Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-11-05
TRICKS or THE TYPES
Wicked Deeds Done by the Imp
of the Perverse.
AMUSING ERRORS IN PRINT.

Examples Of What 10 Liable to Happen
When the compesitor Blundsrs o.
When tho Usually Alert and Care
full Proofrsader Mods.
Sometimes the proofreader mods, and
In this connection the late Lore
Goschen told at a public dinner story
of n reader who worked for his (Lort
Goschen's) grandfather and who, ir
answer to a denunciatiOn from his EN-
ployer, cried:
LET some other man work at cor
RICHNESS of Typography. I despair. MY
own thoughts often hinder me as theJ
seize and hold the authors otherwise
than they ought to do. 1t is quite pos
sible that niggling about words ant
syllables may often 60 to the wal
when my soul cannot tear itself loost
from some thought or picture. Errors
have been found In sheets which
thought I had worked backward ant
forward with the greatest particular
ity. | read always as 1t should be-"
It is when a reader is In this soulful
condition that the general public arr
permitted to read, as they did once
in morning paper not given to humor
that celebrated politician, in
specch. described some one as Sitting
ut the feet Of the game bird Of Biz
mIngham," instead Of "Gamaliel." II
the same journal, too, the following
startling announcement appeared un
der the heading Of Births"
NICHoLsoN.-On the 18th inst, at Bel
ton road, Sidcup. the son Of Alfred Mich
olson. of daughter.
In another newspaper most pathet
ic account appeared Of a doctor WIT
died owing to having accidentally In
fected himself while injecting some
plague virus into "gnat." The mys
terry was solved the next day, when al
apology was printed explaining tha
the word should have been rat"
"Come over and try some new
SOUP" Il lady novelist did not write
"songs" was the word. ut is a sicklJ
kopje of the real article" was perhaps
excusable. 1t appeared in a papel
during the Boer war.
These mistakes are curious enough
but they pale into !nsignlfcance before
some of those that never reach thu
printed sheet.
Gold milk, fatherw once demanded
composltor in cold type, and he wal
aggrieved to have to alter 1t to "Caee
mile failthew "Brer Fox" was made
"Boer Fox"-that was also during thu
South African war.
On n hot summers day another tiret
typesctter turned 1.-The Ides of March
into THE Idea of Work"
In a sermon d celebrated divine wa!
made to say, "And they erected a ma
rine store ut the mouth Of the sepul
cher" Massive stone" were the cor
rect words.
Authorizations are ut times the ban'
Of the conipositor. but lie had no ex
cuse in setting up. in an account OF
Mansion House function, that among
those present were "Old Isaacs and Olt
Treioar." He should have known tina
aid" was an abbreviation Of alder
man" In the same "take" Of copy thu
lord Mayor was received with
crash" should he "eclat') and wa
followed by the sheriffs In their mar
garine (mazarine) gowns"
Let the gulled Judy wink" appeared
In another first proof, and the proof
reader YEARLY made it the "galled jad'
vince" "D.e, lusty platter! has quite
TRANSPORTING flavor, but the copy
said .Die Lustige Blatter" IA German
weekly paper.
"Pignut OF the enunciation" does no
seem convincing; pigment of the imag
nation" is better. "PetticOats long OF
Sunday morning Is disgrace" is al
right when the first two words arr
read "Petticoat lane"
In police court assault case tn
| DEOSctuiOi was W Sos eAeS S~>
prisoner had given him twins" Wha
the prisoner really did was to give tn
prosecutor a turn" Ia fright. "Th'
government were suffering from men
tai alteration" must have been sc
up by compositor Of the opposition
politics. The real charge was "mutua
admiration"
"De mortar lvil nice loreum" would
trouble Il Latin scholar. "De mortui
nil nisi bonum" is more correct. "Jin
the Pieman" is easily recognizable a
the hero Of play, and Putty Polly
the racehorse, would throw up he
pretty head in disdain to see hersel
SO described.
For "a pair Of scandals completed
the costume" read Sandals" and 70
"Here is indeed sundial" substitute
scandal" He lived In the "hubbubs'
should be suburbs" and Call her
Herr, in" is understandable whel
printed "Caller herrin'."
A well known descriptive writer wa
startled to read In a rough first proc
that he had described the fields sur
rounding the Derby course as covered
with boots and shoes" He was pla
Gated when informed that 1t had beef
altered to "booths and shows"
Columns could be filed with thu
amazing and amusing blunders Of TIL
compositor, but here space forbids O
more than final "howler," which Is
classic In the printing world. 20 tenn
pora! o mores!" wrote leader writ
or at ten minutes to in the morning
20 Moses, indeed" exclaimed thu
proofreader quarter Of an hour late
when he caught and bowled" the com
positor who had improved the phras
into 80 Tennyson! o Moses"-LOndol
Express.