New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-02
PRINTERS ERRORS.
INNOCENT MALICE-THE FIENDTSH Be
HAVIOR OF WELLMEANING TYPES.
From Macmillan's Magazine.

nights Of fancy the compos.ior exercises his wit
may be annoyed. but the general public las no
alloy in the enjoyment OF these typographical
antics Miss Fanny Fudge. the youthful genius
discovered 10y Tom Moore. who used 10 con-
tcisutc to the Poets Corner OF '"rhe COUNTY
Gazette complained bitterly To her cousin OF
the havoc the printers made of her sense and
her rhymes. Though an angel should write
still It's devils must print" she explained Here
is how those devils served her.
"But n week or two since in my ode to the
Spring
Which meant 10 have made most beautifui
thing,
Where l talkd of the dcwdrops from freshly
blown roses,
The nasty things made It from freshiy-5lown
noses"
And once when to please my cross aunt had
To commemorate some saint of her clique who'd
just died.
Having said he had tak'n up in Heaven his
pos lion.
They made it, he'd takn up to Heaven his ply
sician.
The readers Of THE County Gazette" no
doubt, preferred the amended poem u the orig
iral.
The responsibility for these humors OF the
composinc-rOOm rests sometimes Win the au-
thOrs vile handwriting, but IL is mainly due 10
the conditions under which the composiior
works wooden frame (o- case, as II is known
in the iradc) is divided By lodges into several
rcccpiaclcs or boxes. for the various letters OF
the alphabet ard points Of punctuation. In one
box there are all As. in another al rs ana in
another all Us, and 50 on and from this case
picking ~ the letters enc by one as required.
the compassion turns the manuscript; into type
Practice enables him 10 do this not only win
extreme rapidly. but with remarkable accuracy;
but he has often 10 deal with what he calls Il
foul case-that is Il case in which several Of The
letters have got into the wrong bOxcS-and as
he thus unconsciously picks up the wrong letter
from the right box We md oats turned to cats.
poets to posts, arts - rats, jolly to FOLLY ana
songs 10 tongs
theatrical critic in a notice OF a charming
young actress whose treatment OF Porta had
afforded him much pleasure. wrote. Her love
for Portia made acting easy" That was right
enough. but what the types made him say was
her love for Porter" etc. composiior who
was better acquainted with the geography OF the
West than with Biblical lore, set up the phrase.
From Alpha 10 Omega" from Alton to
Omaha" and possibly found himself compelled
10 start for those PAGES next morning. In the
ga lier half of the present century 1t
nounced in Il London newspaper that Sir Rob
ert Peel, with party Of fends. was shooting
peasants in Ireland whereas the Minister and
his friends were only INDUCING in the compare
lively harmless pastime of pheasant shooting.
Shortly after the battle Of 1nkerman one of the
morning papers informed its readers that after
with great laughter" The omission Of a single
letter has rarely. perhaps, played more havoc
with a subject which was certainly no laughing
matter
It must have been the very printers devil
himself who represented very worthy advo-
cate Of the cause Of female suffrage as ex-
hortng her hearers to maintain their tights
What the bridesmaids at recent wedding
must have thought when they read that they
had all worn handsome bre eches. the gift OF
the BRIDEGROOM" one can only guess. But
whatever their thoughts may have been at see
ing their pretty brooches thus transformed.
their language at any rate cannot, we may
assume have matched that Of the politician
who read the following comment on one Of his
speeches: Them asses believed him POSI-
by he not much consoled by being as
sured that the reporter had merely wished to
cir ~ hat he hell ed
another occasion a reporter wrote: AT these
words the entire audience rose and rent the
air with their shouts" The compositor had set
up shouts correctly. but had not observed that
the top Of the was broken OFF An enthusi-
astc editor began his leading article on a local
election campaign with the phrase. THE bat
tie is now opened" Unfortunately the COM
positor transformed battle into bottle. and his
readers said that they had suspected IT all
along.
NJ. Gladstone. as is well known, Is always
lavish Of his admiration for the new hooks
sent him by aspiring authors or crafty pub
fishers. but he has rarely expressed il more
eTnphatically than when he wrote to the pub
fisher Of a certain novel. I'VE have not allowed
one person to leave the house without reading
it." 4 newspaper. recording this testimonial
to the merits Of the tale. made Mr.. Gladstone
assure the delighted publisher. I'VE have not
allowed our parsOn 10 leave the house without
reading it," our parson. at HaWarden. it will
be remembered is Mr.. G.adstones son, the
Rev. Stephen Gladstone
Lander. revising the proof of Il poem ne hiu
written for The Keepsake" found the con-
GLIDING stanza thus printed
yes" you shall say when once the dream
$50 hard to hreah) is Ger,
NV love was very dear TO him.
Nv farm and peace We're more"
This error seems TO have angered the poet
whose temper indeed. it was not difficult to up
set for upon the margin 0f the PROOF C"hch
ie etiI eytant he wrote: E"Of all the ridiculous
blundcrs ever committed 10y n compositor farm
instead of fame is the most ridiculous. Plty
if was not printed my farm and peas - Rch-
ard Proctor the astronomer. writing in his
,,oco.i,o "KnowIe1ne" stated that the most