The Teton peak. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1899-1904, 1903-12-10
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O||N F MA
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ting type br machinery,
and as Il result some wonderful mech
anical contrivances We're produced
| from time to time. Twenty years be-
! fore Howe invented the sewing ma
chine an Englishman named w. Church
| invented Il machine to set type. which
seemed destined to supersede hand
composition. and created at that time
Il great furore in the printing world,
but it proved Il failure. Since then
over 100 like inventions have gone the
way of Church's Some of these ma
chimes were extraordinary mechanical
productions but there was always one
stumbling block to their complete sue
cess-that is. to justify into lines the
type set half as fast as it was COM
posed by the operator 1t took two
men to run one machine Che operator
and the justitier), and sometimes a
third to look after the distributor. The
one who justified the type into lines
could not begin to keep pace with the
one who would set the type in one
continuous line. Some of the machines
set and distributed simultaneously, but
no inventor had yet produced a ma
chine that could Justify satisfactorily.
1t was not until Mergenthaler in
vented his great machine that the
problem was solved He departed en-
tirely from the methods employed by
other inventors-that is, setting ordi-
nary hand type. He used matrices,
which are set first into lines. and from
this line of matrices a solid block. or
line. Of type, is almost instantaneously
cast: but this would not have accom-
plished the aim sought had he not in
vented. too, the wedge space. These
spaces are wedge-shaped. very thin at
the top, and are set along with the
types. When the line is set it. is made
flush by driving those wedges upward
between the words. Distribution of
the matrices is carried on automatic
ally while the machine is in operation.
The Brown composing, justifying
and distributing machine, which was
worked with some success on the other
side of the Atlantic, had a series Of
grooves or channels ranged side by
feet Tho type slid downward by their
own gravity and rested on bar at the
lower end of the groove. In front of
the case. sliding backward and for
ward at the will of the operator, was
"mechanical hand" which took the
letters from the case On Il shield in
front of the case the letters were indi-
NI,o l,o11 l,o1 Il n hn-
tween finger and thumb and ran it OPP
posite to the letter to be taken. This
handle had a follower attached which
pushed the type sufficiently down the
channel for the next one to be taken.
Then there was the "NN II. MITCHELL
the 'F w. Gilmer," and the 80. B.
Ray the latter being a very ingenious
attempt. It's tubes We're so constructed
that the type when discharged int the
hoppers by hand were made to arrange
themselves through the tubes with
the hicks all the same way.
In 1882 "Porter's" type composing
machine was introduced. 1t was sim
pie and consisted of a collection of
troughs in which the type to be COM
|
one way 1t was intended to facilitate
hand composition. When the operator
required a letter he placed his foot on
lever near the ground, and this ac-
ton caused the letter to move slightly
forward and was picked out as in ordi-
nary composition. with the exception
that a whole word could be set before
| hri, fho 10 +ho cti
AS an illustration of the herculean
task the invention of a typesetting ma
chine was, may be mentioned that of
the alden" The inventor of this ma
chine spent twenty years on it. and
it cost him $4,000. 1t contained IA,
626 pieces and weighed 1920 pounds.
1t could set 5000 ems per hour and
once set 1000 ems in ten minutes. The
Alden consisted Of a round table, en-
closing a horizontal revolving wheel
Between the table and the wheel was
space about an eighth of an inch
broad. Between this and the outside
Of the table We're arranged the type
cases. or holders. In front, where
the operator stood. was the distributor
the central carrying wheel, and it held
100 different characters. On the re-
yolving wheel We're thirty-six hands,
made as like human hands as possible.
These were placed alternately, one dis
tributing and another composing. The
types were arranged around the wheel,
and the fingers of the hand were
pushed out and the type set by the
pressing of keys when opposite the re-
quired type.
There is no record of any attempt to
invent a typesetting machine from
Church's time until 1857. when the
'Hattersly' made its debut. 1t con-
sisted of n horizontal top gauge, on
which was placed partitioned tray,
each partition containing row of let
ters. Descending vertically along the
| front of this tray was n series of wires
with pistons and the pistons were
depressed by the keys acting by bell
cranks. which We're brought back to
their first position by springs. A pro-
peller. kept in a state of tension by a