FEINTING MACHINE 



663 



machines, and two of Applegath's, all working on the different sides of the paper, 

 that the enormous supply required every morning can be produced. 



The Walter Press (fig. 1691 ). In 1862, the circulation of ' The Times ' having consider- 

 ably increased, together with the necessity of issuing quadruple and sextuple sheets, 

 caused the proprietors to increase the power of the machines then in use, and the 

 whole has since been completely superseded by various new productions. The first of 

 these is the Walter Press, brought to maturity in 'The Times' Printing-office, and 

 manufactured on the premises in Printing-House Square. It is almost an original 

 invention ; its principal merits being its simplicity, compactness, speed, and economy. 

 It is what is called a ' perfecting machine,' as it prints both sides of the sheet at one 

 revolution. The paper passing through the machine in a direct line, and with me- 

 chanical precision, the register will always be perfect ; that is to say, the pages on one 



1691 



side are printed exactly on the back of the pages on the other side. The Walter 

 machine occupies a space of only 14 feet by 5 feet, or less than any other machine yet 

 introduced. The speed being altogether independent of manual dexterity, and regu- 

 lated solely by mechanical appliances, is capable of increase in a way that no other 

 printing machine on any other principle can possibly be. The exclusive use of stereo- 

 type-plates releases the type from all wear and tear, so that a fount of type, instead 

 of being renewed every two years, will last at least twenty. The type at present em- 

 ployed in printing ' The Times ' has been in use about 15 years. The plates, after being 

 employed for one day's impression, are melted down for the next. The paper mounted 

 on a huge reel, 3 miles 120 yards in length, as it comes from the paper-mill, appears 

 to fly through among the cylinders at the rate of nearly 1,000 feet a minute, and is 

 printed in less than 25 minutes ; each reel, when printed, produces 4,350 newspapers. 

 It is led from the reel into a series of small cylinders, where it passes through a 

 trough of cold water, and is then brought between the first and second of four cylin- 

 ders raised perpendiciilarly above each other. The top cylinder is encircled by stereo- 

 type-casts from four pages of type, and the lowest of the four cylinders is similarly 

 surrounded by stereotype-plates of the remaining four pages of the newspaper. In 

 passing through the first pair of impression-cylinders it is printed on one side. It is 

 next reversed, and passes through the second pair of cylinders, where it is printed on 

 the other side. It then continues its course onwards, passing between two cutting- 

 cylinders, placed in the centre of the machine, which divide the web of the now printed 

 paper into its proper length, forming a complete newspaper. The sheets are then 

 rapidly conducted by tapes into a swing frame, which, as it vibrates, delivers them 

 alternately on either side, and deposits them on tables at which two lads sit to receive 

 them. The sole attendants necessary are those two lads and an overlooker, who places 

 the stereotype-plates on the machine, starts it, and attends to the rolls of paper as 

 they are unwound. The delay in changing from one reel to another scarcely exceeds 

 one minute. The sheets are printed at the rate of 12,000 copies per hour. The 

 machine is almost self-acting, the ink being pumped tip into an ink-box from a cistern 

 in the room below. An index is fixed to each machine, which counts each sheet as it 

 is cut. Four, and sometimes five, of these machines are necessary for the printing of 

 1 The Times,' according to the time required for its publication ; the whole number being 

 printed in from one hour to one hour and a half. If four machines are required, four 

 stereotype-plates are required from each page. If five machines, five plates of each 

 page, which would bo forty plates in the whole. Eacn page is cast in about twenty 

 minutes. 



The following table shows the number of letters in each of the morning newspapers, 

 taken during the month of April 1873 : 



