The Evansville daily journal., 1855-11-19
OBJ 9ailg gournaI.
TYPE DISTRIBUTOR.

8 80 - " h"fC SSfeIdl dpOut our EStaDnSl-
ment butthen they are made of flesh; they
grow hungry and eat; type distributing is not
all they can do. Hota
! But what we are writing of, machine and
nbthing human, that cracks no jokes, has no
board-bill, is never too cold or too warm, OF
weary or lazy; but stands at the ''case," and
Ijust-distributes; -only this and nothing
more" Eac t11f
Much wonder has been expressed by many
and slight mingling of incredulity, at the as
sertion that machine has been made to work
successfully a"Typo'-at least so far as the
process called distributing is concerned
1t seems to such, to involve something like
intelligenee; as if iron and brass must have
been to school, and learned their '1etters" to
say the least of it. That it is possible to con-
struct machine that could "set up'' or dis
tribute any given line or lines, they readily
concede, but how mere thing can go through
the columns of newspaper and correctly re-
turn each letter to its case again, is to them a
mystery, faefz sal~ f9is
But the n. Y. Tribune now actually num-
bers such "thing' among its typographical
force and we are sure its account of the strange
device will not be without interest to our
readers: .fs4aaoo ad5 zsr1 iIe
Attempts to facilitate the setting Of type
have not been very frequently made, butwe
have now to chronicle very beautiful, ingen-
ious; and so far as tested, very successful ma
chine for distributing OF returning type to their
boxes after the printing in completed. The
Inventor, is Mr.. Beaumont of this city, scien-
tifc and skillful mechanic, who has labored
for considerable time to overcome all the
practical difficulties, and has produced and put
in use in the Tribune Office full sized ma
chine capable ofdistributing thirty lines of the
brewer type of the Tribune in three minutes
The machine is automatic and distributes with
perfect accuracy everything but two m and
three-m quadrats without any attendance ex-
cept to supply the matter at short intervals.
The types are carefully picked apart and
are left standingin lines suitable for atype- set
ting machine, or tumbled unceremoniously
into boxes as may be desired, the later being
easier, as requiring less labor and care in their
removal by the attendants. The principle on
which the machine is able to discriminate and
put each type in its appropriate place is that Of
feeling not the face, but the sides of the body.
Each type is prepared expressly for the pur-
pose by emitting three hicks onits edges, differ
emily arranged for each letter. The letter a
for example, is manufacturedwith three hicks,
called one, two and three counting from the
highest; has one two and four bias two,
three and five, &c. The channel leading to
each box is provided with a mouth of the
same form, carefully executed in hardened
steel to withstand the wear, and the lines of
type are pressed up successfully against all
these channels until the rightone is presented,
when the first type in the line pops in leaving
the next to commence similar round. rf1I
The receiving channels are arranged in a
circle faces inward, and the lines of type to be
distributed are ranged radially in a horizontal
wheel of somewhat less diameter. This wheel
is properly geared and rolls around within the
enclosure, presenting each type rapidly but
gently to every aperture. The lines are
thrust outward in the wheel by suitable
which are simultaneously compressed
bv a simple movement when it is desired to
supply more matter In working out the de-
tails of this machine the most beautiful SIM
plicity has been arrived at, and every type IS
seized On entering its proper channel by a
spring lever of sufficient force to tear it from
its fellows, however adhesive may be its aka
line and inky bond. A similar lever guards
the exit of each type from the wheel, and the
hold is slackned only during the instant it
presses fairly against the steel mouth of a
channel for its reception. Thirty lines are re-
ceiyed at once in the wheel, and the machine
has been for several months in operation with
out appearing to wear or otherwise injure the
sides of the type. The hicks cause slight
ANNOYANCE by catching the rule in setting, but
this evil will probably be overcome by prac-
tice. We consider that the machine deserves
"a very high degree of attentinn and promises
"a great economy in the business of printing.