The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-06-01
INVENTION OF A PRIEST.
A Typesetting rlachine That Will
Revolutionize Printing.

A few weeks ago we ublisned para
graph to the effaaE that the Rev. Father
Colendoli, Sicilian, and member of
the Dominican Order, had invented a
typesetting machine that will compose
$4,000 letters an hour, a task equal to the
labor of thirty-six cOmpositors, says the
Catholic Sentinel. The difference in
speed as compared with existing ma
chimes, lies in the fact that, instead OF
letters being made to fall separately into
the composing stick, entire words can be
composed in an instant by the simutane-
Gus action of the fingers of both hands.
A correspondent writing from Paris de-
scribes the wonderful machine.
1t is kind of harp whose chords are
replaced by metallic tubes adhering to
each other in four series. The first one
includes thirty-one tubes, the others
thirty-three each, every one containing
in the average $50 letters All these
tubes communicate through an ingenious
electrical device with a keyboard or
rather checker board, divided in twenty
one small squares covered with eiectrl-
cal llnobs-three for capital letters, tif
teen for ordinary letters and the three
others for figures and yowels provided
with accents Points Of punctuation
and accents form a. horizontal line on the
lowest part of the checker board and are
operated with pedal.
Each letter is printed on the little
knobs and to avoid useless motions OF
arms, the squares are repeated three by
three. In those squares the consonants
are not repeated but the novels are trip
Heated and surround the consonants in
very ingenious way, which permits to
compose most of the sylables with sim
gle finger in touching two knobs at the
same time, as be, bi. DO, bu, etc.
Practically a skillful operator plays
the part of pianist who by the use OF
his ten fingers is able to strike $4,000
notes an hour; letters replace the notes
in the typesetting scheme
An electrical current is produced at
the precise time the compositor raises
his finger from the knobs, and instan-
taneously the letters drop from the tubes
on the inclined wire, which is placed IN
full sight of the operator on the right
side of the checker board.
Classification is accomplished by the
foot of the operator, and the beauty OF II
is that the copy is always in sight. which
renders the correction practicable on the
spot. A good many commercial writers
are using the typesetting machine now
adays, the literary men, as a rule, die
tate or write in the old-fashioned way, as
it is impossible for them to have the copy
before their own eyes. The machine in
vented by the Dominican corrects this
defect, and the results of the discovery
will prove simply marvellous. 1t means
complete revolution in printing for the
following causes: Lightning speed of
composing, exceeding the rapidly of
speech, no useless material, no typeset-
tiers, suppression Of the distributing the
types, special machine supplying new
stereotypes ready for filling the tubes; no
forms to be stereotyped, as the revolving
presses can be operated as well by curved
types which the machine can drop as
easily as horizontal types; furthermore,
and this is the most important point, the
machine with the adjunct " of dupli-
Gated or Implicated tubes. n set the
same matter simultaneously two or three
times. But this is not all. There is no
reason why the keyboard should not be
separated from the machine, whose tubes
are put into operation by an electric mo-
tor in such way that the editor, instead
of writing his articles, can discard the
pen, and from his private office set up
his own "stuff," with the necessary cor
rections, and Go without the services of
the typesetter.