Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-11-21
Printers Errors.
IFrom Rounds Printers Cabinet

IRON hOunus' HrlnterS CaDlnet.J
As a class, the manipulators of type
may truthfully be called the best (and
worst) abused men in the world, and
without sufficient reason. Very few out
side the trade know the difficulties under
which they labor or have even faint
conception of the skill, care and patience
required. Absolute correctness is prime
essential to secure public appreciation,
and how very little is done in the way of
assistance. "Copy" properly prepared
is a great deslderatum and rarely re-
ceived. That which is called "good"
is often the very reverse. It may be fair
to the eye and yet blind to the sense.
The patron does not know exactly what
he needs. If he has any ideas upon the
subject they may be perverted ones, and
the little smattering he has of the art
tends to lead him astray and demand i'm
! possibilities. His Judgment has not been
trained in the matter of letters. He
knows nothing of justification except
| that he believes he has it In the largest
sense to give the printer particular
| fits when an error is found. Why six
line plea and nonpareil cannot be made
to chime like notes of music is beyond
his ideas of eternal fitness of inanimate
matter. According to his views it is the
most simple of undertakings to set, make
up and work off 100 pages, more or less,
in the most unreasonable short space of
time.
Before pouring out the walls of their
wrath upon the head of the printer, it
might be well for meE to pause and con-
slider how much he is to blame. Some
where in our desultory reading we have
met with the statement that any old
piece of mosaic work containing a few
hundred pieces is exalted to the skies
and pronounced wonderful. 1t required
patience, no doubt, probably taste and
study, but carrying out the drift of the
article ready how very little in compari-
son to the tens and hun dreds of thous-
ands of still more slender and minute
particles the printer is required to han
die to make up paper or book. Take q
solid page of the Cabinet as an example.
It contains some q, 00G SENS" or about
81, 900 letters. This is greatly more
than any mosaic known. And they had
to be placed without any chiseling or
sand papering, as could be done in the
delicate work of table, chair or picture.
| AdhIGS UI1S ct5 d UdSIS, CdICuldUIOu Is
easy as to the amount of type.a compos-
itor handles during his hours of daily
labor in distribution and setting. Easy
it is also to conceive how such little frag-
ments of metal will slip out of place,
how letter or space may be dropped,
word spelled incorrectly, point be
wrong, how errors will creep in despite
all care-and the generous public be
outraged at the "gross carelessness and
stupidity of the printer!''
Errors do occur, we must admit, but
they are fabulously uncommon when
compared to chances of their being
made, and books and papers are monu-
ments to the correctness of the craft,
their sWiftness and certainty of touch,
education and never-ceasing vigilance.
We write not thus for the craft. They
practically know the truth of our words.
But we do write for the multitude of
outsiders, and with the hope that the
simple illustration we have given may
open their eyes to the great injustice
dore to those who, "with their noses in
the space box" toll away their lives for
the benefit of the world at large.