Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-26

by the competitors is typewritten, and, OF
course, much easier to read than the origi-
nal and Characteristic pencilings of the re-
Portor1ai stan. Without going outside The
star building, therefore, a very satisfactory
investigation of the individuality Of type
writer's can be made. At 8 o'clock every
morning the full force of reporters is hard
at work hammering the machines, prepar-
ing over night copy and whipping into shape
original ideas and bright news items.
t. An expert typewriter CHANGED to wander
were at their work and to one of the stan
pointed out the characteristics Of each man
as 10 mis- work on the machine He said:
First Finger Operators.
That gentleman In the center aisle can
Kill machine in six months Amid all this
noise 1 can pick him out He Is what we
call first finger OPERATOR / can safely
venture the prediction that he has never
looked into the book Of instructions. He
WILL Of course, in time make an ordinary
operator as to speed. but l shouldn't like to
loot MS bills for repairs. The first fingers
are intended for certain keys. likewise the
second and third and the thumb should al
ways strike the space bar. Without looking
over the sentleman's shoulder In question
l can tell that he is covering everything
with his first two fingers His work will
never become uniform. as the side keys will
always be struck lighter and the center
ones heavier than Is really necessary.
over there In the last row is another
.hrst finger man.. He doesn't strike the
keys quite as hard as the gentleman first
referred to. but that Is because he is a
novice as vet. When he masters the key
board his violence will be equally as mark
ed. He. too. strikes the space bar with his
first finger.
Take the man directly in front Of me-
He shows improvement in his work, but
iike the other two has Stunned the book Of
Instructions. This man has advanced to
the stage Of using his second finger and I
can guarantee that his work is better than
the other two How can 1 tell that he has
very easily. he doesn't use his thumb for
the space bar That Is the one universal
marx or an expert on the machine. The
gentleman over there in the corner handles
his hands we'll and notice uses his thumb
II you will watch him for a few minutes
you VIII see that the work appears to go
back on the machine, a position the other
three men cannot take owing to the first
finger movement
The gentleman at the window is also a
always perforate the paper. He places sew
erai pieces OF paper In the machine at one
his stroke accordingly.
One Noticeable Thing.
"One thing particularly noticeable about
the work OF the reporters. that is not found
In any other office In which a large number
or mHch'nes are used, is the fact that the
punctuation Is all uniform. This comes,
suppose, irom once rules. Up IN the big
government offices the greatest care has to
De taken TO keep the work from becoming
EIuiculous. one operator will be stuck
on the seml-colon another on the colon
and third on the comma OF course ali
are useIul but have their prnner 0'""as
"Of course newspaper men, being ex-
perts, Will notice tnvs, .ay. G, ,,u,,
any other class of workers but upon the
typewriter they stand out like raised let
ters upon the reading cards of the blind
II mas been my experience that many PEG
pie VINO nave been carefully drilled in the
grammatical and rhetorical punctuation of
literary language have found themselves
unable to practically apply the same rules
ana experience TO the proper punctuation
Of ordinary business language, whereas
thoroughly mastered tSe Correct whS have
ton OF commercial language have heen
abie 70 successfully apply. with little or no
division Of the literary language
Interesting Individual Charncteristfcs
The field Of typewriting individuality
presents fewer opportunities than does that
of the handwriting expert, but 1t is, never
theless, OF some interest and Importance
Take. for instance the comparison of two
sheets of typewriting, seemingly alike, but
for the individual characteristics Of the
typewriter. Two machines might write so
nearly alike as to make it Impossible to
determine upon which of them a certain
sheet was turned out. Still. there will be
the writing Of different machines, and even
of the same one. at different times or when
used by different persons.
AT one time the reporter ruShes into the
office In hot haste and hammers away like
a good fellow at an important bit of news
that Is to be rushed Then. again, he will
have plenty Of tine s and his work will be
come absorbed In an article. forget all
about the touch Of the keys, and is finally
brought to his senses by the abnormal
amount Of noise he Is making.
Stories Told by Students
students on the typewriter possess no in
dividuality. except their pronenoss to make
mistakes Interview a dozen typewriter
operators and I'll venture the prediction
that the entire twelve will tell you the same
story of mistakes when they first sought
to master the machines intricacies.
lone will tell of how the carriage got to
the end of the line unnoticed and The many
words he pounded out in the one place be-
fore he noticed anything wrong. Another
will detail how he neglected to inform HIM
self on the workings of the ink ribbon: how
1t ran out and became stationary; low a
hole was finally beaten through it and the
letters refused to register upon the paper:
how he turned the machine almost inside
out looking for the trouble. and, finally
how 1T cost him IS cents to have the ribbon
sent on its way doing good work. the knowl-
edge of which he should have mastered at
the very first.
"A third will tell Of his troubles with cap-
ital letters and punctuation marks, while
X
BILE at the beautiful accuracy Of the meas
ure gauge. And SO on to the end. A hum
dred and one numerous mistakes can be
made on the typewriter and even to the
old-tinner new ones are coming 10 the front
con tinually. Up in our club room Am con-
sidered one of the best operators, both as
to speed and accuracy, yet practiced for
six weeks according to the little book of in
structions before l attempted to copy aEy-
thing or do original work. An expert type
writer gave me the tip to do this, and I
ascribe my easy finger motion to those six
there are exceptions to the rule IN every
thing, but find the finest operators to have
pursued the same course 1t is not neces-
sary to be taught by another operator the
close study of the book of rules will suffice
Important Expert Testimony.
There recently came up In one Of the
New York courts a case that hinged on the
testimony Of typewriter expert, and in
which the individuality Of a typewriter op-
orator was discussed. The case was a most
enjoyable one from an experts point of
view, and full of interest to the average
reader. As the case developed ii became
long typewriter document in evidence
had not been replaced with another In
which the words had been changed The
suspected page was evidently written on
the same kind of machine as the others.
Inc dinerence between instruments Of the
various manufacturers was, therefore, Of
no service
THE expert in question testified that as
a general rule it was not difficult for an
expert to distinguish between the writing
facture. Two instruments might write so
nearly alike as to make 1t impossible to de-
termine upon which Of them q certain sheet
was turned out. Still there were many