Word: handset
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...pierced only by the cough of a diesel engine in the offices of the Cheng Ch'i Chung Hua Jih Pao (Righteous China Daily News), the island's only newspaper. All night long the engine had wheezed, supplying erratic power for the lights by which Chinese compositors handset four tabloid-size pages of type. The little engine rested briefly while a workman slipped the power take-off belt from the generator to an ancient flat-bed press. Then it snuffled back to life, to begin the daily press run of 7,000 copies...
Ploy & Counterploy. Publishing an English-language paper in Thailand, Berrigan frequently has to carry the World, Atlas-like, on his back. His 43 Thai compositors handset every word of the ten-page paper, and since they speak no English, regularly speckle the World with gaudy and sometimes bawdy typos. His general manager is a converted taxi driver; his star photographer was once his houseboy. Worst of all. most of Berrigan's Thai reporters cannot write English. After they cover a story, Berrigan has to debrief them in a game of delicate ploy and diffident counterploy. Sample...
...DIFFERENT-EXCITING-INSPIRING" is a rhodium-finish Crucifix Prayer Book, an inch and a half long and sparkling with handset imported rhinestones. "Contains Hidden Holy Prayer! Look thru center stone . . . see tiny child praying . . . read beautiful Lord's Prayer!" This $9.95 value is now only $2.98, and, in addition, purchasers may "wear amazing Crucifix Prayer Book for 10 Days at Our Risk...
...company's apparent concern (as expressed in the Preface) for our knowledge in how to dial. Step 1. "Look in the directory for the number [you have your choice of several]. If the information is not in the directory, dial 'Information'," (which seems logical enough). Step.2. "Lift the handset." (Yes.) Step 3. "Listen for the dial tone before dialing. This steady humming sound tells you that the dial equipment is ready for your call." (Boy! This is one hum we want to hear talk!) Step 4. "Go to heck." (This is surely a misprint, else, first steps are indeed misleading...
...Number, Please. A new telephone with a dial that lights up when the handset is lifted was announced by American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Estimated cost to a user: 25? extra per month...