THE DEVELOPriENT OF THE TYPEWRITER. 



BY HARRY E. BARBOUR. 



[Harry E. Barbour, statistician; has made a specialty of the history of the typewriter 

 and its effect upon business life in America; he was employed by the United States 

 government to make an investigation along these lines for the twelfth census.] 



While many patents have been granted in Europe for 

 writing machines, the real history of the typewriter belongs 

 to the United States; it was in this country that the first 

 practical typewriter was made, and from the very beginning 

 the superiority of the American machine has been recognized 

 in all parts of the world. Therefore the history of the evolu- 

 tion of the practical typewriter of to-day may be gleaned 

 from an account of the failures and successes of American 

 inventors. It is impossible to mention here the numerous 

 attempts to construct a practical typewriter, or the various 

 inventors who labored patiently toward that end. While 

 most of these men failed to produce a perfect machine, their 

 efforts contributed to the final success, and to each of them 

 a share of the credit is due. In this connection, however, 

 it may prove interesting to consider briefly some of the earlier 

 types of the machine and to note various changes in its 

 development. 



The first typewriter invented in the United States, called 

 the "typographer," was patented in 1829 by Wilham Austin 

 Burt, of Detroit, Mich., also the inventor of the solar compass. 

 This machine was a primitive affair, and could be manipulated 

 only slowly. No practical results were accomplished by the 

 Burt machine, and to-day it is known merely as the starting 

 point of a great American industry. In 1843 Charles Thurber 

 of Worcester, Mass., patented a writing machine which pro- 

 duced good results in every respect except speed. This 

 machine was constructed with a horizontal wheel, on the 

 periphery of which were a number of perdendicular rods 



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