The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-30
GREAT INVENTIVE GENIUS.
Career of Ottmar MersenthaIer, In
ventor of the Linotype.

Ventor of the Linotype.
Ottmar Mergenthaler, the inventor of
the linotype, who died on Saturday,
was born in Wurtemberg. Germany, on
May 10, 1854.
He learned the trade of a watchma-
ker in his native place. At the age of
Is he came to this country, penniless
/ and his first work was in the service
of the government in Washington.
There he worked four years on the
mechanism Of clocks and bells and sig
nal service apparatus. His inventive
| genius manifested itself in several i'm
provements which he made in signal
service apparatus, and in 1876 he be-
came connected with a mechanical en-
cheering firm in Baltimore, and made
his home in that city,
| The conception of the linotype was
due primarily to James 0. Clephane, a
| Washington stenographer, who had
made a study of writing and printing
machines a hobby for 20 years. Mr..
Clephane employed the Baltimore firm
to make some models from the draw
| ings of a western inventor, and Mr..
| Mergenthaler, who showed much apti-
| tude in the work. took an interest in
the idea of inventing a typesetting ma
chine, and began to make experiments
on his own account. For four years he
devoted all his spare time to the in
yention of the machine
His first idea took the form of a
rotary machine, with keys for impress
| ing female dies In a continuous strip
of heavy paper, which was cut into
short lengths for adjustment as the
matrix of a column of type. This was
superseded by machine controlling a
series of sliding bars. each bearing on
one edge all the characters and spaces.
A key mechanism moved these bars
enGwise so as to bring a selected char
acter on any bar in line with a Sc
lected character on any other, and thus
form the matrix Of a complete line of
casting. In 1880, however, he made a
complete change Of system, and adopt
ed the plan which he brought to per-
lection in the linotype.
Finally, at the end of these four years
of struggle, he had a machine that
would, by action of a keyboard some
thing like a typewriter, set a line of
key dies or types, justify them to the
exact width of a column or any re-
quired measure, and cast it into a solid
line of lead or type metal. Yet his
work was not done, for after he had
accomplished all this and had secured
his patents, another obstacle seemed to
battle him. Men of money discredited
his machine. even after they had seen
1t work. Publishers said ii was inn
practicable. They were willing to
try his device. but they did not care
to take any risks. BY constant plead
ings, however, he at last succeeded In
organizing company with small CAPT
tai, which in the next three years was
consumed in efforts to place the limo
type in the composing room of some
daily newspaper.
The Tribune was the first newspaper
to give the machine a trial, and the
first newspaper to equip its office with
the perfected machines. Mr. Mergen-
thaler continued to live in Baltimore,
where he erected machine works. His
contracts with the Mergenthaler Lin
otype Company made him well off, and
he also held stock in the company
There are about six thousand linotypes
In use in the United States and abroad.