Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-10

the cutters, but were simply perforated af
ter the printing. They were drawn by &C
celebrating tapes which completely separ-
ated them. into a gathering cylinder, so
constructed that six or any desired num-
Der, of perfect papers could be gathered
one over the other. These, by means of
switch, were, at the proper moment, turn
ed off on to sheet flyers, which deposited
them on the receiving board.
This press for the first time did away
completely with hand labor in the process
of printing. 1t was, therefore, the begin
ming % rapid printing as that term is I'M
derstood today.
The only duties men were required to per-
form in connection with it were the start
ing of the press, watching to see that Its
work was performed properly, and taking
away the papers after they were piled fiat
on the receiving board.
First Great Power Press.
The first press of this pattern was set up
in the office of the New York Tribune in
1871. OF course 1t had been thoroughly
tested beforehand, and its makers were
confident that 1t would do all that they
claimed for it. Nevertheless considerable
excitement attended it's first practical op-
Grafton. =
When the lever was thrown back and the
cylinders began to revolve, the paper reel
ed off the web in perfect form without in
terrupticn and delay, while, at the other
end of the press the papers were laid ous
in a perfectly even pile, ready to be folded
for delivery. The new press delighted all
who saw it's operation, and earned the en-
comium Of "a mechanism of almost human
intelligence and more than human &C
curacy."
When the first of these web perfectins
presses was put into successful operation 1t
was claimed that there was no limit to IT'S
speed except the ability of the paper to
stand the strain of passing through the
press. This claim seemed to be justified by
the fact that lS,0G3 an hour were printed
from a single feedhoard. This was, how
ever the maximum speed obtained by this
press. In most offices 1900 per hour was
the actual running speed
Folding the Papers.
One feature in the later improvement Of
the web press illustrates the way in which
demand has acted to stimulate invention in
this field. The first press did not fold the
papers but delivered them fiat. They were
given to the carriers in rolls, and it was
left to those who sold them to fold them
Here was a chance and a demand for a
time-saving mechanical device. The news
men wanted the folding done In the offices.
AT length a folder was devised and put in
operation. it was found Immediately that
men hurrying to their offices trains
would purchase the folded papers in pref
erence to the others. OF course, such an
advantage of competition could not be al
lowed to remain in the hands of a single
publisher. All the offices had to put in
folders. The advantage of combining this
operation with the others performed by
the press was clearly apparent. And SO one
more function was added to the already
complex duties Of the printing machine.
So it has been with every advance. The
enlargement of papers by the addition of
supplements or odd pages brought about
the necessity OF pasting or stitching these
pages into the main body Of the paper A
press had to be devised to do this work.
HT1g tlla .,f Il
other London weeklies are printed, cover
and all, cut and stitched into a complete
pamphlet on a single machine at the rate
of 5000 per hour.
Color Printing.
The latest Innovations havs been In con-
nection with color printing, which has re-
quired the addition of more new parts to
the mechanism Of the machine. A single
color press built last year for one of the
largest dailias in the country contained be-
tween 10000 and 6O,O0O individual parts.
1t seems as though this was carrying the
possibilities of one machine to its utmost
limits, but it is by no means certain that
still further additions may not be made
Such machines as this cannot be con-
structed without great expense. The price
of the most improved style of quadruple
machine is So, 600 of a sextuple $4,000,
and so on, the price mounting with the
complexity of the press itself and the In
crease in the work 1t is intended to do. In
the best-equipped newspaper office IN the
country the value of the machinery en-
ployed falls little shcrt of 81 ooo, GOO.
From the web prass of 1871 to the latest
improved form described at the beginning
of this article, with its speed of $4,000 per
hour, there has been no radical change of
style or form. The improvements have
been in matters Of detail and in the direc-
ton Of an increased size and capacity.
Even at the present time no thoughtful
man would venture to say that thu limit Of
speed has been reached. In the future our
successors may smile at the designation Of
press which prints less than 100000 pa
pers per hour and with cylinders revolving
200 times to the minute as rapid" Never
theless, by our present standards 1t Is
rapid, and its construction deserves to rank
among the great achievements Of the GEN.
fury.