253 n92M ,\WEUNIVERS'/A o ^lOSANGElfX^ o '^^mmmi^ ^OFCA11FO% ^OFCAIIFOI?^ .^WEUNIVERS-ZA. ^l en ^ '^(i/OJilVJ JO"^ 5ME UNIVERS/A , , ^ o • '^AJi3AINfl 3WV ,^,OFCAllF0/?^ .^OFCAllFOffA;, .^WEUNIVERSy/i ^ %a3AiNn3\\v -< ,OfCAllF0ft)^ "^fi^Aavaan-^^ IMEUNIVERS//) ^lOSANCEl£j> maDNYsoi^ %a3AiNn]WV^ Wv^llBRARYOc^ -«^lUBRARYQr w 2 V^/ y 2^ \WEUNIVEP^ fUNIVERSyA ^v>clOSANCEl^y> ^OF-CAIIFO% ^OFCAllFOftfc, nj^js .\WE-UNIVER% ^ T O i PAMPHLET A. THE MUNSON METHOD B. 0. BAKER f>AUAS. TJEIAII pOWE(( TYpE-GOMpO^ITIOfl. DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD AND ITS MACHINES, AND OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE MACHINES ARE OPERATED IN PRACTICE; ALSO A STATEMENT OF THE KINDS OF TYPE-COMPOSITION THAT THE METHOD CAN DO, WITH CAREFULLY PREPARED ESTIMATES OF THE COST OF ITS WORK. NEW YORK: ja>j:es e. Mi:xsox, TRIBUNE BUILDING. IS 91. A, CONTENTS. PAGE. The Munson Method of Pow eh Type-composition 5 Other Type-.-;etting ok Composing Machines 5 Machines Used in Poweu-com position 6 Parts that are Common to all Machines 7 The Ml'nson Power TYPE-SETTiN(i Machine 8 The Munson " Compositor's Machine " 9 How the " Compositors Machine " is Operated 9 The Kibbon and How it Looks 10 Not Necessary to be Able to Read the Ribbon 11 Printer's Corrections ]Madc in tlie Type 11 Printer's Corrections Made in the Ribbon 12 Type Used avith the Munson Machines 12 Recent Improvements in the Method 12 Composition Done by the Power Method 12 Machines for Two Sizes of Type 13 The MiNSON Power Type-distributor 13 Speed of ^Iaciiine Composition 14 Speed of Keyboard Composing Machines 14 Speed of the Munson Power Type-setting Machine 14 Cost of Composition by the Munson Method 17 Cost per 1,000 Ems 17 Details of the Calculations 17 Increased Amount of Work to be Done 18 Reproducing the Ribbon by Telegraph 20 Application of Method to Neavspaper Work 21 Ribbon Received by Telegraph 25 Application of Method to Book Work 2.") It Fits the New Copyright Law Exactly 26 Application to Stenographers' Work 27 United States and Foreign Patents 28 448334 THE MUNSON METHOD OF POWER TYPE-COMPOSITION. The Miinson Method of Power Type Composition has recently been greatly simplified and impi-oved by the inventor, removing from it all of the features that had been criticised or excepted to by any of the practical printers who had examined it ; so that he feels assured that, in its present shape, it will prove to be A PERFECT SOLUTION of the problem of economical machine composition which is now receiving so much notice, both from those who are in the l)usiness of printing, and from the public at large. The special attention of printers is, therefore, again respect- fully asked by Mr. Munson to his typographic inventions, as they now stand, and as tiiey are here brietly described. OTHER TYPE-SETTING OR COMPOSING MACHINES. All type-setting or composing machines, of whatever character or description, that have hitherto been made and offered to the public, have been limited in their capacity for work by the ability of the operator. However good a machine may have been ; what- ever its mechanical capacity for speed might be; whether it could do six, eight, ten or even twelve tliousand ems an hour ; in actual practice it always fell far below th'it s])eed, for the i-eason that the operator could not make it do more work than a comparatively small part of its ultimate capacity, the amount varying according to his skill or diligence or 1)oth. The average rate at which skilled operators, working from ordinary "copy," can manipulate a keyboard composing-machine of any kind, for any length of time, is not greater than 4,000 ems an hour. Occasionally an exceptionally expert operator may be found who will exceed that amount. P>ut there are manv others who can never reach even that figure. The consequence is that from one-lialf to three-quarters of the capacity of a well con- structed machine remains idle. The object of Mr. Munson's inventions is to overcome this radical defect in tvpe-setting machinery and to make it possible always to work it up to its absolute maximum speed. MACHINES USED IN POWER COMPOSITION. The machines used in connection with Mr. Munson's Method of Power Type Composition are of three kinds ; namely, First — A Preparatory Perforating Machine. Second — A Type-setting Machine. Third — A Type-distributing machine. The preparatory perforating machine is a small, cheaply con- structed and very snnple affair. It is provided with a keyboard that can be worked by any typewriter operator, at any time or in any place, and the result (a strip of perforated paper) can afterwards be used to operate the type-setting machine ; so that, by this plan, two, three or possibly more persons, can be em- ployed simultaneously in keej^ing one type-setting machine con- stantly at work. The type-setting machine is a simply constructed piece of mechanism, resembling several other type-setting machines, except that it is worked automatically and not by means of a keyboard. The type-distributor is entirely automatic in its action. The ordinary price at which type-setting machines have here- tofore been sold is in the neighborhood of $3,000 apiece ; and their average production has never been more than thirty-five or forty thousand ems a day. A complete working set of Mr. Munson's type-setting machines can be afforded for that sum, or even for less, and their capacity will 1)3 from one hundred to one hundred and twenty five thousand ems a day. This will reduce the cost of composition to about nine cents a thousand ems, wdiere labor is paid as highly as it is in tiie City of New York, and to about six cents a thousand ems, where it is paid as it is in the country dis- tricts of say New England or Ohio. Each of these machines is very simply constructed ; is not liable to derangement; is strong in the parts where wear is likely t(» occur, iiiul ix'(|uires no ])articiilar skill on tlie part of the operator or iiiaehinist. Should any part break it can be remedied by any competent iron-worker in the nci-ed in woi'ds and sentences. 8 lY. A " stick " or narrow channel in which such line of type is formed, held in shape, and moved along to make room for other types as they come from the reservoirs to the line. !Now, it is evident from the foregoing statement that the real, practical speed at which type may be set by any machine depends in the first place npon the rapidity with which the type-pnshers are made to do their work. It has been found that the average number of types — letters, spaces, quads, etc. — in a thousand ems, is 2,180 (Lynch's Printer's Manual, p. 63). Hence, in setting type with a machine at the rate of 1,000 ems an hour, an average of 363 type-pushers must be operated a minute. So, in setting at the rate of 3,000 ems an hour, 109 type-pushers would be called into play every minute. And, generally, the multiplying of 365 by any number of thousand ems per hour will give the number of type-pusher actions that are required each minute to do that amount of work. Thus, discarding fractions, we have the following results : 2,000 ems an hour require 7S type-pusher ac- tions a minute ; 4,000 ems, lie actions ; 5,000, 182 ; 6,000, 218 ; 7,000,255; 8,000,291; 9,000, 327; 10,000, 363; 11,000, 400;. 12,000, 436 ; 13,000, 472 ; 14,000, 509 ; 15,000, 545. These figures show in a striking manner how very far the human operator, with his physical limit of 146 types set in a minute, or of 4,000 ems an hour, must of necessity always fall short in getting the full amount of work from properly con- structed type-setting mechanism of which it is capable. Nothing but " POWEK" can possibly do it. And Mr. Muneon has suc- ceeded in aj^plying Power to type-setting, just as effectually as Jacquard applied it to figure-weaving, when he invented the loom which bears his name, nearly a century ago, and set it to work to do weaving that had previously been done by hand- looms. THE MUNSON POWER TYPE-SP:TTING MACHINE. The Munson Power Type-Setting Machine differs from all other type-setting or composing machines in that IT IS OPER- ATED p:ntii{ely by mechanical power. That is, it has no keyboard, and requires no one to aid it mainially in doing its work, as it is controlled in its operation 9 by perforations in a rihhoii or narrow strij) of paper, and not by the fingers of a Iniinan operatoi-. AUTOMATICAIJ.V it does the following tliiiiirs : 1. It sets matter in a long, continuous line ut type, this line consisting of a succession of separated short lines, each of which has the requisite length and the proper terminal division to make it, when spaced and justified, a correct and suitable column line. 2. It spaces evenly and justifies with exactness each of such column-lines, and then deposits it with the column of type on the galley. 3. When matter is recjuired to be leaded, it inserts leads between the lines of type as they are moved on to the galley. THE MU^^SON "COMPOSITOR'S MACHINE." The pei'forations in the ribbon of paper are made on what is called the " Compositor's Machine," by means of a set of steel punches, that are operated in connection with a keyboard, in which there is a separate and properly labeled key for each type of all the " sorts" used in the type-setting machine. The keys of the " Comi)ositor's Machine " are made inter- changeable, so that, at the option of the operator, they may be arranged substantially like those of any one of the various type- writing machines in use. For this reason thei'e never can be any difficulty in securing tiie services of skilled operators on the " Compositor's Machine." Anotlier very important consideration is that this " Compos- itor's Machine " is a very inexpensive one, costing less to build than a Remington or a Caligraph writing-machine. How TUE " CoMPOSITOU's MaCHINE " IS OPERATED. The operator of the ''Compositor's Machine " sits at the key- board with his '' copy " before him, and proceeds almost pre- cisely as if he were o])erating a type-wa*iter or caligraph ; but the results obtained, instead of being type-wu'itten letters, are merely a series of transverse rows of perforations in a ribbon of papei'. lu To each letter, point, tigure, space, quadrat, etc., is assigned a particular row of perforations in the riljl)on ; the rows being made to differ from one another bv changes in the combinations of their perforations. The operator lias onlv to see tliat he depresses the proper keys, in their right order, the machine itself taking care of the combinations and insuring the correct perforation of the ribbon. The operator determines as he goes along where each column- line of type shall end, in substantially the same way that a type- writer operator decides where each line of typewriting shall end. That is, he is guided by an index moving along a graduated scale, and also by the sound of a bell that is struck automatically a little before the end of the line is reached ; just as the typewriter operator is guided by the " carriage scale," index and bell of that machine. When the end of a column-line is thus fixed upon by the operator, (whether the division comes after a word, after a hyphen dividing a word or after a point, figure or other charac- ter), he marks the terminus of the line by touching a key that causes to be inserted at that point in the ribbon a row of per- forations that represents a peculiar type, called the "line-divider." He then pi-oceeds in like manner to compose the next line. THE KIBBON AND HOW IT LOOKS. The following illustration shows how words and spaces are indicated by perforations in the ribbon. The line of letters and raised spaces immediately below the cut furnishes a key to each letter and space represented in it. • • • • • • • • O • • • • • • • • t li L- I a n I i n I f o 11 The c*uui]j()siti(iii of mutter is indieated Ijy the hirge holes, each conibiiiatioii of wliich, taken crosswise of tlie ril)bon, rep- resents some particular letter, space or other type, and will cause that type to be set in line by the ty]>e-settin<^ machine. There are ten different points across the ribbon where a hole may occur ; and the ten holes that may be inserted at those points are numbered from the upper edill. therefore, be found useful in setting matter in which there is an occasional quotation or citation, wliicli requires a smaller type than the regular size. THE MUNSON POWER TYPE-DISTRIBUTOR. The Munson Power Type-Distributor, when completed, will be greatly superior to any that has yet been constructed. Its main features will be as follows : It will be entirely automatic. That is, it will not require the *' dead " matter for distribution to be fed into it by hand, line after line and one line at a time, as is the case with some distrib- uting machines ; but a whole page or column of type may be placed on its table and the machine itself will do the rest. It will separate the foremost line of type from the others, and then pick off each individual type in that line and place it in its proper reservoir, ])utting all the a's in the a-reservoir, all the b's in the b-reservoir, all the M's in the M-reservoir, all the commas in the connna-reserv(_)ir, and so on until the entire page or column is distributed into type-reservoirs, ready to be placed in the type- setter again. The machine will do all this work with great rapidity, and yet so gently that no type M'ill be broken or in any wav disfigured. 14 SPEED OF MACHINE COMPOSITION. SPEED OF KEYBOARD COMPOSING MACHINES. The maxiniiim speed-capacit}" of an}' machine that is operated by hand through a keyboard, is not determined by its inherent or mechanical speed-possibilities, nor by the amount of work that specially skilled operalors can do npon it. But it is determined and limited by the amount of work that the average operator is able to perform upon it in a given space of time. In other words, to a printer who uses keyboard type-setting machines, the real speed-capacity of a machine is identical with the average speed of all the keyboard operators in his employ. For instance^ if he has seven machines worked by seven keyboard operators, and those operators average per hour, respectively, say 3,500, 3,400, 3;350, 3,150, 3,000, 2,950 and 2,850 ems, the practical working capacity of the machine is not 3,500 ems, but it is the result obtained by dividing the sum of all these amounts by seven, viz., 3,164 ems per hour. And this would be true even if each of the machines had an inherent capacity of 12,000 ems an, hour, in which ease nearly 9,000 ems an hour of its possible speed would be absolutely unavailable, and, therefore, entirely lost. Speed of the Munson Power Type-Setting Machine. On the other hand, the Munson Power Type-setting Machine, being operated solely l)y steam or other ]:>ower, may be run con- tinuously and uniformly at very near the top of its iidierent or mechanical speed-capacity, only a small " margin of safety " beipg allowed olf from its utmost capacity. Now, what is the real or available speed-capacity of the Mun- son Power Type-setting Machine ? It may be easily ascertained and with exactness, by considering the following facts : 1. The riblton with its perforations, being substituted for the mind and lingers of the operator of a keyboard machine, selects the types to be composed, in proper order, and causes them to be set in line, with a speed that is unlimited save by mechanical considerations. 2. The automatic mechanism that is operated hy means of the ribbon corresponds with and takes the place of the keyboard and its attachments with which the ty})es are set. 15 3. A type is set at each revolution of a small shaft in the ma- chine. This shaft is scarcely an inch in diameter, and it takes so little ])o\ver to revolve it that it may be easily tui-ned hetwet-ir the thumb and finti:;er. ■Jr. 0])erated with ])<)\ver the shaft has ah'eady been run at the rate of 500 revolutions a minute, and at the same time it did its work perfectly. 0. As has been already stated, the average number of types in a thousand ems is 2,180. SrMMAKY — 500 X r»0=:,30,000 (nunil)erof types set in an houi-i : 80,0OO-^ 2, 180 = 13, 761 (number of ems set in an hour). That is to say, Mr. Munson's very fii-st attempt to build flutonuitic mechanism with M'hich to set type, resulted in a machine that has been successfully run, by means of the per- forated ribbon, at a speed of nearly 14,000 ems an hour. But, in making the estimates of cost contained in this state- ment, only 303 types a minute, or 10,000 ems an hour, liaA^e been allowed as the capacit}- of the machine. At the same time, in view of these calculations, and of what has already been accomplished, there is no doubt that, in the near future, a machine will be constructed, according- to the Munson method, that will set without fault at least 15,000 ems an hoiir. In order to attain such a result as that, it nuiy readily be seen that it will oidy be necessary to so construct the type-setting mech- anism that the types as they are ejected from their reservoirs will all pass to the line in the " stick " in exactly the same measure of time, and then to secure 545 revolutions of the operating shaft per. minute. ^lany of those who have observed a power-press in a news- paper establishment, printing paper on both sides and cutting, folding and delivering the sheets at the rate of 36,000 per hour — ten a second, or 600 a minute— must have been impressed by the thought that the attainment of a corresponding speed in tyi)e- setting is only a question of mechanical ingenuit}'. In this connection it should be noted that type-setting ma- chinery is of such a character that it must of necessity' be very much more efHcient wdien driven with the absolute regularity, evenness and precision of autonuitic ])ower, than when it is 16 operated by hand-movements, whicli naturally are always lacking in these particulars, and especially so when they are made with extreme rapidity. Almost all of the clogging of types and the consequent vexatious delays in the operation of hand t}' pe-setting machines, result from the striking of two keys simul- taneously — a thing that cannot possibly occur in the Munson machine. A compositoi" working with an ordinary keyboard type-setting machine loses time in looking at and deciphering his " copy," in spelling difficult or ambiguous words, in punctuating correctly, in efforts to strike the right keys, in looking to see if the types are being set properly, etc., etc. ; and it will frequently happen that there is a loss of from one to two seconds when no assignable reason can be given for it. This occurs with every machine, and with every operator — with the type-writer as well as with all type-setting machines. Then again, the operator of a ke3'board machine will strike two or more keys so nearly simultaneously that one of two things will happen ; either a letter will get into line ahead of one that it should follow, or the two letters will wedge together and clog the machine, causing thereby serious delay. But if, as is the case with the Munson machine, the type- pushers can be operated with regulai-ity, with a rhythm siniilar to that found in music — three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten in a second — then the number of types that can be set in a given time will be vei'y much greater than can possibly be set by the most expert operator on any keyboard machine. If three letters are set every second, it is equivalent to nearly five thousand ems an hour (this being the extreme practical limit of the most expert hand-machine composition) ; four letters a second will give six and two-thirds thousand eras an hour ; live letters a second will amount to over eight thousand ems an hour ; seven letters a second, to eleven and a half thousand ems an hour ; eight lettei's a second, to over thirteen thousand ems an hour ; nine letters a second, to neai'ly fifteen thousand ems an hour ; while te)i letters a second (being exactly the s])eed of the printing- press already mentioned) would foot up sixteen and a half thousand ems an hour. COST OF C()M]H)SIT10N V>Y THE MUNSON METHOD. The followiiii> is a conservative statement of tlie entire cost of composition l)y tlie Munson Po^ver Type-Composing Machines, inchisive. from tlie perforation of tlie ribbon to, iirst, tlie placing of a cohmin of justified and corrected type on the galley, ready for use in printing, and, finally, to the distribution of the same type back into their proper reservoirs, ready to be reset. This statement is the i-esult of estimates very carefully made, after consultations with i)ractical printers who have had long experience with hand or keyboard ^type-setting machines and automatic distributors, and obtaining from them full and trust- worthy data upon which to base the calculations. Cost pkr 1,000 Ems. Item 1. Cost of perforating the ribl)on $0 0(5 " 2. '' setting the tyj)e automatically 01 " 8. " correcting in the metal 0] " 4. " (lisfi'i])uting the type automatically 01 Total cost per 1,000 ems $0 09 Details ok tuk Calculations. These are not fancifnl or exaggerated figures, nor are the amounts loosely stated. Neither does the element of " cheap labor" enter into the reckoning, for each of the operatives is sup})osed to be paid ^18 a week wages. But, in order that any one may follow and test the accuracy or reasonableness of the calculations, their details are here given. The amount of Item 1 (six cents) is based upon the following premises : 1. That the '*• Compositor's Machine " for perforating the ril)bon may be operated as fast at least as a type-writer. This has l)eeu demonstrated to be trne with the machine already made. 2. That the average speed of type-writing, the ^)perator working with '' eo]n'," and not from dictation, is about twenty folios or two tliousand words per lioui-. 18 3. That a ^Yorking week consists of tift^^-iiiiie hours. 4. That there is an average of 380 u'ords to a thousand ems. (Lynch's " Printer's Manual," p. 63.) Summary — 2,000x59 = 118,000 (number of words perforated in the ribbon in a week by one operator). 118,000-^380 = 310 (number of thousand ems perforated in a week by one operator). $18.00^ 310 = $0.058 (or, in round numbers, six cents per thou- sand ems). The amount of Item 2 (one cent) is based upon the fact that three power type-setting machines will set, at least, eighteen hundred thousand ems in a week, and the reasonable certainty that one attendant will be able to take entire charge of the three. Now, $18.00^1,800 (thousand ems) = $0.01 (cost per thousand ems). The amount of Item 3 (one cent) is based upon the result of the experience of practical printers in the use of hand type- setting machines; also upon the fact that in newspaper offices, where ordinary hand-composition is used, that is the allowed cost of such work. The amount of Item 4 (one cent) is based upon the facts that four power type-distributors will (listril)utc, at least, eighteen hundred thousand ems in a week, and that one attendant will be able to take entire charge of the four. Again, $18.00-r 1,800 (thousand ems) = $0.01 (cost ])er thousand ems). The estimate of number of words per 1,000 ems that is adopted in New York newspaper offices is very much less than the number (380) on wdiieli these calculations are founded ; it being 338 words per 1,000 ems in minion, and only 300 words in either nonpareil or agate. Calculations based on these latter figures will illustrate the greater economy of the power method of type-setting, inasmuch as the nine cents, mentioned in the foregoing estimate as the total cost of composition per 1,000 ems, will be reduced to less than eight cents, INCUEASED AMOUNT OF WOUK TO liE DONE. In connection with this (juestion of economy should be con- sidered the effect of the n(!W method in increasing the volume of work. This inci-case will be the natural result of the reduced 19 cost of coinj)ositioii. A vast number of private j)apers that Jiow are pix'pared titlicr in ordinary iiianiisoript or in typewritini^, will he put in type and printed, when the additional cost of 80 doiny- is but tritlin^. A- the ])ei'forated ribbon may be performed in one j)lace. the ribbon afterwards being transmitted to another phice, there to be used in operating the type-setting machine. Every act, therefore, connected with type composi- tion, except the mere autonuitic setthig of the pieces of metal, may be performed in any convenient place. One of the hirgest and most important fields of usefulness that will, in time, be thrown opeu to the new invention, is the ])utting in type of pubhc records, such as deeds, mortgages, wills, etc. ; the cost being no more, and probably less, than the present expense of engrossing them in lil)ers. The great importance to tlie public of having such records printed, so that duplicate copies may at all times be in existence, was strikingly exemplified by the total destruction of the records in Chicago, at the time of its great fire, by which catastrophe the titles to much of the real property of the city were seriously imperiled. A like calamity is liable to overtake any of our cities at any time. The printing of ])ul)lic records, however, never can become economically practicable, with the ordinary method of setting type, no matter how cheap the work may be done, because, on the one hand, it would not be proper for the official in charge of the records to allow original pa])ers to go out of his possession to a printing office, and, on the other, the making of extra copies for the use of the printer would cost almost as much as it would to engross them directly into the books of the office. With the new method the operating ribbon may be prepared on the com- positor's machine, in the office of the custodian of the records, directly from the originals, without soiling or injuring or in any way endangering their safety. All subsecjuent nuichine work would, of course, be done at the office of a printer. 20 REPROUUOINU- THE RIBBON BY TELEGRAPH. It is also ])ro])Ose(l to connect the working of the power type-setting machine with the electric telegra])h, in the following manner : The ribbon, after it has been prepared on the ''Compositor's Machine," may be reproduced by telegraph at or from a distant point. For instance, a ribbon prepared by a compositor in AVashington might be reproduced or repeated by telegraph, in exact /f/c simile, in every newspaper office in New York City, for immediate use in operating power type-setting machines located in those offices. In such case there would, of course, be required but one composition of the matter and one operation of telegrai)hing for all the newspapers included in the circuit. When, however, the ribbon is used in this way, namely, in operating a telegraphic instrument to reproduce the ribbon at one or more distant points, then, in order that entire freedom- from errors in the subsecpient printing may be attained, it will be necessary, ])efore telegraphing, to have the perforations in the ribbon read with the *" copy," and all corrections of errors dis- covered by such reading inserted in the ribbon ; because the type to be afterwards set by the fac simile ribbon and the orig- inal " copy " will be so far distant from each other that it will not be feasible to compare a " proof " pulled from the types after they are set with such " copy," for the ])urpose of making corrections on the galley. For this reason some, if not all, of the operatives who engage in preparing ribbon for the telegraph must be able to read the perforated ribbon with facility. The value of such an achievement as this, namely, the repro- duction of the operating ribbon by telegra])h at any desired number of places, to companies engaged in the gathering and distrilmtion of press news, such, for instance, as the " Associated Press," would obviously be very great, as it would enable them, with but a single complete com])Osition of matter on one ribbon of j)aper, to simultaneously sup})ly all their patrons or customers with ])crf()ratcd and correcled ribbons, ready foi' innnediate use in •)i>erating tlicii- (»wn type-setting machines. 21 Illustration : — Tlie President at Wasliiiiiz^toii iiiii:,lit have liis inaugural address eoinjxwed and eorreeted cm a siii<^le ril)boii of j)aj)er, and that ribbon eould be then used to operate a telejjjraphic instrument located in that city, thereby causinu' an exact dupli- cate of the ribbon to be made in every newspaper otKce witliin telegraphic reach, i-eady for innnediate use in i)ower type-setting macliines, without fui'ther labor or expense of comj)osition. AIMMJCATION OF METHOD TO NEWSPAPER WORK. The method of power type-setting is peculiarly well adapted to newspaper work, as is evident from the following facts : With the exception of the corrections of proofs, which are made as in hand-composition in the metal, the entire work of tyi)e-com])osition is done on a small perforating machine which is operatew so often disligui'es our ne\vs])aper columns will disappear. 'J 3 And i'ily because he does not liave to give attention to the type-setting ; wiiile tlie output of a properly constructed type- setting machine will be from three to live times as much, because it is not ]iandicapi)ed by the keyboard compositor. The method is particularly adapted to any kind of plain composition, that is, work which does not call for a variety of sizes of type. It would be i)erfectly feasible to include italics and small capitals in the font of the machine, but the limited use made of them hardly warrants the additional expense that would be necessary in (u-der to acconmiodate them there. Whenever it is desirable to om])loy them it may done in another way. The following are some of the kinds of newspa])er work for which the method is well ada])ted : Editorials, general news, financial and commercial news, tables containing columns of tigures, s])orting news, marine intelligence, marriages and deaths, market reports of all kinds, weather rej)orts and tables, poetry, plain advertisements, etc. AVhen two-line letters are used at the beginning of advertise- ments the composition is done as shown in the illustrations below. The ribbon is so prepared that it causes the type-setting machine to set four ordinary capitals of like denomination for each two- line letter, two at the beginning of the first line and two at the beginning of the second line (see No. 1). Afterwards, and before the type is used, the four ordinary capitals in both lines are removed by hand and the single two-line letter inserted in their ])laccs (see No. 2). Then, before the " dead "" matter is given to the automatic distributor, the two-line letter is removed and the four ordinary cajiitals restored to theii" original ]ilaces (see No. 3). If there are two or more two-line letters or figures in an adver- tisement, the same course is pui-sued as to each. JN O. 1. KK tii'al iiiacliiiiist wants situation ; is iisiMl to repair- ing nu(l setting tees ; is well ret-onnuenileil. Address -»-. ^ TT'NGINEER.—Flrst-Plass, good mechanic and prac- JN O. 2. -Tj tical machinist wants sittiatlon ; is used to repair- ing and sotting tees ; is well roconinieniled. Address »-r „ i:i:N(; I N F.KU.— First class, good nicfhanir and prac- IN O. O. i:i-; lir:il luaeliiulst wants situation ; is used to n-i)alr- ing and setting tees: is well reioiuniciidcd. Address 24 If each two-line letter, figure, etc., is cast on a body exactly twice the width of its corresponding capital, figure, etc., of the regular font, no rejustilication of the lines will ever be re(]uired. Less type will be needed to run a newspaper by the new method than is now required ; because, if necessary, the matter for an entire issue may be composed on the ribbon before the getting of a single type. The principal drain upon type with all our great daily newspapers, outside of the type that is in actual, immediate use, is in the overset matter of each day ; in the composition during the week for the coming Sunday paper ; in matter that is "killed," and sometimes, though not so much as fomierly, in " bogus '' matter. The amount of type constantly standing idle in a newspaper 'Dthce runs all the way from 150 to 300 galleys, according to the size of the paper. Although at present it is impossible to state with exactness how many machines of tlie Munson method, and workmen to operate them, will be required to do the type-setting of a news- paper, yet, calculating from the best data that is now available, it cannot be far out of the way to say that the composition woi-k of a daily news|'aper of the size and style of the Neiv York Tribune could be done with from thirteen to fifteen compositor's machines and a like number of compositors to work them ; from seven to nine power type-setting machines and two or three attendants to look after them, and from nine to twelve power type-distril)utor8 and two or three other workmen to attend to those machines. The c<)m])ai'ative cost of tyjie-composition, as between hand- setting and work done by the Mnnson method, is shown by the following facts : It is estimated that seven daily iiioniing news- papers in the City of New York conjointly put in type each week about 20,000,000 ems of plain matter. The other morning dailies, including those printed in German and French, will add about (5,000,000 ems more, making a total of 2r),(iO0,000 ems. If all that matter were set by hanrl, the cost would be in the neighborhood of $18,000 a week. By the Munson method of power composition, the cost ))er week would be a little less than $2,a(K». 25 lliBBoN Received hy Tp:r.K(iHAi'][. When tlie ril)bon is telegraphed to several newspapers simnl- taneously, in tlio manner already descril)ed, the expense of com- posing the tir.st ribhon, for u^e in operating the automatic trans- mitter at the distant telegra])h office, as well as the cost of the actual telegraphing, will he divided j''^'^ ''("f" among the news- papers. The ribbon just as it comes from the telegraph in-trunient in each of the newspaper offices may be used without change by all the newsjiapers in operating their type-setting machines, and the nuitter will then ai)pear exactly the same in all the newspapers, even to the hyphens at the ends of lines. But in order to avail themselves fully of this advantage the news[)a[)ers will have to act in harmony, and adopt a uniform width of colunni. It will be necessary for the compositor who prepares the ribbon for use in telegraphing, to divide it into colunm-lines of a standard width — probal)ly 2^ inches, as that width is more generally used than any other. But, should a newspa[)er prefer not to conform to the stand- ard width, it may still use the I'ibbon to set the type, and then do the justifying by hand, in the same way it is done now with type set by keyboard type-setting machines ; the extra cost be- ing about six cents per thousand ems. APPLICATION OF METHOD TO BOOK WORK. . One of the principal benefits to be derived from tlie new method of type-setting will be the great lessening it will cause in the expense and trouble of issuing successive editions of books and other publications, for which it is not generally considered expedient to make electrotype or stereotype plates from which to print them. And even as to many works that arc now printed from such plates, unless it isanticijjated that several editions will be required, it will be found cheaper to employ the ribbon to set the type anew for each edition, than to incur the expense of making plates. As nearly all the manual work of the i)rinter'8 composition is 448334 26 put into the ribbon, it follows that after the ribbon has been em- ployed in setting the type for the lirst edition, it may be filed away for use in again setting the type for other editions, should any be demanded. In the meantime, such corrections and alterations as the author may w^ish to make may be composed and inserted in the ribbon at their proper places. But it will not be necessary for him to again go over and coi-rect the proofs of the entire work, no matter how many editions may be need'jd ; because the original ribbon, when once it has been properly prepared, will at all times, when recpiired, cause the machine to set the mattei- correctly and in exactly the same way as before. When it is desired to issue a publication simultaneously in two or more dift'erent places, duplicates of the operating ribbon may be prepared and forwarded by mail, telegraph, or otherwise, and then used in accomplishing that purpose, with great advan- tage, as they would save the publisher the trouble and expense either of making and transmitting extra plates, or of re-setting the type by hand at all the places of publication. It Fits the New Copykight Law Exactly. The new^ method of type-setting would also, so far as type- printed books are concerned, aln'iost entirely relieve our inter- national copyright law of its greatest hardshij) upon the foreign author, namely, the requirement that the two copies of his book to be delivered or mailed to the Librarian of Congress not later than the day of publication, in order to secure the benefits of copyright, " shall be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, or from plates made therefrom." The author will simply have two copies of the perforated ribbon of his book pre- pared simultaneously on compositor's machines in his own country, then retain one for his home edition, and send the other here to he used in setting the type of the American edition. While this arrangement will satisfy the demand of the law that the type be set in the llnited States, it will also relieve the author from the expense of having the same matter composed twice, and at the same time give him the satisfaction of knowing 27 that liis hook will be put in type exactly cis he wantfi it done, even to the retaining of liis i)ecnliaritie.s of orthography. Sucli duplicate })erforated rihbons may be made with tlie labor of but a single composition, by sim[)ly running two thicknesses of the ril)bon through tlie compositor's macliinc and perforating both at the same time. APPLICATION TO STENOGRAPHERS' WORK. The Munson method of power type-setting has important advantages for law stenographers, in the preparation of tran- scripts of short-hand minutes, which are not offered by any other method of machine composition. At present stenographers generally do this work on type-writers, and when extra copies are required they are made by manifolding with carbon sheets. Duplicate transcripts made in this way, however, are not even in quality. No matter how good the ribbon copy may be, the car- bon copies decrease in excellence according to the number made, the ([uality and thickness of tl.>e ])aper used and the skill of the operator. And yet, while type-written work of this kind is not perfect, it is a great improvement upon the old manuscript and press-copy work of former years. The great desideratum now is some means by which steno- graphers can economically and with the necessary speed furnish transcri[)ts in ordinary print. Up to the present time, however, no satisfactory way of doing this has been afforded. When the trial of a case extends beyond a single day, it is sometime neces- sary that transcripts of the minutes of each day's proceedings shall be prepared at night and furnished to counsel on the follow- ing morning at or before the opening of court ; in order to do which the stenographer recpiires the aid of several type- writers and opera- tors. An expert oi)erator of a type-writer will perform twice the amount of work in a day that the most rapid long-hand pen- man can do. Now, no keyboard composing nuichine has yet been made that can equal the type-writer in speed. Therefore, when we consider that every such composing machine costs $2,000 or more ; that it will take a greater num1)er of such machines as well as operators than it will of type-writers and o})erators to make the transcript of a given amount of stenographic reporting ; that it is not practicable to move those machines about from one place to B. 0. ^kKm LAWYFR DALLAS. TEXAS 28 another as type-writers can be moved, and that they must always be driven by steam or other considerable power, it is qnite obvi- ous that no hand-operated composing macliine can ever supphant the type-writer in connection with stenographic work. But tlie Munson method of type-composition — wjtli its small, portable and inexpensive compositor's machine with which to prepare the perforated ribbon for the transcript, and its rapid power type-setting machine to set the type for the same — meets the requirements of the case in every respect. The stenographer will prepare his record in perforated ribbon, requiring only the same number of compositor's machines and operators that he would of type-writers and operators for the same amount of work. He will prepare the ribbon on the compositor's machines in the same manner that he now makes transcripts on type-writ- ers, at any place that suits his convenience— at his home, his office or elsewhere. He will then send the ribbon to a printing- office to be used there in operating a type-setting machine and putting the matter in type without his further presence. The " proofs " may be read and corrected at an}" time afterwards. UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN PATENTS. The Munson Method of Power Type Composition is i)rotected by patents, both in this country and in several foreign countries. Upon an examination of the patents it will be found that they are unusually good ones. As Mr. Munson is the only inventor who has ever really accomplished anything of consequence in this par- ticular field of automatic devices, there has been no one to inter- fere or clash with his work, and the result is that the claims that have been allowed him by the Patent Office are most of them very broad ones. For this reason he is relieved from apprehension of trouble from rival claimants, because there are none. Other patents, for important Improvements that have recently been made in the method and its machines, are about to be taken out. For further infonnation concerning the Munson Method of Power Type-C()m]>ositi()n, address JAMES E. MUNSON, Tribune Building, New York. '^OAavaan-i^ ^^AavaaiH^ ^.rjwowsoi^ '%a3AiNfi]v\v' ^^Aavaaii-i^ ^\^EUNIVER^//, 'Jr ^lOSANCElfj^ o ^lllBRARYQc^ ^lllBRARYQc^ <-3 ^ -< AC • o E= ■<■ .^OFCAIIFO% OFCAIIFO% .^WEUNIVERi/,, •< CO % %a3A!Nn3WV "^^^Aavaani^ ^6?Aavaani^ o %a3AiNa3V^ ^tllBRARY^^ ^ ^^iWDKVSOl^ %a3AINfl3UV^ ^HIBRARY^' ^AOJITVJJO^ W f « ^\^EUNIVER% A^lOSANCEl^^ ^OFCAlIFOMij, L 006 851 862 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 968 472 k'mmwm^9m