The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-06
SEEING NEWSPA PER MADE
WUfr nENJAMIN RfNKLTN COULD
NOR MR. DREIMLD OF.


The Compiirai"d machinery TINT Produced
the 3.g~3.503 Copies ot The : un that have
been sold rince tue 9th OF February last
What may be seen nftcr Midnight.
After he had sat for an hour or more
watching the winnowing Of the loads 81 tele
graphic desp ,tchos from N parts Of the world
that ar, r. ceived in rHg sun cditori | rooms at
night. a visitor who recently spent a night In
THE sun flee vent nv to the composing room
u investigate stin further the mvr cries OF
newspaper making. what he saw thereafter he
describes as follows:
It's Just one o'clock In tho morning, the r tile
and rush Of business nave long since ceased. and
in the dark streets only the football Of police
men Il heard. Around Printing House Square
runs fringe of light, showing where, high up in
tile air. the printers Of the morning newspapers
are toilinR at their frames. In The SUN com
posing room bi ze Of gas light streams over a
little army 81 type settlers, each rattlinR up the
types at his highest speed but in all the rush Of
this busiest Of hours everything goes on with
the regularity OF perfectly working machine ;
each man has hia appointed place and work. and
there "a no confusion. The copy. az fast az II
reaches the foreman, Is cut Into convenient
t,rips. numbered, and consigned to the cony
drawer, and Ia thus ready for the h nds OF the
compositors. Each man takes single STRIP or
"take," IA u Il called, so that column OF COPY
may be distributed among 10 or is men. AZ fast
o. the takes" are set up they are "emutied"
into the galley In the order In which they are
numbered. until the column that was only re-
Gently a column Of copy II column Of type.
Then a proof Ia taken Of the whole, and after
this has been read ana marked. and the type
changed accordingly, the column OF type Is
feaOv to he It's uldce ~ TIC page, Technically
ca led the "form." Tho first page, beng e
last that IL m de up, j. OF course tue last 70 60
g he IT. reotypers. Tho ether tntms we're I'M
i.hod m hour AGO. ana are ready for the press
Il now about ,lf-past one O'Clock; the Ia
her Of the comuosi ors IA finished the last form
has been wheeled on Its heavy non tanl. INTO
the stereotyping room, and most Il the lights In
tue composing room nave been e1tihguished'
THE sTGREoTYPING.
In dim and smoky little corner 81 the COM
losing room and partially separated from that
room hy slight partition, Is the apart
Npers srripued to the waist and dri pIng with
wcat. take casts of the types. In one corner are
rarious ma hines for cutting and trimming and
moulding the stereotype plates; on this side Is a
heavy steam chest, aud on another side, near the
fentre Of the room, is the blazing furnace for
The liquef.ctiou OF the COMPOSITE metal. The
"forn," or rage Of types, IL wheeled into the
rentre Of the room. four or i've workmen snrinR
g. It, side. and with wooden mallcts and planners
cent hehtning blows upon the type. his ham
nerinC removes any inequality there may be on
th.surturc O, tne TYNE by irving down auy pieces
that prof ct above the level OF the form. the
face ,fthe metal page l. then thoroughly cleaned
and busted with stin nair brushes. tniu sheet
-
so / piste Of plaster " Paris. l. cl lpped evenly
ana smoo hy uunn The metal page aud Is nam
mcred down with the brushes until II shapes
Itself e. an the joints and depressions OF tue
types. Then o HANDFUL OF the ury Il lur OF pias-
ter ~ Pats Is sea tered over the back OF the pa
per already beaten into the form. Then another
sheet OF paper Is added aud hammered Down
like the nist. his rucessts repeated untii there
IL thick puluN ring Of plaster and paper
over the tyne. The form y then wheeled under
the steam driving uress and allowed - stand for
several minutes. When II II brought out the
paper has become as nArd aud dry as stout card
board anu Il easily peeled on the hot, smoking
page OF types. Outside THIS pasteOoard moIld
N hard ami brown aud Inside tuere Is a perfect
Impression OF the type.
ms pasteboard mould Ia fastened face side
no securely into semcplar iron case and then
tue sting 4 the composite plates to toe used
IN the presses l. begun. Tho metal that is used
r. acomuositIon Of lead. zine, and anthony, and
as 1t bubbles and seethes II tue heated cauldro n
II looks ike molten SILVER. Two men dip no
bucket snd dash II into the mould upon the
face Of the paper impression. Almost instantly
II sOlidihes into a white, dense vi te. and when
tho mould II OPENED ana tue casting - taken
OUT it, face IL n exact coun erpari Of the PAGE
OF tvues from whicn the mould was urie.
Next the plate Is trimmed aud smoothed and
I lisn on IRON machines so that II m Ut
ures.. After nfty-six Of these III ties have been
prepared they are sent to the elevator, ana
coon Tour cen clmplrte metaitic COMES ~ III
SrN are revolving ia the seven Lightning presses
THOUSAND MINUTE.
At about quarter past two, Ia THE SUN's de-
iivorv department, beneath the sidewalks,
large corps Of WOTkmen have just begun work.
Down In the deepest suoterr mean ouugeons the
seven great presses are already clishing and
rumbling as they send out the thousands OF
copies Of The SUN that Hte to 70 forth IN the
early mails To all parts Of the country. In
another part Of the basement one story above
the presses, Is the folding room, IN which II half
dozen folding machines. working with precision
ana speed, are folding the hrst numbeis Of THE
SUS into shape convenient tor mailing The pa
efs rte p ,ne 81 the s rn g' fo1r and ~ ere
tossed, and bent, and doubled until they hutter
rlh and fall into systematic and symm"trical
piles. Thence they are taken TO the mailing
room, where n long line Of busy clerks, with
rapid fingers, enclose them In wrappers and
direct and despatch them to the morning
trains. Netrb v, in long, narrow, ceil-like room,
eUNs a week are counted. At "A long desk at
extends the entire length of the room are 1--WE
or six workmen, the counters, whose nimDle
fingers. iS with electric speed through great
pilcs OF SUNs-piles tn are brought 10 every
minute by the elev tor from the seven thunder
ing presses In the cell r. At the open windows
OF tits room, which look out upon the la ge
distributing room, crowds OF newsmen and
newsbOys have gathered, and are waiting for
OF the news COMPANIES of New York, and
Brooklyn, and jersey CITY, and OF al Joining
towns are backed up in line against tue curo-
stone in the street.
THE SALE
The sale Of THE SUNS immense edition Is con.
ducted entirely by checks that are bought at the
desk Of the counting room up staiis. At the
counting room desk, between 8 and A. NJ the
newsbOvs gather by hundreds filling the ofics
the doorway, the steps, ana tue SIDEWALKS TO the
street. 1hev die up to the desk In orderly line
and each "a bis turn comes deposits his
money. calling out the number of copies that he
wishes. The checks that are given to the pur
rhasets are small, com. like pieces OF met |, hay
ing one side figures showing the number OF
papers that the check represents, ana on the
other side number denoting the price OF that
bumber of papers. The largest number OF p T.
pers Tor which a single check IS given ~ 600
and the smallest nu her. 3. The newsboy. as
soon AZ be h receiv d his check, takes II 10 the
histributing room and receives its equivalent h
copies of THE SUN. The sale of checks At the
counting room desk, and the changing OF the
money must be done with the utmost celebrity
and great eNpertness and quick calculation
are indisueusihle In the seller.
AT or hhlf past o'clock all the presses are
working at their fun speed, and the rumble and
crash Of their heavy machinery NIL all the build
Ing. The pressmen move about the great resse
hither ana thither, in the dim, spectral high
and their forms cast giant shadows upon TN
great beams and bnck walls above. The work
ING Of these lightning presses Is alone an inter
estinR exhibition. Little can be seen OF tn
practical operation OF the printing, as the In
telior Of the monster engine Is almost entrei
concealed bv Its own mass OF machinery.
great roll Of swiftly revolving paper IL seen OF
the summit Of the press, and from the base, lik
-four from the spout OF mill, the papers
printed, cut ana trimmed, shoot forth-two a
a clip from each OF the seven presses-and Al
tho presses combined produce more than
thou and SUNS every minute.