The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-09-12
The Matrix Writer.

y" should not be surprised IL some day IL
should be possible for me to write an article
and have Imprinted right from my manuscript"
Ihis remark was made once by journalist
who Is not at all addicted to Visions saws the
Boston Journal. 1t is possible that it was
prophetic utterance. At any rate there are
men at work inventing and perfecting devices
by the aid Of which printing will be done from
plates cast in matrices, which will actually be
the manuscript Of those whose writings are TO
be printed Among these men is Mr.. Merritt
II. Dement, OF Chicago, a gentleman who has
had experience as stenographer and in Jour-
nalism. He has been engaged during the last
three years in perfecting his inventions, work.
ing both here and in Europe and securing
already four patents in the United States, be-
sides patents in Canada, Great Britain France,
Germany and Belgium. He has not yet had
perfected machine built but with his trial ma
chinery is said to accomplish very promising
results. The new process consists in making
type indentations in strips of paper mache, the
strips being combined in page or column form,
and then stereotyped or electrotyped. The
machine for making the indentatons consists
OF type-wheel and cylinder, which are run
by power at the rate of two hundred and fifty
to three hundred revolutions a minute. The
type-wheel contains alphabets OF hardened
steel types. In the cylinder are series OF
bars, each bar being arranged to operate upon
| particular type The bars are operated by a
series of keys-a cross between typewriter keys
and the keys of a piano-each key being let
tered and working upon particular bar. The
bar, until set in motion, remains at rest In the
revolving cylinder. When key is pressed
it operates npon the corresponding bar,
| causing it to pass upon beveled plate
or cam. As the bar passed along the sur
| face of the cam, 1t comes in contact with
| the paper, and by pressing it upon the type
| makes the indentation. While thus held be-
tween the bar and the type, the paper is carried
along so as to bring the indentation out of the
| way and place the paper in position for the
next letter. To provide for giving each letter
its proper space the bars are made of different
| widths; the bar for the letter "W," for in
stance, being quite wide, while that for the
| letter 81" is quite narrow. The whole opera
| ton Is so rapid that some five hundred letters
can be printed in a minute. uniform depth
| OF indentation is secured, as the CAM being
| fixed and solid, is positive in its action and
presses the bars on the paper and type uni
formly, while fixed guard prevents any one
| letter being indented deeper than another.
| The indentations are made upon a strip of
paper, rather than upon a sheet, for convent
| ence of what printers call Justification" or
even spacing, and correction. The indented
strip is first proof read, and as errors are found
| the words, or incorrect portions of words, are
marked on the strip, and also written correctly
| on slip of paper The words on the slip are
| then indented on another piece of strip by the
same machine, or by any other having the
proper font of type; this strip of corrections is
| run in the justifying apparatus by the side of
the original strip which is being justified, and
| as the marked words are reached they are cut
out, and the corrected words, which come in
order, are cut off and put in their places. In
this manner whole paragraphs, when omitted
can be readily inserted and the operation per-
formed with rapidity and accuracy. Justifca-
ton, which has been bugbear with all type
writing or type-matrice machines Is said to be
especially easy and perfect in this process The
operator on the justifying apparatus, by means
of guide at the side of the strip, can instantly
tell where to cut the strip for line, and IL it is
necessary to spread the words he sewers the
strip between each word, and spreads them
ont to fill the line as he runs them in the form.
If the end of the line should come in the
middle of word an indented hyphen is
cut from strip of hyphens which is run in
a third groove and added to the line. Any
kind of type can be used, and there are
various modes of stereotyping or electro
tipping, none of them having any especial con-
nection with Mr. Dement'S invention. Mr.. De-
ment claims that while printer will set types
for one thousand words in five hours and dis
tribute them in three hours, making eight hours
in all, an operator on this new machine will
easily print $4,000 words in eight hours, and
there is no distribution to be done. There
would thus be a large saving in time, conse-
quent saving in labor and expense, and also a
saving in the wear and tear of type, which is a
considerable item of expense in large print
ing office. MIR. Dement, has a scheme for rent
ing machines by the year to country news
papers. He has been promised a good finan-
cial backing and hopes to have factory started
within six weeks and the machines on the
market within four months. There is no obsta-
Gle in the way of the practical working of Mr..
Dement'S invention, should the mechanical
difficulties be all overcome Press writers are
all accomplished Spencerians in pepmanship
and their handwriting, like type, can be read at
sight.