The evening times., 1899-10-28


mended it. Stilson Hutchins had by this
time become leading stockholder and
conspicuous advocate of the linotype ma
chine. Following this exhibition, Mr.
Hutchins gave a banquet and In the course
of the proceedings introduced Mr.. Mergen-
thaler, who said:
Allow me, gentlemen. to express my hearty
thanks TO you for the honor you have bestowed
upon in coming here to witness the per-
Torrance of my invention. You have come here
TO witness the operation OF a new composing
machine. and in far we are working in
field which is strewn with the wrecks and failures
Of former efforts in the same direction. you
will probably ask: Are you going to have more
success than those who have gone over that field
before you; and if 50. why? My answer IS:
reason that have attacked the problem in an
entirely different way than did those who have
failed.
When started on this problem, surveyed the
field and selected the best road, regardless Of the
roads which others have taken. knew the direc-
tioa in which others had attempted to solve the
problem, and was careful not to fall into the same
rut which had led every previous effort into
failure and ruin. We make and justify the type
go along. and thereby relieved from
the millions Of little tiny types which have proved
50 Troublesome to my predecessors who have
failed. We have no distribution, yet We have a
new type for every issue of paper, an advantage
which can hardly be overrated.
/ am convinced, gentlemen, that unless some
HtlnOu OI pflnt1fX CaH De utslkhtu winch Te-
quires type at all, the method embodied in
invention will be the used in the future;
not alone because il is cheaper, but mainly be-
eatse it ia defined to secure superior quality.
The history of our enterprise, gentlemen, Is one
OF evolution We started by printing one letter
at time, and justifying the sentences after
ward; then We impressed into rapier mache one
word At time, justified IT, and made type
from it by after process Next We impressed
whole line and justified it, still leaving the pro-
duction of the type as second operation; but
now compose line, justify. and cast it all
in one machine and by operator
II Is great result, but, gentlemen of the board,
to you it is due much to me. You have
furnished the money, i only the ideas; and in
successful end you have honored yourselves and
your country. | say you have honored your
country, for everyone will know that this inven-
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 CON-
paratively few will know the name Of the in
pentor Gentlemen, again l thank you.
The Linotype of that time was satisfac-
tory though not perfect. No tabular work
could be done on it. 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.
Again Mr. Mergenthaler set to work to
overcome a defect, and he submitted
sketches for a new machine. In this he
essayed b. touching a key. to bring q
matrix from the channel to the assembling
point, and after casting the line to dis
tribute the matrices. A syndicate of
wealthy newspaper men bought i con-
trolling interest in the company, paying
what was then the enormous price of
100000. These men were Whitelaw Reid,
Into Af
ington; W. n. Haldeman, of Louisville;
Victor Lawson. CT Chicago; Melville E.
Stone. CT Chicago, and William Henry
Smith, OF Chicago. W. H. Rand, OF Chi
cago was also in the syndicate.
Mr.. Mergenthaler completed the indie
pendent matrix machine and submitted it
to a trial. which was successful, in the
summer of 1885. In this machine, 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 in 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
first-class newspaper, and. practically,
every first-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
tribrtor was not as strong as it 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
purchaser as to the font of matrices he
wanted to use. 1t was these imperfections
which Mr.. Mergenthaler set himself to
rectify, besides producing machines of
greater speed and adaptability to book
WI n. MI N6dhtHeu Dy
overwork, was stricken with pleurisy late
n the fall of 1883. His life was despaired
Of. but after a physical struggle of about
.wo months, he recovered. His physicians
the fear that the attack had
induced consumption, and this fear was
we'll founded.
In the winter of 1883 Mr.. Mergenthaler
to his Washington friends and
hackers that he had completed the plans
for his perfected machine and stated that
his financial condition would not permit
lim to put his designs into operative FORM
fhe necessary fund was furnished. and Mr.
came to Washington for con-
'ultation with the prominent shareholders
md within one day returned to Baltimore
With tsn subscriptions Of 5000 each as a loan
o enable him TO begin the building of the
perfected Linotype. There was a reorgani-
alton Of the company in January, 1889 and
new board of directors was elected which
BOARD chose L. G. Hine as president and
general manager. One of the first acts Of
he new board was TO assume the cost of
he work on the improved machine with
which Mr.. Mergenthaler was busted. and
, give to him assurance of the good will
" the new management. A new superin-
endent of manufacture was appointed and
arnest efforts were put forth to secure or
'ers. The improved machine was given a
PRACTICAL trial in 1889 and proved Itself tc
,e far superior to those built from earlier
,lans. 1t eXcelled them in the matter OF
peed, quality of work. and strength. The
Jingle fault found was that it was toe
leavy. 1t was alleged that this was due
o the craftsman. Ii was decided to tighten
he patterns as much as possible and TO i
'uild from them a second machine, which