Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-12-22
TYPoeRAPHlcAL ERRORS.
Several Examples of the Havoc Caused by
 a Misplaced Letter.


 Several Examples of the Havoc Caused by
 Misplaced Letter.
 Who is there, says The London Echo, that has any claim to the name of author that has not been shocked or amused, at some time or other Of his existence, by the appearance In print of word or a sentence that he has written, which, by the simple change of letter, has turned perhaps a sublime thought into perfect nonsensea Of course, in newspapers misprints of this character are to a certain extent excusable, and particularly when it is remembered how rapidly they have to be produced in order to satisfy the demands of public ever clamoring for the "very latest" Still, errors sometimes creep into the columns of our daily journals for which there is no accounting-hurry, bad "copy," and everything else considered.
 Sir Robert Peel was the victim of a mis- print in the earlier part of the present century, which was contained in one of the most ludicrous announcements that ever ap- peared, perhaps, in newspaper. Sir Robert was with shooting party in Ireland, and }he chagrin of the politician may be imagined when he read that ''Sir Robert Peel and party of friends are shooting peasants in Ire land"
 Speaking of Ireland, a curious blunder oc- surred the other day in an editorial on the all absorbing question, wherein 1t was in tended to state that "a reduction of rents on certain estate was to the tenants matter of living and thriving-of life and death;n but the alteration of couple of words made it read "a matter of lying and thieving,n and thus somewhat diverted the sense.
 Poets just budding forth, of an unsuspect- ing nature, have suffered much from the confidence they have placed in overworked proof readers What must have been the thoughts of the man who wrote See, the pale martyr in a sheet of firel when he saw his effusion translated See, the pale martyr with his shirt on fire! Of course the error was discovered by some lynx eyed reviewers, with the result that the aspiring poet was momentarily extinguished. Burns has not escaped the misprint misfor tune, for there is an edition of his works we'll known to book collectors which contains the line,
 O gin my love were yon red nose! This is an old substitution-the word those" for ''rosen-a passage in one of the Christmas books year or two since, relating that though young ladies sometimes affected, through coyness, dislike to be kissed under the mistletoe, 'they did not object to it under the nose"
 | Misprints of substitution and commission | are not the only errors poets have to reckon with Pope had an addition made to some abbreviations, which gave quite another color to their meaning. In a note in "Meas- ! ure for Measure he gave as an authority 'Cinthio,' dec. s nov. g." meaning eighth decade and fifth novel. The abbreviations \ were distasteful to the printer, who altered \ the note thus; "'Cnnthio,' December Sth, November 9th"
 Numerous other instances, just as ludi- \ ,S-~l,A ! a railway train is described as running into ! a COW and cutting it into ''calves" instead of 1 'halves;" or a soldier Is called 'sbottle \ scared" instead of battle scared" veteran; \ or lady is spoken of as having sung very | sweetly Gounod's Avenue Maria" and a pianlste entranced her audience by her rem dering of a celebrated symphony in IA Fat Major.n But these suffice. One other form of error may, however, be mentioned, and this is that of mixing up two separate items of news in the same paragraph
 An instance lately occurred It read: "A large cast iron wheel, revolving 900 times @ minute, exploded in that city yesterday, after long and painful illness. Deceased \ was prominent member of the local tenn perance association" -s
 Printers, however, are only human, and have the same propensity to err as any other of their race. So, probably, thought Tom | Moore, when, in his ''Fudges ill England ' he recountS where
 ' To please my own aunt had tried I To commemorate some saint of her clique who
 had died
 Having said, he had taken up in heaven his posi- | tton,"
 They made it, "he had taken up to heaven his ! physician"
 A request was once sent to rare Ben Jonsor to revise some proofs full of typographica errors, but he respectfully declined, and recommended sending them to the house oi correction. Many an author has wished al unfortunate proof reader there, no doubt ere now.