Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-20

there will come in an important piece OF
news which necessitates the issuing at once
of an extra edition. yet SO perfect Is the
system that the newsboys are calling Ex-
ira Star within a few minutes after the re-
ceipt Of the dispatch.
piece after piece of copy is thrust into
the little leather carriers, dropped into the
pneumatic tubes and blow in a trice up
into the composing room to the table of the
copy cutter. The copy cutter Is not ma
chine, but an experienced man, whose prin-
cipal duty is to cut the copy up into parts
called takes and SO mark them that they
may afterward be easily and quickly as
sembled when the completed story of each
has been set up by the compositors
What the Machines Will Do.
1.-The day Of the old-time hand typesetter
is passed, and in his place are men who
operate the modern typesetting machines
with such skill that they can play upon the
little letter-board Of the machines. which
is not unlike the keyboard Of the type
writer, so effectively that this wonderful
piece of mechanism can be made to turn
out line Of stereotype plate in eleven sec
onds, and some men can turn out two col
umns Of solid matter in an hour.
Each of the twenty-four machines In
The Star composing rooms has attached TO
it small melting pot, IN when .he
Is adjusted to $50 degrees. They are fed
by small pigs of the metal, weighing
about three pounds each. and each ma
chine will consume about forty OF these
pigs a day. There are few places that
present a buster scene than the composing
room of a large paper. The noise OF the
machines the hurrying composltors and
the shouted directions and inquiries convey
to the senses of the stranger an idea of the
utmost confusion, but 1t Is only apparent
for each man knows his place and his
work, and the welding Of the system, as
complicated and intricate as 1t Is In a COM
"a
perfect for the performance of rapidly exc
cuted work.
AFTER the news is rapidly set up and
arranged in its proper order comes the
stitute the pages of the paper. The making
up of a page is an art in itself, and 1t is
attained only after many years OF expert
ence, for on the form tables also comes
in that same rapidity of thought and move
ment which permeates a large newspaper
plant from basement TO roof.
How a Form is Matrixed.
LAS page after page of the paper is thus
made up the forms are rolled Into the
matrix room, where the men have been
busy in making the papier mache matrices
for 1t has been found that the hands of
man can make a better and more uniform
matrix than a machine. These matrices
which form such an important part In the
getting out Of a newspaper, are composed
paper, and are made up fresh and new
every day, the sheets being pasted to-
gether and rolled, with the tissue paper for
the top surface, upon which the impression
from the form Is made.
THE form is laid upon the pressing table,
which is made of steel, with the type face
up, and upon which the sheets are laid. a
folded blanket is then placed thereon and
the impression is made by passing a heavy
roller under very great pressure over the
matrix and its protecting covering Then
the matrx Is placed upon what is termed
the steam table, but which is really
powerful press shaped exactly like the or
binary letter presses you will see in busi-
ness houses for pressing letter copying
books.
1.-THE surface of the steam table is like
wise of thick polished steel kept to a uni
form heat, and the matrix is allowed to re-
main on the steam table from three to five
minutes to dry out Is t.h then bers tea
operator with the aid of a sharp knife,
quickly cuts 1t into the required length:
This operator also builds up the parts OF
perfect, by FASTING bits Of tough brown
paper on the under surface Of the matrfx
where needed.
The Final Step.
From his hands the matrix Is placed in
the rooster which still further dries out
the moisture. The matrix must be per-
fectly dry for, should it retain any mois-
ture when 1t reaches the casting form In
the stereotyping room below, the contact
of the hot molten metal which is poured
therein to make the stereotype plate to go
into the presses would explode 1t into
fragments
THE final step in getting the matrfx be-
low has now been reached. It is next
placed In small canvas bags to be dropped
down the matrix chute to the ground floor
for transmission into the stereotyping room,
and when the last matrix of the day dis
appears down the iron side-tracks of the
chute the force in the matrix room are a
perspiring and a tired lot OF men.
..The man who sits in the hallway on the
ground floor at the base Of the chute re-
ceives the matrices as they are dropped
and hurries them into the stereotyping
room With the arrival of the first set of
matrices things begin to hum in the stereo-
tipping and press rooms.
1.-The floor of the former room is covered
with thick sheet iron, and in the center
stands the big f1ve-ton melting pot. It is
brim full Of metal alloy composed Of anti
mony, lead and block-tin. and it looks like
n not full Of melted silver Once the stereo-