AMUSING ERRORS OF THE PRESS.

Western Star, Issue 1116, 15 January 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

AMUSING ERRORS OF THE PRESS.

The art of printing has not as yet been carried to such perfection as will enable a publisher to issue his papers, magazines or books without there being a single typographical error in them. Nor will it be while man is mortal. In transferring the “ copy ” to type there is a broad field of error-making; and many and amusing are the mistakes that occur. Sometimes the blame can be laid on the compositor, but, in nine cases out of ten, on the author; and no matter who should be blamed, when a mistake occurs, the editor will invariably apologise to the readers, and considerately throw all the blame on the “ stupid ” compositor. The illegibility of the manuscript is the cause of nearly all the typographical blunders which occur. Very often compositors receive what is termed by them—and not undeservedly— “ chain-lighting - copy,’’ the production generally of the managing editor, a gentleman who pays as little attention to his chirographical beauty Jas is consistent with his editorial dignity. He slaps down his disjointed, dislocated thoughts upon paper in such a hurry, that he has JJlittle time to think of his good writing; erases this word, underlines that, transposes this, beging a paragraph there, runs one in here, and so forth, and before it is sent up to the unfortunate “ comp,’ 7 i looks more like a war map of the Bashi-Bazouks than copy for. a Christian compositor to put in type. And when the compositor gets “stuck” on a word, and the copy is sent down to the editor to make it out, the chances are he himself will be unable to do so. .•

One of our prominent barristers, lately deceased, was notably one of the worst writers in the. United Kingdom. He wrote such a bad “ fiat,” as the lawyers termed it, that he could no more read his own writing than he could the hieroglyphics on the Egyptian pyramid, , Benjamin Drew says: “It is very easy to say that printers’ errors are owing to the ignorance and carelessness of the compositors; but, on the other hand, where printed copy is reset such mistakes scarcely ever occur—and the absence of errors is in direct ratio of the legibility of the copy.” It is said of that eccentric American genius, Edgar Allan Poe, that a mere typographical error would throw him intojan ecstacy of passion. Perhaps we might forgive him for this weakness, for neater, prettier copy than his never went to the printer. We have collected together a few amusing typographical errors.

A graduated college student, using the words, “And, like great Caesar, die with decency,” in his speech was surprised to see it published, “ And, like great Caspar, die with dysentry.” Tom Hood’s world-famous “ Song of the Shirt ” was once published as the “ Song of the Skirt.” One of our biood-and-thunder “ to* be-continued ” stories said, “The blueeyed adventuress went,” etc., and was published, “The blear-eyed adventuress went,” etc. As the morning papers say, the “ following correspondence explains itself ”: “ Ac the recent fire in the Knickerbocker Co.’s ice-house 20,000 tons of ice were reduced to ashes." We once read of a man who had been “ digging a well with a Koman nose.” The financial editor of a newspaper said, “ Although we are now suffering

from financial depression, money is not as scarce as chronic grumblers vpuld have us believe, as we found a shilling walking along the ■> street.” Where the shilling was going he doesn’t say. f : The following verdict of a coroner’s jury was published : “ Deceased bore an accidental character, and the jury returned a verdict of excellent death.” A married lady sent a note to a London serial to get a recipe to cure the whooping-cough in a, pair of twins. By a deplorable mistake; a recipe for pickling onions was unconsciously inserted, and her name attached, and she received this answer through “ Answers to Correspondents.” ; “L. H. B.—-If not to young, skin them pretty closely, immerse in scalding water, sprinkle plentifully with salt, and immerse them for a week in strong brine.” She didn’t it, however, as she thought it would kill the cough nineteen times out of twenty, and the children nine times out of ten. In one of our love-stories the passage occurred. “Mr B , won’t you have some boiled chicken 1 ” and the author was horrified to find it published, “ Mr B——— won’t you have some boiled children ? ” A bombastic waiter, who paid more attention to ponderous words than he did to common sense, poured forth this wonderful piece of eloquence in his paper: “ There is no man, woman or child in this city but what has felt the aforesaid truth thundering through their minds for centuries*”