Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1885-04-09

A Mechanical Contr1vancc with unbOuudcd
Popularity.

growing in popularity.
About ten years ago the first type.
writer was invented. 1t was patented
by two Detroit men who sold their
rights to the machine, but drew a
royalty on it for some years. One of
these men was printer by trade, and
for years he had been experimenting
with writing machine TO supplant
the pen. He first invented machine
for numbering automatically the
pages of books such as ledgers.
When the typewriter was first lpon
the market it was a crude machine,
very different from what it is to-day.
The foot was brought into operation
in it to pull back the carriage upon
which the paper was rolled, some
what like n sewing machine. There
were various other clumsy appliances
connected with it, and the machine
was regarded by the public more as
4 curiosity than as practical writing
instrument, a few large offices, how
ever, began to use typc-writcrs, and
the advantages of the instrument were
seen where Il large number of mani
fold copies were required and it was
desirable to have Il very plain and
easily decphercd copy. Improve
ments were made from time to time
in the mechanism, and as the machine
was gradually being perfected it be-
came more and more popular.
Meantime its success prompted 9th
cr inventors to apply themselves to
the subject of writing machines. One
of the iirs. to come out was invented
in Sweden and patent obtained upon it
throughout Europe. The principle Of
this typewriter was radically differ
cnt from that of the American ma
chine. Instead of the type being ar
ranged in Il circular pocket and fly
ing up to hit the paper, in the for
eign machine the type and keys were
arranged like pins in pincushion
and the instrument was in the shape
of hemisphere. With the keys stick
ing out all over its surface it very
much resembled porcupinc. This
machine was very small and could
almost be carried in the pocket. 1t
had many advantages over he Ameri
machine, and likewise many disad-
| vantagcs.
Hardly had the foreign machine
been upon the market than another
American machine came out uDon
some of the principles Of the first
machine, the patents upon which had
expired. This was followed by anoth-
cr on an altogether different plan,
the type being made of rubber and
all together on little pad.
When writing the letter is brought
over a small hole in plate and
through this hits the paper, all the
other types at the same time taking
up Il supply Of ink. On the other ma
chimes an linked ribbon is brought be-
tween the type and the paper, and the
ink takes the shape of the letter pres
sing against it.
This was followed by still another
machine wherein the type, made on
| hard rubber in the form of a cylinder,
rcvolvcd in n horizontal cavity and
the paper was driven up against the
type by the release of a small hammer
every timc Il letter was struck. One
of the advantages of this latter ma
chine is that an infinite number of
characters can he used in it and type
for writing in German and other for
eign languages can be inserted at will.
A member of the Turkish Legation
in the United States not long ago cx-
pressed his admiration of the type
writer and his intention of having one
made that would write in the Turkish
language. There are thirty-threc
letters in this language and Hassin
Enendi made copy of them and gave
it to an engraver to make a set of
letters for the typewriter. 1t was
only at the last minute that he dis
covered that all the type-writers work
from left to right, as the English
language is written, while Turkish is
written from right to left. The ex-
cessive cost of altering a machine to
write in this direction decided him
not to get one. A typewriter for
writing in any language can be made,
however.
The manufacture of type-writers is
now an important American industry.
Ninc-tenths of all the type-writers
used in the world are made in this
country. The traveller can now find
the American machines in daily use
in England, France, Germany, Russia,
and indeed in all the European coun-
tries. The English Government,
which is very slow to make changes
of n radical or progressive nature, has
adopted the American typewriter,
and in all tho Government offices in
India rs well those in London and |
elsewhere the machine is now in con-
slant use.
The Chinise are about the only peo-
plo who will be left out of the type
writing nations. There are so many |
thousand characters in their language !
that it would be impossible to con-
struct machine capable of doing the
work.
There are many thousands of type
writers in daily use in New York City,
and the instrument has long ceased to
be q curiosity. With the telephone,
the Wall street ticker and the type |
writer part of every well-appointed |
office, the duties of clerks have indeed |
been rcvolutionized within the past |
half century.
Very many authors now write all of |
their books and magazine articles on |
the typewriter, and among these are
w. d. Howells and Mark Twain. The
Declaration of Independence was not
written on q type writer, but il
Thomas Jefferson lived this in day he
would probably have licked of his
immortal document upon one of these
little labor-saving machines. A legal
decision has been rendered to the of
feet that although typewriter manu-
script is printed it is writing all the
same, and the postal authorities re-
gard it as written matter which mus
pay full postage. One of tho openings
for women that are constantly coming
up is copying manuscript on the type
writer, and very many girls and young
women now find it pleasant and re-
munerative business. Shorthand
writers have also found the tpye-Writ-
ers valuable aid, and lawyers are
beginning to use it for writs and other
legal documents.
There are now nearly dozen diff
ferent type-writers on the market,
each, of course, claiming to be the
best. The prices range from S25 to
800. The sale OF the machines is |
large and constantly increasing.-Nei0