Evening star., 1899-04-01
RACING AGAINST TIME.
Marvellous Feats of Rapid Production
by Enterprising Firms.
From Tit Bits.

From Tit Bits
Many astounding feats have been per-
formed in races against time, but probably
never anything more wonderful than that
of producing a printed newspaper from
trees, which were growing two hours and a
half only before the papers were in the
hands of their readers.
This feat was performed by a firm OF
paper pulp manufacturers at Essential in
Austria. AT 7:35 in the morning the three
sturdy trees were cut down and carted
10 the paper mills. The bark was stripped
from them, they We're split and pulped
and sent to the defibrators, where they
were quickly converted into paper pulp.
AZ twenty-six minutes to ten the trees had
Deen converted into sheets of paper, which
We're quickly taken to the newspaper office.
and at 10 o'clock thousands of copies were
in circulation.
An American publishing firm not long
ago achieved feat of rapid book produc-
ton which is not only unrivaIed, but al
most incredible. An order reached them
late on Saturday to produce 1000 copies OF
an illustrated book of $50 pages by the fol-
lowing Wednesday evening. The task was
begun early on Monday morning and be-
fore the day closed the entire book had
been reduced to type, and electrotype plates
prepared for the press On the following
day printing began, and number of press
eS We're so busily at work that 10y noon
OF the following day all the 1900 copies
Were printed. The bookbinders had been
equally expeditions in preparing the covers,
and the whole edition was bound and de-
livered by Wednesday evening.
A short time ago the Prussian war de-
partment made a very interesting expert
ment in the rapid manufacture of boots
under war conditions. An army of 200
bootmakers was collected in Berlin from
the eighteen army corps, and commenced
course OF four weeks work under the
supervision of number of commissioned
officers.
The men were divided into two sections.
one section working from am. TO pm,
and the other taking up the work from
pm. to am, with two intervals of nalf
an hour each in each period of twelve
hours. The men worked, ate and slept in
the barracks of the LIST Field Artillery Regi-
ment of the Prussian Guards. In the four
weeks the men made no fewer than 6O.oo0
pairs of boots. each man thus completing
fifty pairs within the month.
The most remarkable feat in bridge build
ing stands to the credit of Messrs. Handy
side, who substituted a new railway bridge
for an old one in the incredible time Of four
hours. The new bridge was one of steel,
weighing over 200 tons. which replaced an
old bridge spanning the Stroud Green road.
near the Great Northern station at Fins
bury Park.
Commencing operations in March last,
the contractors built by the northern side
of the old bridge a new one resting on six
carriages which ran on tiny railroad un-
der the ends of the girders. At o'clock
one afternoon enormous cranes removed
the girders of the old bridge: its successor
was hauled along the lines into its place
by means of steam crabs; and within four
hours the bridge was made firm, the roads
connected and traffic was resumed.
An engineering feat still more remark
able was performed not long ago at the
Stratford works of the Great Eastern rail-
way. The engineers had set themselves the
task of building luggage engine and ten
der in the quickest time on record.
All the component parts had been care
fully arranged and placed at hand and
when work commenced early in the morn
ing the engine quickly began to assume
completed, with the exception of painting,
and within ten hours the engine and ten
der in all the glory of new paint, and per-
feet in every detail, were taking trial
spin on the line.