TYPE-WRITERS. 



81? 



The Columbia Music Type-Writer. This 



also is the invention of Charles Spiro, and was 

 patented Dec. 1. 1885. The music written by 

 this instrument is the exact equal of a printed 

 sheet, and can be adapted, by a special device, to 

 print in the words of a song by the use of an 

 additional type wheel. The mechanism is small 

 and delicate. It is 4 inches in length, 2 inches 

 in width, and 2| inches in height, and weighs 

 a pound. There is a disk, a handle, and a base. 

 That is apparently all. The disk contains on its 

 periphery the requisite characters, and a dial on 

 the inner face contains the representation of the 

 character that is produced when the disk is de- 

 pressed opposite the index. The disks are 3, 



1 containing the notes, 1 for inserting acciden- 

 tals, and 1 for signatures and barring. 



The People's Type-Writer. This was in- 

 vented by Byron A. Brooks, previously men- 

 tioned. It employs a fixed upright type wheel, 

 with two rows of type, and a shift key. The 

 platen carrying the paper is in a vibrating 

 frame, and the impression is made by pressing 

 the platen against the type wheel. The letter or 

 character desired is indicated by an oscillating 

 arm, provided with a gear at one end and a 

 finger piece at the other lying over a curved 

 letter plate. The platen is vibrated by a fin- 

 ger key under the control of the left hand, which 

 also operates the space key and shift key. An 

 inked ribbon incloses the cyclinder, or a pad 

 may be used, and the writing is always in sight.' 

 There is a ''combination ribbon" of red and 

 black, so arranged that all capital letters can be 

 printed in red, and all small letters in b.ack. 

 The type on the cylinder are copper faced. It is 

 the only small machine that uses a ribbon. 



The Yost. A basket machine which chro- 

 nologically follows the Caligraph. It is much 

 lighter than the Remington, weighing but 16 

 pounds, with a base of 11 by 13 inches, and a 

 height of 9 inches. It is the product of G. W. N. 

 Yost, so long identified with the Remington and 

 the Caligraph. The distinguishing features in 

 the new machine are (1) the absence of the inked 

 ribbon the printing being done directly from 

 the type ; (2) a double alphabet capitals and 

 lower case an outgrowth of the idea embodied 

 in the Caligraph, and occupying much less space ; 

 (3) there ara on the key-board 78 characters, on 



2 banks of keys ; the keys are composition, with 

 inlaid letters,' etc., smooth surface, and slightly 

 concave, the lower-case being black letters on a 

 white base, and the capitals a white letter on a 

 black base; (4) the center guide is an original 

 feature in the machine, and gives an absolute 

 and perfect, alignment. Each type bar, as it ap- 

 proaches the paper for the impression, is received 

 by the center guide and firmly directed to its 

 proper adjustment. There is no perceptible 

 friction, and it is impossible for the type faces to 

 strike against the guide or against each other, 

 the beveling preventing. The " pointer " is 

 simplified to the last degree, and dispenses with 

 the necessity for mental reckoning. The essen- 

 tial difference in the construction of the Yost 

 over its predecessors is that its type bars and 

 connections are made loose and not rigid, so that 

 wear makes practically no difference in the 

 alignment, which is controlled entirely by, and 

 dependent upon, the common center guide. 



VOL. xxx. 52 A 



The National Type- Writer. This was in- 

 vented by II. II. In/, of Philadelphia. It i, 

 classed among the " ba>ki-t " marhin.-. 

 12 inches on the table, ami 7A im-ln- m h, i-l.f. 

 The key-board is on a curved line. t| H . middle 

 Of the Cttrre being nearrM tin- ..p.-i-alnr. Thi-r.- 

 are 29 keys, each corresponding type hammer 

 being triple headed, or containing three i-harm-- 

 ters. The keys are are of Ura COOtpnitkm, 

 inlaid with white characters, and arrangi d in 

 banks, formed of short circular seamen; 

 carriage is not hinged, and is of light nu. \.-iin-nt. 

 sliding back and forth without using any " re- 

 lease ' key. Paper of any width may I 

 and fed in without raising the carriage. An au- 

 tomatic pointer enables the operator t 

 the instrument at any given point without men- 

 tal measuring or reckoning. The ribbon spools 

 are removable almost instantly, permitting dif- 

 ferent colored inks on the same sheet of paper. 

 There are two scales, the graduations running in 

 the same direction. The "dip" of the keys i 

 exactly alike, and the touch can be varied by the 

 " finger-key tension screw." 



The Smith Premier. The product of Alex- 

 ander Brown, of Syracuse, N. Y. It has no 

 shifting key, but a double bank of letter keys. 

 as in the Caligraph. In all, there are 76 keys*, 

 in two sets the capitals above and the lowercase 

 below, but laid in the same order, so that only 

 one set of keys has to be learned. The shape of 

 "the key-board is rectangular, and the keys are 

 in straight rows in all directions. The lower- 

 case keys are white ; the upper ones, with the fig- 

 ures and the punctuation, etc., marks, are black. 

 There are no wooden levers or '"shift" key* 

 of any kind. The ribbon is fed diagonally the 

 length of the line. When the carriage is drawn 

 back to begin another line, the ribbon is drawn 

 lengthwise about the width of the type ; conse- 

 quently the entire surface is used. A peculiar 

 " rocking-shaft " mechanism transmits the power 

 from the key to the type bars in such a way that 

 the leverage is the same for every key in the 

 board. The type-bars are mounted upon hard- 

 ened steel conical bearings, and are all If inch 

 in length, so that a perfect alignment is main- 

 tained. Another new feature is the locking 

 mechanism at the end of a line, so that when the 

 line is finished all the keys are locked, and if the 

 operator has omitted to notice the bell he is 

 prevented from striking several letters one upon 

 the other and ruining an otherwise perfect page. 

 The line-spacing mechanism is greatly simplified. 

 In the bottom of the basket is a circular brush, 

 which cleans all the type simultaneously. 



The Barlock Type-Writer is the invention of 

 Charles Spiro. It is on the inverted semi-basket 

 principle. The type bars strike downward, the 

 blow being given on a cylinder, over which, at 

 the moment of impact, an inked ribbon is inter- 

 posed, then retreating immediately, leaving the 

 whole line in full view. The key-board has a 

 double bank giving a separate key for each char- 

 acter. The machine is made in two size?, fools- 

 cap and brief. The Barlock derives its name 

 from a small half-circle of conical phosphor- 

 bronze pins immediately guarding the pla< 

 where the types strike the paper. As each type 

 bar descends to print, it must pass between l\ 

 of the pins, where it is held firmly at the moment 



