The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-02-10
A WIZARD MECHANIC

Model One linotype that had been in
use in the old GREGORY Democrat ni-
flee, and after hauling 1t to Wood, it
Of course needed a number Of ad-
justmcnts. We and our foreman
were both strangers to this intricate
machine, but we set it up as best we
could, and with good deal OF pa
tience and perseverance we were able
to get the machine to perform in a
way, but it was not doing as it
should Some of the parts were
worn, and the machine stood in dire
need of a thorough overhauling and
adjustment. We were in search of
a good linotype machinist, one who
thoroughly understood the machine
and could remedy the defects.
We finally secured the services Of
John Wagoun, of Omaha, Nebraska,
and we are inded fortunate in sccur-
ING the services Of this wizard
mechanic. We have no hesitancy in
saying that he is without doubt one
Of the best mechanics that ever came
down the pike, and he is certainly
complete master Of the linotype, one
of the most intricate machines
made. He arrived in Wood Wed.
ncsday, February l, and looked over
the machine, made out a list OF
new parts that were needed, and we
wired for them that evening. They
should have reached us by Satur-
days mail. but were delayed, and
did not reach us until Monday. We
told Mr.. W0goun to go ahead and
overhaul the machine and put it in
as good shape as he could. This
he did, and the result attained is
most gratifying to us. The machine
now works fine and we believe that
from now on we will be able to
handle the straight matter in the Pi-
oneer on this wonderful machine.
1t is real pleasure to watch Mr.,
Wagoun work, and in this connection
it would not come amiss to give q
little history Of him. He was born
in Prague, Bohemia, where, as boy
he learned the trade Of machinist,
working on locomotives and later on
signals. For four years he Travelled
over Russia. Germany and Austria in
the employ Of his government as q
mechanic. Sixteen years ago he
came to America and after arriving
in this country he found employment
in New York with a concern that
was manufacturing engine pistons,
but after being with them for about
three months he realized that there
was not much chance for advance
mcnt. One day lie was walking down
the streets Of the metropolis and he
saw a linotype setting in show win
dow. AS John says: "Thcre was
so much machinery about the limo
type, that | Immediately fell in love
with the machine. 1t was a ease of
love at first sight and right there he
decided to become its complete
master. He sought and succeeded
in getting position in the Mergen-
thaler linotype factory, where he
worked as one of their skilled ma
chinist. Later he became head ma
chinist for the New York Times, and
still later he held like position with
the Chicago Tribune. He today
stands at the head of the list as
real linotype machinist and he is
complete master of the machine. La
ter he concluded to embark in busi-
ness on his own account and he has
succeeded so well that his services
are in great demand by publishers all
over Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and
South Dakota, and he certainly is
an angel of real service wherever he
is called. He told us that he spends
most Of his time inSouth Dakota, as
he likes the newspaper boys of this
state, as they are all real red-blood-
ed good fellows, and he says that he
is now seriously considering moving
to some central point in this state to
make his headquarters, which fact
will be appreciated by all the news
paper boys of this state. His touch
is like magic to a sick linotype, and
the ailments respond readily to the
treatment he gives the machine, and
his diagnosis of the ailment is quick,
precise and accurate. We have no
hesitancy in recommending Mr.. Wa
goun to any publisher who is suffer
ing from linotype troubles. We have
found him to be a true wizard me-
chanic, real gentleman and
pleasant man to have abOnt the shop.