The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-23
TyPEWR|TERS ARE HALF CENTURY OLD Machines of l846 Were CIum-
 sy and of Little Use EMBODIED MODERN IDEAS Invented by Charles Thurber and Called Mechanical chlrosra-
 phers"-Sholes' Work In
 Bringing Efficiency.
From the New York Herald.

From the New fork Herald.
 Washington, D. C-The evolution Of thc typewriter Is interestingly illustrated by models in .le patent office. These models are stored in building not far from the patent office proper, and al- though 1t takes some hunting to find the typewriters which have been patented at various times, the results are well worth the search.
 One finds the first practical typewriter ever constructed which embraces the essential priniples of all modern ma. chimes. This was the invention of Charles Thurber and upon 1t was written the first letter ever typwritten. A fac-simile of this letter. written in 1S46, may be seen at the office. It is crude piece of work manship, and there Is distinction be- tween capital and small letters It was written at what would now be considered a ridiculously low rate of speed. Yet the spacing Is perfect and the type legible. l. was called mechanical chirog rapher."
 Although Thurber's machine Is large and clumsy it embodies most of the de- vices common to modern typewritters. To it was applied, for the first time, the paper carrying roller. together with suit able machinery for line and letter spac- ing
 Advance Made By Shoes.
 After Shuber, the first man to realize the possibilities of the typewriter was C. Latham Sholes, of Wisconsin. Gifted with indomtable will. business aptitude and faith In his powers. which no failure was able to daunt, the real inventor of the modern typewriter saw something In the Idea. Sholes was not wealthy, and his first difficulty lay in finding a cap italist who was willing to embark with him In the enterprise
 This first obstacle overcome he set to work with a will and between 1867 and 1873 turned out twenty-five typewritters. all of which were theoretically perfect and all of which went to pieces with re- gularity after a more or less prolonged spell of practical work. But each model was better than the preceding one, and thus at length a fairly efficient machine was produced.
 The finished article was intrusted for manufacture to a company in New York. For a long time the demand was small. | Even after nine years not more than fif- | teen hundred machines were being sold | each year This was in 1882. Since then, however. the popularity of the typewrit- l ter has become such that at the present | time finished machine is being produced | every f1Ve minutes O. tut WOihih6 udJ' and this rate of production is nearly | euualled by scores of other makes. The success achieved by MT. Sholes naturally induced inventors and capital | ists to turn their attention to the pro- l duction of other typewritters, the re- suit being that within twenty-seven years there have been placed on the market or | the world nearly one hundred and fifty different types of machines. With a | single exception, all the best known ma chimes have been invented in this country. A striking feature of the patent office exhibit Is the number of patents taken out on each machine one having sixty or seventy distinct devices.
 Curious and Costly Machines. | There have been many curious and beautiful machines constructed from time to time to the order of various persons )r for presentation. Perhaps the most elaborate typewriter ever produced was