Frame. The base carries a cast-iron frame that supports a 

 mobile grid containing several thousand pieces of type, the 

 superstructure, and a typing lever and associated ejector-pin. 



Grid attd finder-chart. The grid that holds the type fits 

 into a tracked carriage that rides on the cast-iron frame. 

 This grid of type moves from side to side on one pair of 

 tracks, then, together with this first pair of tracks, backward 

 and forward on a second pair of tracks and, by a combina- 

 tion of these two separate movements, diagonally and cir- 

 cularly. 



This grid contains spaces for 2,546 separate pieces of 

 type (67 across, 38 from front to back). The spaces are 

 open at the top and partly so at the bottom, with just a 

 slight lip to keep the type from falling through. The pieces 

 of type rest loosely, face up in their spaces, with the type 

 faces, as seen by the operator, backward (mirror image), 

 oriented to the right, and in reverse order, relative to each 

 other. Thus, with Arabic numbers as examples, two verti- 

 cal rows of type would appear as follows: 



rvJ O 



•4- <L> 



lO oO 



on 1^ 



Extending from the front of the grid is a short flat metal 

 arm. This arm carries a wooden knob, by means of which 

 the grid is moved, and at its free end, a finder-needle. It is 

 with this needle, used in conjunction with the finder-chart, 

 that one locates a specific piece of type in the grid, for grid, 

 finder-needle and finder-chart are interrelated. 



The finder-chart, which in a wild sort of way corre- 

 sponds to the keyboard of a Western typewriter, is vital to 

 the operation of the machine, and carries the phoperly 

 printed form of each of the 2,546 pieces of type in the grid, 

 with the location of the character on the chart keyed to that 

 of the corresjionding piece of type in the grid.' 



The characters on the chart and the corresponding pieces 

 of type in the grid are organized by two principles, fre- 

 quency of usage and the traditional "radical" system of 

 classifying Chinese characters. The primary organization 

 is based upon estimated frequency of usage. Thus, to re- 

 duce lateral movement of the cumbersome grid, the most 

 frequently used forms are located in the center of the chart 

 and grid, while the less frequently used forms, divided into 

 two groups, are relegated to the sides. There is also a small 

 additional section containing special forms, including Chi- 

 nese and Arabic numerals, the English alphabet, forms of 

 address used in correspondence and forms of punctuation. 



Secondary organization is according to the traditional 

 classificator>- system. Briefly, this system is based upon the 

 fact that the great majority of Chinese characters are com- 

 posed of two elements, a phonetic element and a meaningful 

 element, the latter commonly called a "radical." Each of 

 the several tens of thousands of characters in the language is 

 subsumed under one or another of these radicals, which are 

 set in number (214), fixed in their sequence and standard- 

 ized in form and broad meaning. Thus, radical 9 /». is 

 human, radical 75 :^ is tree or wood, and radical 140 ^^ , 



grass. The characters in both the central and peripheral 

 groups are organized by this system of radicals, with the only 

 difference being that the peripheral group of characters is 

 divided into two parts, in much the same manner as a two- 

 volume Chinese dictionary, with characters subsumed imder 

 radicals 1-96 at the right of the central group and, along 

 with the special forms, those subsumed under radicals 97- 

 214 continued at the left. 



The characters on the chart are keyed to the corre- 

 sponding pieces of type in the grid. The positions and ori- 

 entations of the two relative to each other, however, arc 

 directly opposite. Thus, the characters on the finder-chart 

 are in prop)er classificatory sequence and are properly 

 printed, while the pieces of typ)e in the grid are in reverse 

 classificatory sequence, backward and oriented to the right. 

 With Arabic numerals once again as examples, this rela- 

 tionship is illustrated here. The usefulness of the chart is 

 apparent. 



In construction and function, the carriage is crudely 

 similar to that of a Western typ>ewriter. Thus, it moves 

 from left to right and is equipp)ed with a carriage release. 

 The paper is inserted in similar fashion and can be released 

 by means of a key. Two other keys below and forward 

 from the carriage allow for spacing and backspacing. There 

 is also a ribbon and a single margin bell. 



-Along with the grid of type, the selector arm and the 

 typing-lever and ejector-pin, are distinctive features of this 

 typ>ewriter, for together they form the basic mechanical 

 modification that allows the typing of a character-language. 

 The Commercial Press typewriter operates on the basis of 

 a selection of some 2,500 separate pieces of type set in a 

 mobile grid. The mechanics of printing one of these char- 

 acters is based on the joint action of the selector arm, the 

 typing-lever and the ejector-pin. The selector arm is metal, 

 pivoted at its inner end to the front center of the machine, 

 immediately above the mobile grid. The free end of the 

 arm extends out over the grid and is designed to move ver- 

 tically in an arc upward and back toward the platen. Seen 

 from three-quarter view the head of this arm is similar to a 

 socket wrench, with the square hole of a size to accommo- 

 date a piece of typ)e. This selector arm is op)erated by the 

 typing-lever. 



Parallel to the selector arm, and on its left, is a second 

 and more slender arm that supports a roller which as unit 

 also moves in a small vertical arc. \Vhen the selector arm 

 is at rest, this roller sits upon the wrench-like head of the 

 arm, but when the selector arm travels upward, the roller 

 is pushed forward and upward in a small arc, out of the 

 path of the selector arm. 



Operational Features 

 To type, for instance, the character for pear . ^ , a kind 

 of tree and its fruit, the typist must first locate the piece of 

 typ)e whose face bears the character for pear. Referring to 



Paof 12 OCTOBER 



