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Typo: A Monthly Newspaper and Literary Review, Volume 4

The Rogers Typograph.—

The Rogers Typograph.—

Mr William Smith, of Wellington, sends us a letter from a Toronto printer, enclosing a card with illustrations of the Rogers matrix machine—a compact little affair not much larger than a treadle sewing-machine—and of the clumps (Yankee, « slugs » ), each representing a line of type. A specimen of the work is also enclosed, which we should not have suspected to have been produced in any unusual manner. It has the appearance of work from new type, printed on uneven packing, without making-ready. Mr Smith's correspondent gives the following interesting account of the apparatus:—I have lately seen a new type-setting machine now on exhibition in this city: it is one of the type-casting variety. It is claimed that it will set as much as three average men, does away with wear in type, needs no distribution, and takes up no more room than an ordinary frame. But it has its limitations. It has no small caps, and no spaces smaller than 1/3-em, and I have heard that each machine sets only one measure; but this is denied, as they say that it will set any measure smaller than the standard news measure. I had only a short time to look at it, and thought it slow, but the operator said that was because he was new at it. It seems much like a type-writer in operation. Touching a key causes a wire to release one of a number of flat steels (like Yale-lock keys, only longer), which slides by its own weight along a wire, to a common centre in front of the machine, where it fills some office—the precise nature of which I could not find out—in the formation of the matrix. When enough of these have slid down to form a line, the operator, by keys, spaces it out, and then by turning the crank (to which power can be attached), metal, which is heated by a small gas-jet, is pumped into the matrix; the top rises up, like a type-writer, the flat steels all slide back to their places, and at the same time the line is ejected as a slug into the stick in front. We have just printed a post-card for them, a copy of which I enclose. You will see that the letters are not all the same height to paper—in fact, seem to be off their feet. It has been stated, with what truth I cannot say, that twenty of the machines have been sold in this city. I should not say « sold, » as they are only rented at $1 per day. One of our comps offered to bet the agent $25 that the machine could not set as much as two men. He was not taken. He then offered to bet $25 that he could set and space a line in less time than the machine. « We are not betting just now, » was the reply.