The Washington herald., 1907-11-14
Improved Business Methods
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

OJ
If Timothy Underwater. bookkeeper to
the Cheeryble Brothers, could slip out Of
the pages OF Nicholas Niekleby'' for a
while and look into modern business
Office. what a revelation II would be 10
him! He would return TO his high desk,
his old time pens, his ponderous ledgers.
and his archaic methods, and shake his
head over the dream he had had. What
II he could 20 to the South's first ma
tionaI business show In Atlanta IN early
December and see the devices that mod
ern ingenuity offers the business men
to save time. money, brains. and energy!
He would think the world had gone mad
The present day man OF affairs, with his
telephone at his elbow, his desk set with
rows OF call buttons. his business charts,
his graphophone into which he can dictate
letters at the rate Of go words a minute
and his Office furnishings. that include
everything from a patent paperweight 10
wards OF fling cabinets. would be 10
poor Timothy as things seen in dream
The modern business Office is as little
like that OF fifty years ago as the TWen-
tleth Century Limited is like fiat boat
Step by step every implement known TO
manager. clerk. and bookkeeper has
been changed; step by step every device
for doing the work has been improved.
until the up-to-date Office is a most ex-
celent exemplifcation Of the word "sys-
tenn" The initial step in the revolution
was taken by the typewriter. which was
first patented in 1868. Since then over
LOO other patents have been Issued
The Philadelphia Centennial showed the
business man the value OF typewriters
in Office work, and though somewhat
chary at first. he soon began to invest In
them. He realized the neatness and
general businesslike effect of letters writ
ten on the new machine. and the girl
with the nimble fingers soon superseded
the qu!et old gentleman in the black
stock who used TO slowy write each let
ter with a carefully pointed quill pen.
afterward shaking sand over the ink to
dry II.
The typewriter letter to-day is a
vital factor in commercial life. 1t bears
the har-narks Of business aristocracy.
If more than one copy is needed the pro-
gressive business man can get up dupl-
Gates that seem 10 be written first hand
At first he tried TO have them printed.
but It was a slow and expensive venture.
Then he got various kinds Of mimeo-
graphs and manifolding devices, and
these cid we'll except that he had 10
have the name and address Of the super
scription inserted afterwaTd. and as this
was sometimes In different Ink or DIFF
ferent type. II showed the recipient that
he was getting one of a possible thou
sand such letters. and the personal note
so essential in business was eliminated.
The latest inventions that will be shown
at Atlanta will obviate t&is difficulty. so
their inventors claim. One OF these is an
automatic typewriter on which stencil
IS first cut on a wax sheet by an opera
tor at the keyboard, a stencil which con-
tains the body Of a circular letter. This
Is fitted on a cylinder and other stencils
with additional paragraphs and the vari-
Gus names and addresses are fitted on
other cylinders and the whole set IN
motion. The machine feeds itself, au-
tomatically inserts the proper headings
and addresses, and alternates certain
an attendant when the machine is In
need OF fresh supplies. and after that
the novel affair clicks away independ-
emily.
A dupIigraph. recently patented, prints
letters very much after the fashion OF
this automatic typewriter, supplying au-
tomaticalIy the proper names and ad-
g.
Office boy 20 manage. In a year from
now the average business man will not
be able TO tell letter printed by one
of these machines from one written by
some careful stenographer. Another time
saving device is a combination letter head
and envelope which may find favor It
Is so arranged that when the address is
written on the letter head 1t is also
written on the envelope by means Of a
carbon slip, and the two remain together
until signed, then one is folded about
the other. sealed and stamped An ad-
dressing machine with three rollers car
rying stencilled addresses. previously pre-
pared on a typewriter, occupies an incon-
spicuous position IN the modern office
When set in motion by the office boy
this remarkable machine can address
1900 wrappers. cards, or envelopes an
hour.
In olden times the business man sat
down each morning, and with pocket
knife or silver letter opener proceeded 10
open his mail. Later he found a string
inserted in the end Of each envelope. and
pulling that opened the letter more quick
ly. His mail increased and his stenog-
raphers did the work for him. Now he
has a regular envelope-opening machine
that can make ready 5000 letters an hour
for him and his secretaries. Across tie
room a sealing machine industriously Sc
cures his letters for him in their envel-
opes ready for the outgoing mail. The
nimble red tongue OF the Office boy was
long ago emancipated from its onerous
task of moistening stamps for the daily
mail. and a sponge in a saucer took its
place Now the sponge Is too slow for the
average establishment. whose mail must
keep pace with the mad whlrr Of the