The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1894-09-22
FROM THE BASTiLE.
A. w. Graves Sends The Diamond Drill One Of
His Characteristic Epistles.

His Characteristic Epistles.
The editor OF The DIAMOND DRILL re-
ceived this week the following letter from
A. w. Graves. IL contains good deal
OF Graves characteristic humor that
renders il interesting from the outset:
"Having received THE DIAMOND DRILL
OF the eighth inst, / read with pleasure
the article headed "A Work OF Art" and
return many thanks for the compliments
/ see many improvements in The DIA-
MoND DRILL within the last year. One
noticeable feature ~ the head dress IL
looks neat beside that old, top-heavy
head gear that seemed To demand pos
session OF the whole page. IL reminded
me OF the time, years ago, when l was IA
novice at sign writing, quite proud oil my
new vocation and also very ambitious.
| never failed to mix plenty OF conceit
with my colors, to bring out my letters
in bold relief. made IL a special point
TO use the imprint of the artist on
nearly all work. Occasionally il was
omitted on what / thought n poor job,
but what very often seemed TO give bet
ter satisfaction. At that time / could
not see why, but have seen since. Twas
always great believer in advertising /
had great iaith i'm printers ink, and also
in painters paint. So much so, that i
have often painted the artists name on
the sign first, then i would Use the bal
ance OF the space as best could for the
other man, which was no more than
right, as the sign belonged TO him.
II remember painting sign IN Fargo,
I'd. T., at that time), Tor Col. Edwards,
proprietor OF the Fargo Argus. | had
made n bargain with him to do the sign
for $l5. The sign was delivered and
accepted, and he seemed pleased with II.
The week following / presented my bill
To the office. The colonel accepted the
bill alright. "Oh, by the way" he said.
"if am not mistaken / have a small
bill against you, here, sonwhere. Yes,
here it is, il is only for So" / asked
what it was for and he said for adyertis-
ing. told him IL must bc n mistake, for
had paid in advance for my nd. in the
Argus. Eyes, ] know" he added, "but
that has nothing TO do with the hall
column nd. you are using on my sign"
The matter was settled without nrbi-
trntion.
"At In Crosse, Wis, in 1863, painted
door sign in gold FOR Frank NJ. Pom
roy CBrick'). He was at that time
running the La Crosse Democrat. When
I delivered IL TO him he took IL in his
hand and fixing one eye on me and the
other on the sign, stood for awhile in
deep meditation. Finally he said: "Ilike
the style Of letters alright they are good.
But | see for want OF room, you were
obliged TO over-crowd the letters in my
name. think il your ad. had been put
on i'm lower-case, or Italics, IL would
have left YOU much more room FOR n dis
play OF my name. As Il looks now il
would, ut first glance, he rather difficult
for some people To know who was the oc-
cupant Of this Office, you or J." finally
took back the sign, not having the time
10 argue the point with him. But at the
same time could not help thinking how
small ne wanted me toappcar IN the eyes
OF the public. But we remained good
friends, nevertheless.
Yours with Respect,
A. w. GRAVES.