Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1859-12-02

n Drluttf OVl VI WIN 'hN 'ef ~ ''fNffr@
l. most cmpha'ically "a nSed-up man. n.
relies upon his trade for q livelihood, snd
when out of u job, and compelled 90 Jay
alound loose rs the cockncy has u, ne per
,pn is a more awkward tool in the !,andS o.
Fate, lie is utterly unfit Tor anything else
and when iype-setting fails, printer must
look to his brains, aud not 10 his hands, for
the whcrewith 10 "eai. drink, and be mer-
ry.. If he gets that much, 1t is enough ;
for. as class, typos have a supreme con-
tempt for money--no, not exactly Tor Tie
money, that would be unnatural but f,r
the prudence and self-denial necessary TO its
accumulation. Very few lay by anything
for rainy day, hence tn ir prJverbal pov-
erty, jollity, and "devil-may care spirit.
Content with the present and us pleasures,
there is no prying into the future with spec
ulative eyes, no ;lvaricious hosrding of gold
but, mind We, your true printer lacks not
charity. He values money only by the
good it does and when he is flush, the
lstch-strng of his purse always hangs out.
IL you come to him needy, he will divide,
and even go without his supper, if need be,
to feed You. lie doesn't spoil his gcncro.i-
ty, either, like good many plIilanthropists,
by afterwards dunning you for return Of
obligations.
never knew but one mean printer. That
one was mean enough. He used to charge
his hands with lost time for what they
spent in eating their meals, and once whip
ped an apprentice TO death for leaving his
case to 90 to his mothers funeral. Among
civilized compositors, strapped printers
ST their poverty be sufficiently substantial
I'd land very little proof i ever neetcd),
are "taken in," and treated as humancly AS
shoa1h they were brothers. This is one OF
the most ccmmcndable characteristics of the
craft, A poor, ragged hungry customer
came 10 this fellow, who, by the way was
very wealthy. The newcomer had eaten
nothing in two days, and was weary and
footsore. Nevertheless, he first asked for
work--preferring, even in that extremity
to earn his bread, rather than seek charity.
The editor, of course, gave him TO under
stand that he had help enough. The strap
pod gentleman then cautiously limited his
deplorable condition but the other could
take anything but hint. After an hours
consultation, and an equal amount of med.
itation upon the subject, the humane heart
of tile great man was touched He had
just been writing a leader, six inches long,
on "Faith, Hope and Charity as relating
to the duty we owe to the poor heather,
and the theme was fresh in his mind. As
he babe adeu to the printer, he felt abolt
his pockets amidst muliitudnous heap of
sinners, and magnauimously drawing forth
afce-ccnt piece, gave it to him saying. as
he did SO:
eThcrc, my young friend, take ihat--its
the smallest piece I've got"
The proprietors of newspapers may be
exceptions, as regards this lack of acquisit-
'veness. The manager of public journal,
with the proverbial poor pay to which he is
subjected, has trouble enough in any way
to make both ends meet, without leaving
margin in his life's category for those little
scraps and scrapes which eheckered it when
lac was mere compositor. He has respon-
sibilities upon his shoulders, and he must
use all his strength to carry them through |
Not so with Tom, Dick and Harry. What
do they care for responsibility? What
matters it TO them how the world wags-ifI
type-sctting is worth thirty cents per thou
sand? They must mind their p's and as,
and leave the world alone.
Some people complain that printers too
often prove to be .'foul cases" What can
you expect, sir, but rebellion against your
fixed lands of morality so long as you starve
your best friends3 Why, that very chap,
who appears the happiest Of mortals, is the
poorest paid for the services he does YOU
A good printer will average ten thousand |
ems per day. For this the highest price
paid in the Fast is thirty cents-in most
Eases twenty-five cents per thousand Thus |
you will see that his days work amounts to
but little over 50 50-tle price paid to
d'tch-diggers and hod-carriers. This is true
OF The mass of type-setters--of course, the
trade has lis more favored few. Counting
in its sick.ning confinement, and the dreary
work by gass-light, done when subscribers
that don't pay for their paper and every
lody else is asleep, printers life is not one
TO be envied. If the people more gener-
Cusly appreciated and remunerated the press
editors would feel better natured, and COM
positors get better pay.
Some folks, also. have the idea that be-
cause a printer has little to do with every
body and everything, sets up The news. and
overhau's the copy-hook on which is hung
all general knowledge, he must know more
than anybody else. For the sake of our
own conceit, we viii allow the truth of their
compliment, more nice than wise. "But,"
says somebody else, "why does he dress SO
shabbily, and act so unehrislanly WHY
will he persist in getting drunk z Siop
there my friend; you have gone far enough
our modesty is not impregnable. | sup
pose he persists in drinking because he likes
II /; and il is your fault that he gets drunk
on whisky, when he might imbibe campagnc
We must narrow our Injuries to our means.
do yon think that his wisdom. if he gains
ay by rubbing against the thoughts of wise
men of all ages, win wipe out that great
canker-sPot of human frailty which gave
sn TO Adam, and TO every man his faults z
You are mistaken. Perhaps, like minis
tr's child, he printer has Lecome ..laid. n
Ell to Impressions, even though the lest
society the world affords bears lin comma
ny for tre it is, that priesily reform has
never yet taken from his face s.the great
first sin" of cLcerfulness. lie rises ami
1sefs8 with the sun; IL he does not ALWAYS
preserve himself upright in the ewes Of
his n lrhbor honest Labor ho, ,,s,-... -