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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 After the impression was taken, the screw was relaxed, the form withdrawn, and the sheet re moved.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 a—li—MMfcMjilaj£ A lip!' IfHnl z *WBS- k;Jwk£ |p|v. 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