Regarding the Killian National Guard Memos:
Jules Siegel wrote: Another problem to consider is the order of precision of a Composer.
For those of us who remember electric typewriters, we remember the problems we had when the rollers were loose, causing uneven line shifting, angle changes and even spacing changes.
Pianos get out of tune and I believe that a Selectric ball mechanism could also have strike problems that might cause different imperfections depending on:
* typing speed
* force on the keys
* dirt or some kind of debris in the mechanism
* shifting on the desk
* maintenance schedule (lubricate and cleaning)
* temperature in the hot South
* holding up a corner to read what was typed
* moving around and perhaps typing memos at home (bringing typewriter home)
* the quality, thickness and condition of the paper (moisture or bending)
* particular key combinations causing excessive ball rotation
* how many erasures were made
* if the paper was adjusted for erasures that seemed not to hit correctly, especially by someone not used to typing, like Killian.
There are so many reasons for differences; maybe we need to give Rather the benefit of the doubt, especially with such a low precision machine and perhaps a low precision typist. For all we know, Killian could have started typing, pulled out the paper and put it back in a few times.
