The San Francisco call., 1910-12-19
FIRST NEWSPAPER
PRINTED BY STEAM
Experiment Made in Private Be-
cause Pressmen Threat
ened Its Destruction

The 2Sth day of November 1914
forms an important date in the history
Of printing, and consequently in that
OF civilization, for it was on that date
that the first issue of the London Times
printed by steam appeared. Steam as
a motive power was fast coming into.
use In all the arts, and if was hut
natural that the newspaper. which was
showing great advancement at this
period should apply steam as a motive
power Previous to this all newspapers
were printed by manual power
The common printing press. though
mueh improved during the second half
or the elghtieth century, could seldom
strike off more than 200 or 300 I'm
presslons per hour, with one man to
Ink the types and another to work the
press, says the Providence Journal In
1880 w. Nicholson, an Englishman, OBJ
tained letters patent for machine
similar in many respects to those later
adopted, but 1t does not appear that he
brought his invention into practice.
AT the time of the introduction of
the steam press into the London Times
plant that journal had a circulation of
between 5000 and 1000. which was con-
sidered very large in those DAYS. John
Walter was the proprietor of the paper
a compositor in his employ, produced a
model for self-acting machine for
working the press; and Walter sup
piled him with money to continue his
ingenious labors- The pressmen, how
ever, were so bitterly hostile to any
such innovation that Martyr was
placed almost in fear of his life, and
the scheme fell to the ground.
But Walter was not man to be
beaten by difficulties, and encouraged
inventors from all quarters. In 1914
he consented that Konig's patent for
printing machine should be tried-not
IN the actual printing Office of the
Times, but in adjoining premises, for
fear of the hostility of the pressmen.
KONG and his assistant, Bauer, worked
quietly in these premises for many
months, gradually perfecting the ma
chine
The proceedings of the momentous
2Sth of November were highly charac-
terized by Walter The night on which
this curious machine was brought into
use in its new abode" says his biogra-
pher, was one of great anxiety and
even alarm The suspicious pressmen
had threatened destruction to any one
whose invention might suspend their
employment It was about o'clock
in the morning when Walter went into
the pressroom and astonished its occu-
pants Dy LS1Lns lH6In lnaI the IlmeS
was already printed by steam; that if
they attempted violence there was a
force ready to suppress it; but that if
they were peaceable, their wages should
be continued to every one of them till
similar employment could be secured :"
The performance was no doubt faith
fully performed and having so said he
distributed several copies among them.
Thus was this most hazardous enter
prise undertaken and successfully car
ried through; and printing by steam
on an almost gigantic scale, given to
the world.
Konig's machine was, however, very
complicated, and was soon afterward
superseded by one invented by Messrs
Applegath and Cowner. Four thou
sand, six thousand and eight thousand
impressions per hour were printed as
gradual improvements were made in
the apparatus.