Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-04-28

The Atlantic for May contains the fol.
lowing description OF the worl ing Of q
machine invented by Mr.. Felt Of Mssss-
chusetts:
"The machine stands in substantial icon
framework, Eve feet by four, within which
the mechanism is nicely disposed, SO that
there may be ample room for the four
operations of setting, justifying, leading
and distributing. In front is key board
Of forty-keys, which correspond to two
hundred and ffty-six characters, arranged
in eight cases. A single case consists Of
thirty two fat brass tubes, standing pei
pendiculsrly, side by side, each one being
filed with certain denomination Of type.
Thus the small letter is set by torching
the key; the capital A by touching the
capital key in connection with the key;
the 'csTitsT B by touching the capital
key in connection with the B key; and 50
on with every letter. There are also keys
called the small capital; the ftalic,' and
the ftslio cspitap; so that the machine
contains Bll the characters known to the
compositor. The operation Of these icapi-
tar and small capital keys is similar to
that Of an orgsn-stop in modifying the ef-
feet Of other keys.
HWhen the machine is in motion-snd l
should here mention that it is worked by
steam-a curious piece of mechanism,
called the stiek'-which is about as large
as a mans hand, and quite ss adroit,-
plays to and fro beneath the cases, and
acts obediently to the operators touch.
The spectacle Of this little metallic intelli-
3 -
cers, which it uses much as the elephant
does his trunk, though with infinite Gel
Gritty. Every time key is touched, these
pincers seize type from one of the tubes,
turn downward, and, as it were, put it
into the mouth Of the stick And so vora-
cious is the appetite Of this little creature,
that in few seconds its stomach is full, -
in other words, the lire is set. A tiny
bell gives warning of this fact, and the
operator finishes the word or syllable. BE
then touches the justifyibg key, and the
spacer seizes the line and draws it into
another part Of the machine to be justified,
while the empty stick resumes its feeding
No time is lost; for, while the stick is sef-
ting second line, the 'spacer' is justify
ing the first; SO that, in few moments
after starting, the processes are going foE-
ward simultaneously. That Of justifying
is, perhaps, the most ingenious. lis &C.
complished in this wise. The stick never
sets q full line, but leaves room for spaces,
and with the last letter Of each word in-
serts pieos Of steel to separate the words.
When the line has been drawn into the
spscer, the pieces Of steel, which are fur
nished with nicked heads for the purpose,
are withdrawn and ordinary spaces are
substituted. All this requires no attention
from the operator. The matter thus set
and justified is now lesded byt emschine,
and deposited upon galley ready for the
press.
'4n this machine, distribution is the re-
verse Of composition, and is effected by
simply reversing the motion Of the shaft
By duplicating certain parts of the ma
chine, both operations are performed at
the same time. The process of distributing,
may be made automatic by means Of the
register. This device, although sn origi-
nal invention with Mr. Felt, is an spplics-
ticn Of the principle Of the Jacquard loom.
It consists Of narrow strip Of card or
paper, in which holes are punched as the
types are taken, forming a substitute for
the troublesome nicking Of the type, which
has heretofore been thought indispensable
to automatic distribution. By this means
the type can be changed in resetting, il
desired, go that different editions of the
same work can be printed in different
sizes Of type"