W.H.O.

* * * * *

GOOD OLD GOTHIC.

[An agitation for the total disuse of the Latin character, we learn
from Press quotations published in _The Daily Chronicle_, is raging
through the German Empire, and the Prussian Minister of the Interior
has forbidden the use of any other character than German Gothic in the
publications of the Statistical Bureau.]

The ways of the Hun comprehension elude,
They're so cleverly crass, so painstakingly crude;
For, in spite of his cunning and forethought immense,
He is often incurably stupid and dense
To the point of allowing his patriot zeal
To put a large spoke in his own driving-wheel.

An excellent instance of zeal of this sort
Is the movement, endorsed by official support,
To ban Latin type in the papers that flow
From the press of the Prussian Statistics Bureau.

Now the pride of the Germans, as dear as their pipe
And their beer, is their wonderful old Gothic type;
It makes ev'ry page look as black as your hat,
For the face of the letters is stodgy and fat;
It adds to the labour of reading, and tries
The student's pre-eminent asset, his eyes,