1869.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
A 65 
part was sent to the Sun, of a meeting at the Astor 
House of the Congressional Committee on Ship Builders ; 
hut the substance and the exact truth of the whole mat¬ 
ter came out in the Sun of October lfi, in this wise : 
The Congressional Committee on Ship Builders had another 
session yesterday, and did nothing. 
The Sun Condensers are men who can see at a glance 
What is interesting in an article, and what is useful, and 
what is needful, and What is of no account; and they 
“ kill ’’without mitigation or remorse. 
And now midnight ap¬ 
proaches; the turmoil has 
died away; the Chief and 
his immediate staff have 
disappeared; the reporters 
have gone, except a few 
who have but recently come 
in ; and the Managing and 
Night Editors, with a few 
trusty assistants, are all that 
remain on duty. And now 
let us “follow copy” up¬ 
stairs to the 
COMPOSING ROOM. 
where the type-setters ply 
their nimble fingers,of which 
room the cut thereof gives a 
faithful representation. 
The composing room of 
the Sun Office is a fine,light, 
airy apartment, and is fitted 
up with the utmost elegance 
and convenience. The exact 
cost of the outfit,—includ¬ 
ing type, furniture, and ma¬ 
terial for stereotyping—was 
$12,200.72. The regular force 
of compositors, or type-set¬ 
ters, is forty-three; and a 
fine-looking,intelligent com¬ 
pany of men they are. Some 
of them look so sober and 
grave that one could ima¬ 
gine them to be lineal de¬ 
scendants of the old monks 
who where the first mem¬ 
bers of the craft, did wo not know that monks never 
marry. And this reference to the old monks reminds ns 
of a flavor of the monasteries which yet lingers around a 
printing office, and betrays its origin, to wit: A general 
meeting of all the compositors in an office is called “//<*£- 
ing a Chapel /” Printers also speak of “justifying a 
form; ’ a “ form meaning the type of a page of a news¬ 
paper, or of several pages of a book, held together by a 
large iron band or rim called a “ chase and “justify¬ 
ing” meaning to arrange the type in a just, straight, 
square, regular, or proper manner. But printers differ 
from other theologians (except those of the New Church) 
in this, that they never “justify ” by faith alone, but al¬ 
ways by works. 
The compositors have been at work for many hours. 
They take it easily at first, from 3 o'clock P. M. to 5; 
then there is a recess of two hours, and at 7 o'clock they 
come back for the real work of the day, and stay till 2 
o'clock A.M., or as much longer as may be necessary. 
As a usual thing, when 2 o’clock coines, all but eight of 
the compositors are allowed to go, and the eight retained 
are kept till the paper is sent to press. The compositors 
work by the piece, and their average earnings are $23 a 
week; but. some of them make $35 a week, when they 
do their best. 
After the type-setters have been at work for an hour, 
or less, the proof-taker begins his work. The type which 
has been set is put in an orderly way and fastened in its 
place on long brass beds called galleys, which are then 
run under the proof press, whereby impressions, or 
proofs are taken on long slips of paper. These are sent 
to the proof-readers, in the den shown in the opposite 
cut, who read them over for errors, and mark all mistakes 
on the margins of the proofs, which are then taken back 
to the compositors, who correct the errors in the type, 
after which new proofs, called revises, are taken to see 
if everything is right. If any errors arc found in the re¬ 
vise they are also marked and corrected; and when 
everything has been at last set right in a galley of type, 
it is transferred to the make-up table, that is, to the table 
where the type is finally put in the forms or pages of the 
newspaper. 
About eleven o’clock, tne foreman of the composition 
room sends word to the Night Editor that he is ready 
“ to make up that is, that he is ready to put the' type 
into the pages, and send them to the stereoiyper’s. On 
receiving this notice, the Night Editor appears, with a 
separate set of proofs, taken expressly for him, and over 
which he has been studying and working for several 
hours. 
There is already matter enough in type to fill the col¬ 
umns of the paper twice over, and more is coming all the 
time. The telegraphic lightnings are pouring it in ; the 
reporters are writing it out by the column; and messen¬ 
gers are coming with all manner of communications— 
“ very important, sir, and must appear in the morning’s 
paper, sir.” 
And so the Night Editor works away, studying over his 
proofs, gradually singling out what must go in, whether; 
or no, and no mistake; also what may bo left out; also 
composing noon. 
what shall be left out. He also alters, condenses, and 
“ kills ” paragraphs and articles at his sovereign will and 
pleasure. As necessity rides him with sharper and 
sharper spur, he begins to wax savage, and no longer 
merely “ kills ” but murders bantling after bantling with 
grim satisfaction. Rhetoric becomes an offence unto 
him; circumlocution stirs his indignation; only “thoughts 
that breathe and words that burn” are admissible; 
and they must breathe like a hurricane and burn like a 
Drummond light at that—no gaseous admixtures being 
tolerated in the breath, nor smoke nor cinders in the fire. 
PROOF ROOM. 
When, therefore, he receives notice from the foreman 
of the composition room, that he “ is ready to make up,” 
the Night Editor goes up to the fifth story with a 
clearly defined purpose. Under his direction the fore¬ 
man rapidly lifts column after column of the news and 
editorials into the form which is to constitute the second 
or editorial page of the next morning’s Sun. The last 
page and the third page composed wholly, or nearly so, 
of advertisements have already been made up, and sent, 
to the stereotypers. The first page, which is the last 
one made up, is yet to come. Meanwhile let us step into 
THE STEREOTYPING ROOM, 
[ and see what the Yulcans are about, 
i The stereotyping room is one of the most interesting 
departments of the Sun establishment.. The cost of 
fitting it up was $1,921.73. It is occupied, and the stereo¬ 
typing process performed, by five splendid fellows, whose 
brain and muscle, as well as their skill and fidelity, are 
of a high grade. As we saw them going through their 
work, we could not help thinking how little people who 
tvrite books or newspaper articles, and fancy that, writ¬ 
ings or writers are of the first consequence, know how 
much they are indebted to inventors and mechanics. 
What would the best piece of writing ever done in Amer¬ 
ica amount to, were it not 
for the type-founders, and 
type-setters, and stereoty¬ 
pers, and ink-makers, and 
paper-makers, and press- 
builders, and pressmen, and 
engineers, who give it form 
and substance, and send it 
abroad as oh the wings of 
the wind ? 
The stereotyping process;! 
is peculiar, and differs wide¬ 
ly from that,in ordinary use. 
The Bullock presses Used 
in printing the Sun, and 
which we shall describe 
hereafter, require stereotype! 
plates which can be affixed 
to their cylinders,and hence 
the plates must be cast in 
half circles; and they must 
bo cast, too, with the ut¬ 
most expedition, and in un¬ 
usual numbers. No less Ilian 
six complete sets of plates 
have to he cast, for the Pun, so 
that it can have six papers 
minted consentaneously, in 
W'der to get off its immense 
edition. The process of 
stereotyping is performed 
in this'wise: 
The flat page of type is 
first warmed on a liollow 
iron table, heated by steam ; 
then a sheet of thick paper, 
such as steel engravings are 
printed on, which is chemi¬ 
cally prepared by soaking in a mixture until it becomes 
nearly of the consistency of paste, islaid upon the face of 
t he typo, and beaten down with a heavy ami stiff brush, 
until every letter, rule, and point is perfectly moulded 
in the soft mass of paper. All hollow' places are then 
filled up with a preparation of plaster of Paris; after 
which another sheet of the prepared paper is laid upon 
the first, and beaten down in the same manner. By this 
means a substantial mould of the entire page is formed. 
The type and mould are then swathed in blankets, placed 
on the hollow' steam-heated table, run under a press on 
one end of the table, and subjected to a heavy pressure, 
while at the same time it is baked l)y the heat. It is 
then taken out, and the paper mould is removed from the 
type. It is firm, hut pliable, and capable of resisting a 
high degree of heat. It, is the flexibleness of the mould, 
; even more than Hie celerity with which it can he produc- 
! ed, which gives it its peculiar value ; for it is its flexible¬ 
ness which enables a cylindrical plate to he cast from it. 
After the mould has been perfected, as above described, 
it. is placed in a reversed position in an iron matrix of the 
exact curvature of the press cylinder; the molted type- 
metal is then poured in; and in two minutes a stereotype 
plate of the page of type in the form of a half-circle, is 
taken out, and handed over to the trimmers to be fitted 
; to the press cylinder; the matrix is again filled with 
metal, and another plate is cast; and so the process goes 
on, until six casts of each page have been taken, trimmed, 
I and sent down to the press room. 
We will now step on to tlio elevator, along with a set 
of the stereotype plates, and descend with them to 
THE PRESS ROOM. 
The Press Room is situated in the basement of the 
i edifice, and is a most capacious apartment. An idea of 
its appearance, when everything is at high pressure, may 
he gained by studying the cut which we give elsewhere. 
But when w'O arrive at the press room, at half past one 
o’clock in the morning, matters are in no such lively 
trim. Everything is quiet. There is not yet even a 
hiss of steam. Stalwart men are stretched out on the 
huge piles of paper, fast asleep. Some of them lie faee 
downward, with their arms stretched out at full length, 
and sleeping as though they would never again awake. 
Others are lying all in a heap, others fiat on their backs, 
showing grimy but honest faces; and all are sleeping 
j soundly ; and we are glad to see them ihus resting, for 
I they have a bard pull coming fast upon them. Other 
men are bringing in the huge rolls of paper from the 
