The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-07-26
A comics Of Journalism Facts Con.
cerntng that CriticisEss.
TFrom the Lakeside Monthly.1


from the Lakeside Monthly.1
Our type-setters were an enterprising
batch Of fellows. It was their life solace to
know, that they could porpetrate more
plumbers In a certain time than any like
number Of compositors In the city.
Ihey reveled in the proud consciousness
OF an ability to view manuscript at dozen
different stand-points, and none of them
according to the ideas Of the original scrib-
blers: TO turn all the capitals upside down
was Their chief joy; to give writer's ideas
the; appearance of having been seized with
lively attack Of the shaking palsy was
tneif aappy boast, and to sprinkle commas,
nerlods, and semi-colons upon a page as
though they had been doused out Of q pep-
per-boX was their glorious pastime.
AS bogglers they were champions: as
bungiers they held the belt 3; Us masters OF
the occult art of botching they feared no
earthly rivals.
And the proof-readers were worse than
the chaps at the cases. If there was an
omission, "doublet," or any trifing fault
of hasty writing, that was always left in
tact. They never squandered their genius
upon any actual errors, but when it came to
misconstruing 4 meaning or fixing up q
sentence according to their peculiar ideas
of what a sentence should be, they display
| ed taste that was not soothing. Their i'm
provements on the labors of the compost
tors were always unique, but not always
consoling.
But the man that made up the forms was
the peer of them all. The type-stickers and
iproot-scanners were energetic and strIklngly
| original, but this man rioted in the know
ledge that In superb maladroitness and gen.
eral bull headedness he was their lawful
king. To drop double-handful of pre-
pared matter, after the copy had been de-
1 l-o1 do in oh 1,oi In
fernally exulted; to place a paragraph con-
cerning Bsmarck's intentions into an ac-
count of buttcr.makers' convention
| thrilled his soul with Il buoyant fervor that
was better to him than months wages,
while accidentally getting the paper into
something like readable shape was an event
that detected his proud heart and drove his
naturally jocund spirits into bilious mourn
ing for week.
Between compositors, proofreaders, and
the "make-up," it was ut times rather de-
pressing to us aspiring nonentities who
tiourished in the editorial rooms.
a1dS Il little vain Of that criticism. .Stra-
kosch had been around to Interview me iii
the morning. 's He depended upon me
entirely in this affair."" he said. III failed
him he would be forced to shatter his en-
gagement, pack the, peerless Nilsson off to
her cain countrie" by the first steamer,
and allow the lesser lights of the troupe to
forever fade from his view.
! But If l, the musical representative of
the Daily Meteor, would only look kindly
upon his amber-haired warbler, aflluence
would pillow his IsraclitiSh head on her
golden lap, and blessed forever should be
my name in the house Of Strakosch.
1 heard afterward that the willy voting
impressaTto had dinned that same yarn into
| the ears of the conceited critic of the Co.
/ roma, and that similar tales had been reeled
off to the sapient writers of the ASteroid,
| Comet, and Spectrum. But l was not
aware of the fact at the time besides.
had been a little anxious to get critical
shv ut the glorious Swedish cantatrice my
self. Those fellows at New York, Chicago,
Boston, and Philadelphia had written very
tiuc notices, considering their advantages
but telt in my bones that Providence had
cut out Job especially for me i'll the pre-
misses.
did Just ache to show the readers of the
Meteor" circulation 100000, and. steadily
increasing g"-about how Il criticism of a
lycllow-headed, angel-yoiced soprano should
be built: and l was Il little vain of the re.
suit.
slung two columns Of my choicest rhet-
oric on the occasion. It was one of my
nights for sush, and encouraged the in
tclination to its complete bent cxulting in
hyperbole wallowing up to my mental
lears in metaphor and heaping euiogy,
lsimle, glowing adulation, tropes, technical
terms, and fcrvent figures of speech, into
foreman that it would be well for me to de-
sist in my labors, ''if wanted any of that
slush to get into the paper
There is no necessity for me to reproduce
that article at the present time. Every
body is taGlliar with It's appearance in the
Meteor. | anticipated sensation when
, people Of literary and musical tastes should
come to read it, and was not disappoint-
ed. But there was one particular sentence
that pleased me more than the rest so
much so that, in spite of the bowling for
copy at the time. / duplicated it in order
to preserve the original manuscript.
| | looked for Il call for that same bit of pa
per in a few years. I knew that the heirs
of Cervantes had realized fortune from
the sales of the first sheets of % Don QuiX-
ute," long after the decease Of the pithy old
ISpanish iconoclast, and | was inclined to
keep brisk eye for future profits myself.
l had been comparing Nilsson, among
other impossible things, to musical instru-
mcnts, which, if well made, are sure to give
out harmony under all circumstances, in
spite of themselves.
mile. Nilsson is 4 magnificent inSensate
creation. She eyokcs no melody OF her o"
free will, but is played upon by a higher
power than any of mortal guidance. In
this she atiiates to an unearthly Stradua-
rius, or, mayhap, to some grand organ IN
1.-THE buildings Of the New Jerusalem, whose
dulcet keys are swept by the inspired fin
gers of an archangel."
That struck me rs being us neat thing
rs was ever ground out OF human noddlc ;
and us | walked home L gloated over the
disnlay OF the chaps connected with the
Corona, the Asteroid, the Comet, and the
Spectrum, when they should arrive at that
particular paragraph.
| ate breakfast next morning before look
ing at the paper. wanted cheerful top
ping off to my meal, and | 60 it,.
| Ii those impenltent and time serving
apostateS in the composing and prOof-read-
er's rooms had deliberately planned my
eternal ruin, they could never have sue
ceeded better. My beautiful images were
knocked into the thinness of snlthereens !;
and us for the lovely rhetoric, that was pull
verized finer than any OF TyndalPs atmos-
pheric germs.
I stood it with all the grit of IN honest
] citizen, until reached my pet sentence.
| One good square glance was enough. l
arose sadly, walked out into the back yard,
and drove my head i'll tile water-tank.
After soaking my caput about ten minutes,
| started back into the house to try it again.
But it was no use. There lay the accursed
sheet, Its hideous denominations grinnius at
ME in tiendish joy.
Most of you may remember that para
graph. II you do not, it is no fault of the
wretched hirelings of the Corona, Asteroad,
Comet, or Spectrum. The way they went
for tnat article as awhole, and that one
sentence as specially toothsome bit, was
scandalous. For the benefit, however, of
any one who has not heard OF that delicious
rraglnent or Of the European war, | trar-