18S0.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



205 



ordinary donble-hpaded rail. A mile of road had also been laid upon the 

 same line, with cait-iron sleepeis adapted to tlie ordinary rail, as introduced 

 by Mr. P. W. Barlow, M. Inst. C. E.; and another mile had been laid with 

 these cast-iron sleepers at the joints only, but having intermediate sleepers 

 of timber. The motion of the trains over their several experimental lengths 

 was firm and steady, there being no perceptible difference between the two 

 latter descriptions. 



May 21. — The paper read vtas "On Printing Machines; especially those 

 used in the printing of the 'Times' newspaper. By Mr. Edward Cowper. 



The object of this paper was principally to describe the machinery, which 

 had been in use, at various times, for printing the ' Times' newspaper, other 

 machines being only referred to, as assisting to illustrate the suhject. 



For this purpose a brief review of the progress of printing machinery was 

 given; from which it appeared, that the first patent was obtained by 

 Nicholson, in 1790, who then proposed placing both the types and the paper 

 upon cylinders, and distributing and applying the ink also by means of 

 cylinders ; another plan was to place common type upon a table, which was 

 passed under a paper cylinder. In 1813, Donkiu and Bacon proposed 

 placing the type upon a prism, and introduced *' composition" rollers. In 

 1816, Cowper made a machine to print from curved stereotype plates ; and 

 in 1818, one to print books from ordinary type ; he also introduced the 

 system of inking now in common use. In 1814, Kcenig made the first 

 working machine, and erected two of these at the ' Times' office, which 

 produced eighteen hundred impressions per hour, and continued to do so 

 until 1827, when they were superseded by Applegath and Cowper's four- 

 cylinder machine, producing five thousand impressions per hour. 



These machines, which were stated to be still in use at the ' Times' office, 

 consisted of a table moved backwards and forwards under four iron cylin- 

 ders (called the paper cylinders), about nine inches in diameter, which were 

 covered with cloth, and round which the sheets of paper were held between 

 tapes. The forme was fixed on one part of the table, the inking rollers lying 

 on another part, on which they distributed the ink: some of these rollers 

 were placed in a diagonal position on the table, so that, as it moved back- 

 wards and forwards, they had a motion in the direction of their length, 

 called the "end-motion," which, combined with the rotatory motion, caused 

 the ink to be more effectually distributed. The ink was held in a reservoir, 

 or trough, formed of an iron roller, called the ductor, against which the edge 

 if an iron plate rested, and, by its pressure, regulated the quantity of ink 

 given out. The ink was conveyed from the ductor-roller to the table, bj 

 means of an elastic roller vibrating between them. The feeding was per- 

 formed by four " layers-on," who laid the sheets of paper on the feeding 

 boards, whence they entered the machine between three pairs of tapes, by 

 which they were conveyed round the cylinders, and thence to the spot 

 where the " takers-oflt" stood, into whose hands the sheets fell, as the tapes 

 separated. 



In May, 1848, the last great improvement was introduced, when Mr. 

 Applegath erected at the " Times" office a vertical machine, which was 

 stated to produce the enormous number of 10,000 impressions per hour. 

 This machine consisted of a vertical cylinder, about sixty-five inches in 

 diameter, on which the type was fixed, surrounded by eight other cyhnders, 

 each about thirteen inches in diameter, covered with cloth, and round 

 which the sheets of paper were conveyed by means of tapes ; each paper 

 cylinder being furnished with a feeding apparatus, having one boy to lay 

 them on and another to take them off. The inking rollers were also placed 

 in a vertical position, against the large cylinder, upon a portion of the sur- 

 face of which they distributed the ink. The ink was held in a vertical 

 reservoir, formed of a ductor-roller, against which rested two " straight 

 edges," connected at the back, so as to prevent the ink from running out : 

 it was conveyed from the ductor-roller by one of the inking-rollers, against 

 which it was occasionally pushed. 



The type used was of the ordinary kind, and the forme was placed upon a 

 portion of the large cylinder, being fixed to it in a very plain hut ingenious 

 manner : a slab of iron was curved on its under side, so as to fit the large 

 cylinder, whilst its upper surface was filed into facets, or flat parts, corre- 

 sponding in width and number to the width and number of the columns of 

 the newspaper. Between each column there was a strip of steel, with a 

 thin edge, to print the " rule" — the body of it being wedge-shaped, so as to 

 fill up the angular space left between the columns of the type, and to press 

 the type together sideways, or in the direction of the lines; the type was 

 pressed together in the other direction by means of screws, and was there- 

 fore firmly held together. The surface of the type thus formed a portion of 

 a polygon ; and the regularity of the impression was obtained by pasting 

 slips of paper on the paper cylinders. 



The operation of the machine was very simple : the " layer-on" drew for- 

 ward a sheet of paper on the feeding-board, until its edge was under a 

 roller, furnished with tapes, which dropped down and drew the sheet for- 

 ward and downward, into a vertical position, when other rollers and tapes 

 carried it round the paper cylinder, when it met the type, which had been 

 inked by passing in contact with the inking-rollers; the sheet then con- 

 tinued its progress until it reached the "taker-off." 



Some interesting statistics, relative to the printing of the ' Times/ were 

 mentioned, from which it appeared, that on the 7th of May, 1850, the 

 'Times' and ' Supplement' contained 72 columns, or 17,500 lines, made up 

 of upwards of a million pieces of type, of which matter about two-fifths 



were written, composed, and corrected after 7 o'clock in the evening. The 

 ' Supplement' was sent to press at 7"50, p.m., the first forme of the paper at 

 4'15, A.M., and the second forme at 4'45, a.m.; on this occasion, 7,000 

 papers were published before 6.15, a.m., 21,000 papers before 7.30, a.m., 

 and 34,000 before 8.45, a.m., or in about four hours. The greatest number 

 of copies ever printed in one day was 54,000, and the greatest quantity of 

 printing in one day's publication was on the 1st of March, 1848, when the 

 paper used weighed 7 tons, the weight usually required being 4^ tons ; the 

 surface to be printed every night, including the ' Supplement,' was 30 acres; 

 the weight of the fount of type in constant use was 7 tons, and 110 com- 

 positors and 25 pressmen were constantly employed. The whole of the 

 printing at the ' Times' office was actually performed by three of Applegath 

 and Cowper's four-cylinder machines, and two of Applegath's new vertical 

 cylinder machines. 



The President afterwards briefly addressed the meeting, congratulating 

 the members on the continued success and prosperity of the Institution, and 

 expressing a hope that during the recess, original communications would be 

 prepared for the next session, so that it might, at least, equal in interest 

 that which had just concluded.^The meeting was then adjourned until the 

 second Tuesday in November. 



It was moved, seconded, and carried unanimously, that the cordial thanks 

 of the Institution he offered to the President, for the unwearied attention he 

 had paid to the interests of the Institution, and for the urbanity he had at 

 all times displayed in the chair. 



THE PRESIDENTS CONVERSAZIONE. 



On Tuesday evening, the 28th, Mr. Cubitt, President of the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers, gave a conversazione at the House of the Institution, in 

 George-street, the ariangements for which were very ably and tastefully 

 made by Mr. Charles Manhy, the Secretary, by whose exertions these annual 

 celebrations have attained a high reputation. The Institution was for the 

 nonce converted into a palatial building, decorated with paintings and 

 works of art, among which were some chefd'wuvres of Landseer. In the 

 reception room was his ' Diogenes,' which was a great object of attraction. 

 Some fine electru-hronzes, by Elkington, excited great interest; and, in par- 

 ticular, a statue uf Antinous. In the corridor was the fine specimen of 

 bookbinding hy Gruel, of Paris. 



The niodel-toom was crowded with models and with spectators; and 

 although from tlie want of any great work in progress there was no striking 

 novelty, ilie collection was hy no means deficient in interest. Floating about 

 the rooms were small balloons, to show the plan for distributing messages 

 in the Arctic regions, in the attempt to communicate with Sir John Franklin. 

 Mr. Cotton's sovereign weighing-machine was worked throughout the even- 

 ing. Appold's register hygrometer is for keeping the atmosphere of a house at 

 one regular moisture. Another contrivance of that gentleman was a ther- 

 mometric balance, to open or shut the damper of a stove, on a variation in 

 the temperature of 1° Fahrenheit. The model of the Great Grimsby cofl'er- 

 dam was shown. A very ingenious machine was a rotary card press, an 

 American invention, capable of printing by hand 2,500 cards per hour. 

 There were gutta percha inventions, Dujardin'a electric telegraph, the screw 

 pile, model of Gatton House, the disc-engine, ^A'hishaw's telephone and 

 telekouphonon, Le Moll's electric battery, Soyer's magic stove, and many 

 things too numerous to remember. 



Among the company were the Marquis of Salisbury; Earls Lovelace, 

 Harrowby, Roese, Powis; Lords Wharndiffe, Overstone, Ehrington, De 

 Mauley; Baron de Goldsmid; Sirs Uobeit Peel, G. Staunton, D. Norreys, 

 P. Laurie, B. Brodie, Howard Douglas, C. E. Pasley, James Duke, II. 

 Ellis, Isaac Morley, J. Hamilton, H. T. De la Beche, W. S. Harris, C- Mal- 

 colm, R. Westmacott, \V. Symonds, E. Rvan, C. Fellowes, G. Back; Mes^rs. 

 H.T.Hope, M.P., Rowland Hill, Mackiiinon, M.P., Locke, M.P., Cubiit, 

 M.P., Lacy, M.P., Jas. Heywood, M.P., Masterman, M.P., C. Dickens, 

 \V. F. A. Delane. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 



On Friday, the 3rd ulf.. Earl de Grey, the President, gave a conversazione 

 to the Fellows, which was numerously attended by them, as well by a large 

 circle of men distinguished in every career of life. Few architectural works 

 were exhibited, but many portfolios of drawings. 



We noticed among the company, Loid Lansdowne; Lord Granville; Lord 

 Ashley; Lady Cooper and Lady Mary Yiner, daughters of Earl de Grey; .\Ir. 

 H. t! Hope, M.P.; Beresford Hope, M.P.; Mons. Dusillion; Sir Robert 

 Peel; Lady Peel and daughter; Sir Alexander Johnstone; Sir Charles Pas- 

 ley; Colonel Sykes; Sir R. Westmacott, R.A.; C. Landseer, R.A.; Mr. Knight, 

 R.A.; J. Martin; Sir W. Newton, R.A.; Sir — Ross, R.A.; Mr. Haghe ; .Mr. 

 Robert Stephenson, M.P.; Mr. Brunei, C.E.; Mr. Cubitt, C.E.; Mr C. 

 Manby; Mr. Barry; Mr. Tite; Mr. Donaldson; Mr. Fergusson ; Mr. Don- 

 thon ; Mr. Bailey; Mr. Kendall; Mr. Fowler; Mr. Roberts; Mr. Anuell; 

 Mr. Bellamv; Mr. Smirke; Mr. T. Wyatt; Mr. Brandon; and Mr. Dighy 

 Wyatt. 



