The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-12-01
Turns Out Nearly Four
Thousand Papers Per
Minute.
CONCEDED THE BEST
SOUTH OF NEW YORK
Giant Octuple Required 800 Skill
ed Workmen to Complete
Its Building.

Thirty-eight hundred newspapers per
minute!
That is the capacity Of The Washing
ton Times plant with the new octupIe
Hoe press in operation, the press that
prints 1000 sixteen-page papers an
hour, the addition OF which to The
Times equipment has almost doubled the
capacity Of the press room and at the
same time placed The Times easily In
advance Of all the newspapers south OF
New York.
The big ootuple is easily the most
wonderful piece OF mechanism in any
printing office in the city. II represents
the united labor Of 300 skilled workmcn
working full time q period of four
months. The mere assembling OF the
100000 parts that go TO make up the
monster machine required four full
weeks o. unremitting labor on the part
Of corps OF experts sent from the fac
tory. The Times already owned and on
Grated a pair OF the biggest presses OF
the Hoe shops and the new one was
purchased to increase the efficiency Of
the plant because II was just a bit big
ger and just mite faster.
Capacity of 10000.
The two old presses print So 900 papers
an hour-that is sixteenApage papers
The new press alone runs 72oOO That
is the difference and It was this differ
ence that caused its purchase
IL is difficult 10 grasp the wonderful
performance Of the big machine It
stands almost as high as a two-story
cottage, and weighs so tons. 1t requires
81 stereotype plates to f1R all OF its
cylinders. and these plates have an ag-
grcgate weight or 1910 pounds OF metal.
The thousand pounds of ink used Is
spread by 81 rollers that are fabricated
from 1000 pounds of roller composition
10 say nothing of the weight of the
steel rods on which the composition
As placed.
Four rolls Of paper, each containing
LOO pounds. are used simultaneously
A pound Of paper has little significance
10 the average citizen, however, and It
would probably be better 70 state that
IL all OF the copies Of The Times turned
out from this press from these rolls were
put together in one long strip they
would reach distance OF more than
100 miles.
In stating the capacity Of the press
q 16-page paper has been used for the
figures, but the press is net confined 20
the printing of 16-page papers. 1t can
print papers Of any size, from pages
up 10 an indefinite number. and do
all of them faster than the average
Different Sizes.
Tor instance, the new press can turn
out $4,000 6 or s page papers an hour.
or any size up to IS pages It can turn
out 1000 1e-page papers an hour; $1,000
papers with from u to 80 pages; and
5000 copies with more than 81.
Electricity furnishes not only the mo-
tive power by the delicately adjusted
system OF controllers. whereby each
separate roller or cylinder can be moved
at the viii OF the one man required
10 operate IT, A set Of push buttons
makes Il possible for him to Increase
or decrease the spsed anywhere within
it's capacity. And when the papers
come out OF this press they are finished,
ready for the subscriber.
There are only two things the big
octuple does not do-just two offices
IN newspaper making Il does not per-
forTn-it cannot prepare the articles nd
set them in type, and IL cannot move
from It's place and deliver the paper to
the subscribers. But that is all it does
not do It is the perfection of printing
machines. and Is the only one in op-
Grafton south Of New York