The times., 1899-10-29

method of printing can be designed which re-
quires no type at all, the method embodied IN
our invention will be the used in the future;
not alone because it is cheaper, but mainly be-
cause il is destined to secure superior quality
The history Of our enterprise, gentlemen, IS one
of evolution. We started by printing one letter
at a time, and justifying the sentences after
ward; then impressed into papier mache one
word at time, justified It, and made a type
nom il by after process Next we impressed
whole line and justified it, still leaving the pro-
duction Of the type as a second operation but
we compose a line, justify. and cast it all
in machine and by operator.
1t is great result but, gentlemen of the board,
TO You II IS due as much as 10 me You have
furnished the money, ] only the ideas; and in
thus enabling me 20 carry this invention to
successful end, you have honored yourselves and
your country l say YOU have hOnored your
country, for everyone viii know that this inyen-
tion has been originated in the land which gave
birth to the telegraph, the telephone the Hoe
press, and the reaper; everybody will know that
it came from the United States, though COM
paratiyely few will know the name Of the in
yentor. Gentlemen, again thank you
The Linotype of that time was satisfac-
tory though not perfect. No tabular work
could be done on il. The operator could
not correct an error without discarding all
that part OF the line which had been
formed prior to the discovery Of the mis-
take. the result of his work as he pressed
the keys was not directly under his eye.
overcome a defect and he submitted
sketches for a new machine. In this he
essayed by touching a key, TO bring
matriX from the channel to the assent bling
point, and after casting the line TO dis
tribute the matrices. a syndicate of
wealthy newspaper men bought con-
trolling interest in the company, paying
what was then the enormous price of
$500 600. These men were Whitelaw Reid,
Nf Nayrr N1vl-s ,Tf a.-1a
ington w n. Hademan, of Louisville;
Victor Lawson, of Chicago; Melville e.
Stone, Of Chicago, and William Henry
Smith, OF Chicago. w. II. Rand, OF Chi
cago was also in the syndicate.
Mr.. Mergenthaler completed the inde-
pendent matriX machine and submitted it
to a trial. which was successful, in the
summer of 1885 In this F-s2Ghine. the line
was assembled in view Of the operator, and
he could make corrections as he proceeded;
he could insert. by hand characters not
carried in the magazine. and the machine
could now produce tabular matter The
first Of these new machines was installed
in the composing room Of the New York
Tribune This was ia July, 1886.
The Perfected Linotype.
The inventive genius of Mr.. Mergen-
thaler reached its greatest height in the
conception and construction of the per-
fected Linotype, the machine which is now
in use in the composing room of every
frst-class newspaper, and practically,
every tirst-class printing Office in America,
| Europe. and Australia.
The 1886 machine required an air-blast
for propelling the matrices. This was
found TO be noisy and otherwise objection
! able. The keyboard action was hard and
! defective as to uniformity, and it required
! long practice to operate the keyboard with
! out causing matrices to fly out of the
! channel; the locking up and alignment
| features were rather unreliable, the dis
| tributor was not as strong as II could be,
! and the machine, as a whole. it is said,
! lacked that ease of accessibility which Is
| so necessary to keep machines in their
proper condition" Another drawback, it
is said. was the fact that each set OF
matrices had to have its special set of
! channels. a condition which was found to
! be Objectionable for the reason that ma
! chimes could not be finished at Will as
now, but had to await the order OF a
| purchaser as TO the font OF matrices he
wanted to use. 1t was these tmperrections
which Mr. Mergenthaler set himself TO
| rectify, besides producing machines OF
greater speed and adaptability TO book
! work. Mr. Mergenthaler. weakened by
overwork was stricken with pleur4sy late
in the fall of 1888 His life was despaired
Of but after a physical struggle OF about
| TWO months, he recovered. His physicians
expressed the fear that the attack had
induced consumption, and this fear was
well founded.
! In the winter of 1883 Mr.. MergenthaleT