Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-09-21
THE LAST FORM.

IL WASH many IuOuGuS dlGer Un0 lrlBuO-
full Johnstown disaster that the old night
editor began to show signs of breaking
down. He had held the one position for
35 years or better and had stood over an
imposing stone when all sorts and descrip-
lions of news were coming in. None of it
affected him. News was news, and type
was type, and the news had to be put into
type at a certain time, and the type had
to go to press at a certain tlme-that was
all there was Of it.
When the story came from the battle
field of Antietam Of the great loss Of life
that both sides had suffered, the night edi-
tors chief anxiety was that the news
should be properly displayed. 1t was the
same month befora at the second Bull
Run, and tho samO>@hearly a year after
ward at Gettysburg. The surrender at APP
pomattox, the wonderful disbandment Of
a great army, the assassination Of Lin
coin, the tragic fate Of Wilkes Booth and
all the events that were orowding close
together In the period when the republic
was passing through the greatest crisis Of
its history found him calm and cool,
ready and alert to seize the salient fea-
ture of every dispatch and anxious to get
1t before the great reading public as quick
" as possible. Just this and no moro. He
never stonnod to moralize or oonieoture
~, SIne, 4 Jvae genuine, mr., rather sIo1vlv
or Iybon the man at the erono dronned q
handful NJ tvne On these occasions his
ron1arks bad no oonneotIon With the char
aoter Of the news whateyer
1t was therefore with some misgivings,
kno1ving all this. that the forenan oh.
sory,oJ tho old man readIng avery nroof
Gin Of the oatastronbe in the Conomaugh
I,oiloz Nth feverIah anriaty and oocoeion-
ally shaking his head and sigbin1 The
neTt NIGHT word came from down stairs
frat the old editor was Mt home With brain
fo,,o,. and rnightn,t be haol, IN the com
nosing room FOR month They ,made
mn that night without him and were 90
minutes late. besides committing the un-
nardonahle sin of leaving ont a 90 line
lad ),
The old man had been In a printing Of
fee so long and so steadfastly That it was
mart of his life. He was typical of all
GOOD men In the place, good natured and
ioyial from to II O'Clock. ouieter and
more active from II to 19:45 and from
1913 to press time as nervous and fldgoty
aa 81 hon with a borod of duoklings, He
hann,t saved much money-iust a trife
for n rainy dav and. as he lauqbinglv OBJ.
served he needed an nmbreIla ahont once
a weeR Ho had buried two ohildren-a
owl and n how Tho nov fell at the battle
Of the Wilderness, and his father saw the
noma In tvne one night aa he leaned over
the forms.
When the foreman went nm the next aft
ernoon he found the old editor I'm delir-
INN. At the bedside gently tanning
him, sat his dear old wife-one of those
sweet faced women who seem to be on
earth simply to bear burdens for others
and To lend comfort To the III and Distress
ed
'tDoes he seem any betterP" was the
whispered INQUIRY. 1.-The bows miss him,
tell Won"
II very much fear he Ia not. " was the
on,et RESIGNED renlv ellis mind Is on
the naner all the time, He has not spoken
of anything else since the doctor was here
an hour ago He seems to thtnk-there
now. father. it's all right-yes, yes, we
will do inst as Won wish, I"
The sick man had INTERRUPTED the first
mart Of the remark He was resting on
bIs elbow as his wife smoke
Never mind that, Joe" he half NUT
tered. Then. raising his voice to deci-
sive tone: &C et that galley. I'll railroad
1t now. That's the dirtiest proof 1 ever
saw In this Office. Dump it in here. We We
only eight minutes to get this form down.
Who's setting that Johnstown head2"
He's thinking of a hard week we had
in the office the time of the Johnstown
flood" whispered the foreman as he gazed
sorrowfully on the flushed face and the
feverishly bright eyes. There was a mo-
ment's pause, and the old man cried out
again:
tJoe, Joe, what's the matter with your
Is the office full of subs tonight Chase
up K6, will your 1 never saw anything
like II since the snakes were driven ont
of Ireland. Here you arc, standing around
ike a lot of Stoughton bottles, and 1
can't get that hole filled to save my neck.
WHAT I don't care II Won re five columns
oyerset. Get that pica can line changed
IN can and lower case and Lots oet tbis