The Ketchikan miner., 1907-05-04
LOCAL CURIOS

agaln, no occupied fOr q brief period the position of foreman on Mill wauke daily newspaper. It was dur ing the most exciting period of the abolition craze just proceeding the breaking out of the war of the re- hellion-in fact, while John Brown and the border ruiiians were dong tho bleeding act in "Bloody Kansas'- and as foreman he had charge of the news room of the Milwauke "Free Democrat, the editor and proprietor of which was Sherman NJ. Booth. at that time the great unwashed, un- shaven, but almost defied apostle of abolitionism in what was then styled the great Northwest. He had been in jail for leading a mob which forcibly rescued a fugitive slave from the custody of the United States marshal. and in various ways had unsuccessfully tried to immoate him. self on the altar of muscular abolition ism. He was vigorous writer, and could string more vituperation into a single. stickfull"..of type than was apt to be very pleasant reading for the object of his wrath. As chiroeraph- ist, however, he was small pattern of Horace Greedy. by whom he had once been employed sas an editorial writer and whom he tried to initiate in everything, even to out-herroding that distinguished individual in the quality of his political faith. Curio. who was always more or less expert in translating perplexing chirography into plain English, had succeeded in mastering his hieroglyphics so that he could, with little effort, render into sense whole pages of his con- elomerate tumble, which, to the cas- ual observer, would be all Greek, or something worse. One day, when short of compositors, a long, lean. lank individual walked into the news room, and inquiring for the foreman, asked if he could get work "at the ease. He was given a case. OF a pair of cases, of brevier, had the dead matter'' pointed out to him, and proceeded to distribute his case with a celerity that was astonishing to behold. Having filled his case, he went to the hook, and as luck would have it the first take was long page of the editors manuscript-his ''leader' for that days issue. Curio can see him now. with that manu- script spread out on the case before him, his right foot on the floor and the other on the cross bar of the track, y the elbow of his right arm on the case and his head resting in his hand, alternately shifting his position, while he gazed at the to him unreadable page. After puzzling his brain for few minutes trying in vain to decipher the caption, he took the copy to the foreman and asked Curio to 'gve him start. Curio sfayely read the caption and a few lines of the article itself, aloud, and suggested that perhaps he had better put that copy back on the hook and take some of the "reprint. He re- piled with look of scorn only, went back to his case, and after time having apparently finished his take, put on his coat and hat and went out-as compositors not infre- quently do. and as Curio thought in his case to get drink of something with more principle into it than cold water is generally supposed by the craft to contain. The proof of his galleyn was taken and submitted to the editor. who soon came rarng and tearing into the news room, livid with rage, apparently thirsting for somebody's blood, providing it didn't involve the staying of one of his be- loved black men. The 'leader," as rendered in type by the new, but now self-discharged and permanently absent compositor, was something like this:
 A PRO-SLAVERY OUTRAGE
 The editor of the News comes to | jawbreaker,) and says that C jaw breakersl innocent of any (blankety blank jawbrealler) but the internal spirit (more blankety blank jaw breakers) rampant in the north as in the south (blankety blank lie When the infamous auth ors of the infamous lie (youre a balnkety blank fool, in the Hood and tears (the devil can't make that out. We can only say to the News, oh, what lie ) if the dastardly scoundrels (oh, you go to the devil, you bankety blank old nigger worshipper.
 And about half column more of the same sort. That compositor, it is perhaps needless to remark, neVer returned to resume his case, and it was not not long till Curio was invit- ed to follow after him. Booth could not be made to believe that Curio was not an accompice before the fact to what he considered studied and deliberate insult
 -"Jessica,n said a fond lover to | lie al i.l