The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-22
on READING ron PRESS.
An Inside View of the PrOOfreader's
Duties and Responsibilities.
From the Hartford Times.

From the Hartford Times.
From Live Matter we reprint below
what may be designated as an inside
view of the work required of proofread-
eTs. The writer could have added para
graph on the limited time in which a part
of this work IS done on an afternoon pa
per, and which sometimes Is responsible
for printed errors:
From the thought in the brain of the
author to the reception of that thought
by the reader, where does the proofread-
er stand, and what has been the value of
his work?
other class of workers, there are many
shadings of good bad. and indifferent, and
quite as many shades also, in the degree
of interest in the work
Pass over the bad and the Indifferent,
for their influence is not worth augment
ing even by the telling of it. There is
no healthy life in describing by word or
color or lines that which is not strength
en.ng and elevating, however true the de-
scription may be. Art simply for arts
sake is not worthy the time of an earnest
Taking then, the best proofreaders I
have met, let us look at their work. The
author has written his story, his poem,
his essay or perhaps letter TO the editor
He may have spent on IT much time and
thought. Perhaps the copy is interlined
and fun of erasures. Perhaps the inter-
Innings are written in microscopic char
acterS in order to get the thickly crowded
words into the space. Perhaps the author
has used quotations from other languages
as well as our own. Perhaps there are
many names given.
To put the proofreader's duty into a
single sentence, it is to see that the print
ed slips that shows the work of the type
setter compares exactly with what the
author said. First of all he must be able
to read all kinds of writing. To be sure,
his cOpy-holder is supposed to do that,
but the proofreader Is responsible ana
must decide whenever the copy-holder
hesitates.
Our proofreader must be well-read In
order 10 understand the illusions For
instance, the author wrote, And thus it
has come about in the progress of the
suns" The copy-reader laughed and said,
Progress of the sun, she meant but
the DrOof-reader could turn instantly to
Tennysons Locksley Hall and show that
the plural word was meant, but that
progress" should have been process
Our proofreader must know something
of Latin French and German nowadays,
for manW quotations, either a word,
phrase, or sentence, are used. For exam
pie, an editorial was headed In Media
Tutissimus." AS rule, the same char
acter is used for an n almost without
exception, and in the heading referred
to the Il looked like a very good /. So
now the ambitious copy-holder said That
isn't T-u, it is In. Latin, you know
inter, inside. inter, interior, intissimus;
Take the work on large city daily.
Each interest has its specially appointed
person to look after it, be it yachting
/ polo, bicycling, chess, music drama
! literature art = someone who 'erives his
time and attention to it, becoming CONVEX
/ SAINT with its technical terms the names
| The proofreader must be able to recog-
nize the technicalties and names of all
/ to correct them when wrong as well as
| to recognize when right, and so with
/ legal terms and forms, and all that comes
| in legal advertising or reports of DELHI
| eratiVe bodies.
/ Having assured himself that he knows
/ what each word is, our proofreader must
J comprehend the sense of the communica-
/ ton or article and then punctuate as the
sense requires. 1t is of no use to ask whY
! our proOfreader doesn't follow the copy
/ the author sent in. Sometimes such an
| article so followed would drain the office
like an array of punctuation marks with
/ words interspersed Sometimes there is
/ not so much as a period in all the manu-
/ script.
/ Editors and reporters on a daily paper
must, necessarily, by the demands of their
/ profession, work rapidly, thinking and
/ writing with small chance for revision or
/ second thought More or less errors slim
/ in to be caught by the proofreader A
turn of thought which seems to CONTRA
diet itself, an awkward mode of expres.
4 sian, a headline that CRATES on the sighr
/ when in bold, printed letters-these must
be changed.
/ the different editions are being made
Il ready for the presses that in time will
whirl off the papers for the eager hands
/ waiting to snatch them. 1t is a hurry
/ work, this of our proofreader work
calling for concentration and quickneSs
| of thought. power to watch all typo
/ graphical errors, words, meaning and
| punctuation, all at one and the same
time. 1t requires a background of English
/ literature. modern languages topics of
| the day and ancient history, classics and
slang.