Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-01-18
HELPING THE COMPOSITOR.


HELPING THE COMPOSITOR.
A Type-Setting Machine that Greatly III
creases His Speed.
There is g. composing room at NO.
189 Broadway, says the New York
composiUor turn green with envy. A
reception was held there yesterday.
In a corner by g. window was case
and before it young woman was
picking up type with both hands and
dropping it nap-hazard into g. funnel
in front of her. The regular clickings
of g. partially concealed piece OF
mechanism indicated the Lagerman
type ssttiny machine in operation.
Lagerman is Scandinavian who
has devoted forty years TO the inven-
ton of type-setting machinery that
in some measure would increase the
effectiveness of the compositor or,
perhaps, do away with him altogeth-
er. The greater part of his effort was
devoted to the perfection ofsome mag
azine arrangement OF type TO be set free
by g. keyboard similar to that of a
type writer. In this effort he succeed
Ell in achieving q mechanical success,
but the machine was OF complicated
character, expensive, and liable to get
out of order. so it did not improve
on the compositor. Failing in this
attempt to do away with the COM
position entirely, Lagerman conceived
the idea of providing him with 81 me-
chanical contrivance Dv which he
could set an increased number OF ems
in stated period. This attempt, it is
claimed, was pre-eminently successful.
The young woman who gave exhibit
ton OF her agility yesterday, said she
could set 700 ems or ordinary type
an hour by the primitive method still
prevalent, and by the ambidexterous
method made possible by the machine
she could set 2, 500 ems an hour.
The machine upon which the pa
tent in this country was obtained was
made in Sweden and was cumber-
some, disproportioned, and unwieldly
in operation. The superior work
manship apparent in all machinery
of American manufacture led the Lag
erman Typteta Company, having the
management and control of affairs in
this country, to have machine built
here, where the best of milling ma
chinery promised g. lighter, tastier,
handsomer, and easier working ma
chine than they had yet succeeded in
producing-th ideal machine, in fact,
of the inventor. This was the ma
chine the company yesterday had on
exhibition. A simple little electric
engine supplied the motive power, but
any power available can be en-
ployed. Both hands are employed in
feeding the funnel, and the skilled
compositor will retain his rank in the
profession as we'll with as without the
machine. After the type enters the
funnel the machine takes care of it.
reversing and turning where necessary
to set the type in correct position on
the line, and sliding it into the galley
dis neatly as the intelligent compositor
could do it himself, but ever SO much
quicker and without danger Of pi.
The near approach of the end of the
line is heralded by bell, warning the
compositor to insert another space
more than type high, an assortment
of which comes with the machine.
When one galley is full it can be de.
tached. and another attached, and
the setting 60 on until such time as
the compositor feels he would like to
Justify. Then there is an ingenious
apparatus to assist in this operation.
The filed galley is fastened in this ap-
paratus, and the power is turned on.
Each line in succession is pushed into
continuance like g. stick, where the
necessary spaces can be added or SUBJ
stituted. The compositor does not
lift the line OF type at any time, and
the justifying line-holder is as conven-
lent as the stick would be. There is
no distributing apparatus. That
part of the work needs still to be done
by the compositor.
1t is claimed for the machine that
newspaper hands of ordinary ability
will be able to set and justify from e.
900 to $500 ems an hour, while
speedier hands will do as high as ST.
500. The skilled compositor will be
still required, and he need learn no
new art. He dispenses with the stick,
and gets in it's stead the ustifying.
machine assistant. Each machine
will set three sizes of type. The ex-
pense of the machine, though not
fixed. will be only about one-tenth
that of type-setting machines general
ly employed.