The colored American., 1901-02-09

o,ous uDOn the methods OF careless Ne
0,o nrinteTg. sometimes called "blaCk'
ssmifbs and type butchers" But L
maj call Mr. Jones' hand when he as
calls the newspaper offices owned by
coIored men for making the wild state.
Uoent that they haven't type enough to
Al good work. Perhaps Mr.. Jones
never heard the 8dage ''that bad work
man quarrel with their TOOLS" nave
haen III q number of Negro printing
ofices ~ nov life time, as " ell as white
onas and il is only fair that I should
otsfe mat the for ner were as complete
IN their appointments, and some OF
tnem more so, than the latter. Mr.
Iones should not make Loose and wi
sfotemeDts In the effort to bolster up
had csusp. He must know that the
planet. Odd Fellows, Journal, York
AOe COlOTed American and many other
offices are we'll equipped with material.
The Age Is one Of The best 10 the cOuu
trv. and he ought TO know that there
isnjt q single type butcher on tkat
Daner The foreman Of the Age COM
6osiDg room, MI. w. E. Fl. Chase,
learned the best part Of his trade in my
office in Washington and Is as good a
prlnter as can be found III any newsDa
ner office Mr.. Chase was not satisfied
With being mere machine he wanted to
baeome a thorough master OF his trade
and be diligently applied himself and
now he knows what he knows and why
he knows it.
There is no excuse for bungler,
no matter how much he thinks he
knows, and "rag bag' printers think
they know a great many things that
would be im portant If they were only
true. A friend Of mine, VINO Is q print
er. not butcher, writes me- as follows:
II note your criticisms Of type butch
ers In The COlOred American and
heartily sub4cribe to them. For while
the proof reader must always come in
for his share of responsibility, the aver
age apprentice is too desiIOus Of and
even encouraged, TO become journey
man bef re he has learned the first
principles Of even the devilshIp The
laws governing the trade require the
white youth TO serve an apprenticeship
OF three years, three months too often
SQti 70 to perfect the Negro wOuldbe
printer in the various branches Of the
''art preservative.' My time at the -
was largely taken In the instruction T
apprentices aud I know whereof speak
Time and again has pressure been
brOugh hit to bear both from the appren'
lice himself, desirOus of too speedy
Advancement, and the management
from pecuniary atand dDOiDt, as well as
the eXigencies of the situation to have
me put man to the case who barely
knew the lay OF it to say nothing OF the
nice points Of spacing, justification, etc.
This same man five years later (Or
twenty five years la eT for that matter)
Is placed on his merit Gas in the estab
lShment Of which I am now fOreman)
beside his three ' ear apprentic aship
white neghbOr aud after he has slgnt d
the pay roll perhaps twice he is gone
hred, kicked out. Ask hun why BE
caue l am Negro But look at his
record. Three months apprentice
sbip.n
And these finiahed artists who abso'
lutely refuse while drawing mems pay
for boys work to improve their nppOl'
tunities in the poorly equipped' com
posing rooms Of n egIO journals because
they think they know ii all, or because
the proof readers don't do their part or
because there is no copy editor, bOsh!
nonsense! Then Mr.. Jones, who Is
eViden ly accustomed to setting tyne
MS fashion from engraved copy on 80
10 oO7k paper makes fun Of the chirO'
gFaphy OF contributors to Negro news
papers and cOnfesses that he cannot
read it-this is really ton bad. L Mr..
Ilnes had ever wOrktd d on the New
York Tribune or the CONNER cial Ca
L9tte or anv of the great metropolitan
Oallles in the d0vu Ot Greolv and MI RAT