The record-union., 1891-01-10
OUR LIGHTNING PRESS.
THE ssRECORD-UNION'S'' NIARvEL~
Gus PRINTING MACHINE.
An Invention Which Touches the Pins
nacle of Mechanical Ingenuity
stereotyping Department.

The RECoRD-UNIoN is printed to-day
on the most perfect printing machine ever
brought to the Pacific coast, which is say
Ing great deal, when the fine presses in
some of the San Francisco Offices are
taken into consideration. But it is never
theless true, for the machine has just been
built expressly for this paper by the Goss
PRINTING Press Company of Chicago, and
has many advantages over even the last
press built by the same company prior to
this one. The builders have avaled of
every possible improvement, and have
avoided all the mistakes that have been
discovered in other presses. The result
is that the Reconnaissance new press
touches the pinnacle of mechanical inge-
nuity.
| The past century has seen greater adj
vances in scientific and mechanical inyen-
ton than all of the ages that have passed,
and no greater progress has been madc in
mechanism, science or art, than in the de-
! velopment of the printing press. From
the crude hand-press of century ago to
the lightning machines of the present
day is leap which almost paralyzes the
mind to contemplate. Think of the old
hand-press upon which two men labored
hard to produce 200 papers printed upon
one side, and then contemplate the tri-
umph OF mechanism upon which this
paper is printed to-day, which will print,
cut, paste and fold four, six, eight or
twelve-page papers complete, from one
roll OF paper, at the rate of a 900 per hour.
During the first half of the century the
cylinder press was evolved and some i'm
tS lint hn Il
vance has been made during the past
twenty-five years. In fact improve
ments have come SO fast that the result is
almost bewildering.
THE GOSS PRESSES
Are now recognized all over the United
States as the equal of the Hoe presses in
every particular, while possessing some
particular advantages over them. The
three Goss brothers have been for many
years manufacturing small presses, but
| about FIVE years ago they organized the
Goss Printing Press Company of Chi
cago, and at once entered upon the build
ing OF larger presses. They were deter
mined to produce press which for COM
pactness, simplicity and rapidity should
surpass anything that had yet been made.
They have at last accomplished just what
they desired in two presses just COM
pleted, one of which is now running in
the RECoRD-UNIoN Office and the other
in the office of the Chicago Times. They
have spared neither time nor expense in
the manufacture of these machines, which
have many improvements ON all the late
inventions, and without doubt stand un-
equaled in America.
TESTED IN CHICAGO.
Before shipping the REcoRD-UNIoN
press to this city it was put together in
Chicago and thoroughly tested, showinga
speed of $4,000 impressions an hour, and
even more if an emergency required it.
Mr.. w. L. Goss then came on with a COM
petent corps Of machinists, and put the
press in position in the RECORD UNION
press room, where it can be seen by visit
ors at any time. 1t has many
advantages over any other printing
machine that has been brought
to this coast. Being capable of printing
three-page-wide sheet, it viii print,
paste and fold with equal facility four,
SIX, eight or twelve-page paper in one
operation and all from one roll One of
its special advantages is its capacity to
turn out siN-page paper with the single
sheet pasted in. Other So-caIled insert
presses paste the single sheet on the out
side. 1t prints any number of pages
mentioned and delivers them pasted,
folded and counted at rate of 24,OO0 per
hour.
The mechanical work upon it is superb,
and the iron and steel of the machine is
OF the most solid and enduring character.
The frames OF the late improved Hoe
press are known as box frames. while
those of the Goss are of solid iron. All
nd lot tt-o of
the shafts were forced through the iron
cylinders by a hydraulic pressure of
twenty y-five tons. Another great advant-
age of the machine over others is its SIM
plicity and concentration. 1t is but four
teen feet nine inches in length, six feet
high and six feet wide.
HOW THE PAPER Is PRINTED.
The blank paper, which is on an endless
roll. starts from an iron spindle at the
extreme rear of the press, and passes be-
tween two cylinders, one of which is
covered with felt and rubber blankets,
while the other holds the stereotyped
plates, thus printing the inside of the
sheet. 1t then travels around cylinder
twice as large as the others, and receives
the second impression, which is the out
side of the paper. From this cylinder it
is conveyed to a series OF cutting cylin-
ders, after which it reaches the top of the
press, on direct angle to the collecting
cylinder, where the sheets are superim-
posed upon themselves, pasted and then
sent to the folder, there receiving one
longitudinal fold, then one across the col
umns, and once over all. After passing
through the folding process the papers ard
delivered into two receiving boxes, hay
ing been counted and the number regis
tered while they are passing through the
folder.
There is a roller motion connected with
this press, the invention Of Mr.. Goss, :
which no other machine has. It is so
constructed that the pressman can adjust
his form or linking rollers, and should
any Impefection appear in the printing,
all tnat IS necessary for the pressman to
do is to draw a pin, which disconnects all
the rollers, so that the trouble can be
remedied instantly. Under the old sys-
TEN each roller had to be adjusted sepa-
rately, and if any difficulty occurred, the
unscrewing and resetting occasioned con-
siderable loss of time. This in itself is O
great feature. An experienced press
man can see at once the great utility
of this contriyance, as it makes it possible
Tor the pressman to receive plate from
the stereotyper and get the press In mo-
ton again in one minutes time.
THE wETTINa MACHINE.
The wetting machine, which is apart
from the press, is an interesting piece of
mechanical ingenuity. A roll of paper as
it comes from the warehouse is placed on
spindle. 1t starts in motion and first
passes under a tension roller and in doing
SO is dampened by spray, which is regu-
lated by series of little faucets The
endless sheet then passes under large
cylinder, which causes the paper to travel.
and it is revolved on an iron core, after
which it is ready for the press. The great
advantage of this machine is its positive
ness, simplicity and high speed.
THE sTEREoTYPING DEPARTMENT.