Word: quills
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...openly relished the honors that rained down on him. He was made a life peer by the Labor government of Harold Wilson in 1964. Although the practice was uncommon in such circumstances, Lord Snow took out a coat of arms. The design bridged the two cultures, showing two quill pens crossed over a telescope. It also included two Siamese cats, his favorite breed, and a Latin motto that can stand as his epitaph: Aut inveniam viam aut faciam-I shall either find a way or make...
They traveled by foot, boat and horseback through 18 states, districts, and territories that stretched from Maine to Georgia, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. Armed with their own quill pens, the 650 census takers of 1790 spent 18 months counting the American people. The total: 3,929,214. President George Washington, however suspected an undercount. In a letter to Gouverneur Morris, then U.S. Commissioner to Great Britain, Washington worried about the "indolence of the mass, and want of activity" by many census takers. Proof of this thesis: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was in charge...
...cavernous "room," as the main trading hall of Lloyd's of London is called, a clerk still enters (with a quill pen) the names of newly sunk vessels in an upright ledger that, in past years, has held the names of the Titanic and the Lusitania. Above hangs the Lutine bell, salvaged from a Lloyd's-insured British frigate, which tolls to announce a maritime loss or other disaster. That bell should perhaps now be pealing for the venerable insurance institution itself...
...island is dominated by The Hills and The Quill, volcanic cones, now extinct. Climbing to the peak of The Quill (1,800 ft.) with a verdant rain forest in its crater is a not too strenuous 80-min. hike. An old Dutch command post, Fort Oranjestad, built on French foundations in 1636, is a neat little 16-cannon salute to colonial glories. This and several other of the island's 17 original forts are on a walking tour laid out by Statia's energetic historical foundation. One of the best beaches is on Tumble Down Dick Bay, apparently...
Beyond the fact that much less communication is handwritten now than it was in the days of the quill pen, experts point to several causes of scriptural sloppiness. Some blame a spreading weakness of will. Says Sam Toombs, a Houston psychologist: "Bad handwriting is a way of saying something and taking it back at the same time. People scrawl signatures on material for which they don't want to be held responsible." Others cite the hurried nature of modern society, in which speed is given a higher priority than clarity. Pen makers decry poor instruction: while courses in calligraphy...