Suggestions by an Operator by Claude E. Holmes

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1909

Suggestions by an Operator

By Claude E. Holmes

ALL educators are united in the belief that children should be educated in the art of composition, which, of course, includes spelling and grammatical construction. But the position of the type-setter is peculiarly adapted to discovering how thoroughly the training has been grasped and put into practise by the pupil. The writings of a mature person surely reveal the result of his early impressions.

Because of ignorance and carelessness a vast amount of labor is required of editors, proof-readers, and compositors in preparing articles for public reading.

From the view-point of a linotype operator, I would say that there seems to be a great lack of accuracy and legibility in writing. Recently some copy came to my hand, upon which, when held up before me, I could not recognize the form of a single word. I had to start at the first, and gradually unravel it, as one would unravel a stocking by getting hold of the right end of the yarn.

The president of a railroad, while traveling over a division, was spoken to rather sharply by a station-master. On his return to the office, the president wrote him by hand, severely censuring him for his discourtesy, and also discharging him from the company's employ. His writing was of the Horace Greeley type. No one could read it. It is said that for several years the discharged employee used that letter as a pass over the road. In that case, poor writing was of some value; but it is not desired by linotype operators.

There is about as much difference between setting type by hand and setting it on the linotype as there is between sewing by hand and running a sewing-machine. The copy must be readable, or the speed of the operator is retarded. He has to read every word and punctuation mark, and every error in setting is checked up against him. In preparing a list of customs a comma was once left out, and it cost the United States government a large sum of money before it could be corrected.

In common words it does not matter so much if i's and e's look alike; but if the word happens to be the name of some German professor, a carelessly made letter means a trip to the dictionary: sometimes the word can not be found even there, and the writer wonders why a big printing-office can not spell correctly.

Some copy looks like sentences diagrammed after the Reed and Kellogg system. The operator is obliged to chase words and phrases all around the outskirts of the sheet and in between the lines, and resuscitate words that have apparently fainted away under the shock of an eraser. Of course, some of this is excusable and necessary.

Seventh-day Adventists are too well acquainted with the Bible to quote, “Cleanliness is next to godliness” as a text; yet about ninety-five per cent of the texts quoted in manuscripts have mistakes in them. This is really serious financially, if not otherwise. Hundreds of dollars are expended every year simply in correcting errors in quotations.

I have heard it said that a number of years ago an article was sent to the REVIEW for publication which was so poorly constructed that the editor rewrote the whole thing. The contributor, after reading his revised thoughts, exclaimed, with pride, “I didn’t know I could write such a good article!”

Spelling words correctly is, without a doubt, a fine art. But with the many dictionaries to be found to-day, there is not much excuse for many errors in this respect. I gladly excuse foreigners, however, in making mistakes, as I have wrestled with language work a little; yet it causes one to smile when he reads, “The climate is very embracing”! “dum animals,” “the Diety,” etc.

These are only a very few compared with the many mistakes which are made continuously by educated writers. I might mention one other common error, and that is, the use of per, as, per week. This word should be used only with Latin words; as, per annum, per capita, etc.

In conclusion, I would suggest that accuracy in writing and spelling be taught loud and long. CLAUDE E. HOLMES.