366 HARRY E. BARBOUR 



having types at the bottom and finger keys at the top. In 

 operating this machine the wheel was turned until the rod 

 bearing the desired letter was directly over the printing 

 point, when, by pressing the key, the character was printed 

 on the paper, being aided in the alignment by fixed guides. 

 A ratchet and pawl device served to move lengthwise the 

 cylinder bearing the paper, thus producing the proper letter 

 spacing, while interlinear spacing was secured by turning 

 the cylinder. An inked roller, over v/hich the face of the 

 type passed, produced the inking. Although this machine 

 was a failure because of its lack of speed it will readily be 

 seen it embodied some of the principles involved in the con- 

 struction of the modern typewriter. 



Another step in the evolution of the present day t3^e- 

 writer was the invention of A. Ely Beach, of New York, v^^ho 

 in 1847 and in 1856 secured patents on a machine involving 

 the system of type bearing levers arranged in a circle, swinging 

 toward and printing at a common center. The inked ribbon, 

 and also the bell indicating the end of the line, were features 

 of this machine, which, although slow in action, embodied 

 principles which have since been successfully utilized and are 

 to-day prominent features of the typewriting machine. In 

 1857 Dr. S. W. Francis, of Newport, R. I., patented a machine 

 provided with a circle of type bearing hammers attached to 

 a keyboard. Pressure on a key caused the type to strike 

 upward, making an impression on the paper through an inked 

 ribbon, the printing point being the center of the circle. 

 This machine was fitted with the bell attachment and also 

 with a coiled spring which moved the frame bearing the paper, 

 rewinding when the frame was drawn back after reaching the 

 end of the line. It was large and cumbersome, and only one 

 was ever constructed under this patent. 



In 1868 C. Latham Sholes, Samuel W. Soule, and Carlos 

 Glidden, all of Milwaukee, Wis., were granted a patent on a 

 machine which was a decided improvement over its pred- 

 ecessors. This typewriter embodied an extension of many 

 of the principles involved in former inventions, together 

 with certain features of its own. The inventor continued 

 to make improvements and succeeded in bringing it to a state 



