Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-11-04
HOb.NObbing with Great Men.

ALITTLE knot OF printers, just arrived
in Titusville, were indulging in some
personal "reminiscences, and an epitome
of the conversation will give the public
an insight into the cosmopolitan life of
the craft, and show how they often hob
mob with greatness.
Said Slug One: 81 tell you, Sam
Bowles was good one. Nothing small
about Sam. One day struck Spring
field, busted flat as flat-iron, and bolt
ed right for the Republican office. Sam
was writing an editorial on the Kansas
border law, or some of those old heavy
subjects, but he dropped every thing,
and made it nice and comfortable for
me. Gave me an order on a restaurant
for something, and gave me the ad.
frames that night.
"Did you ever strike Greeley when you
wanted favor?" asked Slug Two
"Greeley was always busy grinding out
that horrible copy of his, but he rarely
allowed his work to interfere with his
social duties. l was present once, how
ever, when he threw a printer down
stairs, but 1 never blamed the old fellow
much. The trouble grew out of some
insinuation had made about the Mag
ara meeting"
Slug Three said he struck Louisville
once in George d. Prentice's time, and
the visit was always bright spot in his
memory 81 wanted to see the old
man and went right to his private office.
He asked me if needed any thing, and 1
told him [ didn't. l had two full weeks
work in my pocket, and told him 1 want
ed him to come out and take something
with me. l remember it like it was
yesterday. He was writing poem On
the death of child-none of your Phil
adephia Ledger poetry, but the real
thing. George jabbed his pen into the
desk and said, kind of melan-
choly like: L don't often take
anything, but when I do, 1 have
noticed it is usually about this time of
day. He stayed ri ght with me all after
noon. Never had such q circus in my
life. The police knew George. or both
of us might have been jagged. Quote
poetry? Why, he would hang on to the
edge of bar like ground squirrel and
quote the Greek and Latin poets till
your head would SWIM
Slug Four was in Boston when Dickens
read there, and enjoyed the extreme
felicity of night off with the great
novelist. Dickens came into the Office
one night to look over the report of his
lecture, and made some corrections and
additions in the proof. 81 couldn't
read his writing very well,' said the
printer, ''and brought the proof out and
asked him what so and so was. He told
me and then tipped me the wink, and
asked me to correct the galley and put
ON sub, and come and see him at his
hotel. When / got through and went
around to the fremont House, it was
about one O'Clock in the morning, but
I'm darned if Dickens wasn't waiting
for me. Well, needn't tell you any
more than to say, simply, that before
we parted company he wanted me to
call him CHARLIE
And SO the interesting personal remi-
niscences went on. One printer, a
Frenchman, had set up a sonnet from
Victor Hugo's manuscript. He cap
tured the t'copy'' and had it at his
boarding house now, if any one cared
to step around and see it. Another had
set up "take'' of a famous double
loaded editorial on the abolition of slav-
cry, written by the elder Bennett, and
injected into it, surreptitiously and with
cussedness aforethought, quotation
from ''Mary's Little Lamb" chewed up
the copy and managed the whole thing
with such devilish adroitness, that it
got into the paper and went through all
the -IitusCiUe pa. World.