The independent. (Harrisonburg, La.) 1853-18??, 1857-10-14
Peeps From a Printing office.
BY A TYPO.
sLittle drops Of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean,
Aud the hnauiiOllS lund y

"Ugh!' exclaims some would be "deli
cate" lady-'the very sound reminds on,
most forcibly of the smell of oil, and W,
shall hear nothing now but the clanking o
machinery and the clicking of type!'
Well, what of that, fair lady! True, tn,
oil we may use is not SO highly perfumed al
that with which you smoother your ring.
lets but for al that it has the same bases
and is applied to a far nobler purpose. The
''clanking' of our machinery may not be
pleasant to your oyer-refned taste but to
the true Poet it has sound sweeter even
than thinking of cymbals." The "click
ing" of type may be even disagreeable to
you but we had rather hear it, and cause
it, than be possessed of the gift of JENNY
| LIND, were we to have our choice of the
two.
Ours is glorious mission, fellow crafts
man. Princess and potentates own our sway,
and there is no earthly power mightier than
ours. As we stand up to the ''case." worn
and weary though we may be, we have at
| least the comfort of the thought that though
we cannot find an acre of Gods earth that
we may call onr own-though we are poorly
paid and heavily tasked-though there may
not be one to whom we may say "Go," or to
another "Come"-though we may well know
that we shall leave no 'mighty name" be-
hind US, with our fame blazoned on history's
page and scul ulptered in marble-yet we are
assured that our works shall not perish."-
Long after we shall have been laid beneath
the sod, the "still, small voices" with which
we have spoken will 60 on with their NIGH
ty work, accomplishing the good which we
have sought while living. With our ,,mal
ets' we are driving home "wedges" that
shall in time overturn municipalities ard
powers" With shooting irons' of more
effect than 'Sharpe's Rifles or "Colt's Re
|volver's," we march to the battle against
Wrong, far more sure of victory than they
who WELD the sword.
Oftentmes as we have stood at our "case,"
melily sticking" the magical strips of metal
which seemed as things of life under our fin
gers, have we ''laughed in our sleeve, as we
thought how many would be anxiously watch
ing for the result Of our labors-how many
hopes and fears hung on the mere ipse dirit
of the types-how much the ''leading men"
and ''first writer's" Of our day are indepted
to the humble but none the less valuable la
bors Of the Typo. And again our heart
would grow sad as we thought of those to
whom we should be the bearers of evil IT,
dings. How many of those who read the
'dolorous headings-"Dreadful Disaster -.
Fearful Railroad accident and Great Loss of
Life !" &C., are untouched by the sad news
To many and many home do we thus con
vey the sad intelligence, and as we do so,
there swells up in our heart prayer for the
t'loved ones left behind" and a hymn of
thanksgiving that we were not of those who
were so suddenly and so fearfully launched
into eternity.
But we have higher and riobler mis-
sion than that of mere messenger Printers
are emphatically the Retormers of the age
in which they live. In these dirty rooms
where few but mechanical sounds are heard,
a busy work Of Mind is going on. Those
rough looking men standing by their cases
are even now, perhaps, giving to the world
their own great and noble thoughts-speak
ing with metallic tongues words that will
cheer some fellow Worker, or spur up some
Dreamer, to works he never thought him
self capable of-sowing seed by the wayside
that in time will spring up and bear good
fruit, even at an hundred. toid"-plaainp a
vine that shall at some future day shelter
the weary Pilgrim on LIES journey-striking
rock from whence shall gush fountain oil
pure water, refreshing to many faint and
disheartened denizen of this cold world oil
Ours. No ''new measure" is proposed-noI
new principle in Science, Art, Politics or.Me-
chanics, is promulgated-but these busy
Printers-these ready Thinkers-seize upon
it and proceed to "enlighten the public" up
on its bearings and its applications--for al
wonderfully pr.cticsl~s h an ,hey, ,z1pcs-