The Portland daily press., 1900-07-27
OLD TYPEWRITERS.
Some Queer-LoOAing Specimens That
Marks the Machines Development.

]AS 6e1I1J as IL IL u Uy P5WI4G1HS IudCulu0
was made and patented by Henry Mill in
England, and, strangely enough, Mr..
Mill's invention had several features in
common with writing machines of the
present 1t was designed mainly to print
embossed letters for the blind. The ma
chine was of little commercial value and
served chiefly to mark the commencement
OF the typewriter era. Since that inven-
ton legion of devices, ingenious and
otherwise, have been made to do the
work of the pen Most of them have had
only small sale; but, even if they
proved to be failures commercially, they
opened the way for other inventions
which were destined to completely fill the
requirements. Probably nowhere out
side of the Patent Office at Washington
is to be found a larger collection of curl
GUS old typewriters than may be seen in
the shops OF dealers in secondhand writ
ing machines in this city. The report
er visited recently the office Of dealer,
who has perhaps handled, at one time or
another, every machine of this sort which
has met with any marked degree of sue
cess in the last twenty years. In cabinets
a nd showcases and on shelves and tables
throughout his place may be seen speci-
men of queer and acknowledging con-
trivances intended to supplant the pen,
whose construction has bewildered and
perpIexed the minds Of typewriter in
ventors during the period namsd.
One of the first curios to attract the at
tention is device called the "Cotfee
Mill. " This is a SMALL lightweight
machine, insignificant in appearance.
with metal disk at the top and hard
rubber knob by means of which the oper-
ator does his work. To the ordinary OBJ
server the "Cofee MILF at once suggests
the little machine so generally used for
| perforating bank checks, inasmuch as its
manipulation whirls the knob around on
the disk until he finds the character he
wishes to print and then depresses it
through a groove, which guides the type
to its proper place. To judge from a brief
illustration of its possibilities a fairly
expert operator upon 1t would require
nearly a fortnight to do what would be
regarded generally as days work for the
average amanuenslS.
Conspicuous among other relics of the
typewriter S history was machine called
the Danish Writing Globe, which, as
its name implies, is q device of foreign
make. Every part Of it, except the type
and springs, was of FURNISHED brass, and
in appearance it was part of a globe
supported UPON a square frame of brass.
Through the top Of the convex part pro-
jected a number Of rigid wires each
having disk at the upper end bearling
letter Of the alphabet; and when ons
OF the disks, or Keys, was depressed by
the finger it printed a letter on the paper
beneath. At the top of the oval the
wires were spread out over a space of
perhaps tive or six inches, while beneath
they were all concentrated at a given
point, below which was an linked ribbon
that worked automatically between the
type and the paper. The roller which
guided the paper was scarcely larger than
ones finger, and its movement was &C
cOmpl1Shed by an eccentric operated by
the types action. While the Writing
GLOBE was ingenious and extremely
Serviceable as a key to future typewriter
development, it was in itself impractical.
One of the first machines to take the
place Of the old pointer typewriters, so
injurious TO the eyes, was the "COlum-
bla, a wheel device. Notwithstanding
the fact that this was the fOrerunner of
the Odell, the Bar-lOck and other similar
machines, its own career was not peruna-
nent. 1t consisted OF wheel of metal
W pc SbduQLuR Ou GAlRb over Il DuI OF IOll6I
of rubber, which carried the paper. The
wheel had to be revolved and moved along
as each letter was desired, and, when
the proper place was found, pressed down
to make an impression, AS the types of
this machine were metal, manifold work
could be done upon 1t; but the device
was not durable and was abandoned. 1t
had speed of about 600 words an hour,
or about 400 or 500 words less than could
be written in that time.
A flat and complicated specimen, which
occupied the centre of a row of mechani-
cal curiosities, was known as the Mask
line" typewriter. The work done on
this machine was in plain sight of the
operator, as were also the type levers,
and when the latter were in motion they
reminded one OF a lot of grasshoppers
springing from one point to another
The 'Maskeline" was made in England
and in many ways showed evidences of
its foreign construction 1t was, how
ever, by no neanssa useless machine and
IN many important respects it resem bles |
some OF the typewriters in use in this
country today.
Another machine of English manufac-
ture was unique by reason of the uncom-
monty small size of its keyboard. Each
key, however, represented four characters
Tor example, two letters of the alphabet
and two numerals. The operator of this |
typewriter should have had no trouble
In memorizing the position of the keys,
but how to strike accurately the various
types they represented through the
manipulation OF other keys and levers
must have been quite different matter.
Naturally, as America is the acknowl- !
edged home OF the typewriter, more speci- |
mems of the work of American inventors |
in this line are too be seen than of that
of other nationalities. One is strongly |
impressed while examining the different |
models, particularly those of the United /
States and England, by the greater sim |
plicity, comparatively, of those made in
this country. The latter are, for the
most part peculiar for their absence of
the springs, wires, levers and intricate |
mechanism which render the typewriters |
of foreign make so complex ana difficult |
of repair.
There were also the Automatic. - a
long and heavy contr1vance; the Bos-
ton, a somewhat crude device of more
on less utility: the uIYpogranhn q M