Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-07-02
SET UP BY GHOSTLY FINGERS.
A Typesetter's Story OF News Getting
That Beat th- telegraph.

| Typesetter's Story of News Getting
That Beat tn Telegraph.
I'm the summer of 1884," saiil a COM
positor, 81 was running a paper in little
backwoods town in Pennsylvania. The
paper was not so metropolitan in its make
up but that was able to do all the work
myself with the exception of the printing.
Publication days called in the services of
half witted fellow, who, under my in
struction, had developed into an expert
roller. | was the only man within radius
of twenty miles who knew how to set type,
and if | had fallen sick the paper would
not have come out until | was well again.
Naturally | am not superstltlous man,
but an incident occurred while had charge
of that paper which cannot explain, and
until it is explained shall believe that
anything is possible in the way of ghosts,
spooks, wraiths, ETC.
at was the morning of June 10. had
locked up my forms the night before so
that | could begin printing early in the
morning. l was pulling the old lever
promptly at Z, and at 9 the local list was in
the pOstofice. 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 be. (There
was no telegraph station within fifteen
miles.)
"'What do you mean? said l.
"'MeGn" said he. You ought to know
what is in your own paper. Have you for
gotten that you heard this morning that
your brother is Cead? Have you forgotten
that you set up a notice of it an hour or
two ago?'
"'Are you crazy?' said 1. 4 swear that
do not know what you are driving at
CAT this juncture he opened the damp
sheet that I had so recently printed and
folded, and pointed me to the following
item at the bottom of the third column of
the local page:
"'John Jones, brother of William Jones,
was killed at Peoria, Ills, at o'clock this
morning.
MY breath was fairly taken away from
me. The merchant 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 that I have known of it. If there ever
was mystery this is it,
II went over to the form There was
the three line item. The moment | saw
the type l was more amazed than ever 1t
was the type setting of my brother, who,
like me, had been bred to the printers
trade. | could tell his work from that of
thousand. He was a marvelously even
spacer, and he carried his taste so far that
he always put less space after 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 stickler for good
looks in a pare, 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 which
could not be spared as well as not.
Though utterly skeptical about super
natural visitations, from that moment
believed that my brothers disembodied
soul had made it's way hundreds 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 1hat William Jones was killed at
Peoria, Ids, at 5 o'clock that morning.
Cleveland World.