The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-12-26
The Printer and His Type.

The Printer and His Type
4 The following beautiful extract is fror
the pen.of Benjamin F. Taylor, the printe
poet: A rs
: Perhaps there is no department Of ente,
> prise whose details are less understood b
/ intelligent people than the "art preserva
tive the achievement of types. ia
Every day of their life long they are &C
/. customed to read the newspapers, and fin,
fault with its statements, its arrangements
its looks; to plume themselves upon tn
discovery of some roguisl, aad acrobati,
type that gets into frolic and stands upol
: its head; or of some waste letter or two il
it; but Of the process by which the news
paper is made, of the myriads of motions
and the thousands Of pieces necessary tc
it's composition, they know little and thinl
less. 84
They imagine they discourse of 4 won
der, indeed, when they speak of the fai,
white carpet, woven for thought to walk
on, Of the rags that fluttered on the begga1
yesterday. - IS. 90
i But there is something more wonderful
|still. When we look at the hundred and
fifty-two little boxes, somewhat shaded
with the touch ofiuky finger, that com.
pose the printers "case," noiseless except
the clicking Of the types, as one BY one they
take their. places in the growing line--we
think we have found the marvel of the
art.
We think how many fancies in frap.
ments there are in the boxes, how n,ariy
atoms Of poetry and ,eloquence the nrinter
can make here and there, if he had only a
little chart to work by, how MANY facts in
a small handful" how much truth in
chaos. al -
Now he picks up the scattered elements
until he holds in his hand q stanza of
"Gray's Elegyf'or a monody upon Grimes.
"All Buttoned up Before" Now he sets
Puppy Missing" and now Paradise
Lost" he arrays bride in "small caps."
ana a sonnet in "nonpareil;" he announces
the langaishing live" in one sentence.
transposes, the words, and deplores the davs
that are few and evil " in the next.
A poor jest ticks its way slowly into the
printers hand, like clock Just running
down. and q strain of eloquence marches
into the line letter by letter. We fancy
we can tell the difference by hearinv ~
the ear; but perhaps not
The types that told wedding vesteraav
announce burial ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in |
the same letters.
They are the elements to make a world |,
OF. Those types are world, with some.
thing in it as beautiful as spring. "A rich
as summer, and as grand as autumn flowara
that frost cannot wilt; fruit that ahaIj
ripen for all time. a 0s .TIlT"f >
The newspaper has become the log book
OF the age. Ittells ct what rate the world
IS running. We cannot find our reckon.
ing" without IT,
True, the greengrocer may bundle uu a
pound of candles with our last EXPRESSED
thoughts, but it is only coming to base
uses, something that is done times IN.
We console ourselves by thinking that
one can make Of that newspaper what he
cannot make of living oaks-a bridge for
time that he can fling over the chasrn of
The dead years. and walk safely back unon
The shadowy sea into the far past. The
singer shall not end his song, nor the soul {
be eloquent no more. 5g1 +
y. ouO pIcSS ~ eOCOa0Ge0 Il
ground Sometimes the editor has the
happiness of knowing that he has defended !
he right. exposed the wrong, protected :
he weak; that he hes given utterance 70 a
that has cheered somebody's
oiltary hour, made somebody happier. y
ilndled smile upon a sad face, or hone q
n q heavy heart, 'aja &}7l c
he may meet with that sentiment many I
ears after; it may have lost all charms Of Fl
Is paternity, but he feels affection for it, Ic
te welcomes it as a long-absent child. He 4
eads 1t as tor the first time, and wonders =
indeed he wrote it, for he has changed :
ince then. Perhaps he could not give mt. =
erance to the sentimunt now-perRans he u
Tonld not if he could. Il
1t seems like the voice Of his former self
a!iing to his parents, and there is some.
hing mournfnl in his tone. He begins to m
link--to remember why he wrote It. who ri
Eere his readers then, and whittier thev m
ave gOne-what he was then. and how ~
luch he has changed. So.he muses.. until :.
finds himself wondering If that thonght - =!
his still continues to float after he 10 u
cad, and whether he is really lookinc 81
pom something that will survive him u
nd then comes the sweet consciousness st
lat there IS nothing in the sentence that q
conld wish unwritten-that It is a bet. OF
+ part Of him-a shred from garment Of NJ
mortality he shall leave behind him 10
hen ne joins the innumerable caravan. y NJ
I'd takes his place in the halls Of death =.