Dorothy Parker, age 13, of Fairfield, Conn., for her question:

WHY AREN'T TYPEWRITER KEYS ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY?

The letter keys on your typewriter are arranged for convenience, with the most frequently used letters in positions that are easy to reach. It's a tradition of long standing, and all those who have learned the touch method of typing wouldn't want you to change a single a s d f.

First patent for a typewriter was issued in 1714, but a model by a Milwaukee printer named C. Latham Sholes was placed on the market in 1874 by the gunmakers of Ilion, N.Y., Remington and Sons. It became the ancestor of all modern typewriters. The first Remington wrote only in capital letters, but both upper and lower case letters came out in a model made in 1878. There have been a lot of changes for the better since those early days.