The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-01-24
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 . NEW YEARS MORN IN THE = JOURNAL. OFFICE.
BY LOUIS CALVERT.

the "sfaveaIng pksntefS Who s"u~A Oua of;oe possessed peculiar interest for me. They were, as a class, jolly good fellows they dressed modesly, wore nc costly trappings. often carried neither scrip nor purse, but seemed in good spirits, even when fuli of :" bad spirits" and were always hopeful of catching on D to a better job very soon. They often told of the extremely lucrative sits" ,hev had held in Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, or some far away place, and l listened to their wonderful stories with eager ears.
 I slept in the composing room, and often divided my bed with one of these wandering typos, who would tell me thrilling stories of his own adventures, and close with few weird fables, of his own invention, ot ghostly printers who would return in the quiet midnight hours to resume their labors at the case. List. ening with strained ears could catch the oEck-ciick-click of the type settling in the cases, and could scarcely doubt the typographical haunts thus accompanied by the proof. But as time passed, be- came "more sadly wise." knew bet ter-or thought I did. knew spook printer, witt no regular ob and nothing to prevent his choosing his own territory, would always be found nearer the inner bar" than the Cease" No typo-ghoss, independent as they must be of the irk- some cares of wardrobe and larder, would put in extra time at- the case when they would never do SO, except at stern neces- sity's demand, while in the flesh. It was printing office legend-a superstition a myth! So l had long thought until last New Years morn.
 sleep in the /oSrsai office. was alone in the room until late hour, writ ing and waiting to see the New Year in. It was quiet and cosy, but the very still ness seemed ghostlike to my imagina- ton. The type occasionally clicked mysteriously, and the copy on the hooks rustled suspicicusly, as if some long, bony fingers were searching for "fat take." was scarcely reminded, how ever, of those long forgotten legends of my "cub" days until, after creeping shivering into bed at one o'clock, New Years morn, and extinguishing my lamp, heard a voice pierce the intense dark. ness of the room: "I wonder if he sits here this late every night scribbling." recognized the voice of an old d-time Alt lanta friend.
 "ASs issas1 Homo, a1f veysns f1eik," responded an ex-casemate from Boston. "He is a new man here, and some beau tiful girl has fascinated him, suspect. Sic bassfm."
 Talking about pretty girls" chimed in a piping tone, "l say, one just too sweet to live passed the postoffice while" but groans and misses silenced Lady-killer Jim, of Chicago.
 How long they laughed and joked and worked cannot say. They set up in- numerable galleys of immaterial matter. They went through the exchanges, and grew quite hilarious over some unfinished manuscripts I had left upon the table. enjoyed the fun and they paid no atten- ton to me. A new recruit occasionally came in at the key-hole shivering, when the stove would rattle furiously as the fire was hastily replenished.
 sec Calvert is writing up a trip made down White river once," said the Atlanta spook, perusing my manuscript. |" guess Merrill gave him the points, but he takes considerable liberty with the facts. But that's just the way with all the smart Alecs who lay down the stick for the pen a printer should stick to his case"
 "Poefa sascifxy, soS ff, you would observe" quietly prompted the learned Bostonian.
 "Imean just what say but he lies here ike-like an interviewer. We did eany the forms of the SssGsei from Augusta down to the mouth of Red river in a canoe, and there wait on the river bank for the " Commercial steamboat to carry us on down to Des Arc, where we printed our paper on the Cisises press- You see the sheriff held our press for an old debt, but eur material belonged to another party. So much is true, but he goes on to say that we lay in canebrake all night; that Merrill killed an immense bear with shot-gun loaded with em quads, and ve skinned the animal with our composing rules that caught sev- eral leviathan cat-6sh by using grape- vine for a line and . pine knot for bait"