Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-01-12
erant County 9erald,
WALTER G. CHANDLER. PUBLISHER
Typographical Errors.

IL is an old saying that mistake
will occur in the best regulated families
and the same is true of printing offices
Applied to newspaper offices the UiL
should be emphasized, for mistakes
there show most determined persisten
cy in occurring. The large Offices o.
the city dalies of course have an expert
whose sole duty it is to read the proof
and correct these errors before they gt
into the paper, but even then a grea
many escape his vigilant eye. In
the Office OF a country weekly, where
one man is editor, business manager,
cashier, book-keeper, perhaps foreman
or even lending hand as composition
and added to all the rest, proof reader,
it is not strange that many errors slip
through uncorrected.
The causes of error are many. Such
offices employ cheap hands and always
have an apprentice or two. The type
is badly distributed and ''gets in the
wrong box. Frequently some one
about the office unaccdstomed to proof
reading lends hand. and becoming
interested in the article loses sight of
typography.
Frequently, also when proof is read
By person other than the writer of the
article, and without the copy, it may
seem to read all right. and yet convey
q meaning entirely different from what
the writer intended
Then mistakes that are corrected or
the proof slip are not always corrected
in the type by the compositor, or in
attempting to make correction q
worse error is sometimes made.
A very amusing collection could be
made from ones exchanges. but we
should not, any of US, have to go out
side our own offices to get pretty good
list. We recall An instance the sort of an
error last mentioned that occurred in
this way: CHANGING to meet young
man from an adjoining town on the
street one day our gatherer of locals
recorded the fact that Mr.. Humphrey
was in the city. The intelligent com.
positor set it up "Mr. Humphrey" The
proof reader marked the first y to be
changed to p and as the and were
simply transposed, marked them ctr"
The l. c. being new hand was not
"onto" the meaning of "tr' so he in
serted those letters. The y he intended
to change to p but got hold of an f, so
the local announced the arrival in town
of ''Mr. Humfhtry'
The change of single letter will
sometimes make grotesque effect.
Some time ago this reliable journal by
using an in place Of a made our en-
terprising grain buyer not only Ia star
but whole constellation.
A man noted for industry was &C.
credited with a caudal appendage by
changing an for an in the word toll
and both the editor and the subscribers
got might mare" by the misplace.
ment OF the same vowels IN an an.
nouncement that an entertainment
would be given one night more.
A high colt was made of "high cost
and tho contemptuous expression ''rats'
was made when certain crate" was
intended. If such effects can be pro-
duced by the change or omission of a
single letter, what must be the result
Of changing two or three :! The "em-
broilments" of the European powers
were made to read "embevelments;" q
we'll modulated voice ran the gauntlet
as we'll ''tabulated' voice. An
elopement was made an elephant, and
in the report of sermon "anti.christ'
was made "machinist."
We might go on multiplying instances
but all the above is in the nature of &
depression, for we started to say that
us thc iustIlEhALD was duOul W ~ U
press the editor, seeing place for {
couple of lines called out to q young
compositor "set up General Bragg ha'
been appointed minister to Mexico. >
Of course he had to set it up Capt
Bragg" and the mistake was not dis
covered till half the edition had beer
run.