Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-07

pals"
Before anal adjournment the members Of the
department viii call upon President Harrison.
MAJOR LYDECKER RELIEVED.
Col. J. NJ. Wilson Succeeds him I'm Charge
OF the Washington Aaueduct Extension.
Col John NJ. Wilson has, in addition TO his
numerous other duties, been ordered to take
charge Of the Washington aqueduct extension,
for which an appropriation Of S5I5,o0o has
Just been made. The work will consist Of lay
ing 4s-inch iron main from the western dis
tributing reservoir eastward TO the new reser-
voir, near the surface of the ground
1t was generally thought that Col. Wilson had
about all that one man could well attend to.
being q true engineering Pooh-Bah. He
is now commissioner Of public buildings and
grounds of the District of Columbia, in
which capacity he acts as master of cere-
monies at the White House, engineer in
charge Of the aqueduct extension, engineer in
charge OF the Washington monument. a men,
Der Of the lighthouse board, and engineer in
charge OF the monuments at the national GEM
etery at Gettysburg.
Major Lydecker has now been relieved Of the
aqueduct duties, and is awaiting trial by court
martial, which win take place March rs.
The Successor to Judge Merrick.
MEETING OF MEMBERS OF THE DISTRICT BAR TO
TAKE ACTION IN THE MATTER.
Between thirty and forty republican men,
bers Of the bar Of the Supreme Court Of the
District assembled yesterday at the Office of
worthington q Heald for the purpose of con-
sidering what action should be taken by the
in vor1 totl &C.
to Mr.. Justice Merrick. The meeting organ
lied by electing II. H. Wells chairman and A.
A. Blrney secretary.
Those who were present were all in favor OF
the filling OF the vacancy by the appointment
OF District man; but after full discussion il
was Thought by the meeting that before taking
any action iu the matter public notice should
be gwen OF another meeting. which every re-
publican member of the bar of the Supreme
Court of the District in active practice should
be invited and urged to attend. Accordingly,
the meeting adjourned after adopting a resolu-
ton providing for the appointment of a COM
mittee OF seven, which was authorized to give
public notice that such meeting will be held
at the same place on Friday, March 8, at 8
O'Clock. The following committee was ap-
pointed: III. II. Wells. Nathaniel Wilson, W. A.
Cook, A. S. Worthington, w. willoughby, S. r.
Bond, and A. A. Birney. notice signed by
them will be found in another column.
Mr.. E. E. West, of No. zoos street southwest,
was driving along street northeast with load
of pies and sandwiches when he met regiment
Of Pennsylvania soldiers, who made q demand
upon him for the contents of his wagon. Upon
his refusal the soldiers assaulted him. took
about 800 pies, $50 sandwiches and $50 plates.
Some of the eatables were devoured and the
balance was destroyed. The soldiers besides
assaulting Mr.. West damaged his property to
the extent of $50.
Unfortunate Typographical Mishaps.
Charles f. Adams in The Epoch.
Among the various articles on typographical
errors that have appeared from time to time
there are few which seem TO have been written
from practical printers standpoint. The old
saying, Familiarity breeds contempt" no
doubt applies strongly in this case, for to the
proof-reader who detects, or to the compositor
who corrects, scores of such errors daily, the
matter soon becomes exceedingly trite and
commonplace. For this reason whatever there
may be TO say on the subject is usually left to
others less qualified by personal experience to
do 1t justice; and many of the so-called tricks
OF the types are 80 manifestly made up for the
occasion as to appear utterly uncalled for and
absurd TO those familiar with the art of print
ing.
For example, the writer of recent article
on this topic (Which, by the way, is taken al
most entirely from one of the same title in
worn anecdote OF the poet who wrote
'see the pale martyr in sheet of FIRE"
only to find it appear in print as
'See the pale martyr with his shirt FIRE"
This is specimen of many alleged errors of
similar nature which it is safe to say could
have never accidentally occurred. Nine-tenths
OF all genuine mlsprints arise either from the
installing of one word for another of similar
appearance in badly prepared copy, or from
the omission or substitution of letters. That
any compositor could mistake "a sheet of fire"
for Ibis shirt on fire. is very improbable; for
although by strong effort of the imagination
the word .'sheet" might be made to read shirt"
there Is absolutely no resemblance between the
remaining misprinted words.
1t is true, however, that in large newspaper
Offices it is the custom to give out but few lines
of copy at O time to any compositor In the
absence Of the context, it ia therefore en-
impossible to get the full meaning of the m. r
in hand. Ii the copy chances to be in the least
blind, the hurried type-setter is apt to make a
wild guess at the writer's meaning, for, most
printers are paid by the piece the time spent
IN deciphering grabbed handwriting is so
much dead loss to them, and makes an appreci-
able difference in the length of their ''string"
of duplicate proofs for measurement at the end
of the week.
The machine printer" or blacksmith" is
is one of the chief obstacles with which writers
have to contend. He it is who sets up what
ever the copy looks like to him, regardless as
to whether 1t makes sense or not. Such one
it was who set up ''Gambetta' as Il am better"
and made head intended for bridge carried
away by drive of logs" read Bridge carried
away by drove of hogs" Another Of this ilk
made an advertisement which read, The
Christians Dream; no cross, no crown" appear
as The Christian Dream; no cows, no cream"
A reporter of Chicago Taper once men,
toned an intelligent craftsman as "a thinking
tailor" but the machine printer who got the
take made him appear as ''thieviug tailor"
The proof-reader was of course responsible for
the error, but the vengeance of the irate tailor
was visited upon the unfortunate reporter
Another Chicago writer described an exaui-
site as one ''whose manners would adorn a
drawing groom" but the unthinking compost
tor made it read, whose manners would alarm
a drowning man."
The Cincinnati Enquirer once created gen.
uine sensation by stating in display type that
a gang of American counterfeiters had been
shaving the queen" when showing the queer"
was evidently what was intended.
One of the worst instances of misprints caused
by bad chirography was where the heading "A
Honeymoon Cut Short was printed in full-face
as "A Hungarian Cut-throat."
News for Smokers.
From the New York Sun.
A portly man of middle age complained
loudly when he was cautioned by the cigar
dealer to light his cigar well or he would spoil