Newspaper Page Text
Enterod according to Act of Congress, in June, 1870. by J. W. Burke A Cos., in the Clerk’s OfSco of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia
Vol. IV—No. 25.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
HOW BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS
ARE MADE.
111.
S' liavc alrea<J y
\ ?jL you l.ow the
' type are set, and
Hy the form is made
P ress - Before
BBSSmlj taking you into
|/ the press
~ T ' iin -
provements of the printing press.
The earliest press used was
worked with a screw, a contriv
ance being provided for running
the form of types underneath.
After the impression was taken,
the screw was relaxed, the form
withdrawn, and the sheet re
moved. Various improvements
were made in the hand - press
from time to time, until the old
fashioned common press was made,
which was in use for many years. This
was still further improved, until the
“Washington” hand-press of the pre
sent day was the result. You will see
a picture of this press on the next
page.
These hand-presses are still in use in
most country printing offices where the
editions are small ; but in all large
establishments they have been super
seded by the power-press, which, be-
MACON, GEORGIA, DECEMBER 17, 1870.
sides adding very greatly to the number
of impressions per hour, gives greater
uniformity of color than can possibly
be obtained on the hand-press. For
fine book-printing, the “Adams” press
is used almost exclusively; but for
newspaper printing, the cylinder press
has come into general use, because it
can be run at a much higher rate of
speed than the “Adams” press. The
cylinder press was of earlier invention
than the “Adams” press —its necessity
having been suggested to Frederick
Konig, a Saxon, in the early part of
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I SEP 'TSSIfc^T
the present century, and the first cylin
der press, propelled by steam, was
used for printing the London Times , as
early as November 28th, 1814. It is
claimed, however, that the first sugges
tion of a cylinder press is due to an
Englishman, named Nicholson, who
took out a patent for it as early as
1690, but his patent was never acted
upon.
Before going into the press-room, we
must tell you how the paper is pre
pared for printing. The body of print
er’s ink being varnish, which does not
dry at once, if the paper were used dry
in printing large editions of newspapers
or books, the ink from the printed side
would be likely to “set off,” or soil the
unprinted side of the sheet laid upon
it; for you must know that as fast as
the sheets are printed they are laid by
the pressman, or the press, one upon
another in regular order, so that they
can be easily taken up again when the
next side is to be printed. To prevent
this setting off, and also to secure a
better impression, the paper has to be
dampened. The most common way of
wetting dawn paper is to dip each quire
rapidly in a trough filled with clear
water, laying the quires carefully on
each other in a pile, and then to put
the whole under a heavy pressure for
several hours until the water has been
equally distributed throughout. But in
large daily newspaper offices a machine
is used like that in the picture on the
next page. The presses used in many
of those offices print from a continuous
sheet, which is supplied in a long roll,
such as you see the two men handling
in the large picture. The machine for
Whole No. 181.
wetting down the paper is so made that
it unwinds the paper from one roll, and
at the same time winds it up into ano
ther roll; and as the paper thus passes
from one roll to another, it is subjected
to a shower of fine spray, which damp
ens it just to the degree required.
Now, having all ready for the press,
we go down into the press-room. First
let us visit the hand-press, and see how
it is operated. Last week, we told you
how the form was “locked up” in the
chase. This form is now placed upon
the “bed” of the press, where is has
to he securely locked up, or
wedged in again, in order to
keep it in its place. Everything
being
inked by thf roller-boy, and the
pressman having taken his stand
in front of the press, puts a
sheet on the tympan , brings
down his frisket to hold it in its
place, and then runs the form
underneath the platen, ready for
the impression.
“But that is ‘all Dutch’ to
us,” say the thousands of little
readers who know nothing of
printing. “Tell us what you
mean by tympan, and frisket ,
and platen.' 1 ' 1
We will try, but it is not so
easy to make it plain on paper.
If you will look at the little cut
of a press on this page, you will
see that the press'stands on four
legs—one end being supported
by a square framework resting
on the’ floor. The bed is that
portion of the press supported
by this framework at one, end, and at
the other by the other two legs of the
press. Now, above these two legs you
see a portion of the press which rests
against a rack. This is the tympan ,
and the little frame above the tympan,
with four square holes in it, is thefris
ket. The frisket is an iron’framework
covered with paper, which is”cut out just
the size and shape of the form to be
printed. The tympan and frisket both
work on hinges. The pressman, having
laid the sheet on the tympan, brings
the frisket down upon it to hold it in
