The Oakes times., 1907-08-29
TRICKS OF THE TYPES
Wicked Deeds Done by the Imp
of the Perverse.
AMUSING ERRORS IN PRINT,

AMUSING ERRORS IN PRINT.
Examples of What 10 Liable to Happen
When the compositor Biunders or
When the Usually Alert and Care.
full Proofreader Mods.
Sometimes the proofreader mods, and
in this connection the late Lord
Goschen told at public dinner story
of a reader who worked for his Uord
Goschen's) grandfather and who, In
answer to denunciation from his en-
ployer, cried:
LET some other man work at cor
rectness of Typography. I despair. My
own thoughts often hinder me US they
seize and hold the authors otherwise
than they ought to do. 1t is quite pos
sible that nEgling about words and
syllables may often go to the wall
when my soul cannot tear itself loose
from some thought or picture. Errors
have been found in sheets which l
thought l had worked backward and
forward with the greatest particular
! ity. l read always as it should be-"
1t is when a reader is in this soulful
condition that the general public are
permitted to read, as they did once
in a morning paper not given to humor,
that celebrated politician, in a
speech, described some one as sitting
at the feet of the game bird of Bir-
mingham," instead of "Gamaliel." In
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 doctor who
died owing to having accidentally in
fected himself while injecting some
plague virus into "gnat." The mys-
terry was solved the next day, when an
apology was printed explaining that
the word should have been rat"
"Come over and try some new
SOUP" lady novelist did not write;
songs was the word. ut is a sickly
kopje of the real article'' was perhaps
excusable 1t appeared in a paper
during the Boer war.
These mistakes are curious enough,
but they pale into insigniicance before
some Of those that never reach the
printed sheet.
"Cold milk, fatherv once demanded
a compositor in cold type, and he was
/ 10 20 olk ko n
mile failthe!" "Brer Fox" was made
"Boer Fox"-that was also during the
South African war.
On hot summers day another tired
typesetter turned 1.-THE Ides of March,
into 1.-THE Idea of Work"
In a sermon q celebrated divine was
made to say, "And they erected n ma
rine store at the mouth of the sepul-
cher" "Iassive stone' were the cor
rect words.
Authorizations are at times the bane
of the compositor, but he had no ex-
cuse in setting up, in an account of q
Mansion House function, that among
those present were "Old Isaacs and Old
Treloar." He should have known that
"Ald." was an abbreviation Of "Akler-
man." In the same "take" Of copy the
"Lord Mayor was received with a
crash" Should be "eclat'D and WAS
followed by the sheriffs in their "mar-
garine (mazarine) gowns
4 "Let the gulled Judy wink" appeared
In another first proof, and the proof
reader wearily made it the "galled jaGe
VINCE" die, lusty platterv' has quite
a transporting flavor, but the "copy'
said "Die Lustige Batter "a German
weekly paper.
"Pignut Of the enunciation" does not
seem convincing: "fgment of the imag-
ination" is better. "Petticoats long on
Sunday morning is disgrace" is oil
right when the first two words are
read "Petticoat lane"
In police court assault case the
prosecutor was made to say that the
prisoner had given him "twins." What
the prisoner really did was to give the
prosecutor turn" "a fright. 1.-THE
government were suffering from mer
tai alteration" must have been set
up by compositor Of the opposition
politics. The real charge was mutual
admiration"
"De mortar ivil nice loreum" would
trouble Latin scholar. "De mortuis
nil nisi bonum" is more correct. "Jim
the Pieman" is easily recognizable as
the hero Of play, and Putty Polly
the racehorse, would throw up her
pretty head in disdain to see herself
SO described.
For "a pair Of. scandals completed
the costume' read Sandals" and for
"Here is indeed sundial" substitute
scandal" He lived in the "hubbubs'
should be Suburbs" and "Call her,
Herr, in" is understandable when
printed "Caller herrin'."
L A well known descriptive writer was
startled to read in q rough first proof