Wichita eagle., 1888-12-09
MAKING RAILROAD MAPS.
a Description Of the Method Now in Use.
The Etchings.

The Etch1ngS.
The method of making railroad maps Is de-
scribed as follows: Up to 1870 maps were
engraved On stone, copper or steel. The PRO-
cess was slow, tedious and expensive. The
plates soon wore out, and maps were costly
About this time the process Of making maps
on wax was invented. 1t revolutioned one
kind Of map making, and they became al
most as cheap as newspapers The map
maker works in room the temperature Of
which cannot go below 90 dogs. Few men
work at it longer than four years, though
years of apprenticeship are required to make
them expert. The heat becomes unendur-
able in the end, and they 60 into some other
employment.
Preparatory to making the original plate
melted beeswa1 and some hardening ingredi-
emit are poured on highly polished metal
table. For fine work the wax is as thin as a
piece Of paper, but for the coarser kind the
waxen sheet is an eighth Of an inch thicker.
Rough pen and ink drawings OF the work to
be done are given the operators. They draw
the hair lines with sharp pointed instruments
by the aid of straight edges. The dotted
lines indicating county or township bound
aries are made with little wheels on whose
narrow edge are cut the peculiarly designed
lines. All crooked lines are made by hand
and require an artists eye. The names of
towns, rivers, countries anc the like are i'm
pressed in the wax in type, letter by letter.
Every impression must cut through the wax
to the polished steel plato beneath, for the
map IS made face down. When all the lines
and letters are in the wax Is placed under a
cooler temperature, which hardens it. The
wax is then covered with black lead, and the
steel plate with its waIen cast is suspended
in an electrotyping solution. The copper in
the solution covers the black lead and forms
hard plate, which is called the original
The wax is then pulled off and the printing
surface is then presented. The thin copper
plate is backed up with type metal and the
plate is ready for use. 1t is usually pre-
served, however, for the making of stereo-
type plates, from which the actual printing
is done.
In the preparation of the etchings great
care is required to Keep the wax at the
proper temperature, as degree too low
would make it hard to work. and degree
too high would melt and probably destroy it,
Often many hundred thousand maps are Or
dered, and from twenty to forty plates are
made from the original. If the maps are
small, SO many of these plates as can be con-
veniently used are placed side by side ON the
presses, and sheet of maps is printed at
each impression. The ordinary advertising
map is finished when it leaves the press, but
the others must go through more hands be-
fore they are ready for use. But this is the
smallest part Of the map. The unseen work
the preparation of the original draft-rep-
resents the time, labor and money expended
upon these articles. The method Of prepar-
ing maps for places of learning and for the
use of those engaged in selling property is
much moro elaborate and costly, and this
fact will be fully realized when it is stated
that map lately finished in this city, meas
uring sizty-fve inches square, was nearly
six years under way and, when finished, cost
$50, Philadelphia Call.