Chicago eagle., 1893-05-13
A NovEL.MAKiNG MACHINE.
Five Thousand Entire Novels an Hour
Cost of Making "a Paper Book.

There are various rumors and tales
floating about New York among those IN
the business concerning some wonderful
machinery over on the west side OF the
city,, in a certain monstrous book making
establishment, says the special CORES
pondent of the Philadelphia Press. But
even the best informed seem TO have
shadowy notions, for one gentleman In
conversation with the writer said fhey
made three bon Ks at time on this
machine. and %ncn they were all sewed
and covered great knives came down and
cut them apart as they were end to end.
But a visit to the establishment revealed
nothing of this sort, though there was
other machinery perhaps equally wonder
full.
The "novel machine" II is a large
web press similar to the kind newspapers
are printed on, but arranged to take
curved electrotypes of each page OF a
book, instead of single large metal
cylinder casting. There are two cylin-
ders on each of which 144 pages may be
screwed. and as the long strip OF paper
goes through first one side is printed and
then the other, making it possible TO
print 2sS pages at every revolution. The
strip of paper, after being carried over
rollers which dry the ink, is cut, folded,
and brought together in the shape of a
small volume, with the edges all trimmed,
Every time the great cylinder goes
around, novel is printed, folded and
trimmed, and 5000 of these are turned
out every hour, while, il it were neces-
sary, 1000 or 5000 might be the quota,
From the printing press these books
are carried to little machine that looks
like a sewing machine, and two wire
stitches are taken in the back of each.
The stitched volumes are then carried to
the covering machine, where they are
put side to side in long feeding trough.
At the end of this is little compart-
ment large enough to take q book, car
ried on an endless chain running over
wheels at each cnd--indeed, there are
series of little compartments on this
chain. and as the chain moves along eact
one receives book As the book pro
ceeds wheel running in glue-pot press
es against its back, ,smearing 1t with glue
A little further along there is pile o
covers that comes up at just the RICH
moment, leaving a cover sticking to tn
gluey back of the book. OF course tn,
cover stands out straight on each side
but as it is carried all the way around OF
the chain. the glue thus has q chance t.
dry. When the circuit has been mad
the book drops off on its back, and by
falling in between other books the cover
are folded up against the sides.
In this way fifty books can be covered
every minute. Two hundred and fit
thousand of these paper recovered novel
J are thus turned out every two weeks
I and extra editions of so, 900 or so arr
. often worked in beside
1t is the paper. which costs the most
G nearly five times the price Of printing
: But that is only about two cents for
$ novel The rest of the expenditure--fo
e printing, covers, etc. is about one cent
u The whole is not over three cents, an
, dubtless is something even less tha
: tos when such great quantities as | hav
d hintioned are printed. This machiner
T. is not duplicated in any other establish
J ment.