The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-07-09
SET UP BY eHosTLY FINGERS.
a Typesetter's Story of News Getting That
Beat the Telegraph.

-
Beat the Telegraph.
SIN the summer of 1881" said a COM
positor, Il was running a paper IN a
little backwoods town in Pennsylvania
The paper was not so metropolitan IN
its makeup but that was able to do
all the work myself with the exception
of the printing. Publication days I
called in the services of a half-witted
fellow, who, under my instruction, had
developed into an expert roller. l was
the only man within radius of twenty
miles who knew how to set type, and #
I had fallen sick the paper would not
have come out until 1 was well again.
Naturally am not superstitious man,
but an incident occurred while l had
charge OF that paper which l can not
explain. and, until it is explained, l
shall believe that any thing is possible
in the way of ghosts, spooks, wraiths,
etc.
st was the morning of June 10. I
had locked up my forms the night be-
fore so that could begin printing early
in the morning. / was pulling the old
lever promptly at seven, and at nine
the local list was in the post Office
Soon after the delivery had begun one
of the merchants of the hamlet-a very
intimate friend-came into the Office.
How did you come to hear of the
death of your brother so soon?' said he.
There was no telegraph station within
fifteen miles.
What do you mean| said I.
"'Mean? said he. You ought TO
know what is in your own paper. Have
you forgotten that you heard this morn
ing that your brother is dead? Have
you forgotten that you set up a notice
of it an hour or two ago?
care you crazy?' said I. y swear
that do not know what you are driv-
ing at
"At this juncture he opened the damn
sheet that had so recently printed and
folded, and pointed TO me the following
of the local page:
John Jones, brother Of William
Jones, was killed at Peoria, Ill, at five
O'Clock this morning.
my breath was fairly taken away
from me. The merchants was right
There was the notice of my brothers
death, in my own paper, and had not
set it up nor heard of it.
"'You are right said l. but this is
the first I have known of il. Ii there
ever was a mystery this is it.
Il went over to the form There
was the three-line item. The moment
I saw the type l was more amazed than
ever. 1t was the type-setting of my
brother, who, like me, had been bred 10
the printers trade. could tell his work
from that of thousand. He was a
marvellous even spacer and he carried
his taste so far that he always put less
space after a comma.
But how were the lines put into the
locked form? No item had been taken
out. ] examined the form closely. Yes,
there was some more of my brothers
work. To gain the space leads had
been taken from here and there Just as
he used to take them. He was a great
sticlller for good looks in n page, and
was very fastidious as TO where he
pulled his leads. 1t struck me
right away that the notice of the
death would not have been so short,
would have gone into details more, but
for the fact that my brother did not
wish to remove any of my matter nor
any lead that could not be spared as
well as not.
Though utterly skeptical about SUI
pernatural visitat.ons, from that mo-
ment believed that my brothers dis
embodied soul had made its way hun
dreds Of miles, had entered my office in
the early dawn, had set up the notice
of his death and put it in the form
Late that afternoon a dispatch came
to the effect that William Jones was
killed at Peoria, III, at FIVE O'Clock that
morning. '-Cleveland World.