Telegram-herald., 1890-03-20
TOM IN THE PRESS.
Eev . PhnseesphiA EsenlsE Paper Loss
oae of its kdit!snK-

+
oae of Its kdit.snk-
Newspaper cclce eats have been
fablei for their yorscity and miscief-
making propensity OF getting into for
hidden places. Ben" the brindie
moaser OF the Evening Bulletin, outdid
ANY Of his predecessors. however, by
stopping the press the other afternoon.
ssys the Philsdelphia Public Ledger.
Unluckily. for himself. he accomplished
this feat only by sacrificing his own
life. There Was no four-o'clook edition
OF the Bulletin, and, instead, subscrio-
ers received the hye-o'clock edition. 10
all came about through g frightened
cats oscapade. Ben" was Just a year
old. lie is said 20 have been named
after one of the pressmen. Ben (the
cst) was noted ratter, and kept the
press-room cleared Of the vermin which
might otherwise havo preyed on the
paste and the glue used IN making tho
press rollers. His favorite spot for an
afternoon nap, between editions"
was on fcot-board alongside OF the
four-cylindor Hoe press
The forms were lifted on the press
and locked securely. Pressmen Tbouas
McSorley, John Conner. Frank Conner.
Benjamin Esler and Thomas Hopson
took their places prepared to feed tho
sheets" 10 the press. and Engineer
Jacob Lodge started the machinery at
ten minutes TO four O'Clock. Ben,
startled from his dreams OF possible en-
counters with myriads OF rats, sprang
10 his feet and attempted to make a
short cut across tho lower foot-board OF
the pross TO reach the opposite side.
Voracious tapes carried cat and sheets
Of imprinted paper together downward.
and then upward. There was a quick.
Sudden jar that shook the press; the ink
rollers appeared 20 spring from their
journals. and were bent by the obstacle
they had encountered. and then hard
er jar followed as mass OF paper
emerged between the main and smaller
cylinders. and there was flung out by
the flies on the opposite side of tho
press a very much fattenedout edition
OF Ben" about yard long and resem-
bling small hoor-rug. The shock
threw of the driving belt and the press
stopped.
The forms had TO be lifted from the
cylinder and carefully scrubbed TO re-
move the adhering FUR and fragments of
"Ben." It was also found that the ink
rollers had got bent. AS a result, alto
gether, the Bulletin lost i edition.
This is not the first cat that lost its
life in that press" remarked Business
Manager ". +. McCully, after enduring
cloud of puns about catastrophe,
'cataclysm," and the like. Twenty
years ago another cat went to sleep in
side of that big cylinder, and awoke
after the press began running. Che at
tempted to escape and wa. bebeaded-
Her gore ran over the paper and spoiled
the whole edition. Our Mr.. Peacock
had a rat-terrier which chased q rat
under the press one day and got on the
belt. The dog was carried around the
belt and killed.
During the war I worked as night
pressman on the Inquirer. We used 20
print OF one side and then wait couple
OF hours to print of the second. During
the interval between running OF tho
frst and second sides rat got into tho
big cylinder to gnaw bone. When tho
press started he tried 20 get out, but
was caught by the tapes and carried
around the cylinder and mashed as
fiat as pancake. lie spoiled any guam
tity OF sheets OF paper. We had to pick
out the remains from the e with
needles. and II was irightfully tedious
Job, | remem Der.