The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-28

II was q different matter when the linotype
arrived. This machine may be saiu 70 M mu nn
the struggle with insubordinatc, Jnmmihg,
breaking types, and cast it's own Type y yb ~
tap releases a die and brings It into place; Inc
line when sct Is justified by d-iytng up wlueI,nR
metal is Injected mo The line Of dies, forming
a bar of type representing tho line. Ihis unp
must be trimmed, mud then IL Is ready , 90
oaily conveyed, back to their own place. ihis
mnchino was plainly a very great aavahSe' md NJ
the. distribution of types after being usGa my
their, proper. cases ready for use aEnln' a
saved cost of type, wear and tear OF plant nnn
especially floor space. Its victory was nSltnnr
Immediate nor c%opnp!etc, for reasons when VII
S S6PrSaE; by fo for E the ni t1rSS 1,,@ o1d IT t fs,I hnnd. !"
Thus was the why prepared for ne trow tnd
intcrior in speed to the Linotype, because !, IN
wolves tho separate operations with the key:
board and the casting and setting. machine, ~
IL the range Of is characters, in economy, and
N convenience, The types arc clGan cut am n
they offer the promise OF tho very glcarest and
finest impression. The dies, being held In rows
IN q SQUARE case, require mechanical ,n arn r mSV Of
their total number. If there arc 225, charnc-
tSrs-hftecn rows of nftccn apiece-thero are
movements to bring tho dies under the jet OF
metal, or thirty In al; 80 with Forty m2yS-
G25. Tho linotype needs n Sc, arnte mechnni-
cal movement for each characteristics neces-
sarily limits the number OF characters employed,
and thcrcwith-as. foi instance by the exclusion
or itnlics-thc range and attractivcncss OF the
printing. IN point of economy, the monotype re,
quircs less labor than anS other machine, Eight
expert keyboard operators can punch rolls fast
enough 10 keep ten machines going; one man can
ten complete machines complete MACHINE
run by a decimal fraction of u mani with TINS
works out roughly al something like onc.quartcr
OF that OF h~andwork. But perhaps the most attrac-
tive vista ost Of i p9 ,sd = before %m%S II he e. mono.ype is
Small, printers can combine in the purchase
and up-kecp of a casting machine, each having
his own keyboard and sending its rolls to tho
central depot to be cast ut leisure. This same
roll can be stored away and kept to %intinity.
on the machine and come out in type at any
moment, With other methods, whether limo
Eve sSlys Wheel ni", spout for or hand ian .d II you s Want to pr pre- a
book-you must store the type itself, taking up
space pa for which y you must Pay rent and spend end,
lose the interest. With the monotype you just
put away the rolls on y shelf. When you want
them on the machines, leave a man sitting up
TO feed them, and go TO bed; when you wake up
tho monotype has done the rest.
In this light the apparent slowness involved
in the separate parts of the monotype turns out
a real gain IN speed. All other setting machines
of their human operators. Imagine n press of
work; when YOU linotypists are tired out you
must let your machine stand idle while they
sleep; your monotypists in the meantime:
their whole attention fixed on the mental
processes of the keyboard with no distraction
10 the mechanical processes of the casting, may
be presumed to have held out longer, at higher
p pres nrSo to }, have n p%HneR %ha more i6o than an the tSm oIhe s6
bed the casting machine will click serenely on
all night; 1t wants no food but copy and metal.
And now for the most wonderful dream of all.
No compositor ut all, but every author his own
printer! If the divine fire can be struck out on
the keys of a Typewriter. why not on the keys
of a monotypc? The sage of the future will un.
i IN a b brG WisnTm IN roll en' 'I me viii Vi IIt send do down nG ths
roll to his editor or publisher; it will be put on
the machine, and the machine will turn ir out
i'll print without the touch of any hand but his
own. If this can he, our valued friend, the
coInpositor, turns out only a supertiuous. middle
must go. After all, in this literary age, it is
increasingly easy for him to become a popular
anthor-a profession sometimes cleaner than
his present one, ana very often better paid.
Still. there will always remain one place for
the compositor; he will make the authors cor
~rcctionS in the columns which the monotype has
set up. The linotype abol!shcs the cost Of cor
r]ections BY abolishing the corrGctions them.
literature also. In theory, correction is pos;
sible with it: it sets its type in solid lines, and
whole line must be set all over again. In prac-
tice the %resetting and recasting, Of the whole
n 11n9 @ea there eSS mf tSe e comme f IS not um Corrected n,s cd,
and bad work is the result; The reader is an,
noyed or confused or misled by mistakes, or
writing tribes don't. matter. The writer il
forced to acuuicsce in the same heresy. He
must not revise and correct, and in time. by
dint Of seeing many scandalous blunders in his
work, learns to accept biunders in spelling, in
grammar, in style, MS a necessary condition of
litcrature-of. which disease literature must
eventually die.
You who have seen your noblest sentiments,
ycTr most rcsounding phrases pass under the
barrow Of the linotype will confess that this is
no cNaggcration. The linotype made, for bad
writing: tho monotype giving out work as easy
of correction as hand. set types. if it does not
make directly for good writing. at least does not
/ nlyn vaf - II Innu IN trVNa "a mn ln
for good printing. In the meantime, it is per
mittcd to welcome n machine which, while, like
most of its breed. it makes life swifter and more
exciting. does not. like many, leave it uglieI
than it found il. G.. w. STEEvENS.