All, all is sleeping on the hill

The Freep covers our famous visitor's appearance on campus* yesterday:

It was so hot Wednesday, in fact, Wayne State Police Chief Anthony Holt said emergency medical services treated 46 people during the Obama event. All but one was treated for a heat-related illness. Six -- including at least three students -- were taken to Henry Ford Hospital, where they were treated and released.

If you can't imagine "all of us but him is coming" or "all of them is hungry but that one," you might be wondering how "all but one was treated" shows up in professionally written and (allegedly) processed text. I expect it's the ghost of the stylebook. Somebody's thinking it can't be as simple as it looks -- there's a rule somewhere about everybody, or each, or all, or something, so whatever way "all but one" sense, it has to be the other way! It's style! It isn't supposed to make sense! And thus is another precedent born: Well, that's how we did it last week.

* Right across the road. You can see the stands from my office.