The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-06-24
Secrets of the Printing Office.

Secrets of the Printing Office.
Printers have never, we think, received
due appreciation for the honorable con-
fdence which they have preserved in re.
gard to the secrets with which they have
necessarily been entrusted. Such case
as this often happens. An article in a
newspaper or magazine makes what is
called sensation" 1t is entirely anon
ymous, and public curiosity is excited to
the utmost to discover the name of its
author. The writer may be Cabinet
minister, q high official, a courtier, ..or any
of the thousands and one persons who, if
he were suspected of writing for the press,
would at once lose his position, his Office
perhaps his reputation. On the other
hands, the writer may be a struggling
author, 6. a.hard working journalist, or a
mere literary amateur. In any case his
secret is preserved; his anonymity is safe
as long as it is con6ded to the printers.
Some years ago there was great stir
made abouta book entitled "Ecce Homo"
1t was clever work, and had an unex-
ampled success. "Who is the.author ?"
was the question on everybody's lips.
Some scores of persons were named, and
they repudiated their participation in it.
All sorts of conjectures we're hazarded,
and no doubt large sums have been paid
by several conductors of journals for au-
thentic information as to the name of the
author. Yet that name was known to
master printer, his overseer, and at least
some of the compositors, but it was nev-
er revealed. When the name was pub
lished, it was not through the instrument
tality of the printers, but entirely inde-
pendent of them. They had faithfully
kept their secrets.
Going back few years, the authorship
of the "Waverly Novels" may be referr-
ed to as remarkable incident Of litera-
ry history. Sir Walter Scott's author
ship, although known by twenty persons,
including number of printers, was so
we'll concealed that the great novelist
could not, even in his matchless vocabu-
larry, find words Of praise sufficient to
express the sense of his grateful acknowl.
edgement and wondering admiration for
the matchless fidelity with which the
mystery had been preserved.
There is another species Of secrecy
that relating to the careful supervision of
confidential public documents, books
printed for secret societies, and the
authorship of articles or pamphlets, as
already referred to, which has been most
honorably maintained. When treaties
are prematurely published in newspapers
the copy is obtained from some leaky or
venal official, and not from any of the
printers who set up or work the original.
A case of this kind occurred year or two
ago, wherein convention between this
country and another power was revealed
to one of the evening newspapers. In
the foreign Office, at Whitehall, there is
regular staff of printers always at work,
and if these men liked they might let
out secrets of the most momentous kind,
any one of which would, perhaps, in these
days of journalistic competition, be worth
a few hundred pounds. But such q. de-
reelection of duty has never yet occurred;
it was clerk, and nota compositor, who
betrayed his trust.
Most honorble to the profession is the
story of Harding, the printer who brave.
ly bore imprisonment rather than reveal
the authorship of the celebrated "Drs-
pier" letters. The printer sat in his cell,
calmly refusing the entreaties of his
friends to divulge the name of the wri-
ter, Dean Swift, Church magnate and
great w.t. who dressed himselfin disguise
Of a low Irish peasant. and sat by listen
ening to the noble refusal and tender i'm
portunities, only anxious that no word or
glance from the unfortunate printer
should reveal the secret. Swift was bent
solely upon securing his own safety at
the expense of the printer; he covered
before the legal danger which Harding
boldly confronted. The world has une-
uually allotted the need of fame to the
two combatants. The wit and the printer
both fought the battle for the liberty of
the press, until the sense of an outraged
community released the typographer
from the peril so nobly encountered.
In thousands of other instances similar
fidelity has been exhibited. In short, it
is part of the professional honor of prin-
ter not to disclose, either wantonly or from
venal motives, the secrets of any Office in
which. he is employed.
There is also the allegiance which prin-
ters pay to their chief, in not divulging
important intelligence. In some cases a
compositor is necessarily entrusted with
an item of news which would be negotia-
BILE Immediately, and worth pounds to
him. Seldom or ever is there betrayal
of trust in this way. The examination
papers, printed so extensively IN London,
are of the most tremendous importance
to certain classes, who would pay almost
any SUM to obtain the roughest proof the
night before. An instance of this kind
occurred quite recently. A printer was
"got at," and promised a considerable
amount of money for rough proof.
What was his course of action? He
simply informed the authorities, and the
tempter was punished. 1t was another
and creditable example Of how we'll and
honorably kept are the secrets Of the
printing office.-London Printer and Sta
toner.