In view of this charge against our high schools, and because the sentence under consideration is itself a type of careless construction, very common among even good writers, the sentence becomes interesting. It is divided by semicolons into four clauses, apparently in a series; but an analysis of the meaning of the language will show that the four clauses do not constitute a series.
Four charges against amateurs are made in the sentence, in brief, as follows:
1. Writing carelessly.
2. Spelling names differently.
3. Forming letters obscurely.
4. Possessing, or observing, no system in the use of capitals, italics, and marks of punctuation.
If these four faults form a series, what does “writing carelessly” mean? To spell a word in different ways, to form letters obscurely, or to observe no system in the use of capitals, etc., is “writing carelessly.” In short, the first term of the four is a general statement, of which the three terms that follow are details. This fact should be shown by the punctuation.
A colon after the first clause will show its relation to what follows.