Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-02-10
COULD NOT READ HIS PRINTING.
Life Was Too Short for the Compositors TO
Dec:phcr Hieroglyphics.

Life Was Too Short for the CompOs1tors 10
Deciphcr Hieroglyphics.
A number osalen in an up town hotel re
Gently chance. % be discussing the execra-
BILE, almost un,.ecipherable, handwriting of
a mutual frieisS
II hate to r. GIVE his letters" remarked
one. "They d,.ge me nearly crazy, and /
am often tempted to throw them into thu
fire unread. l. 10 wish he would return t,
ais primary school methods and print his
etters."
But that might be no Improvement
fmarked a newspaper man who CHANGED
30 be among the number. II know a case
IN point in my own Office where printing
words to secur" legibility led to vigorous
protest"
"You are of course aware" continued the
speaker, that there is absolutely no rule
tS govern the SPELLING of proper names, and
il written hastily the very simplest cog
nomen may appear as something entirely
different in type. So many mistakes of
this nature occurred that finally an order
was issued that in preparing copy every
proper name should be printed in Roman
capitals
THE order was productive of great i'm
provement, and was hailed with delight by
the night desk and the composing room
that is, in every instance save one, and that
was in connection-strange as it may seem
with the copy of the poorest penman on
the staff. His writing was really some
thing dreadful, the worst have ever read,
bar none Scarcely a man could read a
SIMPLE sentence without puZZling over a
nt-lf dozen or more staple words.
Through long association and hard
swearing, however two of the compositors
out of over a hundred were practically able
to make something ineligible out of the
veterans copy, at least they claimed to be
able to do so, but the others doubted it. and
the proofreaders were unwilling TO certify
to the truth OF the statement, for the stuff
! was worse Than Greek to them.
This feeling changed, however, when
the first pages of the mans copy Were given
out after the new order had been issued.
Takes were distributed to the two read
ers of hieroglyphics. as usual and al went
well until, almost simultaneously, both
| men struck proper names, printed in al
legged Roman capitals.
well said one, leaning over his case
1 would have sworn that | could read this
copy, but this stumps me. What's this
fool up to now"
Same here, replied the other Think
he's tried to print his letters here. but I'm
not sure. IL LOOKS ike lnoSe Things on tHt
Egyptian obelisk in Central park. Let's
kick about it. | can't waste the night ovel
this stuff
And the two men did kick and vigor
| orously at that, to The foreman of the com
| posing room, who in turn complained tC
| the city editor The compositors said that
they had spent years in learning to deciphel
| the writing Of the man. and that now, hav
| ing just acquired n reasonable familiarity
with his peculiar chirography, they did moi
| propose to attempt to learn any new sci
ence. Life was too short they added
| Fortunately they were not compelled t
| make the attempt, for by special order th'
| man was permitted to write his names a
before. Unintelligible as the written let
| tiers were, they were better than his printed
capitals which no living man could read.
| New York Herald.