The union Democrat., 1870-03-19
The Fastest Living Type-Setter.

On Saturday afternoon Mr.. George Arens-
berg, better known as the "Velacipede,n a
compositor employed on morning paper in
this city, accomplished tie extraordinary feat
of setting >. .064 ems solid minion. in one hour
The trial took place to decide a wager between
f. A. Donaldson. printer. and also noted as
boat-nuller, billiard player. and base ballist,
and Mr.. Areausberg, Donaldson wagering
two 10 one that the "Velocipede could
not set four sticksful of solid n,inon in one
tour, he to be entitled to ore break-line con-
tanning two or more words in each stckful
Quite a large amount of money was staked
| on the result. " tins" being the favorite.
As the time for the trial approached the
composing-room presented lively and some
what excited appearance. Typos from other
Offices dropped in to witness the trial and to
invest little on the reSult-the outsid-
ers generally backing " time" and the
boys of the Office accommodating all who came.
their faith in tie "Nelocipede' being strong.
The Judges were Mr.. Stanley on the part of
slime" and Mr.. Payne on behalf of Arens-
berg. Both were provided with stop-watches
MIR. SANKEY'S being of celebrated foreign
make. while Mr.. Payne's was of American
manufacture.
At precisely eight o'clock the irdges gave
the word. and the "Velocipede' commenced
picking up the types. lie started off at a
| rapid pace. Many thought he would not be
! able to keep it up, but would break down be-
| fore completing his fourth stickful. The
hackers of time " felt quite iubilant. show
| ing more greenbacks. which were promptly
covered by the friends of the "Velocipede. :"
His first stckfcl was completed in thirteen
minutes and thirtv-ive seconds.
This was extraordinary time. and his friends
were correspondinglv iubilant. AS he start
ed on his second stickful verious were the sur
| misses as to whether ne would be able to keep
up his Gait, the hackers of ''time" evidently
thinking that he would not, and investing a
few more greenbacks on the strength of that
suppostion. but when the result was announc-
ed, it was found that he had done It in thir-
teen minutes and thirty seconds, thus beat
| ing the time of his first stickful by five Sc
conds.
This rather staggered the hackers of slime, s"
and as he now had over sixteen minutes for
| each of the other two stickstul, some of them
began to look fer an opportunity to hedge" :"
but the time for that had gone by: every one
wanted to bet The same way. He started on
his third stick with apparently unabared
| speed, and completed it in just fourteen min
uteS.
This left him eighteen minutes and forty
five seconds IN which to complete his fourth
stickful. The excitement at this time was
intense. Nothing but an accident could pre-
vent him from winning. and his friends were
wild with Joy; while those VINO had bet gainst
him were correspondnclv detected. One in
dividnal offered to bet $50 that he could set
1000 ems in the hour, and this was speedily
taken by one CT the unfrrtunates who had
been investing on "time," who hoped in this
wav to regain some cf bis losses. lie com
pleted his fourth stickful in fourteen minutes
ard ten seconds, thus setting the four sticks
full in tifty-fve minutes and fifty seconds.
This won the original bet, with four minutes
and Eve seconds to spare. but another stick
was passed him. and he kept up, until the
! hour was up. when it was found that lie Lad
composed 2.064 ems
Immediately upon the announcement of the
result he was surrounded by his friends, in
cluding those who had bet against him, and
heartily congratulated upon his success. This
Is without doubt the fastest type-setti1g on
record, and If Mr.. Baker or any one else
think they can beat it they can be accommo-
dated with trial at any time they may wish
Immediately after the close of the match Mr.
Arens5ers's friends announced that they
would match him aga nst any printer in the
world to set tvpe for one hour or one week.
l. nav interest the public to know that the
type will average three letters to the EN-. so
that Mr.. Arensberg actually placed 6,l92
pieces Of metal in position within ore hour.
His proof sheet was unusually clean.-N. T..
Sun.