Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-07-10
PROGRESS IN PRINTING
ONE OF THE MOST POTENT FACTORS
OF CIVILIZATION.

The origin of the art of printing is
shrouded in mystery. 1t is impossible
to say when or by whom it was first
used, even in its crudest form. Marco
Polo found the art being practiced in
the Far East and it is on record that
In the remotest antiquity the Orien-
tails used stamps, with colored inks, en-
their documents of various kinds. A
similar sort of printing Captain Cook
found common in the Sandwich ISL
ands, and he brought home with him
from one OF the Leeward Islands a
stamp with which the natives printed
designs on the borders of their clothes
We have records that similar work
was done in Saracenic Sicily in the
eleventh century, on coverlets and
yestrlents, in several colors. 1t is
claimed that the reason why the an
clients did not fashion some mechani-
cal means of preserving their poems,
scientific memoranda and ecclesiasti-
cal WORKS was that the D lnuscrirt
scribes were slaves, and that their
maintenace was only q matter of about
five cents day, SO the inventive minds
OF the age saw no possible profit in
any attempt to multiply the few books,
or scrolls, called for, and as these man.
uscript scrolls of papyrus or parch-
ment were only sought by the.wealthy,
the demand was easily supplied by the
artisans of the pen and brush.
But as civilization began to advance
and o thirst for knowledge became
more general and the distribution Of
the thoughts of the brightest minds
demanded some ready means Of
spreading broadcast the teachings Of
the masters. 1t was no longer possi'
BILE, as in the days Of the Greeks, to
satisfy the longings of the people by
hearing read in the Athenian theatre
the poems of Aeschylus, Sophocles and
Euripides. The thousands in Europe
beyond the reach Of the theatre were
seeking for that culture and an under
standing of the great forces of nature
which could only come to them
through the researches of the great
minds Of the age.
In 1426 Laurens Roster, of Haarlem,
conceived the idea OF cutting with
Knife alphabets of separate movable
type, which, when set in rows, formed
words and sentences, and when bound
together and placed On the bed Of the
rude presses of the period could be
linked and impressions pulled from
them much in the same manner as Is
now done on the ordinary Hoe hand
1lpn atiaa6
is shown in an illustration in "Papil-
Ions History" was productive OF
much better results. 1t was not unlike
the present way of taking proofs of
galleys of type with roller. By this
method after the form was linked an
ordinary wooden cyclinder, possibly
covered with some soft cloth. was
passed over the type or wood blocks,
and q printed sheet was the result.
From 1926 to 1900 is long jump, but
skilled labor and busy brains have
made great strides as the years rolled
by. 1t was not until 1910 that ma
chine printing press was constructed
by Frederick KONG. of England, who
had q patent issued to him in that
year. 1t is easily within the memory
of living persons when all books were
printed on the hand press.
Let us assume work illustrated
with wood engravings. Then form
of say eight pages of an octave could
be printed ON the hand press. From
this, the quality being first-class, the
days work would result in the neigh
borhood Of about 400 impressions, and
this would require 4 careful pressman
and helper. To-day Of the same work
it Is possible to impose a thirty-two
page form on modern stop cylinder
press, and after being made ready we
can safely count upon at least 5000 i'm
pressions in working day, this being
five times the number of pages possi-
BILE on the hand press and twelve and
One-half times the amount of product,
and this result can be obtained day af-
ter day until the plates are worn out,
and the last sheet should be substan-
TALLY as good as the first, inasmuch as
when the form is made ready, the i'm
preston carefully adjusted and the
flow of ink properly gagged the only
call upon human agency is to see that
the sheets are regularly fed, the form
kept clean and the ink fountain filled,
and the press reels off the sheets to
the end of the edition.
With the daily press the outpdt Is
marvel. There are presses in this city
that can turn off 10000 to 10000 i'm
pressions an hour. This makes 1t pos
Sible to keep certain pages open until
lhe last moment for the latest news,
and we have then the complete records
of the worlds happenings at our
breakfast table. How Roster and
Gutenberg wonld open their eyes II
they could drop in upon us in this
twentieth century Of our Lord! Among
other things that would set them a.
wondering is the printing of both sides
of the sheet and it's delivery on the
table, q finished product, folded and
ready for the market! And no less
marvel is the press that will print six
colors before the sheet leaves the ma
chino with color values all preserved