you vou'he you'be vou'he vouhe 'he he 'be be ' . writes v.rltes vrltes a fine hand ' ' or else his hishand hishandwriting hishandwriting hand\\ hand handritlng handwriting \ \ ritlng is just like 111\e 111 e lake \ copperplate copperplateengrJ.i"lng copperplateengraving copperplateengraving engrJ.i"lng engrJ.ilng engrJilng engraving . " " For ror those w \ ere the das da3 s swhen swhen swhen when Americans took tool . pride In their theirpenmanship theirpenmanship theirpenmanship penmanship , when 'offhand offhand ' flour flourIshlng flourfishing flourIshing Ishlng fishing " \ was as a real art and when whenone \ whenone hen henone one might almost say say , . the pen was wastruly \ wa&truly watruly a & truly mightier than the tbe swordToday swordToday sword swordToday Today thousands of ot clatterlDg clattering clatterlDgtypewriters clatteringtypewriters clatteringtypewriters typewriters chronicle the fact that good handwriting bandwrIting and became fa- fa famous fa fn famous . - mous mons as the ' ' father lather of penmanship penmansblp " Spencer was born September 7 7,1801 71801 , IS01 1801 , on a poverty ridden farm tarm In Inthe inthe inthe the little lIttIe settlement of East Bast rlsh1.111 rishMll rish-klll rish klll - 1.111 1111 Mll . In Dutchess Diltchecs ; county . , Now New Yorl York YorkHe YorkHe He was the eleventh and youngestchild youngest youngestcblld youngestchild cblld child of Caleb Spencer , a nath native e of ofRhode ofRhode ofRhode Rhode Island and a veteran of tbe the tbeUevolutlon theRevolution theRevolution Uevolutlon Revolution , and Jerusha Covell CovellSpencer CovellSpencer CovellSpencer Spencer , a native of Gf the town ot of otI ofChatham ofChatham I Chatham on Cape Cod ' Caleb 'lleb lleb Spen SpenI Spencer Spencer Spenccr I cer died QIed flied when his youngebt younge.t younget youngest : . child childwas childwas was \ as five years old Soon afterwards afterwardsJerusha afterwardsJerusha afterwardsJerusha Jerusha Spencer sold the faim fmm farm and andmoved andmoved andmoved moved v . with ith her brood of 11 across acrossthe acrossthe acrossthe the Hudson lludson river to tlie the sparsely sparselysettled sparselysettled sparselysettled settled communlt communiti community of Windham iVindham In InGreene inGreene inGrecne Greene county . Although the management of the theWidow theWidow theWidow Widow Spencer s new farm kept her herbusy herbusy herbusy busy , she took a keen interest In Inpasclng inpassing Inpassing pasclng passing ; on to her children her ber edu edu- education edu- edu education education - - cation , scanty as it was W'1S W1S ' , , and In de- de developIng developing de developing - - veloping their minds When her heryoungest heryoungest heryoungest youngest born , Platt PIatt Platt , , , first flrst began to toform toform toform form letters 1etters with charcoal on a aboard aboard aboard board she recognized his ability and I I i I ( ' encouraged 'ncouraged ncouraged him in his wrIting wrItingIn writin writinIn I In those days western emigration emigrationwas emigrationwas was In the air . In 1SOG 1806 ISOG the first firstcanvas firstcanvas firstcanvas canvas topped Conestoga wagons wagonsladen , laden with household furniture , had hadtrailed hadtrailed hadtrailed trailed across the Alleghenles Alleghenies Into Intothe intothe intothe the far tar west of Ohio , at tliat that time timecaUed timecalled timecalled caUed called tlie the Western Reserve Mrs MrsSpencer MrsSpencer MrsSpencer Spencer talked the matter over wIth wIthher withher withher , her older sons , and It \ was as decided decidedto to sell the farm and go to Ohio Ohio.In OhioIn . In 1810 1510 the family started west west- westward westward westward - ward After many days of slow , dif dIf- dIfficult dif- dif difficult difficult - - ficult going , they arrved arrived nrrJved ) in the theWestern theWestern theWestern Western Reserve They halted in inthe inthe Inthe the forest at a little collection co1lectlon of ofJog oflog oflog Jog log cabins cabms , the beginnings beglDnlngs of the thetown thetown thetown town of Jefferson In Ashtabula Ashtabulacounty Ashtabulacounty Ashtabulacounty county , OhIoIn OhioIn Ohio OhioIQ IQ In this pioneer settlement Platt Plattgrew Plattgrew PIattgrew grew up , helping on the farm In Inthe inthe inthe the summer and In the winter wmter cornbining com corn comblnlng cornbining blnlng bining household chores with read read- readIng reading reading - ing and writing wrltlng Paper v . was as unpro unpro- unprocurable unprocurable unprocurable - curable , , but he wrote In the snow snowand snowand snowand and on the sand and with WJth charcoalon charcoa1on charcoa1 charcoal on the floor oor . The traveling travehng cobbler who wbo vIsited vIsitedeacb visitedeach visitedeach eacb each farm In winter to make mahe ayear's ayear's a jyear's jyears year's years ' supply of shoes for the fami fami- family family family - ly lent the boy his bis chalk and let lethim lethim lethim him wnte wute waste on the tbe large pieces of ofsole ofsole ofsole sole leather that were waiting to be becut becut becut cut up The family was proud of his hissl hisskill hisskill sl skill .11l 11l > . and , as a special treat tre'1t tre1t ' , on onSunda onSundays onSundays Sunda Sundays s his mother ' ' allowed 'tHowed tHowed 'allowed him ham to towrite towrite write \ rlte her favorite Sciipture Sclipture Scripture tests testsin te te\tsin te tsin \ ts tsI tsIn In ink on the flyleaves fl3leaves lea\ lea leaes \ es of her pre preI preCIOUS precious predous CIOUS Biblei BibleWhen Bible BibleWhen When PIatt Platt was t\\ t te1 twelve \ e1\ e1 e1e \ e years old oldn olda olda n a district distract school v . was as opened in aone aone a | one room log cabin in Conneaut , ten tenmUes tenmiles tenmiles mUes miles away A young Vermont Y'1n Y1n Yin Y'1nkee Yinkee Yankee ' kee was the schoolmaster schoolma5ter Platt Plattwalked Plattwalked PIattwalked walked the ten miles to and nnd from fromschool fromschool fromschool school throughout the winter He TIe was wasnot wasnot wasnot not a particularly p'lrt1cularly plrt1cularly ' sociable youth youthand , and being serious minded mlDded he p'll pll p'uti puti p'utitinned paitltioned ' ' tI tII tIhoned honed tinned off his this < desk in one corner cornerwhere , where \ here he devoted much time bme to bls his blsbeloved hisbeloved hisbeloved beloved wrItingThe writingThe writing writingThe The schoolmaster soon dlcovered discovered dlcoveredthis discoveredthis di&coveredthis dicoveredthis & : , this pupil's pupils pupll's puplls ' bent and kept hept him oc occupled occupled occupted cupled furnishing furnlslung copies of lessons lessonsfor lessonsfor lessonsfor for the school textbooks textboohs being belDg ex es expensh espensive espensive pensh pensive e and very difficult to pro procure procure procure cure Spencer himself walked wall.ed walled . 20 20miles 20miles O Omiles miles barefoot In 1n the ' late l'lte llte fate fall to toget toget toget get a copy of DaboIl Daboll Dabolls s Arithmetic Arithmeticthat Arithmeticthat . that he had heard " was "as as for s'11e s11e sale s'11echeap salecheap salecheap ' ' . cheap On the way way'home wayhome home he slept sleptIn sleptin sleptin In a barn . , as he lie was too b'1shful b1shful bashful bashfulto b'1shfulto ' to aslfor ask asl\ asl ash \ for lodging and his only food foodwas foodwas foodwas was a 1 ' . raw ra'v rav ' turnIpThis turnipThis turnip turnipThis This hard and scanty exIstence exIstenceseemed existenceseemed existenceseemed seemed only to foster his 10\ 10 love 10e \ e of ofgroce ofgrace ofgrace groce grace and " "elegance elegance " ' He grew In to y s.9 s9 . + + Hry 4-Y"4 4 Y"4 Y4 " - " onww.a onwwa } . . , ri . .M M . , , a afWR9 fWR9 ' + Rrim Rrimmk -mk mk - r + 'M M ' YH-Y YH Y - " N/t N t NtTNVk / TNVk TNVkr r " S q " a g rS rSJ'9 ire irec J'9 J9 ' N , c Y ' rv Y s A AH H I t irk S . AN EXAMPLE OF OFFHAND FLOURISHING 'Now Now ' Is the time tor for all aU good men mento mento mento to come to the aid of the party party"or partyor " or that "The The "Tbe Tbe " quick brown fox fow fo jumps jumpsover jumpsover jumpsover over the lazy dog " Today speed speedrather , , rather than artistry , is the demand demandin demandIn in writing So today the name ot of otPlatt ofPlatt ofPIatt Platt Rogers Spencer means but butlittle butlittle little althoughthey to most Americans although althoughthey they perpetuate his Ws fame \ when \ hen they theyuse theyuse theyuse use such an e expression preSSlOn as 'his his ' his flne fine flneSpencerIan fineSpencerian fineSpencerian SpencerIan bandIf hand band If " IfBut But there was a time when hisname his hisDamo hisname Damo name was a svnonym synonym for elegant elegantscript elegantscript elegantscript script and his style of penmanship penmanshipv penmanshipwas penmanshipwas v . was as a model for school children ehf.ldren ehfldren . all allover allover allover over the United UnHed States So bo In this thismachIne thismachine thismachine machIne age , , when the type\uIter type uIter typewriter typeuIterhas typewriterhas typewriterhas \ has made m'1de m1de ' chirOoraphy chiroJraphy chirography a lost art and andthe andthe andthe the hosts hast3 hnst American scra\\ scra scrawl scraI \ I has h'1s h1s ' be- be become become be become - - come notorious , , It seems worth worthwhile \ worthtvhilo ortb ortbwhile while to tell : again the story of ofPlatt ofPlatt ofPIatt Platt Rogers Spencer &pencer pencer & , the Ohio Ohiofarm Ohiofarm Ohiofarm farm boy who wbo \ wanted anted to become n a nminister aminister aminister minister and who , , thvarted th\"arted th "arted arted thv-arted thv \ " - In th'lt thlt that th'ltambItion thatambition thatambition ' ambItion , turned his Ills talents to the thetask thetask thetask task of teaching teacblng a n \ whole \ hole nation D'ltIon DltIon natlou ' terested tercsted tryhls tryhis In poetry and began to try tryhis hls his hand at nt writing wrltlng It 1t Most of his hisverses hisverses hisverses verses were dedicated to the art of ofpenmanship ofpenmanship ofpenmanship penmanship , and were on some such suchtheme suchtheme suchtheme theme as this : Tha The tongue Is not the only way wayThrough wayThropgh Thropgh which tho acth active e mind mtnd is Ish"ard isheard isheard.But |