The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-04-30
MAKING TYPE.
An Hour Among tho Skilled Workman in
Type-Foundry.

In a walk through n type-foundry
yesterday morning by Times reporter
the following words from Motley's
"Riso of tho Dutch Republic" were
quoted by the founder, who accomDa-
MED the reporter through his establish
ment, in referring to the art of print
ing:
'At the very epoch when the great
ness of Burgundy was most swiftly
ripcning, another weapon was secretly
forging, more potent in the great
struggle for freedom than any which
the wit or hand of man has ever de-
viscd or welded"
'lt may not be generally known" Z"
said the typc-founder, that the first
quarto bible printed in America was
the work of Christopher Safer, of Ger
mantown, who there in 1885 estab-
lished typo foundry, but it is to see
how type is made that you come"
Let us begin with the metal room"
About the place where the amalgam
OF which type is made were piled hun
drcds of bar Of the metal. At the fur
ther end of tho room master work
man threw into the great kettle GER
tain proportions Of copper, antimony,
lead, and tin. This is the amaloam,
tho exact proportions of which produce
the useful metal that must be hard
without being brittle, ductile but tough,
flowing freely and hardening rapidly.
a bar WAS broken in two, and tho
beautiful, sparkling grain of the metal
shown. About tho apartment were
casks of glittcring antimony, bars of
yellow copper, dull bricks of lead, and
blocks of tin.
AS tho composition melted the man
at the kettle stirred the molten mass,
and when the proper degree of heat
was reached ladlcd it out on the molds
that lay on the brick floor at his feet.
Above the mctal-room tho bars wero
fitted for the printers use. Before q
machine known as punch-cuttcr sat q
man surrounded by q bcwildering ar
ray of delicat" FOOLS and guagos.
"Ihero are vetylow> i'er of note for
this part of work in the Unitod S,atcs. I"
whispered the reporters companion.
cit requires a delicacy of touch and
perception that is not easily acquired"
On the end of piece of steel tho work.
man at the punch-cutter was forming a
letter. He worked rapidly yet with
caution, frequently testing his gauges
until the letter was complete. Then
other letters of the alphabet were
formed finishing the series.
One by one the dies were placed in n
stamping-machinc, an oblong piece of
copper put under them. and then the
great lever was brought down. The
impression was left deep in the copper.
1hls oblong bit of copper is termed the
matrix.
From the punch-cutter tho matrices
>yl, eko ssr~~,a-I ~--,. - ---S-.,><,I l.,
their fitting up for the mold. The
slightest variation or irregularity was
said to be fatal to tho appearance of
the typo cast in them.
Perhaps the most interesting things
about tho foundry arc the tiny casting
machines that pour out an endless
stream of type as long as they work.
"Thesc snug little fellows" said tho
typc-founder, patting with his hand
tho odd little mass of machinery before
which he stood, "can throw out more
type in one day than n man, working
ten hours n day, can count in a
month";" The casting-machino is the
invention of David Bruce, Jr., of New
York.
The metal is kept fluid by q little
furnace underneath the machine and is
projected into the mold by Il pump.
The mold is movable, and at every
revolution of the crank is brought to
the spout, where it receives fresh
charge of the metal. A spring in front
Of tho mold holds close to it q conner
matrix, and the stamp of tho letter on
the matriX is directly opposite the
aperture of the mold which meets tho
spout Of the pump.
In boxes the ncw-madc type is car
ricd to the drcssing-room, where
around large stones tho boys arc kept
busy rubbing away the rough edges on
the type. The lads wear leather glovo
fingers for protection. AS the type is
rubbed smooth each letter is set up in
long lines.
From the nimble-fingercd BOYS the
lines of type pass into the hands of the
dresser, who has beside him a powerful
magnifyingrglasS. The dresser dcftly
slips line of type into q long stick
similar in shape to that used by print
ers, face downward, screws them up
tight, and with two rapid movements
Of planing-tool cuts the grove in the
bottom of the type. This operation is
known as giving the type legs
"Thcy must have something to stand
on" said the good-naturcd looking
dresser. After that, with the magnify
ing glass, the face of the line is criti-
cally inspected and imperfect ones
thrown aside to be returned to tho
mclting-pot.
cribs 'Ycration practically ends tho
making Of type" said tho founder.
"Attcrward the different letters are
put up in what we call pages, and
are ready to be sent out" Tho ma
triccs and mold, of which the foundry
has collection numbering many thous-
ands, arc kept, when not i'm use, in a
lircproof vault. They are very vaIu-
able, representing, as they do. tho col.
lection of many years of labor
A complete font of type may be COM
prised under nino heads, as follows:
Capitals A, small capitals Z, lower
case C, figures, points, spaces, en- and
en- quadratcs, two and three en- quad
rates, and accents.
Printers divide font of letters into