Huntsville gazette., 1882-03-25
The Aged Typo.


It is remarkable how the habits of
life cling to person even during his
last moments. The boys in the Inter
Ocean office hardly expected to find the
old man at his case when they came to
work in the morning, for when he had
gone home the night before they had
noticed his steps were very feeble. For
over forty years he had held a case:
first on metropolitan daily, then on a
little country weekly, and then on re-
hgious monthly. His hand was steady
as yet, despite his sixty odd years, and
very few of his ssa's'' got into his ssr''
box. This bright, sunshiny morning he
came N and greeted his fellow-typos
with pleasant ''Good morning" The
boys noticed his hand tre1nbled some
what, and that his voice was husky and
uncertain, but they paid no particular
attention to these things; the old man
had been acting rather strangely for the
last few days, and they attributed these
failings to gradually weakening con-
stitution. He stood at his case for al
most an hour throwing in, and had dis
tributed nearly all his matter, when of
a sudden and without any previous warn
ing, his composing stick fell from his
hand to the floor, and he himself tot
tered and would have fallen had not the
boys sprung to his side and supported
him to a chair in front of the fire. His
head dropped forward on his breast,
and his breathing became more and
more rapid. The pressman ran for
glass of water, and returning held it to
bis lips. AS the water touched his
| parched tongue a spasm of pain shot
across his face, and his frame was con-
vulsed with agony. With an effort
which seemed almost superhuman he
dashed the glass upon the floor, and it
was splintered into thousand pieces.
| This effort seemed to arouse him some
what, and he gazed about him with
bewildered stare.
"Boys," he said; 'sboys, are the
cases all fullP' ssHis mind wanders,"
whispered the foreman, in low voice,
and then said aloud, as he bent over the
old man: eyes, Dick, old fellow, every
thing is thrown in
"That's right, that's right, exclaimed
the feeble old man, ''there is nothing
like having the gallevs and stones all
cleaned off," aud he seemed to brighten
up considerably, and made an effort to
stir the fire with warped sidestick,
which the boys used as a poker.
8" I've run short on EN- quads, boys,
and haven't enough to space out this
poetry" he said, and his faltering fin
gers went through the motion of travel
| ing over the case in search Of the
requisite metal.
"That's all right, Dick, We'll throw
in some quoins and that will bring it all
right" said one of the boys in a sympa-
thetic voice.
"Ah, Charley" said the old man.
"that reminds me of the old Casevville
dead 'ad.' and lock up the planer in
the forms to fill out with. Fat times,
those," he continued; "they will never
come back to the old man." and he
leaned his head on both hands and
swayed to and fro. The boys gathered
around him more closely to prevent his
falling.
One of the boys, in coming to the old
mans side, stumbled over a chase which
was leaning against the composing
stand, and it fell to the floor with loud
crash. The old man sprang to his feet,
and it was all the boys could do to
restrain him. "You've pied the form,'
he shouted, "and it is time to go to
press. What shall we do, what shall we
do?"
sit down, Dick, old fellow; it's
nothing but an empty chase" said the
foreman, and he gently placed the old
gentleman in the chair.
the tears stood in the veterans eyes.
'sThe form is pied, and we ought TO
have been to press an hour ago. The
folios are all wrong, Mac. See, here is
page 102, backing up ~" and the old
man snatched proof from the revise
hook, and began folding it in helpless
manner.
"It's all wrong, but it's too late," he
gasped. "The press waits" Here his
head sank again upon his breast, and his
breathing was thick and fast. eyes,
boys, lock up the forms and look out
look out for loose spaces"
The boys stood silently around the old
compositor, and the scene was an i'm
pressive one in the extreme.
"The pages are all proved, everything
all right" he murmured, in broken
tccents. ''Now, then, careful, boys;
lift off the forms and clean off the stones,
and before, before you start up the
press, let us-let us-jeff for the drinks" T"
He fell with q heavy thud to the floor,
and the foreman, with the aid Of the
pressman, lifted him up and laid him
tenderly on a pile of mail-bags under
the cutter, and one by one the boys
returned to their cases and left him to-
sober up.-DenUer Inter- Ocean.
Herr Karl Gehmia, of Berne, after
a series of experiments extending over