Respones to the book Letters to the Editor

This is in response to the book Letters to the Editor, Two Hundred Years in the Life of an American Town, edited by Gerard Stropnicky, Tom Byrn, James Goode, and Jerry Matheny. My first note is that last sentence was a mouthful.

The first letter that jumped out at me was on pages 21-22, and was entitled The Normal School. The writer is complaining about the expansion of Bloomsburg. He warns about not being able to feed everyone. It jumped out at me, because it doesn't seem to be great use to warn the people who already live in Bloomsburg. Maybe the residents are inviting other residents to move there, but the people who are expanding Bloomsburg are people who haven't yet arrived. There is no way they could possibly read that letter. Also, it's always fun to see older writing, where they add pluralization to things that we don't anymore.

The second letter that jumped out at me was on page 22, and was entitled The Traffic Light. The writer is bothered by the inconsistency of a specific traffic light. He describes how he timed the light, with his watch, and found it inconsistent. It's funny to me to imagine someone really sitting out there with a watch timing a traffic light. It's not like today, where you might just be glancing at the clock on the dashboard of your car.

The third letter was on page 27, and was entitled The RIghts of Man. The writer pretty much just says, what's the hubbub about equality. I just can't imagine anyone saying that. I can't help but find this hilarious.

The fourth letter was on page 27, and was entitled The Right of Fish. This opens with the line "Fish are a species of animals which ought to be exempt from our tyrrany." Whether or not you agree that we're being too harsh on fish, that is a fantastic sentence. Tyrrany is such a strong word to use. It also seems so strange to me, to concentrate on fish. As if we should hunt other animals, but fish are superior and should be exempt. The letter goes on to make a decent argument on this exact point. I'm unconvinced by it, and truthfully find it humerous.

The fifth letter was on page 28, and was entitled Ten Dollar Reward. This letter offors a $10 reward, for the return of a runaway slave. It's surreal to me to imagine slavery taken so lightly, but that's the way it was. Its a strange description of the man. They decribe his personality, as well as his clothing and appearance. Seeing an actual letter like this, is just surreal to me.