, 1891-03-11
HOW PLATES ARE MADE.
WHAT sTEREoTYPlNG IS AND HOW
IT IS ACCOMPLISHED.

1t EneSfes Large Papers to Print Hun
dreds Of Thousands Of Copies in a Re-
m~ArERbly short Tims-The FaPier Ma
che and the Clay Process.
What is steFeotyping and what are its
a~dvanJagesg
The common idea Of stcreotypinE a paper
IS that the type is put through some pro-
aeSs for the purpose Of facilitating the
printing. The fact Is, stereotyping Is little
more than duplicating the type. The
forms are reproduced in one solid piece,
hence the word, stereotype, solid copy.
The types are used for patterns only,
while the printing IS don't entirely from the
plates, Thus the type is subjected TO very
little wear, and by the use OF a large mum
Der Of pilates the papers are printed with
great rapidity. II type was directly used
to print The sun, Herald, OF World. a new
dress" would be required every day. The
wear and tear Of two or three hundred
thousand impressions would destroy the
best type in the world.
Not only that, but 10 order to get such a
paper as The Sunday sun, Herald or World
printed from the type as rapidly rs from
plates 1t would require all the compositors
in the city TO set up one edition.
There are few presses in use on which
the papers are printed directly from the
type in the form Of n curve. These arr
EAAleu type TgFOlNFF~ OK Type WctnN.
They are very complicated and are fed by
a web or roll OF paper. the same Hs a per
fecting press, printing both sides The
pages are made up in the form of turtles,
and, Of course, the press carries only one
set at a time. While these presses do
fairly rapid work, they cannot cOmparu
with the perfecting presses. What is
gained by eliminating the work Of stercu-
tipping is lost by the wear Of the type. be
sides for r0D4Fz 0f lnrpR gir1rulHFfUn tbay
are OF no use whatever,
PREPARING II MArRrx.
BY newspaper stcrc0typing 1 mean the
only modern way Of producing stereotype
plates for newspaper use There is practi-
cally only one process in use. and that Is
the papier mache process, The old plaster
Of paris and clay processes are not now
used except in rare cases where some spe-
cial result IS aimed at The old ways are
TOO slow for newspapers. and have been
superseded by electrotyping for book work.
Electrotyping furnishes n copper faced
plate and perfectly r]eproduces fine engrav-
ings- Stereotyping by whatever process
can do neither.
The only place to my knowledge whore
either Of the old processes is now used to
any extent in this country is the American
Press association in this city All its
pages, except the news pages, are first
stereotyped by the clay process. by this
means they obtain one deep plate, from
which thereafter II large number OF molda
are taken by the papier-mache process.
The latter, now so universally employed,
wa invented some forty-hve years ago in
Paris This process is practically divided
into four parts-mHtriv making. moldiug.
casting and finishing
MntriN making Is simply preparing the
papier mache. aud must be done in advance
Of the process proper The paper used is Of
two kinds, blotting and tissue. mauufnct.
ured expressly for st~creotyping The blot
ting paper is first dampeued properly, and
the-mutriN $50 called is usually made by
FASTING together two sheets Of blottiug for
~ back and four sheets Of tissue for a face.
The issue are carefully smoothed down,
either by han or with IA roller. The paste
used is Of a special kind, and is prepared by
The stereotyper before lac begins his days
work
TAKrNa TUE IMPRESSION.
When a page is ready to be stereotyped
the prepared matriN is laid on the form
face downward, aud either beaten In with
large brushes or passed under Il heavy
roller. in order 10 force the dampened
paper into the spaces OF the type and thcre-
by take an impression Of the a The
form. with the matriN stiIl on top, is then
placed under the plhten Of n steam heated
drying press, resembling n large copying
press. sou Dlhukels hfc lulu on the mhtrlN
in order TO absorb the moisture. the press /
is screwed down, ucd in from three to ten
minutes the paper mold is dry The form
and matrix are then taken from under the
press, the form being ]returned to the com
posing room for distribution.
Tn mAtriN, now being dry and flexible,
is placed In the curved casting box and the
molten metal poured in. The box Is
cooled by water, and in a few seconds the
rough plate is thrown out ready for the
hnisher, The top, or tail end, Is now
sawed of by n peculiar saw the plate is
trimmed. chiseled and finally shaved on
the back, in order to give Il aa even thick
ness, when II Is ready for the press.
The casting and finishing are repeated
for every plate needed, but only ono mold
or matriN is required for each page. As
each form is received from the composing
room II Is Immediately stereotyped, and
thus the way Is made clear for the Inst
page, which is held back for the latest
news.
The time lost by stercotyring is there
fore reduced to the minimum, and in fact
it is almost nothing. The last page or
starter" is Invariably put through with "A
rush. The matrix is beaten in and dried,
the plates cast and finished in a wonderful.
ly short time. All this is lone and the
first press started in about the same time
IL takes to start a press when the printing
is done from the type itself. Each sue
ceeding press is quickly started, and in a
few minutes these wonderful machines are
throwing ont the printed sheets by the
thousand or million, according TO the
imagination OF the circulation ciitor.-Ed-
win Arlington in Journalist