Telegram-herald., 1889-12-11
SHEET nUslc PRINTING.


Az IzIsresE11x FrSesss - wsAsA fAs
F-s--s Al-0ss ss<y Lxkss-
II ths pztlie All BE a. naeA s1s~
prLsec ~ leara 10. sheet u@s1c a
printed as ~4s TIE writer thls 4re1cls
Sil Dc red siEh interest A wax
t1rc4ga g1s pEinglDs u Tie
largest 1-slc Publishing house IN Bos-
ton. under he taJel4ge Of is courteous
foreman "a f1ll Of interesting lnsgr'2c-
tl9n.
IL ~as into one q the many let's" In
which TIE establishment sbounds that
= Bosson Globe reporter sas t4ken- oGe
n0or wzs tiled With yeriE2ble lace
WORK q long poles, placed horizontally,
which were loaded OQt ot sighs with
sheet music hang upon them 10 dEy.
TIE ~h9ls place lad the air II washing
dsF st home. znd the reporter invOlun-
tzrily glanced around as II pereh4nce he
might get glance Of cold dinner lying
about
As fast as the sheets are printed We
hang them here over night" said the
foreman, '4nd then place them between
pastebo2rds and press them rsL Then
they are ready f0r market Como up
into the press-rOoms."
The press-rOOns are very unlike their
newspaper prototypes. Not sound loud
enough 70 interfere with conversation Is
heard in them. For sheet music is printed
al by hand.
Two kinds o, presses are used; the old
style plank press anl tho improved or
ID" press. The latter consists Of a
sliding table several feet square, on
which are two raised blocks just the
size OF sheet Of music, on which are
placed the plates from which the print
ing is done. The plates having been
linked and the paper laid on them, the
printer gives turn 10 an immense
wheel, 5i4 feet in diameter. the sliding
table slides under large roller covered
with "a belt and the paper Is forced
against the plates, thus giving Che i'm
preston; and another revolution Of the
wheel brings the apparatus back 70 its
original position. The plank" press IS
like the other except that in using IL
the plates are linked on a bench and
laid on the blocks every time an impress
sion is taken, while with the 3D. press
the plates arc not removed from the
blocks until the edition IS run of.
"Now, here is a man printing title
pages said the foreman. we print
only one sheet at time, and man can
take from fifteen hundred TO eighteen
hundred impressions day. This
plate, which looks exactly like
silver, is composed Of zinc, lead
and britannia, and is made al
most exclusively in New York. Every
publishing house manufactures its own
ink; il can't be bought. 1t is very par
ticular stuff and must be made just so,
and it is q very delicate matter to mako
and take care of IT, This title page has
been engraved by hand. The design is
sunken, you see. When engraved the
plate IS put on hot block and beeswax
is melted into the design. That, too, is
a ticklish matter; If we wipe 1t off too
soon we spoil it, and If we let it get too
hard it crum bles and won't hold the ink.
Once beeswaxed, a plate can be used for
printing for years.
Engraving the music plates Is dif-
ferent process, however, from that used
in making the title page. The engraver
has TO have a separate tool for every
kind OF note-half, whole, quarter
rests, etc. His outfit costs s400. He
does not carve into the plate as wood
engravers do, but stamps out each note
separately with a hammer. You can
imagine what nice work it is to adjust
hn l. s,,- - Il ayd &c
TO engrave a sheet Of music"
The reporter watched the process OF
printing and saw something like this:
After the plate had been fastened to its
block on the press the printer inks it
with hood roller, just as other print
ers ink their type in taking proofs
He then wipes the plate carefully
with cloth; the ink sticks 70 the
beeswax, which covers the design or the
notes, and the rest OF the plate is com
paratively clean. A second wiping with
another rag leaves all but the design
shiningly clean, the paper is laid on,
and the great wheel, revolving, soon
takes the impressiCn and returns the
printed pages to the printers hand.
The plate is then wiped again, reinked
rewiped twice, and, in fact, undergoes
the same process between each impres-
sion.
at is curious fact" continued the
foreman, "that although this work IS all
done by hand the printers never touch
the paper. A piece OF pasteboard il
folded double and used as a holder and
with that the printer handles all his
sheets, and never lets his inky hands
come in contact with them"
Isn't music printed from type some
times? asked the reporter.
Yes. When We want 70 run OF a
largo edition Of some cheap stuff, books
or something of that sort, we set the
music up in type, stereotype the page
and print from it, just as you newspaper
fellows do. But the work isn't as hand
some and, besides, there is some music
written that can't be set up with type. -
All music plates after being used are
stored IN fre-proof vaults and indeIed
for possible future use. The foreman
states the curious fact that in the great
collection Of which be has charge there
are moro pieces OF music whose name be
gin with s than of any other letter.
while the Ms are close second.