Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1876-08-23
EIPOSYTIOY NOrES,
Correspondence OF The Evening Star I

who take an interest In E" tn 3 art preservative
OF all arts,"-as who does not Twill f1ud
much to interest them here, particularly in
the department Of NAting Presses. have
rever seen SO many, and doubt whether so
large q number and such q great variety
were ever before brought together under one
roof. Many of them are running more or
less of the time, but most OF them are stand
Ing motionless, serving In that way to illus
trate the principles upon which they are
constructed or to advertise their inventors
and builders. or course l have no: been able
to examine critically m IRE than a Soul
portion OF them, and 1 shall not undertake
to describe even the very few to which
have given considerable stuiy. lad sci,
may as well admit at oncs that L am not
sufficiently familiar with the principles Id
technical language of mech anical scie noe to
do IL thoroughly, were so disposed and had
the necessary time and space.
have long foreseen that the time Is no: far
distant when THE STAR must have s1ifter
and more powerful machinery than the very
use. My attention has, therefore. naturally
been drawn mostly to the great newspaper
printing machines In the exhibition; aud In
the operation and results OF tn sse L I'VE
been greatly interested They are four In
number, viz: the Bullock, the Campbell, the
Hoe, and the Walter. The first three are
Il
lish invention,-being the product of Nc.
Walter, the proprietor OF the )ndon TINES,
who was driven By the needs OF his great
journal into the domain OF mechanics. For
the benent of the uninitiated, may say ca at
the essential difference between these pre- sses
and the best heretofore In use In the princi-
pal newspaper establishments Of the world
and OF which the huge rotary machine in
THE STAR ONCE IL fair exampIe-lies IN
the fact that O they must print from stereo-
type plates, instead OF from plates or nova
mil OH ha pad. hot IA
they print both sides or the sheet In one
passage through the press; and (3) that they
are sell, feeding,-that is, they supply them
many hundred yards in length, which is at
the same time cut off into sheets OF the pro-
per size. Through the last two great I'm
minimum OF expenditure are secured; mas,
much as the printing capacity is doubled,
as compared With presses OF the old style,
and one stout boy are Sufficient attsnda lce
THESE points are the great desiderata In a
newspaper office nova days. The highest
penditure in money, 10 order to of set the
steadily charging expenses in 9th Or dtrec-
lions growing out OF the constantly iucrsas-
Ing demands OF the public on modern jour
nalism.
AS to the relative merits of the four rival
machines, 1t may be said that up 70 this
time they are not all sufficiently developed
or perfected TO enable one to finally Judge
without danger OF making a mistak5, 10
view OF what may be developed in co nee
ton with them IN the future. It is only safe
therefore, TO tell what one sees, and to say
what impression Is made by results. In
common with other visitors TO Machinery
Hall, have seen them all except the Camp
belly running at odd times; and In this way
a tolera5ly fair idea of their character ami
respective merits may be formed. But 1T
was my good fortune to see more than this.
OF them (the Bullock aud the Walter M ale
their test run, OF an hour each, In presence
OF the judges who are TO make OH :ial aw Ard
concerning them.
Within the hour allotted to it the Walter
press turned out the astonishing mum Der of
10,45 complete AMI well printed q ptysl
copies of the New YORK Times,-hsving
stopped six minutes aud half to supply q
new roll Of paper.
In the same period OF time the lllock
printed and delivered IA $40 complete copies
OF the New York Herdld,- pages likewise
Eight minutes were required here to m IKE
tine paper shift, and about ten minutes W sre
also consumed Ia substituting q new roller
for melted one; but as this seemed to be
a legitimate contingency doubt whether
the loss ought TO be deducted from the rua
ming time. In regard to the np nber o.
sheets printed. +! must explain that the B IL
lock press is of double size, that Is, 1t is wide
enough to hold two full sets of forms,-wdich
were on IL when toe test was made, while
the Walter had on 1t only single set,-so
mer as compared with that Of the latter (of
the same size, that ISL Is a. I 40 to 10,455.
Think OF printing one hundred and seventy
With every tick OF your watcbl The tempta-
ton Is very strong TO enlarge here upon the
bewildering contrast betwetn one Of these
chinery and the frail little hand-press, pear
by, which Franklin used when journey
man printer; but this sort OF hing has been
somewhat overdone, aud will resist It. I
the progress OF the oentury can hardly be
more clearly illustrated than by compari-
son of these two devices for disseminating
The OFFICIAL teal OF the Hoe machine did
not see, but have reliable Information tn at
1t printed 2l,O00 perfect copies within its
also used, so that Its running capacity as
compared with that OF the Walter would be
| 10 500 Impressions per hour, or about one
This machine has folder attached. which
takes the loose sheets Is they leave the plates
and delivers them neatly folded ready for
part OF the press, although when 1t is In
| operation 1t adds considerably to the interest
| OF The machine. i may say, too, that Ii a. Ids
| several thousand dollars TO its cost.
| Far greater and more surprising things
than any / have mentioned are promised
from the improved Campbell machine,
which SO far Is II was In place when n, last
sort than printing press. But as have
| not seen IL In operation 1 am not able to say
anything OF its achievements. 1t impre ;ses
| stand the high rate Of speed at W nicn 1t must
| be run TO meet the expectations OF Its san
guine inventor.
As to the matter OF price, there is, l be-
| lieve, not much difference between the four
| machines referred 10. Asnear as 1 can learn,
| they will each cost the buyer In the neigh
borhood Of 30,0O0, when set up and put in
| running order. And just here that Curious
| contrtvSnC ,, the protective tariff. comes In
| To lay its heavy hand upon the energies OF
American journalism In the new century.
| The Walter press, am told, IL delivered and
| put up complete In England for S15, 900. A
cunning manipulation OF our tariff law
places, however, q duty OF hfty per cent.
| ddrdlore1n on this class Of imported machi
merry. This makes the net cost TO N Ameri-
can go 800. To this sum must be added, also,
premium on gold, difference In exchange,
freight and insurance, extra cost OF setting
| up In this country, and other necessarily iu-
| creased expenses incident to the situation,
60 that the fdnal total IL swelled to $50 900, In
| round figures. And, strangely enough, this
sum In Just about the prios they happen to
ask for each Of it, American competitors !
although dare say either Of them can be
manufactured ~ cheaply in this country rs
| the Walter IL In England, and forthermor
that they could be sold here with q fair mar
gin Of pront for the same sum IL costs there,
or say about one-hAlf OF the asking price.
feel anne hesitation I'm eXDr0xqiDR auv