Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1846-03-12
MISCELLANY.
Changes and Adventures.
Incidents in the Life Of a JOurneyman
Printer. .-r-ss.,1.

I Incidents in the Life Of JOurneyman
! At the Typographical Celebration In
Rochester, few days since, Mr.. Wm. a.
fWelles, a iourneyman, gave the follow.
sng sketch of his life, which Is the great
est mess of pi,' that we nave ever
heard of. He says, as,.x. .o..,,.y -,
MR. PxrsIpENT-Ith has often been re-,
marked. that the fortunes Of the men
hers of the Typographical professions
have been more diversified and precari-
Gus. than that of any other class of men.
The changes constantly taking place IN
their circumstances, render them an ea-
sv prev 10 all the viscissitudes OF liie. -
The printer is an intellectual being
No class of men, in any age OF the world,
have given evidence Of so great vefsalh,
ity Of talent--universal knowieoge 1"u
variety of reading, as the IyPogfaPnl-
cal. The biography OF many printers
would be both amusing anu instructive
Nv way ofillustratiRg the ABOVE dec'a-
ration, I offer the following crude, ramo-
ING recollections, Of somewhat adven.
,urous Journey thus far through life; not
that would, in so doing, claim any no.
ioricty for my many hair bIeadlh
'scspes,' but from an inclination TO letn
fellow craftsmen read a page of my st2-
nv; and if any good should result from
NV experience to bequeath the record OF
nv times, for the amusement OF others'
served nearly seven years appren-
,;ceshin in The office ef9ihe late Alder
man SEYMOUR, 40 John Street, N. 7. In
This office. associated as fellow workmens
were the late Comnsissary General OF
this State. A. Chandler, Mayor Harper. OF
New York. Gen. George p. Morris, now
editor and publisher Of the New York
Mirror John Windt, Elliott, the Fore
man, Zone of the notorious Miranda
Expedition and your humble servant
About this time, Ispulled the FIRST num-
Der of the New York American, then
edited by Charles King. James II. Ham
iI,on and Gulian C. Verpianck. The
firsl edition of 'Saimagundi,' was also
printed in this office, about this time,
from the MS. of Washington Irving in
The composition of which assisted. In
Van Wrinkles Office, afterwards, SET up
the three fist numbers Of the. 'Sketch
Book, by the same gifted author.
In Boston, / worked upon the 'Colum-
HAN Ceutinel,' for Old Ben RUSSELL
who discharged me from his ofilee tor
drumming Yankee Doodle, as i beat
the last sheet of the inside of his paper
one morning, after having worked Off
eleven tokens, imperial, within the pre-
cedinq ten hours From Boston, | went
to Flagg e. Gould's Office, Andover, Mass,
and was employed in setting up, from
his MS, Gibbs Hebrew Lexicon which
contained nineteen different languages.
including those usually styled dead;
AZ this peri cd Of my history, procured
Il Midshipman's warrant, and went 10
sea in the frigate Brandywine, Commo-
The ship sailed from Hampton Roads,
in September 1925, having on board, as
passenger, that illustrlous statesman and
patriot, Gilbert Moiier Marquis de LII
tayeite. During a voyage OF % days,
saw much of this great, good man. Fne
General conferred particular favor on
me, by entrusting to my care. rattle
snake, an oppossum. grey Squirrel
cock-robin, and poodle dog-the last Z
present from lady in Philadelphia, l
was on board the Brandywine. on the
night of the memorable 25th of Septem-
Der, 1929. upon which occasion was
thrown overheard, more tn1n $oo,OOO
worth of property, to Tighten the vessef'
while in the head of the Bay OF Biscay.
When in Portsmouth, (Engiand,) lhaG
the honor of being guest, on board Inc
Brand wine, ut . dinner given TO His
Royal uighness, the Duke Of CLARENCE,
then Lord High Admiral Of the British
NAVY, Lady Noel, wife Of Lord Byron,
her little daughter Ada, Admiral Lord
Boiingbroke, and several other dignita-
ries Of the British realm. 'ur+ -
From England we proceeded to Gil
braltar, and Joined the Squadron under
Commodore Rodgers. From Gibraltar,
we sailed up the Mediterranean, on the
European shore, touching at such ports
as CadiZ, Port Mahon, Naples, Pisa, Pal-
ermo, Malta, the coast Of Calabria, &c,
&C.: then crossing 10 the Asiatic and
African side Of the Mediterranean; then
running down to Gibraltar. From the
Rock, we took the Trade winds, and
made the Cape De Verde Islands, and
The Cape of Good Hope From thence
to Ascension and Elba Islands, After
cruising upon the coast for six weeks
the ship ran over TO Staten Lani, on the
pitch Of Cape Horn. ~ -"
have visited the cities of st. Paulos,
The Island of st. Catharine, Santos, Rio
do Janeiro Buenos Ayres. Monteyideo
and Mouldinado, on the river La Plata +;
st. Salvador, at the head Of the bay OF
All Saints, Olinda and Pernambuco
Maranham and Para, on the Amazon.
have also been in all the ports 10 the U.
nited States excepting New Orleans and
Charleston. IN, Wv
Ia my land cruises, have wrought q; a.
a printer in Portland. Me-, Concord. N
H., Boston, Mass, Hartford. CT, more
than twenty years ago, Gin the office
of my old friend, p. CantieldA nov
present y New Haven Ct, New York
Newark. NJ, and Philadelphia: u
The last city in BILLY Browns office, 70
Wagner's alley, assisted in setting pF
from his MS. Prince Lucien- Bonaparte's
work on American Ornithology. | was
also employed}by Matthew Carey. one
of the oldest printers and publishers ID
the United States, inpthe establishments
of Poulson, Mrs. Lydia r. Baily, Johr
Bieren, Duane Billy Fry. Sc d egod
One dark gloomy night, in 1919, d