The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-06-01

tributed to these much-abused type-stick-
ers. No sooner does an article appear in
one paper under that head, than it is COP
led, all over the land, by the other papers,
thus leading the public to infer that nearly
ali the compositors must be blockheads
and numbskulls, and cannot understand
1.-THE of their business,
There is not shadow of a doubt that |
the pickers-up Of type are as prone to COM
init errors as any one else; and it is some
what remarkable that many of them make
so few, when it is taken into consideration |
that they have to pick up so many thous-
and separate letters each day and week. |
Did the unlnitiated understand, even in a
small degree, the intricacies of compos- |
iug-room; they would marvel at the cor
rectness of their work.
1t is a noticeable fact-and the state |
ment can be verifed-that manuscript is
often placed in the hands of compost
ors which cannot be deciphered by the writ
ers themselves. Some of 1t is so bad that
one would almost come to the conclusion
that a spider had fallen into an ink bottle,
extricated himself, and crawled over the
paper to rid himself of the inky fluid.
| With such chirography before him, is it
strange that mistakes occur? The wonder
| is that there is not more of them.
| Now, instead of these wlseacres making
la butt of the intelligent compostor, it GER
tainly would be more creditable to them to
give the printer credit for his intelligence
and learning. How would some of them
like to see their illusions in print ex
actly as they put it down on paper? They.
doubtless would be Mortified, and deny the
paternity of their offspring. Aud, how
many, pray-and smart ones, too-under-
stand punctuation, capitalization, spelling,
and even constructing their sentences by
the rules of grammar? Very few. They
have to rely solely on the printer for the
medicine, as it were, that they give to their
articles to make them appear in a cOnva-
lescent state before discerning and dis
eliminating community. 1t would be
amusing and laughable, truly, to print yer
6dtin1 the manuscript Of some of the carp
ers who find fault with the intelligent com
positor, because few mistakes occasional
ly occur. Let those who live in glass
houses, throw no stones, for they may pcs
sibly rebound and destroy their own brit
tie structure.
The casual reader of newspapers and
magazines does not stop to criticise typo
graphical mistake. 1t is only those who
so assiduously find fault with others that
make the most blunders themselves, for
the very purpose of shielding their own
shortcomings. The fact is patent, that
whatever particular failing or weakness a
person has, they imagine every one to be
affected with the same malady and disor-
der. An inebriated mau believes that ev-
cry one he meets is in the same condition.
So it is with these carpers, being full of
errors and mistakes themselves, suppose
the intelligent compOsitors to be laborins
under the same fatality.
1t is positively true-aDd none knows
7 it so well as the so-caled Intelligent Com,
positor "-that many writers, and even
t many reporters and editors know less
about punctuation, capitalization and even
spelling than q schOol-boy. So, too, theil
manuscript would compare favorably with
! Chinese hieroglyphics; in fact, in some
e cases, the latter is as plain to the compost
! tor as the former, and as interesting
! With such m0ustrosity before them
! these much-abused typos are expected t.
: put it in type free of errors and mistakes
e And they do it; yes, and they do it well
: They punctuate it, capitalize it and ado
D and drop words, as occasion may require
they often reconstruct whole sentences
It To be plain, they make it grammatical
l. and readable so that when the writer read
, it in print, he scarcely recognizes it as hi
n own.
e Compositors make mistakes, and some
times g!aring ones too. And who doe
it not? Are these critics infallible them
n selves? One would judge so from tn,
l. manner in which they SO industriously col
ect the errors they find in newspapers
N and place them before the public unde
a. the spurious title of THE Intelligeu
9r ComiOsitor Again" Better look at HON
N before going elsewhere to find flaws i
e. others. Such meanderings and wander
IN ings generally recOil. Doubtless the il
telligent compositor is as intelligent an
le smart, and even more so, than those VIII
pit sit in Judgment against him. and in man
Sc respects more than their peers
S But | am taking up too much of you
e. valuable space, and must stop. The abov
g, was indicted as defence, in small way
lie of the much-abused Intelligent Compos
tor" knowing you are ever ready to pul
ut fish both sides of story. W. C..
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