Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-12-24

powerful gas jet or oil burner, and as
the cast of line of type is made it
comes into contact with the letter
molds in the edge of the brass matrices
lined UP before it and slug comes
tout, which is one solid line of brand
fnew type. In the meantime the oper-
ator has been setting UP the next line
by dropping matrices into place and IT
is ready to follow the one before it az
soon as the first line is cast.
| Rivals Human intelligence.
! It is here that the work of the ma
chine becomes almost human. When
| the line is cast and the slug made a
long arm automatically makes grace
full sweep forward and grasps that
line OF brass matrices just as easily
as tho it had fingers. Up to the top
of the machine they go where this arm
shoves them onto a bar along which
they are slid each letter to its own
| channel and dropped in, no matter how
they may have been mixed up in the
setting and with never miss. This
work of machine taking a handful
of letters and dropping each back into
its right box without assistance or
direction from the operator seems In
credible but it all looks simple when
done. The sharp jagged teeth seen
in the V shaped notch in the end CT
each brass matrix are made slightly
different for each letter and the bar
upon which they slide being grooved
to fit the teeth Is graduated so that one
letter will lose its hold and fall be-
fore another will and always at Just
the proper place.
A man operating a linotype machine
becomes an expert. AFTER three years
Of practice he can do the work of five
or six hand compositors. These ma
chimes are so complicated that they re-
quire the constant attention Of a spe-
cial and high priced nlachinist to keep
them going.
The lrrepressibIe opp Line.
Having seen the machines that set
type and distribute it again with al
most human intelligence and more than
human accuracy visitor will ask
What do you do with the type them"
AS fast as the man at the machine sets
an article into type he dumps the type
onto a long brass bottomed tray
called galley, places a slug at the |
head of it, which will print his ma
chine number, and a printer takes a I
proof of it. by linking the type and |
pressing piece of paper down on it.
The proof with the copy then goes to
the proof reader where 1t is read and
corrections marked. If any line con-
tains an error the whole line must
be set over again for, as was seen,
the machine casts each line of type
into solid slug II the operator had
dropped a tumble of letters to get them ]
out of the way when he knew he had
started line wrong, the machine asked
40 questions but cast up the line with I
such conglomeration of letters as 70
make a mans head ache to read it.
osngerehereulklupc emf C
This "pi" line shows UP on the proof {
md will be marked out but If the boy ,
who corrects galleys should be care
ess and not take it out, it will appear
n the paper in some ridiculous con-
lection and readers will wonder wheth- ,
.r the editor was trying to swear IN
sanscrit or whether the line merely I
ried to express the name Of the dis |
Ease that killed him. |
Making Up" the Pages. /
Along in the afternoon things be-
Tin to get pretty lively in the compos-
ng room of an evening daily. The
news is coming with a rush
md in short items. The printers who !
et up the display ads are supposed to /
lave them ready for the day and the s
brennan or make up man has arranged J
hem in the pages just as each was c
'rdered to appear. From forty to 10c |
alleys of type have been set, corrected
nd are ready to be put in the pages. s
With one eve on the clock he begins !
With nerves at tension for he knows /
hat his work must be finished within {
i've minutes of the same time every $
lay. He always works on close mac S
in of time and experience has taught
i'm to expect local editor to come
caring into the room at the eleventh g
our with late fire or sensation or the {
editor to notify him that a t
big story" has just been started over I