The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1919-10-07
THE MAN
BEHIND THE PRINT


most by those books by which the
printers have lost, il is also true that
hundreds of thousands of persons
who pass no day Of their lives in
which the art of printing does not in
some way or other contribute to their
information and satisfaction never
pause to think of printers. Yet just
as the printers were behind those
books which have mean much, as
the sagacious English divine certain
" believed, to the cause of learning,
SO no page of print a be turned
anywhere without, in a way. dis
covering a printer beneath it. One
may say, of course, that printers ere
printers, that they print whatever
comes to hand without troubling
themselves as to what it is all about.
and therefore that no particular
credit is due them for their share
in perpetuating and expanding the
worlds stock of learning. And in
the same breath ii will have to be ad-
mitted that so far as concerns more
than a little of what finds its way in
to print, a printer of any intelligence
whatever could be blamed fer de-
Ginning to trouble himself with its
subject matter, or for getting it out
of his hands with the least possible
bother. Still, it is true of printers
more generally of any other crafts
men that the worker who gives little
or no thought as to what he is doing
eventually finds himself in some other
calling. For a printer cannot owe
his faults; he, more than other
craftsmen, has his working ability
continually subjected to test. The
proof of his work comes from min
ute to minute and from hour to hour,
and it must be convincing of his skill
and care or he has his errors to make
good forthwith. No last day of
judgment for himi He must correct
his slips, make his work letter-per-
feet, as he goes along.
No wonder, then, that persons who
know how things are done in the
world are wont to speak of printers
as constituting "a very intelligent
class" Printers. doubtless, would de-
clare that they must of necessity be
intelligent or they could never make
comprehensive print out of some Of
the manuscripts submitted to them.
And few persons will care to dispute
the point who take time to consider
the quantity and variety Of the mat
ter that comes under the eye of the
printer, and filters through his
thought, in order to reach the stage
of general dissemination. The most
popular novel of the age gives up
its denouement to the printer before
ever the public gets a chance at il.
All that a poet wishes to give forth
is for the printer to ponder before
others ear taste ii. Discoveries. in
ventions, instruction, philosophy.
though they may be offered by the
greatest thinkers of the age, stir the
thoughts of the printer in the very
process Of being uttered to the
world. Even the news of the day. in
spite of all the haste about it. is
made public until after the
printer has had a look at ii. Printers
not intelligent? Unless they were
information would come to naught
and learning might once again hide
in cloisters.
1t appears that printers, as a class.
are well read in countless different
subjects But printers as individuals
are occasionally artists in their own
right Almost every printing office
has it's poet. a rare sort of fellow who
can be a poet without ceasing to be
a printer. To prove it to you he
will set up" his verses, Just as they
come TO his fancy. without ever
writing them down, as poets who are
not printers have to do. That his
verses may never get beyond the stage
OF being "in type" except as he pulls
a proof or two just to see how they
look" or because an admiring fell
low printer asked him" for one. only
goes to show that he is really a prin-
ter even though he may be also a
poet, while to many the very fact that
he can make verses without caring
one whit whether or no they are pub
lished will be convincing evidence Of
the intelligence of printers.
In view of all this. ii may seen
strange. to some. that one never hears
of a learned printer" as New Eng
land heard years ago. and is still