Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1879 — EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT [ARTICLE]

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT

Peamanihip. * m fa■ ** muelx. ... : One of lli« erroneous itloan that prevail in regard to thin art in that, it* value is small .compared with other branches*, that h is of lass importance oanslderiH] as an art or ns a science. There are several reason* why this Is not true. One «of these Is that ns a branch of pri- ■ in ary education it contains wilhin Hs<‘l! the elements of art culture, and is of itself art culture. As a foundation for tiiis 1 efitiiit" a»ui cit- \ infilling cuTturclt demands our re\rt*ect ami attention; hut in this ago ifhe bread and butter consideration reems to outweigh any and every ether in the minds ol the people—that is, the majority ot the people. Hence, we must ho able to show that penmanship as a |H-actical implement for see tiring Wealth ami position is of value. We need only to look around to see the proof that this is true. It is safe to say that |o a lady or gentleman seeking employment there is no other one accomplishment that will so greatly til* so readily aid as a good handwriting. It is an accomplishment that always speaks promptly and •well for its possessor, opening auany ways for a beginning, ami, wheu aided by other valuable atlainitidits and united with industry and Integrity, will carry the jv>htesaor onward to places ot protit sind distinction. Many of our most prominent and succo.suful nun owe their first position and its success to a good handwriting. And how many applicants for the position of book keeper, clerk, or accountant, have been rejected on account ot up awkward, illegible handwriting it would be impossible to tell. When applications for a-position are sent by mail only those well and legibly wrillcp are considered. A good band or a bad one turns the scale, aud while it opens up the, way to success to one it effectually bars it to tl»e other. To the acute yyc of the employer it not only shows thccultuie of the applicant, but is really an index to that applicant’s character fer precision, ,care and completeness in his work. „W e may thus see how a thing may be artistic and yet practical; how it may be an art and yet be a valuable auxiliary in the matter-of-faot affairs of life. In this series of short articles it is impossible to state how far we may gel in one of them. The- fact seems to he tbat the objections to the growth and encouragement of this art arc so lgany that it .is neecssary pMicfc dii.g with tjis original intenJnon, viz: to give the best methods of teaching it, that we answer one by one the various objections urged against it. .Until wo have fully answered these, we feel that not much ot importance can he accomplished by giving modes ot teaching an art that is neglected and abused.