The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-27
PRINTER AND TYPEWRITER,
STORIES TOLD PROOE-READER
 PRINTER AND REPORTER.
How Joaquin Miller Was "scooped. 7"

'The typewriter has worked grea'
 change in the life of the printer, and
 his work now is nothing like as hard
 as in the old days" remarked the old
 proof-reader. "In these days editors
 dictate their editorials to stenograph-
 CTS or typewriters, or pound them out
 on typewriter themselves, and the
 printer and proof-reader have no trou-
 ble at all with them. Many edito
 have been noted for their mad chiro-
 graphy. and apparently some of them
 did not know the art of writing, from
 the appearance of their copy. Many a
 compositor and proof-reader in those
 days lost his sit for making the edi-
 tors say in type what they did not in
 tend to say, and in most offices where
 the editors were notoriously bad wri-
 ters was generally a special man, to
 whom the setting up of all the bad
 copy was intrusted. Generally he had
 carefully studied the style of the editor
 and his chirography, and was able to
 fairly make a stagger at translating
 the apparent Chinese puzzle and set it
 up in type. About the worst writer
 ever knew was Colonel H. M. Doak,
 now United States commissioner and
 clerk at Nashville, but then he was the
 editor of the Memphis Avalanche. He
 was then, and Is now, one of the most
 scholarly men In the country, and his
 leaders were long, as was then the
 fashion, but they were deep with
 thought; his opinions were expressed in
 chaste and elegant English and his ar
 ticles were widely copied and comment
 ed upon. When he gave up journalism
 for a life time position connected with
 the federal judiciary, one of the most scholarly editors in the country disap-
 peared. During the war between the
 states Colonel Doak was in the Con-
 federate navy andwas wounded. One
 bullet passed entirely through his right
 hand. The healing of the wound left
 his fingers drawn up and his hand mu-
 tilated. He never tried to write with
 his left hand. His chirography was &C.,
 tually illegible to all the composing
 room force, save one man, and when that printer died, there was not man in the office who could read and set up his copy. They lost time and patience, and finally a chapel meeting was called. The men decided to go on
 strike, unless legible editorial copy be furnished. The late Congressman Phe- Ian of Tennessee who was the owner of the paper, gave Colonel Doak two months vacation and presented him with typewriter. At the end of two months the editor was an expert with the typewriter, and there was never any more trouble. I believe he was about the first editor in the country to use typewriter in editorial work. It | is said that no great epic has ever been | 'milled,' but Colonel Doak afterward i wrote a twenty thousand word Greek tragedy in blank verse on that type writer The typewriter is now great thing in newspaper office."
 ''The worst handwriting I ever under took to decipher was that of Goldwin Smith, the celebrated Canadian philos- opher, scientist, economist and annex ationist," spoke up the old printer. "He was the owner of newspaper in Montreal, and contributed much mat ter to it, although he had managing editor and seldom appeared at the off, flee The managing editor had a call to the States, which necessitated two-
  get the paper out during this time he engaged a young journalist, who did not know that Mr. Smith was the pow CT behind the throne of that paper and that his money enabled the ghost to walk for all hands every Monday. There were two of us in the office who could translate and set MT. Smiths copy but the new substitute editor not only did not know MT. Smith or of his interest in the paper but he had never seen any of his manuscript or copy The first night he worked he was initi- ated At eleven o'clock a messenger boy brought big batch of copy to the office. The editor found out from the boy that MT. Smith had sent in the con- tribution. The new editor puzzled his eyes and his brain on that manuscript, and the harder he worked trying to de- . cipher it the more puzzling became the :. scientists characters, words and sen | tences Nothing coherent or connected could the editor make out of the mat 2 .er and finally he lost his temper and | lts patience He called MT. Smith over | he telephone, and in no gentle voice old him that his copy was illegible | md unavailable to the paper, and with | several uncomplimentary remarks ap- [ olicable to any man who would write | ;uch stuff as that, he told MT. Smith to 2 ;end messenger at his own expense | or tht manuscript; and he hung up a he telephone receiver, wiped the pers- I ,irati from his brow and returned to u lis desk In few minutes the tele a phone bell called the editor to the box, | md a meek and lowly voice from the
 ther end of the connection told the ed- tor that MT. Smith was at the phone, a nd that if the editor was having any rouble with the copy and would bring t' out to him, MT. Smith would try to b nake 1t plain. At this the temporary Jt ditor grew indignant and asked MT. p mith if he knew he was talking to the si citing managing editor of the paper. o till in the same meek and humble . oice Mr Smith explained over the tel t' phone that he owned the paper and st ,as its chief editor and contributor. u hen the acting editor almost choked b 'ith words, so anxious was he to apol- u gize and explain. Later the foreman pl anne to his relief by telling him that W le copy needed no editing and that ce yo men in the shop could set the copy { the boss and he tok the manu Ii ,ript up stairs. The acting editor cf