The morning call., 1891-05-17
COHPOSITORS'
QUEER ERRORS.
Instances Of LIdiCpQuS BlHldGTS Caught
in The Proof
Chancellor Of the Engineer" Wrapped Ad-
miration"-P Printers Pet Hobbies-Ex-
periepce of an Old PrOof-Reader.
Written for THE SUNDAY CALL.


numerous newspaper articles, therefore the
subject is by no means new. But it Is not
the intention of the writer to discourse on
the many errors fOis ted upon the shoulders
of the "intellgeDt comp0StOr," whether
justly or not, that have found their way
into cold type and have provokingly giared
in the face Of the writer with tantalizing
dstinctnesS. This would, indeed, be an ner-
culean task and one of almost interminabe
DURATION as is evidenced by the frequent
mistakes any ordinary reader, not to say an
expert in detecting errors, can discover in
many of the journals and publications of the
day. In a long experience as corrector of
the press in some of the most prominent
newspaper and book Offices Of the country.
the writer has discovered that editors, re-
porters and authors are by no means infalli-
bic. as he has detected and corrected many
gla ring errors in the proof-sheets due solely
to their illegible writing, many of the blum
ders being those of words of almost
synonymous photography, but of totally
different meaning, thereby rendering the
sentence nonsensical.
Therefore, laying aside the numerous
printed errors for The present, l will devote
a brief space to an enumeration Of those
caught on the fly" as it were-in other
words, those detected and corrected in the
proof. As may naturally be inferred. their
name is legion, and in many instances
where more or less illiterate compositors
were employed and the copy was none of
the best,
THE PROoF-sHEETS
A fter emerging from the readers hands re-
sembled vertable war map
l remember one instance where n cable
item contained the words "Chancellor Of
the EXcheqUer." The proof came down
stairs with Engineer" for the latter word.
On comparing the copy the word was found
as legIble as print Here was a case Of
thoughtleSsneSs and inattention, not will
fitness.
In the Office of weekly paper in this city
an article headed Growth of the Eu-
cayptus" contained in The proof the re-
markable caption, Growth of the Hogs"
When taken to task, the compOSitOr-a
woman, by the Way-Was unable to explain
why she had transformed the noble and
stately tree indigenous to our climate into
the pOTcine title.
Competitors have remarkable peculiari-
ties, among which is the needless insertion
or elisiOn Of letters in certain words.
Heartrendlng' is made "heart-yendering"
in the proof by at least five printers out of
ten. The faVOTite OTthOgTaphy of biscuit"
among many is ''buscuit." The venerable
and reyered Westminster Abbey is converted
into Westminster" doubtless on the sup
position that so renowned place OF wUr-
ship and Sepulture must possess an 0fficiat-
ing clergyman. The word VILLAIN" almost
uniformly appears in the proof william"
One of the most lovely flowers, the fuchsia,
comes TO the reader spelled "fuschia." Tie
term running tho Gantlet' is often set I'D
with u" IN the latter word, signifying
glove.
A proof once came to me containing the
startling announcement that an observer Of
the aurora b0realis
WAS LOST IN WRAPPED ADMIRATION"
This would be difficult OF explanation il his
face as we'll as his body was wrapped"
Typographical" is the rock upon " hich
many compositors split, the word appear
ing 'typO8raphieaP 10 the proof This may
perhaps be accounted for on the suppOsition
that they are so closely welded to their art
that they consider the terms synonymous.
turOr anu " chapeTUn often appear
with final "e which is not always elm
mated 10y the reader. although q gross error.
The word " suppOstlti0us" is a stumb-
llng-blOck to many knights Of the stick aud
rule, the final Il being almost invariably
omitted.
Object" instead of " abjeet poverty +" is
frequent error, as is also adventurous "
for "adScititous."
Inst nces have been known in which the
Lt'oCA NioiA VA OAiiiilAidtIbu III Il SlURtt JaLttE
has converted the word into one OF gross i'm
propriety. This IS generally pure cussed-
ness, and have known offending compost
tors Of this stamp to be kicked out Of the
office by the Indignant proprietor, though
the offensive word, through the vigilance Of
the reader never saw light in the paper.
grim Tor " green old age, in an
Eastern Journal, was doubtless due to ilIeg-
bic writing, The engineers of the Stua-
ton instead OF tie eXigencies' was once
smuthered in the proof by the writer An
author was made TO say. in the proof No
one can fail to see the justice of the claim,
after months consideration" This is one
OF those self-PXplanatoTy plumbers where no
one oil any perception could fail to see that
moments" was the correct word, without
REFERRING TO THE COPY.
Nearly nine printers out Of ten eliminate
the last I'd" in hGndredth and the first
It" in "maltSter." "The INDECENT classes
has frequently come under my eye in the
proof with the second word Indignant"
" No. % - street for sail g." was the caption
Of an advertisement in a proof. HE was
royal to the core, in another proof might
have been extremely gratifying to her
Majesty the Queen, but the word was writ
ten Loyal" ana referred to a sterling
patriot in the late war.
Many cOmpOsitOrs seem Obliyi0us TO the
fact that Webster has discarded the use Of
the diphthong. in many words, such as
uOL!tOp3tHlc, uaBeuYef, eStletic,'
etc, aud Insist on inserting the double letter.
at a loss of time to themselves, as the diph-
thongs are not so readily found in the ease
as the single letters.
The words pendant" and pendent"
are often confuSed-the former being noun
and the latter an adjective. The TO Cali
tornlans at ieast common word 'chaparral"
frequently appears in the proof Chap
paral."
Many compositors insert an ''h'' after the
first Il" in Notwithstanding, and others
invariably SLAP in the same letter in the
last syllable of 'phlanthropist." gross
error which many indulge in, and which is
perhaps passed by Pacific Coast proof-read-
eTs through ignorance, is the insertion of
p IN the name OF a New York tOWn-Bing-
hamtoB. The city WAS named after one
Bingham, and there is as much improperly
IN putting 'p" after the ''m" as there
would be in adding wv" to the firal 80"
IN SAN FRANCISCO.
Stephen A. Douglas spelled his name with
one IS" Frederick Douglass, still living.
with two, yet their orthography is often in
correct in the papers.
The word "supersede" is a terror TO manv
cOmp0stOrs, who use &C" for the initial
letter of the last syllable.
A headline, days of the League" once
appeared In the proof, in large letters. as
Dogs OF the Seine" "Alone ana isolated
man would become impatient and peeyish.''
close reference to the copy showed that
the last three words were written ''ilnpotent
and perish"
The Old-time city prison in New York is