Untitled

New Zealand Mail, Issue 12, 15 April 1871, Page 8

The Advantages oj Telegraphy were fully realised by the brokers and commercial people of Auckland and the Thames on the occasion of the recent gales, which interrupted communication, and which led to a great deal of inconvenience. Bui.es eor Newspaper Correspondents. —A philanthropic correspondent, who seems to have a very proper feeling for the loss compositors are subjected to through bad " copy," sends us the following extract from the " Queenslander " :—l. Write on one side only of your letter or note paper. 2. As you desire the blessings, and not the anathemas, of " Typo," write, at all times, legibly. The manuscript of a man stamps him in the estimation of a compositor. If the " copy" is good, Typo says (gleefully) : "Ah, this was written by 'a white man!'". If bad, he holds it disgustfully to his next mate, with — "You would not lend this fellow five shillings, would you?" "No! (is the unhesitating response) he'll be hanged yet!" Bad copy involves the loss, to a compositor, of many shillings—even pounds—during the year, which, otherwise, would be invested in boots, frocks, and lollies for his little ones: hence such copy is a dead loss to the community at large. . 3. Folio each slip of your copy. 4. Always indent every fresh paragraph ; and never (if you can avoid it), carry one or two lines over to the next slip. 5. In writing the words of any foreign language, let every letter be well formed and legible. Oompositors are no,fc supposed to be all Porsons or Elihu Burritts. 6. In signing your name at the end of a letter let it be plain as copperplate. Hieroglyphical signatures are odious ; and betoken, in those who indulge in them, mental weakness, non-respectability, and loose morals — {sic Typo). 7. Never put the initial "I" for " J," in a signature. It is impossible for a printer to tell whether a man's name is Isaac or Jacob. [This is a common, but most pernicious custom.] 8. Never write with faint ink. Let your words stands forth bright and clear as your actions. 9. Adhere faithfully to the foregoing plain rules. Then, — That every communication of yours may be •' accepted" by the urbane- editor (who himself delights in good, conscientiously-written manuscript) is the sincere prayer of one who wishes you well —both in this world and the next. [Q.Y.—Will not the anathemas, uttered during the silent watches of the night, over " bad copy," be entered —not to the account of the poor, perplexed, defrauded " comp.," but against those who, by artless hieroglyphics, invoke those curses from his otherwise serene soul? Beflect. and,.if guilty, reform.] __,._