Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 June 1887 — The Art of Letter Writing. [ARTICLE]

The Art of Letter Writing.

Beneficient as the discovery Of printing is generally believed to have been it has been gravely argued niore than onoe that it was really an injury to mankind. The chief ground for the contention is that through the multiplication of books and newspapers mankind has been spared the necessity for original inquiry and investigation; and that the capacity therefore is gradually but surely falling. „ That there is some truth in this is more than possible;but we do- notbelieve that mankind will ever beihduced by such arguments to permit the art of printing to fall into disuse. It certainly will not with the consent of the press, and without their consent it cannot There is one of the kindred arte however. which many a man, and women, too, is often tempted t;o wish had never l>een discovered. It is the art of letter writing. It is so easy, so simple a thing to write a letter; and vet what

tremendous consequences often flow from it. What hours that might have been profitably spent have been wasted in it. What reams upon reams of paper have been thrown away. What homes have been wrecked What hopes, politically and matrimonial, have i been blasted What lawsuits have been I engendered. In a word, what untold ! confusion, discomfort and even misery' ! have been brought tfpon humanity by I the art of correspondence. ' 1 Yet conscious as mankind is of these , terrible results it will not consent to i abandon the iniquitous practice of writing letters. The papermakers and the postoffice must be kept up though hearts are broken and families separated nnd statesmen ruined. The only apparent way out js in tjie invention of an ink that will endure but for a season, and fading out’ leave no vestige behind I which photography, the microscope or I the chemist can trace. The man or the women who will make that discovery will rescue mankind from most of the evils which persistent letter-xvriting has inflicted and win the blessing of prosperity.- Detroit Free Prese.