Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1886-03-08
HE HAD NERVE.
The Travelling Printer and an Iowa Tow,

The Travelling Printer and an Iowa Town.
had been devil in the BugIer Office,
in town in Iowa, about four months
when the editor was one day called
away. The man who was acting as
compositor, pressman, job printer, col
lector, solicitor, and so forth, seized the
opportunity to 90 off on a spree, and l
was thus left in sole charge.
Just after dinner as | was washino
the roller and cleaning up generally, in
walked the first old .'printer bum had
ever seen. The duds on his back
weren't worth a silver quarter, his hair
was long and unkempt, his face covered
with dirt and bristles, and his breath
scented the room. He was ragged,
dirty, homeless, and penniless, and had
been let out of the county jail, eight
miles away, that morning
'Howdy. boy" he said as he came in.
and without second glance at me he
took seat at the desk and attacked the
remains of my lunch. When he had
eaten the last crumb he picked his teeth
with the editorial pen, peeled off his old
coat. and commanded:
boy, hunt me up job stick
obeyed, and as he. took it he walked
over to the rack, slung in two or three
lines of display type, and then stepped
to the small plea case and set up the
body of a circular reading:
He.has Arrived!
The World-Renowned Prof. Peters!
Ventriloquist! Mesmerist! Phrenologist!
Prof. Peters has engaged Snyder hall
for the evening of Sept. %, 1868 (to-
morrow evening", and will give the citi-
zens of GARNER City an exhibition of
his wonderful powers in ventriloquism,
mesmerism, and phrenology. Will i'm
itate the notes of all birds; will speak to
you in sixteen languages; will wager
800 to S. that he can mesmerize any
person in the audience; can read YOUR
character by feeling of your head; will
forfeit $500 if he fails in single case
Medals from all the crowned heads of
Europe. Flattering press notices from
the leading newspapers of the world.
Everybody turn out. Admission only
% cents. Children free
He placed this matter on galley.
pulled proof and corrected it, and
then cut lot of print paper to the right
size and said to me:
''Get up the roller and roll for HE.
| complied, and he worked off two
hundred of the circulars. He was not
only a good compositor, but he wrestled
that old hand-press around like "a man
who had never done anything else.
When we had finished he said:
Take the tin pail and get me a quart
of beer. Tell 'em to charge it to the
office
was afraid of the man, and / got
the beer and paid for it out of my own
money. He drank the whole quart with
only one breath.
Now, then, take these circulars out
and distribute EN-. he said as he put
away the pail. BE good boy and I'll
give you two tickets to this great enter
tainment.
That was inducement enough, and in
two hours. with the help OF another
boy, had billed the town. When [
returned the '.bum'' had washed up,
combed his hair, and had on new suit
of clothes. He had gone to clothier's
and bought them and had them charged
to the office, claiming that he had been
engaged as foreman. Further than
that, he had been and engaged the hall.
l had been back only five minutes when
the boozy compositor came in He had
scarcely entered the door when the
bum rose up, waved him back, and
tragically exclaimed:
go hence. This is no place for the
depraved! How dare YOU enter nv office
in your present condition."
The comp" backed downstairs
drunken than ever, and after the stran-
ger had questioned me as to when the
editor would return he went to the hotel
and engaged the best room. | had
heard that somebody held mortgage
on the Office. and it struck me that this
must be the mans agent. was young
and green, and had never seen dis
play of tramp printers gall
Next morning he took possession of
the Office. When the now sobered com
positor arrived the ..bumn selected COPY
for him and bossed him around, and
there was no rebellion. He wrote and
set up several editorials himself. made
up the outside pages of the paper in Il
neat manner. and worked off two Jobs
for Which 1915 cash WAS paid in. Dur
ing the day two subscribers paid in 81,
and all the money went into the stran-
gers pocket
The editor was to be gone two days.
and the man took such complete posses
sion that we believed in his right. and
did not kick. During the day he got a
hat and a new pair of boots the same
way he got the clothes. and he drank
three quarts of beer at our expense
Prof patcYcf nirn,,l,,,.. ii
hall that evening to overflowing. and it
was the old bum who stood at the door
and took the money When the last
person had passed in the door-keeper
slid into the darkness. and the people
sat there Tor half an hour before they
realized that they had been duped.
Then grand man-hunt was organized,
but it was too late. The bum bad stolen
skiff and dropped down the river, just
about $3.50 ahead of our town.-Neav
York iSun