Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-01-02
TO- ERR IS HuMAN.
Aa>EplanAtlons OF the Origin Of MAny
Typogr1phicAl ErrorS.


Typographical Errors.
Some years ago. an editor of . biz
weekly paper published by the students
even more, scandalized, to learn that an
editorial which he had regarded with
fond pride referred to old maids who
served as pudding for dinner party.
Turning the page he scanned another
product of his pen, thrilling romance,
and discovered that the baff1ed villain
had fired three 6dllets into himself.
The said editor had written in the
first article:
old maids who served IS padding for q
dinner party"
In the second article he had written:
g fired three bullets into himself"
1t is often asked with virtuous indig-
nation why such typographical errors as
these occur. The explanation, aside
from the total depravity of inanimate
things, can readily be given. In fact,
the wonder grows that such mistakes do
not far oftener occur.
Immediately before a written article
is given to compositors to be '1set," the
copy" as the manuscript is termed by
printers, is scissored into takes" or
portions of ten or twenty lines Some
times slight attention is paid to the
paragraphing and the punct lation of
the written page when the article is
thus cut up, and, consequently, the last
line of ''take" may often end in the
middle of sentence. When such is the
case the ''take" is said to lend even"
After manuscript is cut up the
''takes" are commonly put on a copy
hook, and indicated by letter of the
alphabet, followed by consecutive
figures. For instance, the editorial
which brought such CONSERVATION to the
student-ed1tor was cut up into three
''takes," indicated as E /, E and E 8.
The first ''ended even" with the word
''as," and the second "began even"
with the words padding for a dinner
party" The compositor who took from
the hook the first stake" set it &C
cording to copy, while the composition
who took the second ''take" made the
error "a very common one) of installing
a for u, and SO converted padding into
padding" The first compositor
finished his stake" quickly. and proof
of it was Immediately read by the
proof-reader. The other composition
was slow, and did not finish his take
until several minutes after composition
No. had finished his. In the mean
time, the proof-reader, having been
busted with important and pressing
statistics, had forgotten the exact end
ing of E 1. Seeing that E began with
pudding for dinner party" and be.
lieving that pudding was proper and de-
sirable at dinner party, he did not de
tect the compositor's error. This error
in fact, should have been detected by the
''copy-holder," or person who followed
| with his eye the wording in the copy,
as the proof-reader read aloud from the
| proof; but in this case, the copy
holder" duplicating the mistake of the
compositor, also mistook q for u.
A similar mistake was made in thu
case of the scheming villain who ''fire6
! three ballets into himself"-with tn,
exception that u was mistaken for a
| The first take" s'ended even" with tn,
word ''three," and the next ''bega1
even" with outlets" The composite
who set the second ''take" subsequent
| ly observed that he didn't have time t.
| make sense of the ''take," and though
that he had done his duty in followin.
(as he believed at the time) the copy
The same editor who experienced tn
two narrowing surprises referred t.
subsequently wrote, in reporting al
evening address by Chauncey NJ. Depew
the sentence: ''We do not thus sully on
arms" In reading the printed accoun
the next morning he saw to his horror
1--WE do not thus Sally our arms" Tn
considerate compositor had mistaken
the u in ''sully" for an and, to max
sense, had made the first letter in tn
word upper case" or a capital
| MORAL: Write your us and your as il
such wise that type-setters can not mis-
take them.-N. Y. Ledger.