Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-06-29
"A N
Improved Typewriter.
BY X. CHER.

Joe Maxton was an inventive genius.
While other boys were employing their
out of school hours in learning to
smoke cigarettes and play cards and
acquire surreptitious vocabulary of
foul language, Joe, apparently with
little gregarious instinct, was building
water mills, queer kites, mouse traps,
fly traps, fish traps and other ma
chimes, perfectly happy and contented
in his mechanics, without any COM
pany at all.
Joe has already made a name for
himself, with some of the best that
vague term generally includes, but in
this writing We have only to do with
an incident in which his pretty sister,
Sarah, was concerned.
Sarah was bright and amiable, and
not without energy. At eighteen,
fairly educated, comely and sound,
she perceived the advantage to be de-
rived from some salaried occupation,
and proceeded to learn to operate the
typewriter. While she was tedious.y
clicking through the primary degrees
of typewriter progress, Jeo came and
looked on thoughtfully, once in while.
"Oh, Joel" said she one day, fall
ing back in her chair in a sort of help
less Encouragement. 81 have not the
smallest chance in the world at the
judges competition. True, it is six
months ahead, but these fingers and
this head of mine are twelve months
behind"
Judge Kimace was power in the
locality. He lived in Burgtown which
had population Of no less than
twenty-five thousand, and welded his
scepter for miles around. He was q
patron of home institutions and home
talent, which undoubtedly had some
thing to do with his popularity; SO
when he found it necessary to employ
typewriter, for which office he could
afford good salary, he announced a
competition for the situation, open to
Burgtownites or neighbors only, to
be given in six months time. Every
body in the limits was welcome to
compete, male or female, old or young,
and altar thorough and impartial
judgment, the typewritist of highest
speed should receive the situation and
q prize, too. Even those who might
fail would be benefited by the accom-
pIishment the incentive would have
given them, and he himself was pretty
sure to secure an able assistant. Very
neat arrangement all around.
The Maxton family were poor. Joe
had not yet begun to reap any golden
fruits from his inventive genius. But
he had the hearty goodwill of a manu-.
iacturer OF two, which proved to be
q pretty good thing of itself. The
typewriter Sarah had been able to buy
was not of the best, and with it she
could not hope to compete with the
best makes, even though her skill was
high. They all tried not to see this
disagreeable point except Joe, who
looked it square in the face, from top
to bottom, all around, and even clear
through. That was right in his line
Of business.
"Oh, Joe, don't raise my hopes just
TO disappoint them!'
''Well, you know what I've done
before. My present idea is q clear
one, and Mr.. Richards factory is open
to rue. I will commence at once. But
say again, if I were you wouldn't
work on that machine any more at
present. If my idea is success, you
will have it all to unlearn."
1t was nearly sixweeks before .Ioe's
idea materialized, and he brought his
machine home to Sarah. When uu-
boxed, it proved to be more uncouth
than the first one, if possible.
When Sarah made her discouraged
observation, Joe had been thought
fully looking on for some time.
"If I were you," he said slowly, "I
wouldn't click another click on
that machine at present. You
are right; the case is hopeless under
the circumstances Skill would not
help you against better machine.
But 1 have an idea. In few days 1
can bring you a machine, I think, that
will outwrito the best of them under
their most skilful operators, and with
out much extra work for you to learn
it, if any,"
'Oh, it don't go much on looks,
said Joe, in free and expressive work
mans phraseology. ''But if you want
q machine to write fast, here it is.
Joe's idea was an addition to the
ordinary alphabet, consisting of row
of buttons containing the more used
syllables, such as 'in, i'm, ing, BILE,
con, ough, ton, the, from, to, by,
since, Dear Sir" and even "Very
truly yours. The type of the sylla-
bles was hardly oxtinguishable from
the single letters. He had solved the
difficulty of type in different sized
bodies. every truly yours was
printed in o single touch, as easily as
A., g. or 9.
WhcS Sarah comprehended Joe's
Improvement. and perceived the ma9i-