The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1910-10-20
The Life of
Herr Gutenberg
Dedicated to the Members Of
the Printing Craft by
St. Paul Writer.

On a glorious sunny morning in
the year 13-(but there has always
been more or less uncertainty about
the exact year, so we'll say it was
near the close of the fourteenth CEN
tury) Herr Gutenberg was routed
out of bed in his mansion in the city
of Mentz at an unearthly hour and
hustled off to round up the family
physician, as there were some indi-
cations of immediate "doin's" in the
Gutenberg family.
The Herr Gutenberg had been in
training some time for this event, so
he dug his knuckles into his eyes,
his legs into his pants, and without
stopping to put on a shirt, of which
he had great number, beinga we'll
to-do German, sprinted across lots
for the medicine man.
Of course stout German gentle
man could not tear around town at
six o'clock in the morning minus a
shirt without attracting attention,
and the wives in the neighborhood
of the Gutenbergs were rather wise
to the Frau Gutenberg's condition,
so by the time the good German re-
turned with the doctor there were
sufficient of the nelghborhood ladies
in attendance to give proper eclat
to the occasion.
The doctor, with the assistance of
the visiting ladies, soon had things
in readiness for the arrival of the
stork and in all the trips the great
bird has made he has never been
freighted with a burden SO precious
as on this visit to the home of
Johannes Gutenberg in the city of
Mentz. For on that beautiful morn
ing, on the banks of the Rhine, was
born John Gutenberg, to whose in
ventive genius the world is indebted
for the noble art of printing.
Asa boy he was secretive, passion
ate, sensitive to criticism, but above
all he was Industrious and persever-
ing. AS egrew into youngmanhood
these characteristics became more
pronounced, and, taking sides in the
civil strife that marked the times,
his passionate nature quickly got
him in trouble, and his enemies be-
ing in power, he was promptly
exiled and his property confscated.
This all happened at time when
the sword was mightier than the
pen and it is highly probable that
the sword would still be the greater
power were the pen not backed by
its efficient ally, the battalions of
little black types invented by John
Gutenberg. There were thinkers
and writer's in Gutenberg's time,
but the pen, unsided, made very
little headway into the dense mass
of ignorance that existed at that
period.
When Kings were very lucky to
own Bible, poor men had tough
time learning their prayers. Books
chained to the wall or kept in glass
cases, or strong boxes in monasteries,
do not radiate much knowledge in
to the farm houses and tenements of
the land.
While Gutenburg was engaged in
his studies and experiments he had
passed all his spare time in the COM
pany of Anna Thur and as a proof
that the time was not lost they be-
came betrothed. Gutenberg was
deeply attached to this lady, but for
some reason refused to carry out his
promise and Papa Thur, stepping
into the breech, hustled him into
court to see whether a young man
with inventive abilities and yellow
whiskers dared promise a sweet
young girl marriage and then back
up into the breechings and refuse to
make good. This lawsuit took
place in Strasbourg, where Guten-
burg had gone after his exile from
Mentz. It was the first of several
law cases that he had and he lost it;
but in losing he won, for Anna Won
Vhur proved herself a loyal, cheer
full, Industrious and frugal wife.
She was of noble family, and the
best that Gutenberg could give her
was u cottage. in which she took