Maumee Express

A Monkey Distributing Type. -A printer who served his time in Londonderry, (Ireland,) tells a very good story of the imitative genius of a monkey.

The animal was the property of an apprentice boy, who, having won him at a raffling match, brought him home and tied him to his stand.

There Mr. Skipjack, who was an observing character, had a fine opportunity to learn the printer's trade; at least as far as it could be learned by merely watching the movements of others.

How far he profited by it, will presently be seen. If he did not in the end make the most satisfactory progress, it was certainly not for want of close observation on his part.

He watched the movements of his young master with the most profound attention. He observed how he set the type and how he distributed them. But it was the latter which most especially struck his fancy. He saw the lad throwing the bits of metal around him, into the various detachments of the case from I down to Ampersand, and his monkey fingers itched to be employed in a similar manner.

At last an opportunity was afforded him. The apprentice and all hands having gone to dinner, the monkey was carelessly left on so long a string, that he could easily leap upon the case, and have abundant room for his "free and easy" movements when there.

On the upper case, were a couple of galleys full of type already set up for the next paper. Upon these the monkey commenced his distribution. He was not at all careful about taking a single word at a time, or distributing the types according to the alphabet. On the contrary, he clawed them up by handfuls, distributed them in the most preposterous manner, throwing them about him on all sides, without caring whether, A went into B's box. B into C's and C into D's : or in how great disorder the various letters became mingled together.

In a word, the monkey, with all his imitative ingenuity, was doing nothing better than making pi of the two galleys of type. And this he accomplished in the most rapid manner. Afraid lest the printers should return from their dinner before he had accomplished his job, he threw with might and main, and had nearly finished his piece of journey-work, when the boy's master, who had first returned to the office, opened the door and beheld the new printer at work.

So tickled was the man, in spite of the mischief the monkey was doing, that he burst into a roar of laughter, and called all hands to witness the ludicrous movements of their brother typo. They came just in time to see him throw in the last handful of the two columns of type. which had taken a man a whole day's labour in setting.

The monkey having completed his job much to his own satisfaction, turned round and looked the printers in the face, grinning and chattering, as if to congratulate them on the accession of strength they had gained to their office.

But whatever the men might have thought of the industry of their new compeer, they were not altogether satisfied with the manner in which he did his work. It was, therefore, resolved, nem con., that skipjack should handle no more type in that office.

But the discredit he suffered in the office was of no little service to his reputation out of it; for the story of his distributing the two columns getting wind through Londonderry, he became a very profitable object for a new raffling match; and his owner putting him up at forty chances of five shillings each, got ten pounds sterling for an animal that had rendered himself so famous among the types.