from its remarkable curative power; the attention from its intensity of passion; Mrs. Davidson sisters, remarkable instances of Amelia B. Welby, remarkable for the exquisprecocious talent; Mrs. Frances Sargent Os-ite rhythm of her poetry; Mrs. Sarah Helen good (1812-1850), remarkable for her play- Whitman, Mrs. Anne C. (Lynch) Botta, Mrs. flness of fancy and felicity of expression; Miss Hannah F. Gould, (1789-1865) a poet of rare ability and vigor; Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, perhaps the most gifted of our living female ports; Mrs. Frances Anne Kemble (1811-1871); Mrs. Caroline Gilman; Mrs. Sarah J. Lippincott, (Grace Greenwood), whose "Ariadne a Naxos" attracted great Estelle Anna Lewis, Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, Miss Caroline May, Mrs. Maria Lowell, Mrs. Mary H. C. Booth, Miss Edna Dean Proctor, Mrs. Rosa V. Johnson, Miss Rose Terry, Mrs. M. S. B. Dana, and Miss Anna Drinker (Edith May). There are others perhaps who deserve a place in this record, but these have all gained a prominent position as poets. CHAPTER I. PRINTING-PRESS. PRINTING PRESS-HANDPOWER LIGHTNING. There is, in front, a table, which slides over the platform at the will of the operator, who, to effect this, turns a crank. On this table was laid the type. Over the type was a Ir a middle-aged man now visits the press-frame, which encircled the type, or form, and room of a "crack daily, and observes a crossed it in those places where the white huge machine, some twenty feet high, driven margin appears in a printed paper. On this by a steam engine, delivering seven large frame the paper of proper size was laid, after newspapers, nicely printed, at every tick of a being "wet down;" another fold of the clock, and watches the piles of paper grow-frame confined the paper; the whole was ing at the rate of 420 per minute, or at then slid on to the platform. The screw that of 25,200 per hour, weighing over one being turned, caused the platen to descend, ton, and reflects that the utmost power of and the impression was made. The screw the best machines of his youth would require was then raised, the form slid back, the frame an active man and a boy two long hours raised, and the paper lifted and examined by to do what this whizzing monster does in the pressman to see if his impression was a minute, he will form some idea of the pro- "good." If it satisfied him, he proceeded gress made in paper printing, and also of to ink his types for a new impression. The what is required to meet a daily demand. ink employed in printing is very different In the days of Franklin, the press-work of a from that employed for writing, and much paper was a very laborious affair. The ma- skill is required in the manufacture. It chines of that day were very imperfect, and, must be soft, adhesive, and easily transif reference is had to the illustration on an- ferred; it must dry quickly, and be durable, other page, contrasting the actual machine and not liable to spread. The usual matewhich Franklin used, and which is still pre- rials are linseed oil, rosin, and coloring matserved in the patent office at Washington, ters, lamp-black being used for black ink. with the fast press now in use, a good idea The peculiar mode of the best makers is will be formed of the progress in press- somewhat of a secret. The old mode of apbuilding. In that press, it will be observed, plying it was by two ink balls, about the the bed is a platform about three feet high, size of a man's hat, made of soft leather, and between two uprights. In the cross-piece at stuffed with cotton, the leather being nailed the top is a female screw in which works round a wooden handle. The pressman, the screw attached to the wooden platen. taking one in each hand, daubed them with This screw being turned by the pressman, ink, and worked them together until he had causes the platen to ascend and descend. spread the ink. He then applied them to 66 the types as evenly as possible; then, laying them aside, he proceeded, as before, to lay his paper evenly upon the frames, slide it up, work the screw, etc. By this process, an active man could work fifty sheets in an hour; by ten hours steady industry, he could get off an edition of 500 copies for the carriers in the morning. There was little room for much expansion under such a state of printing. The first great advance in the direction of speed, was when the lever was substituted for the screw in making the impression. This was introduced by Mr. John Clymer, and called the Columbian, or Clymer press, in which there was no screw, but the head itself was a large and powerful lever, acted on by proportionate levers, thus bringing to perfection, for presses of a large size, certain principles of leverage which had previously been patented in England, and used in presses of a small size, such as foolscap. The platen was, in fact, a fulcrum for the head, or great lever. Thus the fulcrum and lever superseded the inclined plane, or screw. Mr. Clymer went to England in 1817, and, at that time, the famous "Cobbett's Register" was printed on an American press," a circumstance that was regarded as a great joke at the time. By this invention, two levers, one affixed at the cross-piece above, and one to the platen, were brought together by a joint, like the bent knce of a man's leg. At this joint was applied a lever, by which the pressman, with one pull, brought the joint into a perpendicular line, by so doing giving an instantaneous and powerful impression. The platen being suspended by spiral springs, instantly rose when the lever was released. The saving in time was immense, one pull of the workman being sufficient for all the old screwing and unscrewing. Improvements in the Clymer press were made by Peter Smith and Samuel Rust, and these improvements are combined in Hoe's Washington press, of which a cut will be found on another page. Inventions of a similar character were made by Mr. John Wells, of Connecticut. The principle of the lever has been applied in various ways, and contains the chief feature in press power. The form of lever now generally used, will be seen in the engraving of Hoe and Smith's printing press, which is the favorite for all work where power presses are not required. Next to the introduction of the lever, was the substitution of the inking machine for the old ink balls. This was constructed of a cylinder which revolved, by hand, against an ink trough, and, by so doing, received evenly over its surface the ink. The smaller rollers were constructed on a light frame, to which a handle was attached. These, laid upon the ink roller, received from it the ink, and then being pushed forward over the type, imparted it to them with one movement of the hand. This, worked by a boy, is seen in the engraving. The pressman was now relieved of the inking, and, working with a lever, he could print, with active industry, 250 sheets in an hour. The next movement was to make this inking machine self-acting, by attaching it to the press in such a manner that lifting the paper frame would cause it to act. The Ruggles Job press, introduced in 1839, and the Combination press patented in 1841, both enjoyed a large measure of popularity, but have been of late superceded by other styles, especially those manufactured by R. Hoe & Co., who have been instrumental in making most of the early improvements of late years upon the printing press. The next important improvement in the machines, was the introduction of the cylinder, or Napier press. In this machine, of which an engraving is presented in another column, the form of type is locked upon a strong iron table, which moves forward and backward, passing in its course under a cylinder, which, made of iron, is covered with a soft blanket, and provided with a set of fingers to seize the sheet as it is presented. Against this is inclined the feeding bench, on which is laid the paper. On the bench is a small brass peg, or pointer, against which the feeder brings the paper accurately, in order that the sheets may "register"—that is, cach receive the type at the same distance from the margin. When the cylinder revolves, it raises with its fingers the edge of the paper, draws it round itself, and presses it against the type, which, at the same instant, passes under it. The paper then released by the cylinder, is carried by ribbons to the rear, while the type vibrates back, to return as soon as the cylinder has again drawn forward a sheet of paper. first, a boy was required to fly the papers, or catch them as they were thrown back from the cylinder, and pile them up. This, by the self-acting flyer, as seen in the engraving, is now dispensed with. This machine raised the number that might be printed to between 2,000 and 3,000 per hour. The bed At three. The large cylinder being put in motion, the form of types is carried successively to all the impression cylinders, at each of which a sheet is introduced, and receives the impression of the types as the form passes. Thus, as many sheets are printed at each revolution of the main, cylinder, as there are impression cylinders around it. One person is required at each impression cylinder to supply the sheets of paper, which are taken at the proper moment by fingers or grippers, and, after being printed, are conveyed out by tapes and laid in heaps by means of self-act is made of a size to take a paper from 25x33 inches, to one 40x60 inches, Very soon an improvement suggested itself to the ingenious and thoughtful inventor. As at first constructed, the type, in moving forward and backward, made only one impression. It was easy to introduce another cylinder, in order to take an impression from the type on its return. This was the double cylinder, which delivers a paper at each end. The cost of these is, for the large size, $6,850; increased capacity, 3,500 to 6,400 impressions per hour. In this operation, the vibration of the type bed was the great difficulty. ing flyers, thereby dispensing with the The type and bed will weigh over 1,000 lbs. This mass, moving backward and forward with great momentum, produced a great concussion, although it was met by strong springs which stopped its progress and aided its return. Many improvements were made in these springs. The noise and annoyance occasioned by the concussion of the bed against the springs, which are placed at each end of the machine to overcome the momentum of the bed, was removed by means of adjustable India-rubber buffers placed at the points of contact, which in no way interfere with the lively and certain action of the spiral springs. The same object is also effected by air springs, by which the head of the bed, plunging into a receiver, condenses the air, causing it to act as a spring. hands required in ordinary machines to receive and pile the sheets. The grippers hold the sheet securely, so that the thinnest newspaper may be printed without waste. The ink is contained in a fountain placed beneath the main cylinder, and is conveyed by means of distributing rollers to the distributing surface on the main cylinder. This surface being lower, or less in diameter than the form of types, passes by the impression cylinder without touching. For each impression, there are two inking rollers, which receive their supply of ink from the distributing surface of the main cylinder, which rise and ink the form as it passes under them, after which, they again fall to the distributing surface. Each page of the paper is locked up on a It was obvious, however, that the weight detached segment of the large cylinder which and concussion of this bed were a bar to constitutes its bed and chase. The column further progress in this direction, and it was rules run parallel with the shaft of the cylinfelt that greater speed could be attained only der, and are, consequently, straight, while by causing the type itself to revolve. This the head, advertising, and dash rules, was no new idea. It had been patented in are in the form of segments of a circle. England in 1790, but the inventor could The column rules are in the form of a not succeed in holding the types, since the wedge, with the thin part directed toward rapid revolution of such a weight gives a the axis of the cylinder, so as to bind the powerful centrifugal motion. What they types securely. These wedge-shaped column could not do in England, Richard M. Hoe rules are held down to the bed by tongues did in New York, in 1847, after many at- projecting at intervals along their length, tempts had been made to accomplish the de- which slide in rebated grooves cut crosswise sired result. In this machine, as will be in the face of the bed. The spaces in the seen in the illustration, the form of type is grooves between the column rules are accuplaced on the surface of a horizontal revolv-rately fitted with sliding blocks of metal ing cylinder of about four and a half feet in diameter. The form occupies a segment of only about one-fourth of the surface of the cylinder, and the remainder is used as an ink-distributing surface. Around this main cylinder, and parallel with it, are placed smaller impression cylinders, varying in number from four to ten, according to the size of the machine. The engraving represents even with the surface of the bed, the ends of which blocks are cut away underneath to receive a projection on the sides of the tongues of the column rules. The form of type is locked up in the bed by means of screws at the foot and sides, by which the type is held as securely as in the ordinary manner upon a flat bed-if not even more so. The speed of these machines is limited |