The times., 1899-10-01

| otdaeS, oue aiso III 6reat Britain. Inc type
revolving machine marked a great advance
in rapid printing 1t was believed that the
| problem had been settled. at least for q
long time TO come. 1t was scarcely con-
ceiVaole that any paper would want to
print more than 10000 copies an hour.
Inc type-revolving presses had scarcely
! peen put into general operation in this
country and Europe before the constant
growth in circulation figures demanded still
| Iurtner improvements. Various expert
lnents mad demonstrated the possibility of
| casting stereotype plates on a curve The
| process was brought to perfection by the
| use OF neXlbie paper matrices upon which
the metal was cast in curved molds to
| any circle desired. These plates were
placed upon the type-revolving machines
instead OF the type forms The newspa-
per publishers were thus enabled to dupli-
! cate the forms and to run several machines
| at the same time, with a view to turning
out the papers with greater rapidity In
| some OF the large London and New York
offices as many as FIVE of these machines
were kept in constant operation.
The difficulty in obtaining high speeds
with these machines was not in printing
! iast enough, but in getting the sheets to
| the machine rapidly and in disposing of
them quickly after they had passed through
I the press. The demand was for press
winch would print from a continuous roll
! OF paper, leaving the sheets to be cut and
folded after they had passed through the
machine. 1t was necessary too, TO ensure
satisfactory results. that the machine should
perform all these operations itself. 1t was
| found that human hands could not work
last enough to keep up with the require
ments of the modern newspaper In 1871
X Hoe & Co. set to work to study this
problem in comprehensive manner and to
soIVe the dif1culties in the way of attaining
much higher speed than had ever before
been attempted. Expert mechanicians were
set TO work on different phases of the prob
/ lem. Time, money, and effort were ex-
! pended without stint in the study of exist
/ ing models, in erecting experimental ma
! chimes, and in trying all manner of de-
I vices suggested to meet the requirements of
/ the situation
The difficulties were not wholly OF a
/ mechanical nature. One was in the set off
of the first side of the sheet printed. This
I was avoided by the cooperation of the
/ inkmakers, who were induced to devise
] special, rapid-drying inks Another draw
back was in obtaining paper in the roll of
uniform perfection and strength. The paper
makers were led TO make a study Of pro-
J duclng large rolls of paper meeting these
/ requirements. They solved the problem
/ of finding a strong and cheap paper such
/ as could be afforded by the daily press.
/ While these improvements were being
wrought out, the press manufacturers
! were working on the problem OF a rapid
! severance of the sheets after printing and
I the accurate delivery of the printed papers.
/ The most important device relating TO this
! matter was the patent of Stephen ID.
! Tucker, member of the firm OF X. Hoe &
Co. It was called a gathering and deliver
ing cylinder, and was able to handle the
papers as fast as they were printed 1t is
the mechanism on which the great speed
of the modern press depends. Without it
one of the great machines would block
pressroom with papers before it had been
in operation fifteen minutes.
Thus it viii be seen, the rapid working
web press is composite for which no one
man deserves the entire credit. 1t is one
of the most notable examples of a really
wonderful mechanism constructed in res
ponse to specific demand. The expert
mechanicians engaged in the manufacture
of presses knew what was wanted. They
sat down and figured TO these results just
as experts in other fields might solve prob
lens in mathematics or military tactics.
II is a concrete Illustration of the saying
that no matter what the demand is, if it is
strong enough it will be satisfied.
The press which was constructed in 1871
as result of these Investigations was fed
from a roll or web of paper over. cylinders
carrying stereotyped plates. which printed
it on both sides. The sheets were not en-
tireIy severed by the cutters, but We're
simply perforated after the printing. They
were drawn by accelerating tapes, which
completely separated them, into gather
ing cylinder so constructed that six, or any
desired number, of perfect papers could be
gathered one over the other. These, by
means of switch, were at the proper mo-
ment turned of onto 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. Ii was, therefore, the
beginning of rapid printing as that term
is understood today. The only duties men
were required TO perform in connection
with ii were the starting of the press,
Watching to see that its work was perform
ed properly, and taking away the papers
after they were piled fiat on the receiving
board.
When the first of these web perfecting
presses was put into successful operation
it was said that there was no limit TO its
speed except the ability of the paper to
stand the strain OF passing through the
press. This statement seemed to be justi-
fed by the fact that $4,000 an hoIr were
printed from a single feedboard This
was however the maximum speed OBJ
tanned by this press. In most offices 1000
an hour was the actual running speed.
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 fat They
were given TO the carriers in rolls, and il
was left TO those who sold them to fold
them Here was a chance and demand
for a time saving mechanical device The
newsmen wanted the folding done in the
offices. At length a folder was devised
and put in operation. 1t was found imme-
diately that men hurrying to their Offices
OF trains would purchase the fo'ded papers
in preference TO the others. OF course,
such an advantage of competition could
not be allowed to remain in the hands of
a single publisher. All the Offices rad to
put in folders. The advantage OF combin-
ing this operation with the others per
formed by the press was clearly apparent
And so one more function was added to the
already complex duties of the printing ma
chine.
So II 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
Today the 600,0 600 copies of some London
" eeklies are printed, cover and all, folded
cut, and stitched into complete pamphlet
on single machine al the rate OF 4S 900
an hour. The latest innovations have been
in connection with color printing. which
has required the addition of! more new
parts TO the mechanism of the machine.
single color press built last year contained
between $4,000 and 60 900 individual parts
II seems as though this was carrying the
II nf 10