St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-26

LIS Hlo pioOio, anu UcJWctli Tue OTlgllldl
publication of his essays in the Rambler
and their collection and reprint in book
form there were thousands of alterations
made. The poet Gray would not infre-
Quently spend a week iii revising and
re-revising a single page. IL IS very
probable that, could he see his ''Elegy"
as it appears in "Harper's Sixth
Reader" just Issued from the press of
Harper IL Brothers, he would not be
charmed with the alterations the proof
reader has made. The latter a V The
lowing herd wind" instead of ''windS;"
Awaits alike the inevitable hour" in
stead of Await alike" and quite spells
the beauty of II of the finest lines in
the poem by changing it to Nor cast
one long, lin-ering look behind"
POOR p~enmanship is not the only evil
that eonfrontS the printer. Care
iessneSs of stvie may do quite as much
10 cause obscurity of anln in man.
uscript where the writing is clear and
distinct. a writer may so mix up his
pronouns and omit marks of punctua-
ton that it is almost impossible TO tell
whether he is writing a treatise on how
to winter post holes or a paper setting
forth the superior qualities railroad
lunch counters possess for boarding
trains. a work on astronomy published
some years ago contains the following;
"Wnen We say, III astronomy, that the
earth reVolveS arOund the sun, or that
the moon evolveS around the earth, we
do not speak with absolute correctness,
for in all such cases both bodies are re-
yolving around the common center of
Inertia of the two. In the case of the
sun and the earth, as the former is a
million larger than the latter, the
common center of the two being Just so
much nearer its center than the center
OF the earth, is really within its body or
circumference" The meaning of SEN
fences of that kind purely comes un-
der the head of guessing contests.
and should be prohibited by law. But
1t is in the hastily prepared newspaper
rather than the carefully revised book
that we meet with those startling errata
which, although sometimes amusing to
the readers, are often most eXaSperating
to editors and authors. The hurried
tanner in which newspapers are pro-
duced increases the liability to commit
errors, yet. all things considered, news
papers are marvels of correct typog-
raphy, a result produced by the careful
reading of the proof slips. But compar-
atlVeiy few persons realize the vast
o OF labor required to produce a
great daily newspaper. 1t must con-
tam an account of everything that trans
pres. ana Ill 4 correct, comprehensive
form-notn next week after it has had an
opportunity to secure such details as it
may wish to make use Oft must give
the news to-day. If a barn should blow
down iii n of the back counties dur
ing the night the public will expect the
paper OF the following morning to give a
detailed account of the mishap. And the
Journal will not be considered enterpris-
Ing unless the account is accompanied
with illustrations showing the barn as
1t appeared both before and after the
storm; portraits of the man who built
the barn, and the hired man who was
the last person in the structure before it
went to pieces; and a two-column inter-
view with the wise man of the neigh
Dorhood who always knew the barn
was going to blow away some time. All
OF this means much work in a shorU
space of time, and the public shonId he
sufficiently c%onsiderate and charitable
to overlook slight mistakes. Yet. if the
hired mans hair appears in the portrait
10 De parted on the wrong side, or the
dimensions of the barn are pot given
correctly in inches, some h~Ot-headed in
dIvldualS who can't tell a coal mine
from q flock of geese will stop reading
the paper because it is loosely edited.
But, after all has been said in behalf of
the mistakes made by the printer, it
must be confessed that a great MANY
objectionable errors find their way into
print; errors made possible by careless
help and careless methods. A long
list OF such plumbers might be enumer
ated. A grocer advertises boxes of
pigs from Smyrna; ar IN" omitted from
mlnce pie in a hotel bill of fare; a
landlord has a louise to let and posses
sion given immediately; public
speaker is announced IN print as a bat
tle-scared veteran; a prohibition leader
tells his followers not to give up the
bottle, and many similar mistakes where
a wrong or missing letter COMPLETELY
changes the meaning. Misplaced marks
OF punctuation can play sad havoc with
the meaning OF sentences. HE entered
on his head, his helmet on his feet.
armed sandals upon his brow: there
was a cloud in his right hand, his faith
ful sword in his eye, an angry glare he
sat down." Here is a toast: 'Woman
Woman without her man, would be-
come a savage" Here is how a clergy
mar read the request of a wife whose
husband was about to sail OH a distant
voyage: "A husband going to sea his
wife desires the prayers of this congre
CATION" And so it is that the slightest
oversight on the part of the printer NAV
produce the gravest results and that is
why little errors when measured bv
their consequences are as inexcusable
as are larger and more apparent ones.
The whole matter might be summed mn
in but few words. TO the printer: Be
careful. To the reader: Be charitable.
and remember it is not the easiest thing
to do in the world to present a newspa-
per wholly faultless geographically.
But. while the reading public should
not search rOr errors too diligently. it
would be wrong to expect it to overlook
Such imperfect lines as are the follow
ing, in which a Western publisher ia
y0red each of his readers with a pie ce of
PRINTERS Pr.
We met wlh qnIte On acoidenl
rusl as Me Mont to pIsss.
Tue JoIemau dIopded g loi OF t6ps,
Vnd Wap9 g IeBIful mess,
He qadu.t { lime 10 TX 10 up,
Vnd SO qe dipn.1 try
But SaAe ouI reepers QUE amp ulI
pIeoe OF pIin}el.s pr.
Soma Jolgs Mqo do not uuds1stsnd
The myslelies OF the lIads.
Ale AerA prone 10 Iaise a Iuss,
IL . mislaYe is WBd9.
OomdoSIlo1S Br9 MOI SurdIisod
-.Mheu Bn6lhinS. s Bwl6:
The Eli 4noM now it Is tq9mseIvas'
Lo WaH9 a printers pr,
BRAIN MAY BE REPAIRED.
a Cat and Don Exnon,o U:L