The Newtown bee., 1907-06-07
CIRCULATION
Ten Pages.
TOWN TOPICS.
THE SIMPLEX TYPE SETTING
 1ACHlNE
45OO

THE SIMPLEX TYPE SETTING
 r1ACHlNE
 INSTALLED IN THE OFFICE OF THE
 BEE PUBLISHING co.
 This week begins a new era in the office of THE VIEWPOINT BEE. and 1t IS with pride that we invite our 1r1ends and readers to see our wonderful Sim plex typesetting machine, just 1n- stalled. The demand for plenty Of fresh news matter, for the late news in full detail right up to the hour or publication; the necessity for keeping in the front rank with the great de- velopment of the newspaper business during recent years; and the desire to give our readers as much as posslple for their money-these cons1dera t1ons among others led us to see that some thing swifter and better than hand typesetting must be provided. Alter a long and careful investigation of the whole subject of mechanical typeset- ting, we have finally installed the ma chine which is working such revolu- tion in the old methods of producing newspapers.
 It is probable that on no labor saving machine has more time and money been expended than on device to set and distribute type. For over a cen tury inventors have struggled with the question, and while their efforts were partially successful, it has only been in the past 10 years that a prac- tical machine has been put on the market. It seems like an impOssib1l1- ty that any combination of machinery other than that encompassed in the human body could separate nearly hundred characters, pick them up again, form them into words, combine the words into sentences and place them in order for that older but none the less marvellous result or brains the modern printing press The Sim plex does it though, and does it five or six times as fast as the most rapid compositor.
 It was easy to make mistakes in the old way. An sse'' would slip into the | ssh" box or a ssd'' into the "n" box, | but the Simplex can make no such mistakes. The operator can and doubt Hess will continue to make mistakes, but they will be fewer than before and the hardships of the proof reader will be considerably lessened and the sensi- bilities of the critical newspaper read CT shocked less frequently than before. It would be almost an impossibility to give an accurate description of this wonderful machine and the only way to get even a faint idea of it's possibil- | ities is to come and examine it's work 1ngs. We publish a picture in this issue which is accurate as far as gen. eral appearances go, but of course gives no idea as to how it is operated.
 The Simplex typesetter uses just the same kind of type as is set by hand Each individual type has separate combination of ''nicks'' or notches cut on the edge, and on this fact is based the fundamental principle of the ma chine. As will be noticed in the pic ture, the body of the Simplex consist of two cylinders, one above and rotat ing on the other. In both cylinders extending vertically their full length are 90 parallel channels, each channe corresponding to some one type.
 To distribute the type in the frs place, the channels of the upper cylin der are filled with "dead matter''- type that has been used-and is re volved step by step. At each step o movement of the distributor cylinde the bottom type of each line of dea } matter is tested by the wards or char
 nels of the lower cylinder, until II | n
 drops down into the lower magaZin' a The lower cylinder is stationary an at the bottom of each channel it col
 tains lever which is connected wit = a keyboard similar to that of typ
 writer. When a character on the ke
 board is pressed down the lever releas'
 the corresponding character from tt
 channel and deposits it on rapid :. moving disc which carries it aroun
 the machine and to "packer" wh1c
 packs the letters into line in the
 proper order, in an upright positfo
 or, to use printers phrase, ''standil ]. on their feet" A long line Of ty]
 rapidly forms in front of the operate
 and when he has enough for his pu
 pose he whirls his chair around, al
 with small instrument called - 'sgrab" separates enough from the lo ' line to make line the measure he setting. This he justifies or ''spaces
 and then takes another line and so c
 When two persons are working at t.
 same time, one operates the keyboa
 and the other does the spacing.
 soon as one line is spaced it is au1
 matically pushed back to make roc for another and at the same time t
 matter is leaded if so desired.
 After the machine is once in opel
 tion all that is necessary in the way
 distributing is to place galley of de
 type on the side of the upper cyllnc
 n a place prepared for it. It does
 iwork perfectly, and while it is app ok, ently simple, it would be impossible ith explain the matter intelligently, ted we won't try, but again invite you .ds come and see for yourself.
 it's. The Simplex is small and comps
 weighing about HOO pounds and oc