The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1908-04-24
PRINTERS IN PERIL
No Telling What Would Have Hap
pened Had Carrie Nation En-
tered the Telegraph Com
posing Room

The following funny piece was writ
ten by Clarence McDavid, now a typo
en- the Starke Telegraph:
Last Thursday was a day Of anxiety
among the Telegraph typos, for Carrie
Nation had come to Starke. They
well knew that she does not like print
ers and they feared a visit and an
examination. Not that the printers
are in the least addicted to any Of the
habits against which Mrs. Nation
vars, but, like the prosecuting attor-
Ley, she has way of cross question
ing that causes even the most inno-
cent to stultify and incriminate him.
self. And she is a lady and must be
answered in a respectful manner.
Well, IAN ounce of prevention" etc.
SO the typos went to work to remove
every article that might look suspi-
cious. and thus prevent questions
about it. A jug, used for holding the
I've for type cleansing, was hidden
among the weeds in the back yard.
A bottle Of jaundice medicine, the label
e which said it contained two grains
of alcohol, was chucked out the win
dow, likewise package Of hop seed
from Washington. A tumbler, that
lad been used by colicky city editor
for seidlitZ powders, was consigned to
the stove. These were the only arti-
cles that could create a suggestion of
strong drink.
While the weed" is Stunned like a
pestilence in the print shop, yet there
were many things that looked surpic-
ious. A cuspidor, kept for the use of
railway promoters. was hidden. On
window sill was a pack of half
burned matches, relic of the Ybor
City fire, brought by tramp printer;
they were thrown into the stove. Cigar
stumps left by candidates and cob
pipes left by subscribers followed suit,
so did bulletin on tobacco culture.
u piece of sole leather, tackled to the
back of form planer, looked some
what like plug of tobacco and was
torn off. Mrs. Nation says "a man
who uses tobacco will steal horse"
so it was best to be- careful.
ALI evidences of two of the deadly
SINS in Mrs. Nations catalogue were
row removed, She is down on i'm
proper pictures and notices, but there
we're none of them in the office. None?
Wait a bit. Here was calendar adj
yertising "undressed' lumber The
word "undressed" might be consid-
cred improper, and the calendar was
thrown into the waste basket.
Thus fortified against the austerc
Carrie they breathed easier. They wet
their hair, parted it on the side, put
on baby-blue ties and looked as de-
mure and nice as Sunday school boys.
When mule kicked a man on the
street and he gave out an ejaculation
Of pain and rage, the typos almost
jumped out of their shirts from ner-
vousness-it sounded to them that he
had announced that Dame Nation"
was coming. One of them laughed at
the funny antics Of cat that had
stepped on fly paper, but the others
frowned on him till he felt ashamed of
himself for disturbing the decorum.
After all this trouble and anxiety
the dreaded visitor did not come into
the composing room. She visited the
editorial office and received such cour-
teous treatment there that she prob
ably thought the balance Of the estab
lishment would pass muster, and after
a short chat departed.