St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1895-12-07
OLD PRINTERS STORIES.
Fype in Baz and . Chalk Mark
9sst4# Case.

Fype in Bag and Chalk Mark |
Case.
There was one story which big In
iun'' told which may rank first in the
collection. It was prompted by the
boastings Of fellow comps as to the
number of thousand ems they could
set in day. Big Injun'' was some-
thing of liar himself, as well as a
rapid compositor.
ssPshaw,'' he said to the boasters,
ssyou're not in it with me, not even a
little bit 7 can paste up q bigger
string than any Of You in a day, but
that amt what I started out to tell
you. 1t is of my experience one night
in a printing Office down south. It
was during the war. had struck a
deserted town'twas nearly deserted
/ can tell you-and I picked out a va
Gated printing Office to bunk in. It
seemed more homelike, yon know. II
was a good, quiet place to sleep, bar.
ring the rats, but somehow / couldn't
sleep. Strange bed, perhaps, though
the floor wasn't any harder than usual
and had a fairly good press blanket
for covering.
sI tossed around for awhile, and.
finally, to relieve the monotony. /.
thought I'd stick a little type and
make believe was getting out the
morning paper. ! love to work, you.
know. I found battered composing
stick, but there wasn't handful OF
| type in all of the cases. The owner
had evidently dumped 'em all before
he fled. / didn't suppose he had car
ried the metal away with him, SO.
rummaged around and finally found
| the whole Office outfit in a bag.
ssThen was happy. i threw off my
coat and went to work. didn't want
to disarrange things too much, SO I
didn't bother to put the type in q case,
but set it from the bag I had nothing
to make light, not sven candle. but
there was a bright moon, and | carried
each type to the window to Identify it,
| except the upper case letters, which ]
could tell by feeling of 'em. 1t was
| setting type under difficulties, but,
timing myself by the village clock,
| put up two thousand ems Of brewer In
an hour & ~
| No one attempted to match this
. story, and what the printers thought
of it may be inferred when it is known
that the average printers string OF
BREWER in an hour is one thousand
ems. 8a
Talking about setting type without
a CASE put in "Rocky Mountain
Jones, s'reminds me of a little expert.
| of fsiy
! i1ization. had struck little town
with printing office. Leastwise they
! called it a printing office. It didn''
Hook very promising, but sailed II
! and inquired if they wanted a first
class printer. The boss looked nae
over and told me to go to. work.
Where's the type?' says / Over there
in that bag, says he. Where's tn
: case? says l. Case be blowed,' say
: he, or words to that effect. Here,
: handing me piece of chalk, go mari
one out on the floor, if you're s.
blanked particular. s"
You didn't stay long I guess" re
t marked Holy" Joe, so named becaus
J of the odor of sanctity, not to mention
S other odors; 6 'tisn't well to stay Unit
you are fred. / was never fred bu
= once, and that was done SO slick tina
i I forgave the chap It was in an o.
h fee down in Texas had stayed
little longer than usual, seeing as hoN
: needed new pair Of shoes, and ha
j got so acclimated that enjoyed an II
/, dividual nail in the wall on which
: hang my hat. Well, one night cam
in and found my nail driven clear int
s the wall up to the head. I suspecte
S the devil and went for him. . ! didn
e do it, he said. Who did" asked
S The foreman, says he, and tbs
i means that You are bounced. didn
wait for any more ceremony. New
II Haven Register.