TYPE-WRITERS. 



ribbon. The ribbon, several feet long, was of 

 silk, impregnated, passing under the paper. 

 This ribbon was so adjusted as to move with each 

 impression, and thus present a fresh inked spot 

 for the next letter. There was a frame on the 

 top of the printing apparatus to hold paper, and 

 it traveled from side to side over the type circle. 

 The common center was at a point in a circular 

 platen, upheld by suitable supports in the sides 

 of the machine, being removable when it was de- 

 sired to insert new paper. The frame was pro- 

 pelled by the unwinding of a coiled spring in a 

 drum, round which was a cord connected with 

 the frame. Another spring on the opposite side 

 of the machine was connected by a cord, and had 

 a device for releasing the frame to move but one 

 space at a time, as an impression was struck. 

 There was an alarm bell attached to the frame, 

 to sound four spaces from the end of the line, In- 

 dicating to the operator if a word should be di- 

 vided or completed. At the finish of a line, the 

 frame was drawn back, rewinding the spring, and 

 the paper was moved forward from the operator 

 by another action. A blank key made the spaces 

 between words. Two copies were printed at 

 once by letting the inked ribbon run between a 

 thick and a thin sheet of paper. There was a 

 device to prevent several keys touched at once 

 bringing up more than one hammer to the cen- 

 ter. But one instrument was made under Fran- 

 cis's patent, and that printed clean and more 

 rapidly than handwriting; but it seemed too 

 bulky, was intricate and delicate in some of its 

 parts, and could hardly stand practical use, nor 

 could it be made at a cost to let it be sold to ad- 

 vantage. It is noteworthy from the fact that it 

 contains the essential features of all subsequent 

 devices of this kind, the chief of which is the 

 " arranging a row of hammers in a circle, so as 

 when put in motion, they will all strike the same 

 place to wit, the center of the circle." 



The Hall Type- Writer. Another worker in 

 the field of invention was Thomas Hall, of New 

 York city. He had been experimenting for sev- 

 eral years and studying closely the principles in- 

 volved in type-writing mechanism, and had suc- 

 ceeded in the invention of a sewing machine ; 

 but restricted finances during the period of the 

 civil war prevented any rapid progress with his 

 type-writer. At the close of the war he settled 

 in New York. On June 18, 1867, a patent was 

 granted, a company was formed, and the manu- 

 facture of machines begun. Several were made, 

 and proved eminently satisfactory. One instru- 

 ment, making large and small letters, with many 

 miscellaneous characters, was sent to the Paris 

 Exposition of that year. Another, about eight- 

 een inches square and six inches high, was exhib- 

 ited in Washington. Its capacity was 400 words 

 a minute. The paper was placed on a table which 

 glided into the bottom of the machine on a frame 

 working from side to side by an original devise, 

 and spacing for letters according to their thick- 

 ness, giving the work a closer appearance to let- 

 terpress printing than is ordinarily done by type- 

 writers. On return of the table to begin a new 

 line, the sheet was drawn forward by pressing a 

 knob on the top of the machine, and clean paper 

 was brought to the common center. The type 

 faces were on the ends of little hammers ranged 

 in a circle and driven to a common center by the 



touching of the appropriate key. Each hammer 

 was on the end of an individual bar. tin- ,,ii, ( . r 

 end of which had a counter-weight, adjusted to 

 facilitate the general action of the impression 



and recoil. A cushioned ring was suspend,-.! in 

 the type circle, through which all the letters Ml, 

 and by which an even impression was pr 

 A blank key did the spacing. The printing was 

 through an inked ribbon. An attachment pn- 

 vented two letters falling in conflict at tin- com- 

 mon center. This machine was apparent 

 feet success, and awakened a great ininv-i in the 

 minds of capitalists. Plans were laid for its de- 

 velopment before the trade, when differ. ; 

 opinion arose, and everything connected with tin- 

 machine was abandoned. Mr. Hall develop, <1. on 

 a new and original plan, another machine, radi- 

 cally different from the first, a description of 

 which is given in its chronological place. 



The Pterotype was the invention of John 

 Pratt, of Centre, Ala., and is one of the most 

 original and meritorious pieces of mechanism in 

 the type-writer field. He was a resident of Lon- 

 don, England, during the civil war, and in 1867 

 exhibited his machine, explaining its con-t ruc- 

 tion and usefulness before the Society of Arts. 

 He also read a paper concerning it, which was 

 published in the " Journal " of that body. Mr. 

 Pratt's claims were laid down as : 1. The' bring- 

 ing of a number of type, in arbitrary succession, 

 to one point. 2. The making of legible impres- 

 sions at that point. 3. The feeding or moving 

 of the paper across said common point, so as to 

 make the proper intervals between letters and 

 words. 4. The bringing of the paper back to its 

 starting point, and at the same time moving it in 

 a direction at right angles with the lines, so as 

 to make the necessary spacing of the letter. The 



gterotype was covered by United States Letters 

 atent, No. 81,000, issued Aug. 11, 1868, but after 

 repeated failures to secure a proper " momen- 

 tum " for the type-wheel, Mr. Pratt abandoned 

 his plan as impracticable. 



The Hall Type-Writer of 1881. This i< an 

 original conception of Thomas Hall, of New York 

 city, radically different from his former inven- 

 tion, as well as different from all others. It em- 

 bodies a novel application to bring the characters 

 to be printed to a common center. It carries 

 both capital letters and lower-case, either alpha- 

 bet being available. The printing apparatus 

 moves over the paper the length of a line. Rub- 

 ber characters are employed, and sets of any style 

 or language are interchangeable by the shifting 

 of a plate. There is no inking riblxni, impres- 

 sions being made direct from the type. In the 

 manipulation of the machine only one hand is 

 ordinarily required. The finger or working 

 mechanism is carried upon a light bar frame, and 

 so delicately arranged that it can be set at any 

 angle for working. The machine is built in two 

 sizes, the " Standard " and " Legal." The " Stand- 

 ard " is 14 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 3 inche 

 high its weight is 4| pounds, with 74 characters 

 in a line. The " Legal " style is 17f inches long, 

 and 6| inches wide, 3 inches high, and prints 

 111 characters to the line, being especially de- 

 signed for document work. The mechanism is 

 carried upon a light bar frame, hinged to the 

 bottom of the box in front, and provided v 

 pivoted bars at the back, the lower ends of which 



