SOME PRINTERS' BLUNDERS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1984, 16 April 1906, Page 2

SOME PRINTERS' BLUNDERS.

By Clive Holland.

♦IrtEADERS of newspapers and magazines If\ are frequently startled and amused by these " trippings in type " ; and anyone who takes the trouble to jot them down, in a few years will have a fairly representative collection of blunders both grave and gay. The " dailies" and the " provincial weeklies" are the principal delinquents. Not very long ago the readers of the Daily Telegraph were, no doubt, startled to read, amongst the "wanted" advertisements, that " A Respectable Young Woman wants washing." -ir~~' a Of course, in this case, it was the respectable young woman, and not the printers, who was to blame. Again, the woman who advertised as follows in one of the North of England papers, under "Situations Wanted," scarcely conveyed her real requirement in " A Single Woman with a small family.' The announcement should, of course, have read, " Single Woman want* situation with a small family." The omission of these words made all the difference. At the bottom of the " Death " column of a weekly we read, only the other day, " A number of deaths unavoidably postponed," when the proper wording should have been, no doubt, " A number of deaths are unavoidably held over from want of space." The Athenctum for October 18th, 1879, contains an advertisement for an Editor, one of his principal qualifications being that he must have thoroughly Liberal price*. We only hope he got them. Amongst the testimonials of a much advertised " Vermin Killer," we read :—"A large farmer writes, 'A month ago I was full of rate and mice, and now I can't find one. 5 " Poor man ! The following, culled from a Western morning paper, is both curious and instructive :—" Madden—At ' The Hawthorns ' . . . Somerset, on the 2nd of March, Mr. Charles Herbert Madden, a son." Such an error as this is enough to " madden " the happy father. In an art critique we discovered " painter itchers " for "painter etchers." And once a notice of a flowing " nurse," obviously intended for "flowing must." We hear of Mr. Jones, who "treatened" his neighbour, the omission of an "A" making all the difference in the world to the neighbour. It was unfortunate for the lawn-tennis player, who, we are told, "had plenty of tin to pull off the prize," when " plenty of time " was intended. This young lady ought to have been in Jamrach'e. " Wanted—A quiet pony, suitfor girl with a long mane and tail." The leaving out of a comma places the girl in an awkward predicament. The New York Times, in 1855, describing the funeral of William Poole, perpetrated the following :—"The procession was very fine, and nearly two miles in length, as was also the sermon of the minister." From the Birmingham Daily Post, with reference to a concert, we cull the following : —" The concert takes place to-night (Monday), and not yesterday, as was stated by mistake." A want of punctuation is responsible for the following : " Yesterday an old woman named Jane Somers was knocked down by a van whilst drunk." " During the crush at the pit entrance on Boxing Night a little girl about ten years of age was crushed and trampelled on, wearing a dark dress which never spoke afterwards." The Natal Times one day in June, 1883, recommending an illustrated catalogue of " Art " furniture, observes that it should be in the hands of all " who like their hares and penates to be ornamental as well as useful." Whilst another example of the danger of foreign phrases is provided by the American paper which coolly turned " 0 tempora I 0 Mores! " into " 0 temperance ! 0 Moses /"A speaker who used the phrase, " übi libertas, ibi patria,*' must have been astonished and annoyed to find it transmogrified into " You be libertas, I be patria. " We have all heard of the audience whose snouts {according to the reporter) rent the air. And of the unfortunate individual who was described as an indigo man, instead of indigent. Of telegraphic blunders there is no end, but one of the best known, authenticated, is that connected with Sir A. Kennedy's Governorship of Queensland. The Times is the sinner, and published what purported to be a telegram from that country announcing that " Lady Kennedy had given birth to twins, the eldest being a 60n." As Sir A. Kennedy was not married, the announcement must have created some excitement. The original of the telegraphic despatch (which had been elaborated) ran "Governor Queensland twins first son." The words really telegraphed by Reuter's Agency were " Governor Queensland turns first sod." Referring to a new railway. We will close the present list of " trippings " with an advertisement which appeared in one of the "religious" papers. It ran as follows : " WANTED.—A steady, middle-aged woman who can sow, mend and cook a Christian preferred."— Homeland.