New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-19
THE LINOTYPE.
con,iuued from Thirteenth Page.


The capacity of the machine in the hands Of
,ompetnnt operator is from 5000 to 5000 ems
per hour and six weeks generally sufficient
for a person OF average intelligence 70 learn TO
attain this speed. Its other merits arc obvious
H. cannot "pi," does not destroy or scatter type,
involves no waste, and furnishes a constant sup
ply Of new characters No foreman with eH'
terrence Of the two systems would hesitate for
moment TO declare in its favor. The proofs are
cleaner and corrections more quickly made ana
the product is more easily handled for the make
up. Late copy, brought in half an hour before the
paper goes TO press, can be given out in much
longer takes and the operator, having con-
tinuous story before him, instead OF mere
fragment, loses less time over doubtful words. Inc
CifIculty OF beginning and ending even' Is
moreover greatly diminished while pigeon.holeS'
the wide blanks caused by hurried spacng-can-
not possibly occur. The men themselves soon
learn TO prefer q style Of employment which keeps
them comfortably seated Defore a keyboard in
stead Of requiring them TO stand all night at the
case The copy is brought much nearer the eye
a genuine boon 20 O short-sighted typo the
hands makes fewer motions. the arm is never
crampcd from holding n composing-st stick in one
position for hours at time, and the tedious ami
Improbable labor of distribution is entirely done
AWAY with, and IL any conservative old fOgy
wants proof OF the greater neatncsS OF the work
under the new conditions, glance at The Trlb-
unes clear. clean columns and their accurate
alignment and almost perfect spacing will sup
ply it.
WORKING FOR PERFTCuON
This perfection has not, however, been attained
without great labor and expense Tho story ~
The Tribuuc's experience Is that Of all pioneers
l., OplI Tho nrSt machine WINS mi
up in ts office In July, 1886 IN the January fol-
lowing five had been received but only two TO
manned in use The first suffered so many break
ages and was ~ such Inferior make TINT il had 10
be taken down and rebuilt, while two others
were rejected on account OF defective parts. Actual
operation discovered multitude OF defects which
had never before been dreamed Of and, although
no radical changes were made, 10 was found nee
cSSary TO modify several details Of the cOnstruc-
ton Indeed but for The Tribunr's faith in the
ultimate success or the machine. thr experience ot
the first twelve months would have insured It's
abandonment; for 10 say nothing Of hrcNkages
nnd failures. repeated changes IN the inventor
plans and delays in supplying machines. the din
Guilty OF training competitors to a duty which they
naturally regarded with aversion, was alone Dis
courngcmrnt enough In the instrument itself
each day revealed new flaws For long tmr
no suitable metal could be procured for casting,
nor It's temperature satisfactorily controlled The
matrx moulds WIRE untrue; the matrices them
selves were warped and constantly blew out 81
;hc Chnnucl; the metal sGrirtcd between them
and spoiled tho cast: the afr blast wns unmanag'.
able; the tubes became Cloggrd. and thu operators
were poisoned by fumes from the cnSting-pots ::
and. when ths linotyprS were finally produced.
they refused TO stand upright IN tho form. Tho
90, . 10 ~ 10
rncd Long blank spaces dsGgurch nearly every
proof Dirty strcaks made thr hrGcr characters
llcgiblr and ohltcraird the small ones altogether
Every line was fnl Of blurs. In some places only
one edge had taken the INK In others the bars
were upside down. and occasionally at the most
Interesting part Of an article u line would vanish
altogether. Extraordinary pains were necessary
10 keep mistakes out Of the paper AMI even then
angry letters came in from many Indignant readers
Its oldest friends protested against the strain on
their ewes and nerves, and the men left at tho
cases ridlculcd the whole coutriynnre and pre-
dlcted ~ speedy cons gnmrnt % the srnphrap
By the beginning o. ,7s fourteen machines had
been received Industry had removed some din.
cuticS and experience lcsscncd others: ypt serious
obstacles were stiIl Ia be overcome There was
no ready mode Of changing the measure. The
headings had e. hc set hy hand and the us" Of
italics abandoned altogether and the simulihucou,
use " two styles 81 type made good results i'm
possible. The movable types, clong ttcd by III" heat
Of repeated stcrcotypInQ stil took the impression
of the shorter typr-harS which. b'ing new every
day, retained their proper size; and The Louis,
willie Couricr-Journal" and Chicago Daily News,
which had begun TO use the machines, threatcnct
TO throw them ont on This account alone; whl,,
! the prcSsmcn 70 whom The Tribune Book OF Opn
| Air Sports given for printing from linotype,
! dec nrcd that they never hal had such lob But
| perhaps the most troublesome experience Of al
| wuS with the matrices. The MOUNDS for these
| WIRE At first cccirOtypcd from ordinary type but
| after repeated casting, the erctro,vpcd deposit
pulled of and left them useless machine Wits m -
! devised 10 cast them but NJ sooner was this com
| pe,cd than IL VAS found that there WIS 10 met a.
! at once soft enough 10 take IL good mould and
| hard enough 10 bc cast from gain without melt
! Ing. Punching with steel dies directly INTO the
! face Of the brass was the next method tried bu,
tins spread the mould so rs 10 interfere with the
! Justification and prevent impressions OF uniform
| depth and II only by the use Of a specially
hardened brass that satisfactory matrices were at
last obtained As TO the metal an alloy Of bis
| muth anthony and lead was nftcr much capri
! menting, shown 90 give the best results and the
pots were fitted with covers @ad chImneys TO carry
away the fumes.
WHAT THE MACHINES ARE DOING.
But no improvements wrought much change ir
the appearance Of the paper until IT. succeeded II
! training competent force Of Operators and wa,
| provided with its present outfit ~ forty-two ma
chimes. Since then it has been all that could hC
desired Editorials, news dispatches, city articles
market reports, literary matter and those it'll,
advertisements of the people which occupy
constantly increasing space in these pages are nj
! composed by the lnotyp" machines: and only Ia,
stock and bond tables the little court calendar
the heavy display type in the advertisements and
the large plea headlines give employment 10 III,
four men still at the case For the small capitals
a machin" is already built, and clever operator