Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-06-28
Days of ssBoomer'' Printer
OUer, Seys Wandering Jew

Harvest days are over. at least for
the itinerant printer" in the opinion
of Nathan Bergman, 58-year-old print
er whose Itching feet" have earned
him the name of the Wandering
Jew"
And Bergman should Knowles put
the Journey" into the title journey
man printer for 40 years and knows
print shops in every nook and Granny
west of the Mississippi from Montana
to Texas. Starting as a typeSetter and
job worker at the age of 10 in Evans
ton, Wyo., the Wandering Jew has
seen the lot of the travelling printer
change from prosperity TO the condi-
tons of today and figure We BOOM
ers are about washed up"
He made public his conclusions on
the subject when he paid Butte one
OF his regular visits. In the old days,
one could just about tell when spring
was here by the arrival of Bergman,
who made his northward journey
abreast OF the first robins in the
north country.
Speaking to old friends in the Min
ing city-one of his favorite spots for
week or two, depending on how
badly he was afflicted with the wan
himself one of the last OF the travelling
printers. For the first time in his life
he came to Butte only three weeks
from the time he had left the Mining
city. Usually he made the richest hill
on earth" about once year.
Now all he wants is a place where
II can work two or three days week;
and depend on it. That's where In
stay. And I'd like that town to be
Butte. OF course l kinda IKE OakIana,
Calf, too. But maybe I'd better keep
my mouth shut or the rest OF the
towns I've called home during all these
years will get mad" grinned the wan
derer.
The admission that he's about
washed up is a pretty broad state
ment for the man who's made his Nv
ing off the fat Of the type lice" 1or
40 years. He didn't used TO talk thai
way. In fact for years ne mas stoou
as an argument that boomer can
still make money, although admittedly
not so much as few years pack.
To Other Lines
Printers aren't the only 1ourneymer
who have seen the last OF tnelr race
Bergman believes. Even the DAY o!
the boomer railroader and berryplckef
is over. Where once they were con-
sidered an everyday occurrence. nov
their appearance Is fali'S' So'ot .-'-e
TO the Wandering Jew.
Consolidation of too many news
papers Bergman declared, has causeC
Inc wandering printer to find a spot
and become home guard" "Ihe
Jobs lust aren't there any more LOT Us
fellows on the road. Newspapers don
want to hire many OUTSIDE primer
now; they've got their own men u
look after"
Bergman doesn't know how man!
plants he's worked in since that "a!
.t-rt n
Evanston, Wyo., but the composing
rooms are few that haven't echoed tc
the sound of the Wandering Jew!
voice, telling about Jim or Charlie
down on the Dallas News, or the Sac
ramento Bee. The boys in the back.
shop are always willing to say "hello
and greet the wanderer, because, &C
cording to Bergman, L don't burr
my bridges behind me, and Away!
have some place to come back TO
Treat the men you work with respect
fully, don't butt into their jobs anc
everything will be all right
Montana always has been the favor
lite state for the boomer, who confined
his Odessy to the west. In 1924 he wa!
foreman on the Malta weekly news
paper; the following year he held TIT
same post in Glendive. He enjoyed
life most when working the little week
ly newspaper plants in the tWentieS.
Longest in Amarillo
But to Amarillo, Tex, goes the homo
of causing Bergman to forget he wa.
a wanderer-for less than a year
That's the longest he ever worked con
tinuouSly in one city.
In the four decades he spent on tn
road, most of his traveling-at leas
during the later years-has been 'b,
the air-conditioned thumb" or hitch
hiking. He numbers many commercial
| travellers among his friends. One mar
has taken him from town to town il
Montana for seven years, he claims.
During his working years he ha.
worked in Butte 40 times-an averag,
of once a year. Salt Lake City, Utah
has been home" about 20 times. HI
said.
The Name Sticks
How did he get his Sobriquet, thu
Wandering Jew? That was down il
Pocatello, Idaho, IS years ago, he re.
calls.
Il dropped in at Joe Traps bee
parlor one night, and two of thu
printers were there hosting a few
One of them looked up and said. BY
golly, here's the Wandering Jew again.
The name has stuck ever since"