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A few words to set forth the objects and scope of our publication will not be out of place in our first number. It is our design to issue a journal representative of the printing, publishing, bookselling, stationery, and kindred interests, and to provide a recognized channel of communication between those engaged in these industries. The contents of the present issue will give a general idea of the field we intend to occupy; but in future numbers, as our exchanges and correspondence come in, certain departments will be more fully developed. Practical notes and suggestions, original and selected, will occupy a prominent place in our pages; and among the subjects engaging our attention will be the laws relating to the press; new publications; new inventions and processes; and in general all matters affecting the trade. To publishers of works of general utility, our monthly will prove of advantage. Owing to the absence of any literary review or other organ appealing directly to the bookselling trade, some of the most useful publications in the colony have succeeded in obtaining little more than a local circulation. In regard to matters concerning the special interests of printers, publishers, and journalists, the ordinary newspaper press, for obvious reasons, is not the best place for their discussion. In taking up a position hitherto unoccupied in the colonial press, we look for the cordial support of the important industries to which we appeal. We will endeavor to make our paper as practically useful as possible, and trust to the co-operation of all our friends, north and south, to make it a thoroughly successful and representative trade journal.
Under the heading of « Design in Typography, » we purpose publishing from month to month a series of original articles of a practical character on the general principles of display work and ornamental composition. In some trade serials may be found a multiplicity of rules on this subject—in most cases excellent—sometimes otherwise. It will be our design to enter into details only as illustrative of principles. The intelligent and artistic compositor can, if required, give a valid reason for the selection and position of any particular line or ornament in his work. If limited to a single fount of type, he will still produce a satisfactory result. The workman who is deficient in artistic perception and training, will go astray when left to his own judgment, and the greater the typographic resources at his command, the more melancholy will be the result. We intend taking up the subject in a systematic manner, dealing in the first place with the broad principles of display, as applying equally to the plainest and the most ornamental work. These will include the general composition or form of the matter, and distribution of light and shade; and the two great leading styles of display—by harmony and by contrast. From this we proceed to the subject of decoration, with especial reference to the abundant material now at the disposal of the compositor, and the limitations inherent in the nature of his work. The use and abuse of rules, corners, and ornaments will be dealt with, and some of the leading combination designs will be considered in detail. Practical articles of this kind are not uncommon in our German contemporaries, in whose pages the elaborate productions of the foundries are carefully analysed and illustrated; but so far as we know, no English trade organ has dealt with this subject except in the most general terms. We do not intend to dogmatize, and shall welcome criticism. We hold that the beautiful material now to be found in even the smallest job offices is worthy of careful study. It is however too often selected without system and used without judgment. The introductory article will appear in our February number.
We hope occasionally to present our readers with supplements showing choice examples of work, in black or colors, which will show that the printers of this colony are in no wise behind their fellow-craftsmen elsewhere. Friends who think it worth while to contribute would oblige by notifying us of their intention. It is no part of our design to make the paper itself a specimen of what is known as « sumptuous » printing. We have observed that trade journals published with this idea, under the most favorable circumstances, fail to appear with even approximate regularity.
We make it an invariable rule to give our authority for all extracted items. Will the exchanges who may have occasion to quote from our columns be kind enough to do the same?
The newspaper press, while assuming the position of universal critic, sometimes lays itself open to criticism. Some thoughtful well-timed remarks were recently made by Mr Justice Richmond in Wellington, which deserve serious consideration. His Honor made special reference to the flippant manner in which the Hall poisoning case had been treated by a section of the press. The heading attached to the telegraphic reports in several newspapers—« The Timaru Sensation » his Honor characterized as « shocking. » If the press is to realize—as it should do—the poet's ideal:
The power which counsels and commands And shapes the social life of lands— A blessing pure and deep—
it must take some other ground in dealing with those crimes which shock society and threaten its very existence, than to treat them as mere journalistic stock-in-trade, and as materials to create what is vulgarly termed a « sensation. » Such a course is unworthy of any paper of higher standing than a « police news. »
For more than forty years there has been a Copyright Act on the New Zealand statute book. It is one of the two oldest survivors of our early legislation, never having been repealed or amended. It affords to English publishers an efficient protection against colonial or foreign piracy, and so far is of value. But it is not so effective as regards local rights, as anyone registering a local production may easily ascertain. It is not our object to show the precise points wherein the Act comes short; but we merely indicate that a serious defect exists. The publishing interest in this colony would do well to take some united action to obtain an amendment.
An ornamental initial is often the only piece of decoration admissible in an otherwise plain job, and may frequently be used with good effect. It is by no means essential that the design should bear reference to the subject; though in a well-furnished office, it will often occur that a letter or headpiece will be found which might have been « made for the job. » A good compositor will always be ready to avail himself of the material most appropriate to the work in hand, and will never disfigure a job by a line or ornament inappropriate to the class of work on which he is engaged.
Certain rules in placing the initial should be carefully observed. The rule as to lining is that the head of the initial itself (not of the flourishes or foliage by which it is adorned) should line with the top of the first line. The exception to this rule is when the letter is enclosed in a square or other geometric figure. In this case, the outline of the design should line, without reference to the position of the letter itself.
The rule of indentation is not always carefully observed. It is not unusual to see the lines set straight down the side of the initial, the first line being in no way distinguished from the rest. This is incorrect. The initial forms part of the first line, and that only, a fact which the compositor should clearly indicate. Therefore the first line is brought as close to the initial as possible, the subsequent lines being slightly indented. The indentation should not be less than an en in any case—in open matter and wide measure not less than an em; and at least an equal space should be left at the foot of the initial before the full measure is resumed. The letter then stands out from the text, attached only to the first line. When the initial is supplied with a pendant of gradually diminishing size, the matter may be set in steps, keeping approximately the same distance from the design. This, however, is only proper when the pendant is on the left-hand-side of the letter. When it descends from the centre, the matter should not follow the design, but maintain a straight margin, that the white on each side may be properly balanced. When a new paragraph begins in the narrow measure, it should receive the same indentation as the paragraphs in the text. Some compositors omit the paragraph indentation; but the effect is very bad.
The same rules of indentation apply to illustrations inserted in the margin of the text; with the one exception, that as they do not, like the initial, apply to any one line in particular, they are cut off from the text by an equal space on all three sides.
In Germany, where both the Gothic and Roman characters are in common use, the printers carefully reserve the Gothic or Old English initials for German Text work, and the Roman for its appropriate letter; but in English printing no such discrimination is possible, and letters of every character are used as initials to plain Roman.
Considerable freedom may be used in the form of an initial, as compared with letters intended to be read in lines. Some of the modern fancy job founts are excellent (though costly) as book initials, but are unsuited for any other use, being almost illegible when set up in words.
In the use of ornamental initials, care should always be taken that the correct letter is used. Such a caution might seem superfluous, had we not daily instances to prove its necessity. Take, for example, one of the latest English Christmas numbers, which has a profusion of engraved initials. A German Text G (Cassell) does duty for T eleven times, an F takes the place of S, and an R for A. Farther on, the correct A of the same series is used. Among the thousands of ornamental initals in Messrs. Cassell's publications, it is rare indeed to find an error of this kind; but we have met with instances, even in the work of that famous establishment.
In many cases these mistakes have no excuse; but sometimes the fault really lies with the designer, who has tortured the letter almost out of its identity. In the « Lady Text, » an American face, both the cap C and L might readily be mistaken for E. Not long ago an English printer was criticised for having, in an otherwise admirable piece of work, used an initial D instead of O. He replied that the letter was correct, and had been specially supplied by the typefounder for the job. The letter was of the style known as « Brunswick Black, » and the fault lay in the design itself. Unless compared with the other capitals of the fount, the O might easily be mistaken for D. We show the two letters side by side:
There is, however, no excuse for mistake in the ordinary plain faces of black. The distinction between C, F, G, and O, is well marked, yet in job work we find these letters continually interchanged, and sometimes with grotesque results. We remember a case where a firm distributed some thousands of circulars in which they were described, in great primer black, as Tailors and Outfitters. Slips of this kind occasionally occur in the typefounders' own specimens.
A Massachusetts inventor has perfected a thread-stitching and knot-tying machine for pamphlet work, and has succeeded in accomplishing what has been hitherto regarded as impracticable—the tying of a square knot by machinery. The new machine can be worked as rapidly as a wire-stitcher. One of our American serials to hand last mail is sewn by this machine, and the stitch is not distinguishable from handwork.
A petroleum engine has been brought out by a firm at Hull, which may yet prove a rival to the gas-engine, and will be an excellent substitute where gas is not available. The oil is vaporized, mixed in the proportion of 1 to 6000 of atmospheric air, compressed to a pressure of 40lb per square inch, and exploded by an electric spark. The engine is perfectly safe, even if left unattended till the supply of oil is exhausted. The engines are made from ½-horse to 10-horse power nominal, and the consumption of oil is about one pint per horse-power per hour.
The Star Almanac (Innes & Co., Hawera), is a book that would do credit to any office. It is well compiled and arranged; printed on a fine quality of toned paper, and the presswork is excellent. There are no colored inset ads. to disfigure the book and irritate the reader. A common idea is that good work like this does not pay. We have no doubt that the publishers have proved that it does.
A fire in Napier on the 18th December destroyed £50,000 worth of property in two hours. The Herald and Telegraph offices were burnt to the ground, all the valuable machinery and a large quantity of type and other material being destroyed. The two other printing offices narrowly escaped; the flames at one time having a good hold of the Evening News building. With the assistance of the printers who were fortunate enough to escape, the two burnt-out journals were able to maintain their regular daily issue.
A terrible fire occurred in Dunedin on Sunday, 23rd January, when the large factory of the Dunedin Iron and Woodware Company was destroyed. The damage was about £150,000; the insurances about £50,000; 150 hands were thrown out of work; and four lives were lost; besides which some of the firemen sustained broken limbs and other injuries. Wallace, a sailor, engaged in saving goods, was jammed by falling ironware from an upper story. Efforts were made to rescue him when a further fall took place and three more men were buried. Two soon perished, but Wallace and a young men named Esquilant, son of a binder in the employ of Messrs Coulls & Culling, remained alive for nearly six hours, suffering fearful agonies from the heat and pressure, before they were extricated, and both died shortly afterwards. Esquilant begged for chloroform, and the doctors, at the risk of their lives, administered the drug both to him and Wallace. The origin of the fire is a complete mystery.
Poems of Henry Kendall. G. Robertson & Co., Melbourne, Sydney, &c.
A reproach has been removed from Australian literature by the publication of the collected poems of Henry Clarence Kendall. A generation hence, his works will probably be far more widely known and esteemed than they are to-day. Rarely is a poet appreciated in his own day, and Kendall was no exception to the rule. By a limited circle he was recognized as the sweetest singer Australia has produced, and the best interpreter of her natural beauties; but to the great majority of his contemporaries the poet and his genius were alike matters of indifference. The tastes of Young Australia are not literary. The hero of the hour is the champion athlete or the successful jockey; and the literary man—however lofty his aim or high his abilities—meets with scant recognition. It is therefore the more gratifying to find, not only that the earlier volumes of Kendall's fugitive pieces are now out of print, but that an Australian publisher has felt justified in sending forth a more complete and beautiful collection of his works than it has hitherto been possible to obtain.
It is eighteen or nineteen years since we first met with Kendall's name, at the foot of an original poem in the Sydney Morning Herald, entitled « Bell Birds. » It would not be easy to find anything more characteristic of the poet at his best, than this exquisite lyric. In the intense love of nature, the subtle local coloring which pervades the whole, and in the perfect finish and ringing music of the rhythm, it will not suffer by comparison with the work of any modern poet.
There is much that is sad, not only in the poems before us, but in the brief records we have of Kendall's biography. The story of his life is one of stern and often ineffectual struggle with difficulties without and enemies within. Some of his most powerful lines were wrung from the depths of his own bitter experience. The world is ready enough to discern want of success, and slow to make due allowance. It was Kendall's hapless lot to strive against an inherited failing; and it is to his credit that he overcame in the end. The darkest periods of conflict were brightened by the devotion of his admirable wife.
The poet too lightly estimated the value of his own work. Like all men of true genius, he set before him an ideal so high, that his best work seemed to him little better than failure. One of the best estimates of the quality of his genius, is that of the late poet R. H. Horne, who had to adjudicate on some competition poems in the year 1868. The names of the writers were of course unknown to the critic. In awarding the prize, he wrote: « Arakoon' is evidently one who has made poetry and the poetic art the ruling passion of his life. Such poems as 'A Death in the Bush' are produced by no other means and by no other men; never have been, and never will be. I consider the three poems sent in by 'Arakoon' as worthy of comparison with some of the finest parts of Wordsworth's 'Excursion.' 'Arakoon' here and there displays the influence of one, indeed of two, modern poets: but he is no imitator, and copies directly and closely from nature by striking generalities, and without any petty and prolix details. »
The mere would-be poet will choose an imposing subject, and mar it. The true poet glorifies the simplest object with the light of his genius. « Moss on a Wall » in the heart of a city is one of Kendall's themes—homely enough; but the sight transports the poet to his favorite woods, and suggests some beautiful verses:
O friend of mine, to one whose eyes Are vexed because of alien things, For ever in the wall-moss lies The peace of hills and hidden springs. From faithless lips and fickle lights The tired pilgrim sets his face, And thinketh here of sounds and sights In many a lovely forest place. And when by sudden fits and starts The sunset on the moss doth burn, He often dreams, and lo! the marts And streets are changed to dells of fern.
In the poem entitled « After Many Years, » in which he laments that the lofty song of his early dreams « remains unwritten yet, » some of the stanzas are very touching:
No longer doth the earth reveal Her gracious green and gold; I sit where youth was once, and feel That I am growing old. The lustre from the face of things Is wearing all away; Like one who halts with tired wings, I rest and muse to-day. But in the night, and when the rain The troubled torrent fills, I often think I see again The river in the hills; And when the day is very near, And birds are on the wing, My spirit fancies it can hear The song I cannot sing.
In his keen insight into the all-pervading soul in nature, Kendall occasionally reminds us of Shelley; but without the affectation of paganism which is found in the older poet's verse, and is fashionable with his imitators. However the storms of life may beat about his head, the man has his feet upon a rock who can feel and write like Kendall:
One thing is surer than the autumn tints We saw last week in yonder river-bend— That all our poor expression helps and hints, However vaguely, to the solemn end. That God is Truth; and if our dim ideal Falls short of fact—so short that we must weep— Why shape specific sorrows, though the real Be not the song that erewhile made us sleep? A man is manliest when he wisely knows How vain it is to halt, and pule, and pine; Whilst under every mystery haply flows The finest issue of a love divine.
Mr P. J. Holdsworth, in a brief preface, gives a kindly and appreciative estimate of Kendall's life-work. It is perhaps as well that the collection is not absolutely complete—even the greatest poets suffer when all their temporary and imperfect work is religiously preserved from oblivion; but there are several poems we are sorry to miss. « The Warrigal » is characteristic and thoroughly Australian, but we do not find it in the volume before us. The poet's tribute to Charles Harpur is in the collection; but other memorial lines to his fellow poets are strangely enough absent. The closing lines of one of these are very beautiful:
To Adam Lindsay Gordon, I who laid Two years ago on Lionel Michael's grave A tender leaf of my regard; yea I Who culled a garland from the flowers of song To place where Harpur sleeps; I, left alone, The sad disciple of a shining band Now gone I to Adam Lindsay Gordon's name I dedicate these lines; and if 'tis true That, past the darkness of the grave, the soul Becomes omniscient, then the bard may stoop From his high seat to take the offering, And read it with a sigh for human friends In human bonds, and grey with human griefs. And having wove and proffered this poor wreath, I stand to-day as lone as he who saw At nightfall through the glimmering moony mists The last of Arthur on the wailing mere, And strained in vain to hear the going voice.
We do not wonder that the poems « In Hyde Park » and « Australia Vindex » are not reprinted. While they faithfully enough embodied the feeling of execration with which the would-be assassin O'Farrell was regarded at the time his deed was committed, they were not such as the kindly nature of the poet would have approved when the occasion had passed. But the fine inaugural ode at the opening of the Sydney Exhibition might have found a place, as also the little song « Sitting by the Fire, » and the somewhat Swinburnian lyric « The Leaves on the Lattices Falling. » Still, the published collection is so full of beautiful and graceful verse, that it should find a place in the library of every lover of good poetry. The humorous and the classical poems are of high merit; but the poet is at his best as the interpreter of nature as revealed in Australia. With the spirits of the woods and brooks he is at home, and they speak to him a language unknown to common ears. When we reflect that the great modern poets have given us their finest and mellowest work after three-score and ten, we can partly realize what we have lost in Kendall, some of whose best pieces were written when he was five-and-twenty, and who was cut off at the comparatively early age of forty-one.
One of the most useful Parliamentary Papers yet published has just been issued from the Government printing office: An Index to the Appendices to the journals of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of New Zealand from 1854 to 1885 inclusive. The preparation of the paper cost £75, and the printing £58 14/-; but it is better worth the expense than the majority of state documents. It is a complete guide to the vast labyrinth of official publications for thirty-two years. It occupies 116 foolscap pages, and contains nearly twelve thousand entries.
Why (an American contemporary asks) are brewers stout, and journalists thin? Because, he replies, the brewer appeals to the stomach and the literary man to the brains—and in case of a contest between these vital organs, the former can always poll a big majority.
The above axiom has just had a comical illustration in Auckland, in the case of Mr Hancock, who owns shares in a brewery and in a newspaper. The paper published an article which the Working Men's Club, in meeting assembled, considered derogatory to their order; and it was proposed to « boycot » Mr Hancock and all his works. To stop the paper was easy enough; but to boycot the Beer —— They seemed to think they had been a little too hasty. The resolution was « left open for consideration »!
One of the brightest of our trade contemporaries is the American Paper World, which has just completed its thirteenth volume. Primarily concerned with the papermaking industry, it is also filled with matter of general interest to the printing fraternity. It is printed on a beautiful quality of paper, its presswork is faultless, and its literary matter is entirely free from the vulgarity which pervades so many of the American trade organs. For years past we have carefully preserved and bound the numbers, and we find them of abiding interest.
There are one or more journalists (?) in the north whose special line appears to be to float foolish hoaxes. This is the latest:— An expedition is to be sent to the polar regions to detach ice masses of about 600 cubic miles each. These are to be cut off by a heated wire, and floated into warmer seas, to modify the Australian climate! Several papers have already copied the item in all good faith. Our legislature has provided special penalties for the idiots who concoct fictitious announcements of births and marriages. There appears to be no means of reaching the other offenders.
To cut Paper into Three or Five Parts.—Mr E. J. Ring, Government Printer at New Orleans, says: If paper is to be cut into three or five parts, the old method of figuring after measuring, compassing, and guess-work, folding, &c., can be done away with by simply rolling the paper into a scroll until the ends meet twice, which marked with the finger-nail or pencil, gives one-third. If one-fifth is desired, roll the paper till the ends meet four times.
To Obtain correct Margin.—The same printer says: In job work, when an impression is taken on the tympan, and the pressman wishes a sheet to be printed in the centre, he has only to place the right edge of his paper at the right end of the printed line on the tympan, and mark on the sheet at the left end of the same line, and fold the remainder into one-half, marking the tympan at the left edge of the sheet to be printed. This does away with mistakes and guess-work. [We think most pressmen follow this plan.—Typo.]
To Copy Printed or Written Matter.—Printed matter may be copied on any paper of an absorbent nature, by damping the surface with a weak solution of acetate of iron, and pressing in an ordinary copying press. Old writing may also be copied on unsized paper if wet with a weak solution of sulphate of iron mixed with a small solution of sugar syrup.
Harmony of Tints.—Gray sets off a color better than either black or white. White, gold, or black will serve as an edging to any color. A white ground has a tendency to make colors upon it appear darker, while a black ground has a contrary effect. In the association of two tones of one color, the effect will be to lighten the light shade and darken the other. The fact that incongruous colors are often harmoniously combined in nature is no guarantee that they may be similarly applied in art.
Spirits of Wine for cleaning off Copyable Ink.—To clean rollers used for printing copying inks, it is best to avoid water, which, it is claimed, weakens them, Spirits of wine proves much more efficient: it takes the ink off immediately, does not injure the rollers, and as it vaporizes almost instantaneously they may be used directly.
To Thin Copying Ink.—When copying-ink becomes hard or thick, as it will do on exposure to the air, it can readily be reduced to proper consistency by the addition of a few drops of glycerine. Add slowly, and test till right.
Basis for Ground Tints.—To make a good ground tint, use three pounds of magnesia ground up in a half a gallon of plate oil. This forms a transparent mass from which, by the addition of colors, as black, vermilion, lemon-yellow and bronze blue, innumerable tints may be manufactured, such as green, brown, lead, gray, buff, salmon, flesh-pink, purple, &c.
To find the Lay of the Type.—Fold a sheet of the paper and page it backwards, that is, page one on the back and page eight on the front.
When Cutting hard Paper and Boards, rub the edge of the knife with soft soap.
To put on a new Parchment.—Lay the tympan-frame upon it, cut out where the hooks and point-slides come, damp the edges two inches all round until limp, paste on as tight as possible. When the paste is dry sponge the parchment with a good drop of water; this prevents the parchment getting slack in damp weather.
To Prevent Electrotype Blocks from Warping.—To prevent electrotype blocks from warping, shrinking, or swelling, place them in a shallow pan or dish, cover with kerosine, and let them so soak as long as possible, say three or four days. Then wipe dry and place in the form. After the first two or three washings they may swell a little; if so, have them carefully dressed down, and after that you will have little or no trouble with them, and can leave them in the form just as you would if they were solid type.
Glaze Printing Inks.—In order to give printing inks a rich bronze-like appearance the following may be adopted: Take twelve ounces of shellac and dissolve in half a gallon of spirits of wine of a strength of ninety-five degrees. After standing for twenty-four hours, add seven ounces of aniline red, and leave it standing for a few hours. The liquid will then be ready for use, and may be added in small quantities to good black, blue, or other dark ink.
The Chicago Electrotype Journal last to hand contains some good specimens of engraving by photo-zincography: a batch of calendars (a specialty of Messrs Zeese & Co.) and some pretty and original floral and other ornaments. The remainder of the number is occupied with several series of beautiful vignettes and two-color initials of German design.
Conner's Typographic Messenger, New York, is a good number. The text, by a strange whim, is set in an original style called « Cosmopolitan, » which, though an effective letter for a line or two of display, is dazzling and distressing to the eyes when used as a body fount. There is a good show of plain and useful styles, and a sprinkling of eccentric faces,—« Puritan, » « Anglican, » « Mediæval, » « Nubian Condensed » (a striking letter), and the aforesaid « Cosmopolitan. » There is a « Rose » border and a « Cactus » border—both of very limited application—the latter in particular. The chief display is made with an architectural border, the work of the unrivalled typographic artist who designs for Messrs Schelter & Giesecke. Messrs Conner secure most of the designs of this firm as they appear. An original series of Ribbon Ornaments is shown, so designed as to work in combination with Schelter and Giesecke's « Schildschrift » series. A series of « illustrated corners » completes the number. As usual with the Messenger, much skill is shown in the rulework, and general display of the novelties exhibited.
Julius Klinkhardt, of Leipzig, sends us the Fifteenth section of is specimen book. The new styles of letter shown are for the most part American faces. The principal feature of this issue is the grand « Germania » architectural combination, designed by Professor Hugo Ströhl of Vienna. In this one series, the chief features of former architectural designs are combined. It is divided into four sections, and contains 414 separate sorts. A complete minimum fount weighs about 60lb! It is needless to say that fine effects can be produced with so elaborate and artistic a design. But effects too distressing to contemplate are also possible in unqualified hands. A beautifully printed supplement shows the border worked out in color and ground-tints. We have also a light « Renaissance » border, a series of flourishes, nine series of initials, some of great beauty, and numerous electro blocks—arms of all nations, &c.
Messrs Baber & Rawlings, of Auckland, agents for the Fann-st. Foundry, London, have sent us a parcel of specimens of Sir Chas. Reed & Sons' novelties. These include some neat borders, for one and two colors, space ornaments, headpieces and mortised blocks, and also several fine series of initials—the latest of which is in three sizes with corner ornaments to correspond. The largest of this series is nine-line pica, and with a corner ornament 36 ems deep, would have an imposing effect. We notice that the prices are much lower than those of American productions of similar size.
From the Parsons Paper Company, Holyoke, Mass, we have a parcel of samples of high-class linen papers, for bonds, bank-note printing, ledger and record work; also of tinted writings and Bristol boards. There are no « cheap lines » in this parcel, but the quality is the best we have yet seen. The higher class papers are exquisite in color and finish, and the samples are made up in handy and attractive form.
The Queen City Printing Ink Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, deserve to succeed. They have sent out a small specimen book of printing inks, of the most useful colors and shades. The quality is excellent, and the prices are within the reach of the ordinary printer, comparing very favorably with the charges of some of the other American ink factories. Inks at $24 and $32 per lb may not be dear when the cost of the coloring matter is taken into account—but how many printers could afford to use them?
Mr George Clowes, the eminent printer, of the firm of William Clowes & Sons, died on the 3rd November, 1886. He was the last surviving son of William Clowes, the founder of the vast establishment, who died in January, 1847. Mr G. Clowes married in 1837 the eldest daughter of Charles Knight, whose labors in the diffusion of useful knowledge are so well known.
Mr Fredrick Pitman, the well-known phonographic and music publisher, and brother of Mr Isaac Pitman, the inventor of phonography, died on the 21st November, 1886. Mr Pitman was one of the fastest short-hand writers of his time. He had been in failing health for some years.
Keep your trade journals. They increase in interest as the years pass on. Keep them in good order, and bind them in annual volumes. Our own back volumes of the leading periodicals in the printing trade—in some cases complete from the commencement—are among the most highly-prized of our books.
« One Thousand Quaint Cuts, from Books of Other Days, » is the title of a curious book issued by Messrs Field & Tuer, London. There are really about 1150 miscellaneous blocks, chiefly from old spelling-books, nursery rhymes, chap-books, &c., which are very interesting. Some of the prettiest are by the Countess Spencer (1793) on p. 89; the most hideous are the modern imitations of old work (pp. 131-149.)
It looks like an anachronism (writes Ægles in the Australasian) to read at the top of a telegraph form of the Kingdom of Greece
EΛΛhnik0Σ ThΛeΓpaΦ0Σ
—and yet it is to the language of Homer that we are indebted for the word which symbolises one of the most wonderful of modern inventions of utility.
Reviewers are sometimes caught napping, and the Yankee story of the Western editor, who, on receiving a copy of Paradise Lost fresh from the press, wrote: « John Milton would do better to return to his legitimate newspaper sphere: in our opinion he is a very poor poet »—could almost be matched in actual fact. An American paper to hand last mail, noticing a fine-art edition of Dora, writes: « The elevation of Alfred Tennyson to the peerage has carried him far out of reach of his favorite muse, judging from the one of his creations now before us. Dora is possessed of a poverty of poetical thought unknown among his earlier writings, and is but a simple little story in blank verse, simply told. It is redeemed, however, by the hand of the artist, the skill of the engraver, and of the bookbinder. » (!) This is not bad, when we remember that the poet's « English Idylls » has been more than fifty years before the world, and that Dora is one of the best known and most admired of his minor poems. Not long since, the well-known and clever poem by Benjamin Franklin on « Paper, » appeared in an English trade organ, but without the writer's name. It was speedily copied by a transatlantic paper, which duly placed the name of its English contemporary at the foot of the verses. The editor of an important American paper was evidently unacquainted with Franklin's Essays.
Comp.—We're out of spaces, sir.
Employer—Can't afford to get any more—in these days of competition we must be economical. Break up full-points, and leave them out after all contractions and initials.
Comp.—There are no hyphens.
Employer—Then grind down small e's and s's. For en quads, break any superflous letters approaching the size; the same with em quads and thick spaces; u's you can invert for n's, and so on, provided you don't go so far as to displease the public.
Comp. (to himself)—Good job I'm on time!
A Western farmer, aged ninety-one years, walked nine miles to renew his subscription to a newspaper. It is the general impression among publishers that there are a number of subscribers who are waiting until they are ninety-one years old, to come and pay for their paper.
The editors of a number of Japanese vernacular papers have been fined for neglecting to give credit for extracts from another journal. If this rule were carried out in this country (says the Pacific Printer) all the Chicago editors would be bankrupt, and some of our esteemed contemporaries in this State would be without small change.
« There! » triumphantly exclaimed an enterprising backwoods editor, as a bullet came through the window and shattered the inkstand, « I knew that the new 'Personal Column' would be a success. »
There is a man in our town and he is wondrous wise; whene'er he writes the printer man he dotteth all his i's. And when he's dotted all of them with great sang froid and ease, he punctuates each paragraph, and crosses all his t's. Upon one side alone he writes, and never rolls his leaves: and from the man of ink a smile, and mark « inserts » receives. And when a question he doth ask (taught wisely he hath been), he doth the goodly penny stamp, for postage back, put in.
A printer out West, whose office is two miles from any other building, and who hangs his sign on the limb of a tree, advertises for a devil. He says, « a boy from the country preferred. »
« Can you tell me what sort of weather we may expect next month? » wrote a farmer to the editor of his country paper, and the editor replied as follows: « It is my belief that the weather next month will be very like your subscription bill. » The farmer wondered for an hour what the editor was driving at, when he happened to think of the word « unsettled. » He sent a postal note.
As we desire to make our paper as complete a local press record as possible, we shall be glad to receive from correspondents duly authenticated personal items—appointments of editors, managers, &c,, and changes of proprietary; also notes of new periodicals and other publications, enlargements, or discontinuances.
Eighth Year of Publication.
Harding's 1887 Almanac
New Zealand Year-Book and East Coast Local Guide
Has taken the Leading Position among the Annual Books of Reference published in New Zealand.
This useful publication still maintains its character for full and useful information, and excellence of design and workmanship. As a specimen of the typographic art it is a credit to the colony.—
Temperance Herald.
Not alone is the work well arranged and tastefully got up, but it teems with useful and valuable information of every description, and will prove a great convenience to the public, especially the commercial community. The directory is very complete.—
Poverty Bay Herald.
This work is probably one of the most complete of its kind published anywhere, and contains Jewish, Danish, and English Calendars, with a great variety of general information of the most useful as well as interesting nature. The letter-press workmanship is of special excellence, and the publication is one its printer may justly feel proud of.—
Evening Press.
Harding's Almanac for 1887, the production of the enterprising and tasteful Napier printer of that name, is to hand, and bears evidence of still further improvement both in printed matter and the display of fancy type. As a useful and comprehensive almanac, replete with condensed information, the work cannot be excelled, whilst the assortment of type and the general arrangement of the advertisements are all but faultless.—
Independent(Gisborne.)
Two Shillings. Sent post-free to any address in New Zealand.
He Himene mo te Karakia ki te Atua.
This popular Shilling Maori Hymnal has been for some time out of print. A large edition is now in the press, and will be issued at an early date. All rights in connexion with this work have been secured by the Publisher. The Trade supplied.
The Great Volcanic Outbreak at Tarawera.
The best account published. Sixpence, or with two plates, One Shilling.
Potona: a sensational Tale of the West Coast. ⅙.
R. Coupland Harding
Printer and Publisher, Napier.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—January, 1887.
Before considering minor particulars, it is necessary to bear in mind as the fundamental principle in display work, that each single job, no matter how complicated or elaborate its details, should have one well-defined general idea of construction. It matters not how plain the work maybe, nor how ornate, the general effect of the whole must never be lost sight of. The same rule applies in any work of art. The limitations of subject and material must in every case be considered; but after making all allowance for these, there is in typography a practically unlimited field for the exercise of genuine artistic skill. Half-a-dozen lines of simple display matter will reveal the art of the skilled workman, or betray the weakness of the bungler. The engraver or lithographic designer has a greater scope for the originative faculty than the artistic compositor. The latter has his details ready to hand, and can select such as he deems most suitable; but the only opportunity he possesses of showing originality is in his general design, and in the due subordination of all details to the general effect.
First, as to the general form of the work. This must in a great measure depend upon the proportions of the page. The square form is not artistic, and fortunately is not common. The most usual form of page is the oblong, either upright or wide; and the approximate form of the matter (solid pages always excepted) is that of the oval or ellipse. In the composition of a painting, the prominent object is never placed exactly in the centre. In typographic composition the same rule holds good, for wherever it is possible, the principal lines are arranged above or below the centre of the page.
It should be remembered that the presence or absence of a border in no way affects the general rules of display. The only effect of the border is to restrict the margin, and within its boundary the same rules hold good as if there were no border at all.
It is always unfortunate when the principal line comes at the head of a page of open work. A full line at the head should also be avoided wherever possible. Neither should the larger, longer, or more important lines be allowed to gravitate to the bottom of the page. In the one case the work is top-heavy; in the other, it is weak in the upper portion.
We have indicated the ellipse as approximately the best form. Some years ago a German printer, studying the subject of title-pages, evolved an idea which, though whimsical at first sight, will really bear examination. His theory was, that the more closely the outline of the work imitated the general contour of the human form, the more satisfactory the effect would be. That is, roughly speaking, a somewhat elongated ellipse, with two points (corresponding to the two centres) for the longest and most emphatic lines. It is a curious but well-known faculty of the imagination to translate all vague or shadowy outlines into some semblance of the human figure; and any one who takes the trouble to examine the best specimens of typographic composition with this idea, will probably find that the German theory has a sound basis.
A favorite form with the old printers was the triangle, upright and inverted. In the title-pages of two centuries ago, inverted triangles abound. They were commonly made to diminish in size of type. A paragraph in lower-case would begin with a full line of great primer, a shorter line of english following, a still shorter line of pica, and downward in proportion, finishing off with an ornament at the bottom. This style, called by the French a cul de lampe, is in bad taste, and should be studiously avoided.
No display is good which does violence to the grammatical structure of the matter. Herein lies the chief difficulty, and it is in this respect that the compositor has the chief opportunity of displaying his constructive skill. The main lines should be distinguished by the boldness of the letter in which they are set, by their position in the page, and by additional space above and below, which causes them to stand forth in relief. They must be complete in themselves, and set forth at the first glance the general subject of the page. Careless and unsystematic display is always marked by the feebleness of the principal lines and undue prominence of subordinate matter. Part of the main line is sometimes thrown into the background, and the grammatical divisions so utterly ignored that the sense is obscured instead of emphasised by the division of the matter.
It detracts from the emphasis as well as the symmetry of the page when the most important line is at the head. Something should always lead up to it. It is generally allowable to take a minor line from the body (as in a circular or advt. « Established 1866, » « The Best House in the Trade, » &c.), and place at the head. A short rule beneath cuts the preliminary matter off from the main line, and gives it the necessary prominence. If no line can be introduced above the main line, a vignette or headpiece can generally be inserted, which will throw the leading line into its proper position, and restore the balance.
A common ambition of advertisers is to appear always at « the head of the column. » It is a mistake to suppose that this is the most prominent position. The eye instinctively slurs over titles. It is well known to proof readers that errors in head lines are more likely to escape detection than those in the body of an article. The two positions already indicated as the centres of the ellipse—points lying between the centre and the top and bottom of a newspaper column—are the most prominent.
Symmetry should always be observed. Thus, if all the chief lines in a displayed page are centred, a small paragraph of two or three lines ending in a break has a bad effect. It upsets the balance of the whole. Paragraphs are only admissible where they are sufficiently large to form a decided feature in the page. Where they consist of two or three lines only, they should be broken up as nearly as possible according to their grammatical structure, into lines of unequal length, and each part placed in the centre, as for example:
Prospectuses, Proposal Forms, Copies of Annual Report and Balance Sheet, or any other information, may be had on application at any of the Branch Offices.
This is the preferable arrangement:
Prospectuses, Proposal Forms, Copies of Annual Report and Balance Sheet, or any other information, may be had on application at any of the Branch Offices.
Instead of the irregular form of an ordinary paragraph, the symmetrical form of the ellipse comes in again with good effect.
The punctuation of a displayed page is a disputed point. There are two entirely opposite systems in use, both of which are objectionable. The old-fashioned style is to punctuate fully, as in solid matter. The latest affectation—as may be seen in many modern title-pages—is to omit punctuation signs altogether. A medium course is the best. The sole object of punctuation signs is to mark off the grammatical divisions of the matter. Now display—when it is carried out in an intelligent manner—answers this purpose far better, and renders punctuation to a great extent superfluous. Then the points are often
One more important point to consider in composition is that of light and shade. Lines should never be crowded together; but on the other hand, they should not be separated by uniform spaces. Here we have a second substitute for the ordinary grammatical marks of division. It is not uncommon to see a title-page without a single dividing rule—and the dividing rule is only a mark of punctuation, somewhat more emphatic than the ordinary period—yet by the mere device of wider space between the lines, the page is clearly portioned off into two or three sections. Still, no division of this kind, however decided it may be, will excuse the absence of the period.
Where the page is surrounded by a rule or border, the blank space above the first line should equal the principal whites in the body. This is frequently overlooked, and a page otherwise well-arranged is spoiled by the deficiency of space at the head. This rule applies equally to newspaper advertisements, where in fact it should especially be observed. Its neglect often brings the lines of separate announcements into closer juxtaposition than those of the advertisement itself. Thus:
In this instance, while the advertisement in the second column occupies precisely the same space as in the first, and the lines are closer together, the display is far more effective.
A mechanical feeding attachment to printing machines has long been a desideratum. The pneumatic apparatus devised some years ago was costly, and failed to come into general use. A machine has been perfected in America which feeds a sheet at a time more quickly and efficiently than can be done by hand. It is readily adjusted to different sizes of paper. The apparatus has three iron fingers, one of which is always on the pile of paper; and the action of the hand-feeder is closely imitated. The machine is in practical and profitable use in paper-mills and ruling establishments in the United States, and attached to an ordinary cylinder printing machine, renders it entirely automatic.
A Russian inventor has by a very ingenious process extended the art of photo-etching to boxwood blocks. The block is boiled in two separate solutions, by which the pores are filled with insoluble carbonate of copper. It is then polished on the surface, coated with a solution of asphalt on the back and sides, and the face is covered with a gelatine film. The photograph is then taken on the block; and the soluble portions of the gelatine having been washed out, the remaining surface is coated with asphalt. The block is then placed in strong nitric acid for an hour, and afterwards for the same period in sulphuric acid, which changes the unprotected portions into nitro-cellulose. All that remains now to do is to dry the block, to brush it with a hard brush, when the unprotected portions come off as a green powder, and to remove the asphalt with benzine.
A new telephone, invented by Mr Marshall, a New York electrician, is described by the Paper World. In principle it is altogether different from the costly instruments now in use, which it will probably entirely supersede. It has neither magnet nor diaphragm, hence there are no sounds of its own to blur and interfere with the sounds transmitted, and it may be used with the ordinary telephone transmitter. The instrument, which can be manufactured for a few cents, appears like a duodecimo volume of wrapping-paper, interleaved with tinfoil, the whole being perforated in the middle, and pressed together at the outside edge. To this is attached a plain black walnut handle like a newspaper file, and a pair of binding screws connect the tinfoil with the line. The principle of operation is thus described: In electrodynamics, bodies charged with similar electricities attract, and with opposite electricities repel each other. The tinfoil sheets of the condenser, arranged in alternate layers of polarity, form practically a compound electroscope, the leaves of which, excited by the induced currents, attract each other. On the excitement ceasing, the elasticity of the interposing paper causes a divergence. These impulses are exactly synchronous and in unison with the transmitting operators' voice, and hence form acoustic waves in the receiver exactly similar to those affecting the transmitter. In the instruments where a magnet is employed, not more than two diaphragms can be used simultaneously. In the Marshall instrument there are fifty sheets of tinfoil and paper, each practically a diaphragm, and contributing its quota of motive power. The perfection of the instrument's operation is as remarkable as its simplicity. A novel feature in the Marshall system is the employment of a constant battery current upon the line in addition to the interrupted induced currents from the transmitter proper. It is difficult to understand exactly the precise action of this current, but experiments show that its efficacy is unquestionable. On a short line but one or two cells are required, and the ratio of increase as the line lengthens is about the same as that on the line of the common telegraph. By the use of this battery Mr Marshall claims that telephony is practicable on as long lines as telegraphy, the electromotive force of the current being supplied by the battery and not by the instrument.
Messrs R. Hoe & Co., the New York printing press manufacturers, have constructed three presses for the World, that will each print eight, ten, or twelve pages at once; the printing, cutting, inserting of the extra sheets, pasting and folding, all being done by the machine at the speed of 26,000 perfect papers an hour. No press previous to this time has been constructed which will produce printed newspapers with the supplements thus inlaid accurately and folded in at one and the same operation. These three new double machines, added to the presses already in the office, will give an aggregate of 3,000 perfect copies of the World every minute, or over 180,000 complete copies per hour, or 360,000 copies in two hours. No other office in this or any other country approaches this producing power.
The World has several new and improved Hoe presses made a year ago. One of those machines would fill an ordinary sized New York parlor. Its 5,000 separate pieces are more accurately and more intricately constructed than the works of the famous Strasburg clock, and the building of a Cunard steamship is not half so difficult. Over one hundred patents cover the mechanism of the machine, and the entire time of an army of workmen was employed for four months in Its construction. So accurately must each part be adjusted that three decimals—·001—are used in measurement, and a hair-breadth would be a coarse comparison to describe the infinitesimal measure.
An immense press was built for the New York Telegram some time ago, by R. Hoe & Co. It is the largest and most intricate press ever made. It weighs fifty tons and has a capacity of 75,000 Telegrams an hour, or 144,000 single sheets in the same time. Over 11,000 separate pieces enter into its construction, and it is as big as a cottage. Three separate plates rest upon its cylinder, and type or stereotype plates can be used indiscriminately. This company has made a press that turns out 10,000 Congressional Records per hour, and a press that prints 9,000 illustrated paper copies per hour.
In these days of cut and slash, and of reckless competition in the printing trade, it is refreshing and comforting to find a printer able to maintain an establishment on a large scale, and do his printing in beauty and a high degree of art. Such an establishment is known to the United States, and indeed to the whole reading world—it is that of Theodore L. De Vinne & Co., of New York. It is hardly necessary to say—it is certainly not necessary to tell printers—that in this establishment the art of printing has reached its highest development for beauty, good taste, and high quality. There is always a personality back of all such achievements as this, and this printing house is no exception. It is a personality of honor, of method and system, of capability, of artistic appreciation, of rectitude and responsibility.
Mr Theodore L. De Vinne, the head of this famous house, was born in Stamford, Conn., December 25, 1828, the second son of the Rev. Daniel De Vinne of the New York East Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was attracted to printing by the kindly manner of James Harper, who gave him, on the occasion of a visit to the office of Harper & Brothers, when a boy of six years, a copy of « The Life of Captain John Smith. » The book and the kindly manner of the giver, as well as the mystery of the art by which the book was made, were fascinations that grew stronger as he grew older. He went to work in 1844, in the office of the Newburgh (N. Y.) Gazette, a small office frugally furnished with a hand-press and a few founts of type; but the owner and his foreman were men of ability, and gave sound teachings to the three boys that constituted the working force. All had to take turns in work, to roll behind and pull before the press, to wet the paper, to help at mailing and roller making, to set type and make up the paper, to do odd jobs and even read proof. All this was a good general training that could not be had in a large office.
After nearly four years of service in the Newburgh office, Mr De Vinne went to New York to get a more thorough knowledge of his trade. He worked in many offices, at press and ease, and even on a morning newspaper. He applied for work at Mr Francis Hart's office in 1849, and the boyish young man was engaged by the foreman with some hesitation as to his ability as a compositor on a difficult piece of work. Mr De Vinne became foreman the next year, and, finding him apt and trustworthy and ready to accept responsibilities, Mr Hart gradually gave him full control in management.
In 1859, when Mr De Vinne was offered an important situation in another office, Mr Hart took him into partnership. The men were unlike, but fairly complementary. Mr Hart was enthusiastic, impatient, averse to drudgery, seeking great results too often by impossibly quick methods. Mr De Vinne was sedate, studious, patient, thoroughly convinced that success could be had only by close attention to details. During business relations that lasted more than twenty-five years, there was never, on either side, any abatement of mutual esteem and confidence.
After passing through the stress of war wages and fluctuation of values and slow sale of books, the firm grew into prosperity, through foresight and enterprise. When it began to print the St. Nicholas about 1873, it was declared to be the best printed magazine known.
In 1874 the firm began to print the Scribner's Monthly, that is now the Century, but it soon found that there were no short roads to fine wood-cut presswork, and that the magazine could not be well printed without the best presses, the best men, the best materials and plenty of them. These were not to be had on call, but the publishers never relaxed the high standard they set up. For some years the printing of the magazine was an almost unbroken series of disheartening vexations. But persistence triumphed; the firm eventually got the needed men and presses, and did the work on rapidly increasing editions to the satisfaction of the publishers, and won the praises of readers and critics. From no quarter has this praise been more hearty than from printers in the Old World.
Mr Hart died in April 1877, and the firm name was continued with the estate until 1881. In 1883 the firm of Theodore L. De Vinne & Co. was formed—Theodore B. De Vinne, the only son of the now senior partner, becoming the new member, who from the combined advantages of much natural ability—hereditary, mayhap—and the best of training, is becoming qualified to put on and wear the business shoes of his predecessor.
As the secretary of the Typothetæ (the society of master printers of New York City), Mr De Vinne had correspondence with printers in every state. He soon learned that there was: a general demand for exact information concerning the prices, rates, and rules of New York City printers. This led him to compile an office manual for the use of book and job printers, the first edition of which appeared in 1868. Two editions of enlarged form were subsequently produced and sold. The « Printers' Price List » is now out of print, for Mr De Vinne cannot be persuaded to rewrite the work to suit the needs of the present time.
The elder De Vinne's tastes were always bookish. Unable to get from printers all the information he wanted about printing, he began, when a boy, to buy books on the subject. He acquired a taste for the history and bibliography of his art, and finally put the knowledge he gamed into coherent form. His « Invention of Printing » makes a stout octavo of 540 pages, and has received a great deal of favorable comment, both at home and abroad. Mr De Vinne has written considerably for magazines and other publications, generally on books or printing.
Although this house has a reputation for its wood-cut presswork, Mr De Vinne's tastes incline to a severer style of typography—to what he calls « masculine printing »—to strong solid impressions of choice works on hand-made papers. In this style the firm have printed some elegant editions. The Reprints of the Grolier club (of which father and son are members), bear the stamp of the De Vinne Press, and they have been praised by many critical journals, both here and abroad, for their admirable printing. Their magazine work is familiar to both Europe and America, through the Century.
When a person enters the employment of the house he is handed a little pamphlet of 42 rather finely printed pages, containing mumerous directions regarding the ways that work shall be done, the object being to secure uniformity in style, system in work, and economy of time and material. This little book really contains the principles of the highest art in printing. The more one looks over this « Office Manual » the more he is impressed with the remarkable system on which the affairs of the house are conducted. It reveals a most interesting personality that stands above and behind all the work, even down to the closest details. Every time that a workman justifies a line, or pours benzine out of a can, or lays down a tool, or employs an initial letter, takes or reads a proof, imposes, or sets a title page, his every movement is directed by the experience of one who thoroughly understands all the details of his business.
In the work for the Century two remarkable men meet—Mr De Vinne, the artistic printer and the systematizer, and Mr Roswell Smith, the enterprising proprietor of that magazine. Mr Smith had known much perplexity and disappointment in getting his magazine printed honestly and well. He searched long and earnestly for a printer in whom he could place implicit confidence, who would relieve him from much annoyance and vexation, and he found just what he was looking after in Mr De Vinne. Mr De Vinne, on the other hand, had his eye—both of his eyes, in fact—on the watch for customers who wanted work done honorably and well, and who were willing to give a fair return for the time, skill, and taste that should be given to the work. The confidence which each has reposed in the other has been well maintained from the days of their first acquaintance until the present time, with the prospect ahead of being of life-long existence. Both are materially benefited by the existing relations between the two. The Century and St. Nicholas are models of typographical excellence; the publishers are relieved of much harassing detail in connection with the printing of their immense editions; and Mr De Vinne has an appreciative customer, who brings much grist to his mill, and who pays fairly and appreciatively for having his work well done.
Fifty-two years have passed since the first printing-press was landed in New Zealand. That historic press, the sections of which were dragged up the beach by a crowd of rejoicing natives, is, with other typographic mementoes of those bygone days, still preserved among the treasures of our earliest printer, who dwells at this day in the town of Napier, and whose name is known and honored by the scientific world. On a future occasion we may give some account of the first printing office at Paihia, in the Bay of Islands, and of the large amount of excellent work produced there under extraordinary difficulties. But our present subject is the present condition of the industry which had its small beginnings in the far north in 1834, and which has, in little over half-a-century, attained the growth set forth in the statistics given in another part of this page.
In whatever way the printing and publishing interest in this colony is considered—either in the number of establishments, the amount of capital invested, labor employed, intellect brought to bear upon its operations, or its far-reaching influence upon society generally—it must be acknowledged to be one of the leading industries of the colony. At the same time its position is not a satisfactory one. No pursuit involves more incessant toil, or taken as a whole, shows a more inadequate return for capital invested. We believe the causes lie within rather than without. Year by year, to keep pace with general progress, it is found necessary to increase expenditure in new and costly appliances, while in many cases an increasing business represents a decreased return. Want of union to a great extent lies at the root of the evil. Instead of healthy competition and honorable rivalry, there is far too often a suicidal system of fierce opposition, reducing prices below a paying level, and sacrificing all other considerations to secure the greatest amount of custom.
This vicious system brings other evils in its train. When the rates charged do not permit of fair wages being paid to skilled workmen, their places are taken by boys and turnovers, who fill up their term without properly mastering their business, and then are often cast adrift, only to find the labor market crowded with others in a similar position. The employment of unskilled hands, again, lowers the general quality of the work, and is false economy in the end, the waste of material and damage to machinery fully making up the difference in wages. The tendering system is beset with evils. Wealthy corporations not unfrequently obtain large supplies of work under actual cost; and in other casas an unprofitable contract is eked out with charges for corrections and other extras, so out of all reason that they are successfully disputed.
No private effort can cope with evils like these. Their existence is acknowledged by all thoughtful men in the craft. Workmen's unions have tried with varying success to limit the employment of boy labor, and to secure that apprentices should be properly instructed in their trade. But without united action on the part of the employers no effectual remedy can be found. Local press clubs have their use, and in their place can do good work; but what is really needed is a central representative body—a Master Printers' Association.
To rightly estimate the value of such an institution we have but to examine its workings elsewhere. Probably no agency has done so much for printing in America as the Typothetæ of New York. It has on its roll of membership the chief literary men, the ablest journalists, and the most artistic printers in the United States. The honor of membership is highly esteemed; and the influence of this admirable central organization is felt in every part of the great continent.
There is room and scope for a kindred organization here. A standard scale of prices, drawn up by a thoroughly representative body, would go far to check the reckless and ruinous rates at which work is often undertaken. The man who has not the moral courage to stand by his own price, but adopts that of his neighbor (often with a deduction), would have at least an authoritative standard of reference; and if he went far below it, he would do so with his eyes open. The moral effect of the union alone would do much to elevate the trade, and maintain a high standard. In such matters, too, as the copyright and libel laws, and postal and telegraph affairs, the representations of such a body would have a powerful influence.
Once established, such a union would have little to fear from outside and disorganized rivalry. The greater and most profitable part of the printing must be done in the country itself, so that outside competition need not be feared. There will always be « cock-robin shops » and cutting tradesmen; but well-established offices, doing good work at a fair price, have nothing to dread from opposition of that kind.
We have noticed with pleasure the uniformly favorable manner in which the first number of Typo has been received by the press. Still more gratifying have been the letters addressed to us privately by some of the foremost printers in the Colony. Our aim will be to publish a paper which shall above all be of practical value. The articles on « Worthies of the Craft » we intend to continue, having ample materials in our English and American papers. The way to true success is earnestly sought by all beginners. The example of those who have attained such success may always be studied with profit.
A supplement to the Government Gazette dated 28th January, is filled with valuable statistical tables, containing the results of the census of March last, relating to manufactories, machines, &c. We append the statistics relating to the printing industry. The number of printing establishments in the colony in March 1885 was 135, thus distributed among the several provincial districts:
—These employ 2,107 hands—1,999 males and 108 females. The figures, compared with those of the previous census, give the following results:
—In 67 cases hand-power only is used, in 11 steam, in 27 gas, and in 23 water; besides 4 where both gas and steam are in use, 2 water and gas, and 1 steam, water, and gas. In many cases the value of materials operated upon and the value of annual production are not stated; in some cases the value of land and buildings is not given. These figures, therefore, can only be taken as approximate. It will be seen that the annual value of production is not available for
The only industries allied to printing shown in the census returns are paper-mills, of which there are two in Otago, employing 25 males and 12 females, Materials valued at £3,400 were operated on, and 440 tons of paper, valued at £7,280, turned out. A capital of £12,800 is invested in this industry. Also one cardboard box manufactory and one paper bag manufactory, both in Otago. No particulars are furnished, except that one employs eight and the other seven hands; but whether they are exclusively employed in these particular industries does not appear. There are no separate particulars regarding lithographic establishments, this branch being apparently in every case carried on in connexion with letterpress work.
Judging of the economic value of a trade by the number of hands to which it gives employment, the printing industry takes a very high place. Compare, for example, the figures relating to the printing offices in New Zealand for the year 1885 with the corresponding figures relating to the breweries:
—It will thus be seen that every £1,000 invested in the printing industry finds employment for 6⅓ hands, and in the brewery trade to 11/6.
Following the example of the leading English foundries, all the American typefounders have formed themselves into a « ring » and agreed upon a price list, from which no deductions are to be made except certain fixed rates for cash payments. The Chicago Stationer and Printer takes the singular view that printers will benefit by the higher rates they have to pay—first, in restricted competition in their own trade, and secondly, in their plant being increased in marketable value. This, however, is only a common protectionist fallacy put in plainer terms than usual. It is a remarkable fact that while fierce competition in almost all other branches of trade is forcing a reaction, and manufacturers are combining to keep prices at a paying level, printers are among the last to come to an understanding. The result is, that year by year their expenses increase, while their profits as steadily diminish.
There are 161 serial publications registered as newspapers in the colony of New Zealand. Deducting mere trade circulars and weekly reprints of daily papers, there still remain more than one hundred. This is a large proportion for a European population of 580,000.
The December number of the Australasian and South American to hand from New York by the last San Francisco mail, is the most thoroughly representative organ of American trade that we have seen. It is a giant newspaper, of 100 demy folio pages, chiefly occupied with illustrated advertisements of manufactures of every kind. Looking it over, we imagine that there is scarce an industry in New Zealand, agricultural, pastoral, or manufacturing, that would not find « the very thing we want » advertized in its pages. Its great object—to push American exports—is well kept in view; and it is a fact of great significance that the chief obstacle to such extension is found in the protective tariffs of the United States. It is clear that the commercial world in the States is fast realizing the ruinous results of the fiseal policy so long imposed upon them, and that protection in America is tottering to its fall. « Experience is a dear school » &c., and the colonies, it seems, will learn in no other. In America, with its boundless virgin resources, protection has proved a melancholy failure—in less favored lands it can only result in still greater disaster.
Caslon's Circular, No. 42, autumn, 1886, is to hand. Two new sizes of the « Scribble » or handwriting script are shown, and this face is now to be had in two-line english, great primer, and pica. It is a good legible letter, with a decided character of its own; but to our mind, neither this style, nor any of the numerous American autograph scripts, equal in beauty the pioneer fount in this direction —Messrs Phelps, Dalton, & Co.'s admirable « Manuscript. ». Messrs Caslon & Co. have taken the lead in introducing into England the « interchangeable » series of type bodies, based on the national standard of measurement, now almost universal in America, and state that they have received most gratifying communications from the trade regarding the reform. It is only a question of time when all types used by the English-speaking race shall be cast to aliquot parts of the English inch.
Mackellar's Typographic Advertiser for the autumn season does not show as great a fertility of invention as some of the former numbers. The foundry has been engaged on the useful work of completing earlier series, hence there is much that at first sight looks like a repetition of the last issue. The « Master » script—a scratchy style, appears in new sizes; also the « Artistic » and « Cruikshank » ornamental founts. A useful light-faced lining gothic is brought out in larger sizes, completing the series. The new faces are a striking old-style Roman with lower-case, called « Ronaldson, » and « Tilted, » an eccentric letter, which in addition to oddity of form, is tipped over from the perpendicular.
The December number of the Pacific Printer shows some new scripts. The « Belle » script (? Cleveland foundry) on 2-line pica body, is exceedingly neat as regards the lower-case, of which there are two sizes. The first size would be rather small for an ordinary pica, the ascending and descending letters being unusually long. The second is larger, about the ordinary size of great primer. The caps are somewhat too free and flourishing for an English taste. With capitals more in keeping with the lower-case, this fount would be one of the best yet produced for visiting cards. A « Ladies' Hand » script in three sizes, bearing a very close resemblance to Bruce's « Penman, » is also shown.
Messrs Cattell & Co., of London, are showing a capital selection of process blocks in the B. and C. Printer and Stationer.
From Cowan & Co., Edinburgh, we have a sample book of lithographic printing and chromo papers, of excellent quality
The Albion Paper Company, Holyoke, Mass., send choice samples of animal-sized flat and super-calendered book papers.
The following are the opening lines of a « Eulogium on Printing, » by C. H. Timperley, as given in the Encyclopædia of Typographic Anecdote:—
In times ere yet the Press had blest mankind, Perished unknown the noble works of mind; O'er trackless wastes, where Science lent no ray, And cheerless climes, was Genius doomed to stray. His usefulness as bounded as his fame, His body, death—oblivion seized his name: Th' eternal essence to its source returned, Unfelt its blessings, and its loss unmourned. How changed the auspices of those who wait In these our days at Fame's celestial gate!
Very few printers realize the importance that glycerine is assuming in the economy of the printing office. Only a few years ago it was unknown; now it enters into nearly every department of the composing and press rooms.
Glycerine is contained in nearly all oily and fatty bodies, and is one of those articles which the genius of modern chemistry extracts from what was formerly a waste substance. When chemically pure, it is a non-crystallizable, oily, viscid, colorless and odorless liquid, having an intensely sweet taste. The chief properties upon which the value of glycerine depends, are its solvent and dissolvent powers, its non-liability to freeze when exposed to low temperatures, its exceedingly slight volatility below 200° Fahr., and its efficiency as a preservative agent. No chemically pure glycerine can be made by means of filtration through charcoal, or by employment of chemicals. The only process to accomplish the desired result is by means of repeated distillation—this is the mode employed, and it gives an article that is always uniform in quality, colorless and odorless, like distilled water, of the highest specific gravity, and chemically pure.
Glycerine is soluble, and mixes readily in all proportions with water, alcohol, and chloroform, and while increasing the density of the mixture, it lowers the freezing point. The great variety of substances which it is capable of dissolving, places glycerine next to water as a medium for solutions—such as potash, soda, oxide of lead, nearly all the metallic salts soluble in water; many of the metalloids, such as sulphur, phosphorus, iodine, and bromine; the vegetable acids, alkaloids, extracts and juices, and also many of the coloring matters, whether vegetable or animal.
It will be readily seen from the above, that the field for employment of glycerine is a very extended one, and although it has already found a large application, yet the many wonderful properties it possesses guarantee it a still wider scope for future uses that are not thought of at present, and in the words of Wilson, « not a tithe of its uses have yet been developed. »
To Separate Sticky Type.—Type which has been kept standing for a long time sometimes sticks badly. It may be easily separated by pouring a little glycerine over it, leaving it to stand over night, and then washing it with warm water.
To Prevent Offsets in Printing.—Rub glycerine on the tympan sheet, instead of oil, to prevent offsetting. It is much superior.
Aniline Inks for Rubber Stamps.—Mix the dry aniline colors with glycerine. Test frequently so as not to make it too thin.
Reviving Old Rollers.—Old rollers, too hard and dry, can often be renovated and made to do good service by giving them a coat of glycerine after washing. Rub well with the hand, let stand a day, or as long as the condition of the roller may require, then sponge off and allow to dry to the right suction. We have frequently treated old cast-off rollers in this way, and made them work as well as new.
Roller Composition.—Instead of molasses, glycerine is substituted in combination with glue to make printing ink rollers.
Reducing Copying Ink.—When copying ink becomes thick or hard, as it will certainly do on exposure to the air, it can be readily reduced to proper consistency by the addition of a few drops of glycerine. Add slowly and test till right.
To Prevent Ink from Skinning over.—Cover the top of the can with a thin layer of glycerine. A bare coating is sufficient. It will do no harm to the ink. [We find it does give some trouble.—Typo.]
Flexible Padding Compound.—By weight use one part sugar, one part linseed oil, four parts glycerine, eight parts glue, and a little aniline dye to give color. Cover the glue and gelatine with water and soak for half-an-hour to soften. Pour off all the water and dissolve by heating in a pail or basin placed in another kettle containing boiling water (a common glue-kettle). After it is melted, put in the sugar and glycerine, remembering to stir well; add the dye, and then stir in the oil thoroughly. Green and carmine are good colors, and when both are used a handsome purple will be the result.
Lubricator.—Plumbago mixed with glycerine is said to make an excellent lubricator for machinery, car axles, &c.
Leather.—Glycerine should be added to oil or fat in greasing harness, to keep the leather from becoming weak and rotten. It is also applied to machinery bands, to preserve the leather from cracking.
To Prevent Curling in Gummed Paper.—The tendency of paper when gummed (in the case of postage stamps, labels, &c.) to curl up may be avoided by adding a little salt, sugar, and glycerine to the gum when made; very little of the latter, however, because otherwise the gum does not dry thoroughly. The gummed paper, also, must not be dried in too great a heat.
To Find the Lay of the Pages in a Half-Sheet Form.— Fold a sheet to double the number of pages, page backwards on one side of the sheet only; open out, and the pages will appear in their proper position. One form thus arranged, when printed on both sides of the sheet, gives two perfect copies.
Postage Stamp Gum.—The Scientific American says:—The following cheap recipe for the mucilage used on postage stamps may be useful for many purposes: Gum dextrine, two parts; acetic acid, one part; water, five parts; dissolved in a water bath, and one part of alcohol added.
Tea in Lithography.—The American Lithographer has awarded a $100 prize for this « wrinkle »—to use strong tea to keep the zinc surface or lithographic stone clean. The discovery was accidentally made. Tea contains from 6 to 12 per cent. of tannic acid, which is supposed to be the active agent. It is scarcely necessary to add that milk and sugar are not required. It is a curious fact that the agents most in favor for this purpose hitherto have been either tobacco or beer; but tea has proved to be superior to either.
Leather for Tint Blocks.—A correspondent of the Inland Printer sends some good specimens of tint-work, printed from a surface of patent leather glued to a wooden block, and cut with a pen-knife. One of these ran 25,000 impressions, with scarcely any perceptible wear. To offset the pattern, he took an impression in ink, and bronzed it over. He also produced good results by pressing lace and similar materials into the face of the leather with a heated iron.
To Render Glue Waterproof, first soak it in water till it becomes soft, and then melt it with gentle heat in linseed oil.
A Marking Ink for Wooden Packages.—Dissolve asphalt in naphtha or turpentine to a thin fluid. This dries quickly, and the markings are nearly indestructible.
To Take Grease Stains out of Paper.—Apply pipeclay, powdered and mixed with water to the thickness of cream; leave it on for four hours.
To Take Dirt off Book Leaves without injuring the printing: Besides the ordinary use of bread-crumbs, for the removal of stains, a solution of oxalic acid, citric acid, or tartaric acid may be used. These acids do not attack printing ink, but will remove marginal notes in writing ink, &c.
To Toughen Paper.—To render paper as tough as wood or leather, combine chloride of zinc with the pulp in the course of manufacture. The greater the degree of concentration of the zinc solution, the greater will be the toughness of the paper, which is thus serviceable for making boxes, combs, &c.
Stereotyping Woodcuts.—Cuts should be thoroughly dry before moulding, especially if pieced; otherwise the great heat is liable to make them warp and split. [The safe method is to allow the mould to dry gradually under pressure, without applying heat.—Typo.]
Waterproof Glue.—In order to render glue insoluble in water, even hot water, it is only necessary when dissolving it for use to add a little potassium bichromate to the water, and expose the glued part to the light. The proportion of bichromate will vary with circumstances; but for most purposes, about one-fifth of the amount of glue will suffice.
To Renew Faded Inks.—Moisten the paper with water, and then pass over the lines of writing a brush, which has been wet in a solution of sulphide of ammonia. The writing will immediately appear of a dark color, and in the case of parchment, will so remain. On paper it gradually fades out, but may be restored at pleasure by the application of the sulphide. The action of this substance is due to the iron of the ink being transformed by the reaction into the black sulphide.
The following humorous and characteristic speech was delivered by Mark Twain at a recent dinner of the New York Typothetæ:—
The chairman's historical reminiscent remarks about Caxton, and Mr Bailey's about Franklin and his early printer's life have caused me to fall into reminiscences, for I myself am somewhat of an antiquity. All things change in the procession of years, and it may be that I am among strangers. It may be that the Printer of to day is not the Printer of thirty five years ago. I was no stranger to him. I knew him well. I built his fire for him in the winter mornings; I brought his water from the village pump; I swept out his office; I picked up his type from under his stand; and, if he was there to see, I put the good type in his case and the broken ones among the « hell-matter; » and if he wasn't there to see, well, I dumped it with the « pie » on the imposing stone—for that was the furtive fashion of the cub, and I was a cub. I wetted down the paper Saturdays, I turned it Sundays—for this was a country weekly. I rolled. I washed the rollers. I washed the forms. I folded the papers. I carried them around in the disagreeable dawn, and that was an occupation for you. Why the carrier was the enduring target of all the vicious dogs of the village. There was always a procession of them at his heels. I wish I had a nickel for every dog-bite I have on me. I could give Monsieur Pasteur business for a year. I enveloped the papers that were for the mail—we had a hundred town subscribers and three hundred and fifty country ones when we were prosperous; the town subscribers paid in groceries and grumblings and the country ones in cabbages and cordwood— when they paid at all, which was merely sometimes, and then we always stated the fact in the paper, and gave them a puff. If we forgot it they stopped the paper. Every man on the town list helped edit the thing; that is, he gave orders as to how it was to be edited; projected its opinions, marked out its course of procedure for it, and every time the boss failed to connect, he stopped his paper. We were just infested with critics and advisers, and we tried to satisfy them all. So we led a life of change; always changing from one fence to another and never getting a rest on solid ground. We had one subscriber who paid cash, and he was more trouble to us than all the rest. He bought us once a year, body and soul, for two dollars, and he paid a fancy price for us too. He used to modify our politics every way, and he made us change our religion four times in five years. If we ever tried to reason with him he would threaten to stop his paper. That closed the discussion, for it simply meant bankruptcy and destruction. That man used to write articles a column and a half long, leaded long primer, and signed them « Junius, » or « Veritas » or « Vox Populi, » or some other high sounding rot. He did not know the meaning of it. He would have signed the name of this association or would have died trying to pronounce it. And then, after it was set up, he would come in and say he had changed his mind—which was a gilded figure of speech, because he hadn't any—and order it to be left out. We couldn't stand such a waste as that—we couldn't afford « bogus » in that office; so we always took the leads out, altered the signature, credited the article to the rival paper in the next village, and put it in. It was rough on the other paper. It eventually destroyed it, but we had to take care of ourselves. Well, we did have one or two kinds of « bogus. » Whenever there was a barbecue, or circus, or baptising, or any of the ordinary social displays of that region, we knocked off for half a day; and then to make up for short matter we would « turn over ads »—turn over the whole page and duplicate it. The other « bogus » was deep philosophical stuff, which we judged nobody ever read; so we kept a galley of it standing, and every now and then we shovelled in a lot of that, and kept on shovelling the same old batches of it in till it got dangerous. Also in the early days of the telegraph we used to economise on the news. We picked out the items that were pointless and barren of information— that kind of an item you did not know whether you read it or not—and stood them on a galley, and changed the dates and localities and used them over and over again till the public interest in them was worn to the bone. We marked the ads, but we seldom paid any attention to the marks afterward; so the life of a « td » ad and a « tf » ad was equally eternal. I have seen a « td » notice of a sheriff's sale still booming serenely along two years after the sale was over, the sheriff dead, and the whole circumstance become ancient history. Most of the yearly ads were patent medicine stereotypes, and we used to fence with them after we had worn out the column rules. I suppose I must be coming to a very solemn part of my speech, because I don't remember what it was I was going to say. Life was easy to us. If we pied a form we suspended till next week, and we always suspended every now and then when the fishing was good, and explained it by the illness of the editor—a paltry excuse, because that kind of a paper was just as well off with a sick editor as a well one, and better off with a dead one than either of them. And the editor of that ancient time—he was full of blessed egotism and placid self-importance, but he didn't know as much as a 3-em quad. He never set any type, except in the rush of the last day, and then he would smouch all the poetry, and leave the rest to « jeff » for the solid takes. He wrote with impressive flatulence and soaring confidence upon the vastest subjects. There was no subject too big for him to tackle, although puffing alms, gifts of wedding cake, salty ice cream, abnormal water melons, and sweet potatoes the size of your leg, was his best hold. He was always a poet—a kind of a poet of the Carrier's Address breed—and whenever his intellect suppurated, and he read the result to the Printers and asked for their opinion, they were very frank and straightforward about it. They generally scraped their rules on the boxes all the time he was reading, and then called it « hog-wash » when he got through. They were very frank and candid people. All this was thirty-five years ago, when the man who could set seven hundred an hour As the American printers count by ems, these figures have to be doubled to represent a similar amount in English reckoning.
Trade exchanges and manufacturers' specimen books forwarded to us will be prized and carefully preserved for future reference.
A single sheet of paper, seventy-two inches wide and seven and three-quarters miles long, was made without a break at the Remington Paper Company's mill at Watertown, New York, a few weeks ago. The sheet weighed 2,207 pounds.
An English rag-sorter recently came across something resembling an old-fashioned dress improver, which, after being thrown about some time, fell to the lot of a Mrs Skinner, who cut it open and found in it French coins and notes to the value of £28 16s. The money was given by the proprietor to the finder.
A Victorian telegram states that the Customs officers have made a seizure of a shipment of Ouida's novels on the ground that they were indecent publications. We wonder if the translations of French « realistic » novels, with which the English market is just now flooded, are allowed to pass.
It is easy, with the help of a dictionary, to write in a foreign tongue—but we will not guarantee the correctness of the idiom. A Swiss signboard reads
PrintingHung with Stage Coach.
The second line is supposed to be equivalent to « executed with diligence. »
« Farewell » was the title of a poem recently sent us. It's as well that the gifted authoress bade it good-bye—she will see it no more.
In one of Messrs J. Walker & Co.'s recent lists of correspondence papetries, occurs the following odd juxtaposition of names:— « Gladstone, The Crocodile, The Old Saxon »!
The lum ti tum visiting card of members of the Chinese Legation in this city, says the New York Sun, is about the size of a Western Union telegraph blank, and has the same yellowish tint. Yellow to a Chinaman is like green to Erin's sons. The name of the Chinese Swell on the card looks as if a spider had rested confidingly on it only to be hit by a brick.
Two men started on a wager to see which could tell the biggest falsehood. No 1 commenced: « A wealthy country editor ——— » « Hold on! » said No. 2, and paid the forfeit.
Mr Henry Stephenson, of the firm of Stephenson, Blake, & Co., has been elected Mayor of Sheffield.
We regret to see recorded in our English files, the death in December last, at the age of 59, of Mr Richard Furnival, the head of the Reddish ironworks, and whose name is specially associated with improvements in guillotine cutting machinery. The business is carried on by Mr Furnival's sons.
An English telegram, dated 10th February, records the death of Mrs Henry Wood, novelist and editor of the Argosy. Mrs Wood, who was born in 1820, was the daughter of Mr T. Price, glove manufacturer, of Worcester, whose literary tastes she inherited. She was married early. Her first novel, « Danesbury House, » which gained a £100 prize from the Scottish Temperance League, was published in 1860. « East Lynne, » the most popular of her numerous works, appeared in 1861.
During a storm recently electricity entered the Advertiser office at Dandenong, Victoria, with a loud report like the sound of an explosion, and filled the office with smoke and flame. Several compositors were more or less injured. One was lifted up and thrown violently down, both legs being paralysed for a time. His trousers were singed, and his feet discolored. After a few minutes he revived, but was very much shaken.
In our article on Initials (p. 2), the reference to « Lady Text » has mystified some of our readers, as the criticism does not apply to that face at all. « Queen Anne Text » was intended.
The Protestant Ensign is the title of a new sixteen-page weekly, crown size, published in Dunedin. Messrs. Mackay, Risk, Munro & Co. are the printers. The paper is well edited and vigorously conducted.
A new periodical is announced in Wellington, under the title of The Dawn. It will be the organ of those who claim to receive communications from the land of departed spirits. Would not The Shades be a more accurate designation? The new journal will be conducted in a spirited manner, and ought to be a good advertising Medium.
Eighth Year of Publication.
Harding's 1887 Almanac New Zealand Year-Book and East Coast Local Guide
Has taken the Leading Position among the Annual Books of Reference published in New Zealand.
This useful publication still maintains its character for full and useful information, and excellence of design and workmanship. As a specimen of the typographic art it is a credit to the colony.—
Temperance Herald.
Not alone is the work well arranged and tastefully got up, but it teems with useful and valuable information of every description, and will prove a great convenience to the public, especially the commercial community. The directory is very complete.—
Poverty Bay Herald.
This work is probably one of the most complete of its kind published anywhere, and contains Jewish, Danish, and English Calendars, with a great variety of general information of the most useful as well as interesting nature. The letter-press workmanship is of special excellence, and the publication is one its printer may justly feel proud of.—
Evening Press.
Harding's Almanac for 1887, the production of the enterprising and tasteful Napier printer of that name, is to hand, and bears evidence of still further improvement both in printed matter and the display of fancy type. As a useful and comprehensive almanac, replete with condensed information, the work cannot be excelled, whilst the assortment of type and the general arrangement of the advertisements are all but faultless.—
Independent(Gisborne.)
Two Shillings. Sent post-free to any address in New Zealand.
He Himene mo te Karakia ki te Atua. This popular Shilling Maori Hymnal has been for some time out of print. A large edition is now in the press, and will be issued at an early date. All rights in connexion with this work have been secured by the Publisher. The Trade supplied.
The Great Volcanic Outbreak at Tarawera. The best account published. Sixpence, or with two plates, One Shilling.
Potona: a sensational Tale of the West Coast. ⅙.
R. Coupland Harding
Printer and Publisher, Napier.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—February, 1887.
Contrast and harmony are the two great regulating principles of display, and under these heads all effects of form, color, and light-and-shade may be classified. Without contrast there can be no display; without harmony there can be no artistic effect. According as one or the other principle of arrangement predominates will the character of the work be determined. The greater proportion of work is printed in black ink on white paper. Here we have the contrast of color. In ultramarine on azure-tinted paper, we have a typical and beautiful instance of harmony of color. In work composed from one fount we have harmony of form and size; from various founts of the same series, harmony of form—but even here, in the varying lengths of lines, the diversity of effect produced by the use of caps, small caps, and lower-case, and the disposition of the lines by leading or otherwise, we can introduce the principle of contrast. There is no better field for the practice of display than the advertising columns of a newspaper where the compositor is strictly limited to a single fount. The workman who cannot produce good effects under these conditions, will fail lamentably in the use of ornamental types. Even in the plainest roman, the principle of contrast comes in. The heavy lines of the fount harmonize, being of uniform strength throughout; but the fine lines and the serifs supply the effect of contrast. So do the curved and oblique lines, as compared with those which are horizontal or vertical, and also the ascending and the descending letters of the text. Where harmony is the leading principle of display, either in form or color, or both combined, there is room for more subtle and beautiful effects than where contrast is sought. Harmony produces quiet, graceful, and dignified effects. Contrast gives us quaint, striking, and bold results, and is much more liable to abuse. The German punchcutters and printers excel in harmony; the Americans in contrast.
We have already said that contrast to some extent is an essential of display. This principle is easily illustrated. The characters most uniform in face are those known as sanserif, and even with these there is diversity in the forms of the individual letters. Here is an example of a job in which the element of contrast is as far as possible eliminated:
Perry Wigg
Hairdresser
Clip Street.
Here it is evident there is no display; and it is equally evident where the defect lies. The lines « kill » each other. We have seen quite as bad an effect in an elaborate handbill where a desperate attempt has been made to give prominence to every line. The result is precisely the contrary—no single line stands out from the rest, all emphasis is lost, and some hours of time and a great deal of trouble have been wasted in the « display » of a piece of work which would have looked far better set in paragraphs and leaded.—Here is one of the simplest examples of harmony, in which only ordinary advertising type is used:
J. Bull
Family Butcher
Veale-St.
This differs from the preceding chiefly in the varied length of the lines; but that one feature makes all the difference as regards display. The element of contrast has been introduced, with the effect of really bringing out the harmony. Let us now introduce an ornamental letter as a further illustration of harmony in display:
Franklin Printing Office.
M. Quad
General Printer Press Avenue.
In this case, the letters harmonize, but the element of contrast is extended. The lines vary in size, and the third line has spaces between the letters. It may here be noticed that though good effects can always be produced by the use of one style of type only, as above; if more than one ornamental type is introduced, it is almost always necessary to interpose a line of plain roman or sanserif. Nothing so effectually kills display as playing off one ornamental line against another of somewhat similar kind. The rules of harmony and contrast are both set at naught in an instance like the following:
Where harmony is the leading feature, effective contrast can be introduced by the use of lower-case of the leading founts. The capacity of lower-case for effective display is much overlooked by compositors. As a rule, in English work, the only prominent lines in lower-case are in characters such as Old English and scripts, where caps are inadmissible, and the beautiful small letters of ornamental founts lie neglected in the cases. In German work in the Gothic character, where caps cannot be used, the various forms of lower-case are brought in with fine effect; and we have seen some really beautiful title-pages, in which there was not a line of caps. The following is an example of display in lower-case:
Notice of Removal.
William WayzegooseThe Cheap
Amàteuŕ Pŕnteŕ
Has Removed his Large and Well-selected Plant consisting of Parlor Press 9in. x 6in., and about 25lb. Types
To the commodious Loft at the Rear of Martin Gale's Stables.
In an advertisement or title-page in which plain capitals only are used, it is manifest that harmony is the ruling principle. But as there are roman faces condensed, full, and expanded, and these again
Revised Price ListofPrinting InksandBronzes.
Selected SpecimensfromFiggins'sOld-EstablishedFoundry.
When this system can be carried out, it is decidedly the best for title-pages. We lately read in a trade paper that condensed romans should always be avoided in titles. That is simply nonsense. Again, we have read that a condensed letter should never be hair-spaced. « What is the use of a condensed face if you space it out? Use a wide one! » Arbitrary rules like these show ignorance of the fundamental principles of display. In an open page, the letters should stand a little apart, and any leading line, whether condensed or expanded, is improved by hair-spacing. The critic who laid down the above rule, was quite in favor of spacing expanded letters; but any one who has seen an expanded line thus spaced, in a close page, must have noticed how extremely bad it appeared. The fact is, that minute rules of detail cannot have universal application—the distribution of light and shade over the whole page must be considered. We now show an illustration of display in plain roman, into which the principle of contrast is introduced:
Every Progressive PrinterReadsTypo
The Only Organ of the Trade in New Zealand.
Manufacturersby Advertising their wares in this PaperCan ReachEvery Printing Office in the Colony.
Each Issue Contains
Practical ArticlesOriginal and SelectedNotes of New Inventions, Trade Wrinkles News of the Craft, ect., etc.
It is scarcely necessary to add that the nature of the job to a great extent determines the style to be chosen. In a memorial card, for example, the strictest harmony should be maintained. Plain capitals, sanserifs, ionics, and small-faced blacks are admissible; but all florid and flourished styles should be excluded. In an advertising handbill, on the other hand, bold contrasts are quite in keeping with the nature of the work—always guarding against that over-display which defeats its own object. In such work, delicate fancy faces, card ornaments, &c., are altogether out of place. In admission tickets, programmes, and menu cards, there is great scope for tasteful work, and contrasted effects must be used with caution. Borders, ornaments, and decorations in general should always be in harmony with the types employed.
Some of the Venetian comps. have struck for higher wages. 2½d per thousand has been the regular rate, and they are not content!
Craftsmen will be interested in the following description of how labels are printed, cut, and mounted on Spools of thread, which is extracted from a recently published account of thread manufacture in detail. Formerly the process of labelling was described as follows. It is quoted here to illustrate the marvellous change effected by the most recent improvements in machinery:—
Lastly, the labellers get the finished spools; and, as every girl has the privilege of earning so much per thousand for all the labels she can put on, the dexterity they acquire in handling them is almost magical. One hand carries the gummed label to the tongue, and the other takes it off and applies it to the spool, both flying as fast as those of a skilful pianist in the liveliest music. Some girls carry a pile of labels in one corner of the mouth, and by sleight of tongue, work them out one by one at the other corner as fast as both hands in alternation can take them off and apply them to the spools.
At the time (not long since) when the above was written, a large number of girls were employed in cutting labels, and affixing them by tongue and hand, to both ends of every spool. Rows of machinery have now taken the place of those animated throngs. With here and there a quiet attendant only, the printing and labelling machines silently take in blank paper and blank spools of cotton, and automatically unite and convert them into the elegantly-labelled goods that adorn the retailers' show-cases and befit the dainty work-boxes of our ladies. Nothing can exceed the mechanical ingenuity, beauty, and finish of these machines and their delicate operations.
The label-printing machines are run right on with a rapid rotary motion as smooth and still as oil, each running out an endless ribbon of the circular spool labels at the rate of nearly half a million per day, in single black-colored lettering, gold, or blue and gold, at once—it is all the same to these swift and magical workers. Large rolls of paper, white or steel blue, are first sliced up by one simple machine into tape rolls of the various widths required by the diameters of spools. The printing machine next passes the tape in between the faces of two wheels, one of which is set round with steel dies, engraved with the design and lettering of the spool label, that sparkle like jewels as they revolve, so finely finished is their workmanship. They come into contact as they revolve, with inking rollers, and then with an impression roller, the tape or strip of paper running between and receiving the impression for the gold part of the labels, after which the strip runs under a rotary camel's-hair brush that lays on the « gold dust, » closely filling the fresh ink, or rather sizing, already impressed on the gold part of the labels; next, the strip in its progress runs under a series of rotary brushes that burnish the gold lettering to an extraordinary brilliancy. Finally, the strip passes between an impression wheel and a second steel printing-wheel, engraved with the blue part of the label, and runs out as rapidly as it ran in, all printed in blue and gold, with an endless series of round spool labels, to the number of seven hundred and fifty per minute. Printers alone know how fine and rare must be the mechanism that can put two separate parts of an engraving together in different colors, by successive rotary impressions on a swift-running strip, so accurately that no eye can detect a line of separation or overlapping anywhere between them. This is done by the rotary printing-machines, both colors in succession, and the gold splendidly burnished, as the endless strip runs through at the rate of forty-five thousand double-printed labels per hour to each machine. It is a triumph of machine-building.
And yet the new spool-labelling machines appear still more wonderful in operation. The printed strip of labels bearing the trademark runs into the labelling-machine on one side, while the strip bearing the number of the thread runs in on the opposite side. The strips run in vertically downward, facing each other, and as far apart as the length of the spools to which they are to be applied. As each strip is running in, a little circular gumming pad touches and goes, accurately gumming the back of each label. At the same time, the blank spools are running in between the strips, and the two ends of each spool meet in its two labels at the same exact fraction of a second with the quick thrust each way of a pair of sharp circular punches that cut out the labels and fix them in place on the spool. The blank spools file in on the right and pour out labelled on the left of each machine as fast as two swift-handed girls can clap them into boxes—over a dozen every three seconds, or 250 per minute! The swiftness of the complicated motions baffle the eye, and the automatic perfection of the lightning-like work staggers the very testimony of the senses. Long rows of these wonderful automatic printers and labellers fill the rooms formerly occupied by human printers, cutters, and labellers.
Thomas MacKellar was born in the city of New York, August 12, 1812. He was descended of a compound stock of Scotch and Dutch-Huguenot, with an infusion of English antecedents. His earliest maternal ancestor arrived in New York previous to 1644, he being the second man whose marriage was registered in the records of the reformed Dutch Church under that date. His paternal grandfather was an elder in the old Kirk of Scotland. Many of his relations of the Scotch side were connected with the British naval service, and ranked from midshipman to admiral.
His father, meeting with adverse circumstances, declined in health, and when nearly fourteen years of age young Thomas was compelled to forego his father's intention of granting him a superior education. He found his way into the office of a weekly newspaper, the New York Spy. The composing of the types was done solely by him and his master. Here we obtain the first glimpse pointing to his successful career, that followed, as a master printer. The first day Thomas entered this printing office he learned the case, showing evidence of a clear head and a retentive memory. The outcome of his first day's initiation in the mystery of the craft was the setting up of four sticks of solid brevier. The paper did not prove a success. Not deterred in his determined purpose by so slight a misadventure as this, he made a bolder advance and entered into the service of J. & J. Harper, the widely-known publishers. In his new sphere his ability soon marked him for speedy advancement, and in his seventeenth year we find him occupying the important position of proof-reader. It was his inordinate thirst for reading that first induced him and fixed his determination to become a printer. Here a large field was open to him for the gratifying of his desire for reading. He had, in a literary sense, devoured everything at home, and committed to the storehouse of his mind all the contents of the books he could borrow, and his craving for knowledge seemed to be insatiable.
Death carried off his father and mother within a space of seven weeks of each other, when Thomas was eighteen years old. Being the oldest son of the family, he assumed a large portion of its cares and responsibilities. Hoping to reclaim or save some portion of the family inheritance, he called on a friendly adviser, a Quaker land-lawyer named Clark (who had settled his grandmother's estate), to ascertain whether or not some plan could not be devised tending to that end. Clark said he could put his finger on some of the properties, but could not disturb the holders without the necessary documents. Thomas related how the box of papers left by his grandmother had been stolen by parties who had disappeared, and who never came back. Then said Mr Clark: « Thomas, I hear thee is an industrious lad. Now, thee had better stick to thy work, and thee will make a fortune before thee can get this one. » Thomas heeded the words, and set himself to break a hole through the high wall of obstruction that surrounded. Succeeding years have proved the value and correctness of this timely advice. To better fit him for the struggle, he put literature under his feet with a natural sigh, and gave himself resolutely to the task of mastering his business. His energy and talent soon made him the acknowleged leader among the youth of the establishment, and he became the peer of the best workmen. Under the continued strain upon his eyes while proof-reading, his sight was affected. He then devoted himself to the practical part of printing, the handling of type and forms and working the press. All the difficult and perplexing work was given to him; labor that required taste, skill, and ingenuity fell to his lot, and in this he delighted.
Having served a thorough apprenticeship in the before-mentioned establishment, he graduated therefrom as a skilled artisan. On the 27th of April, 1833, he arrived in Philadelphia, and on the 1st of May following he began work as proof-reader in the type and stereotype foundry of Messrs Johnson & Smith. His purse was slender, but he felt that hard work and well-earned character would become his capital. No work was too trying, and though the days proved long, he held on his way steadily.
In 1834 he married, and took to himself the partner of his joys and trials. He reared a family of ten children, eight girls and two boys. Five of these children, with their mother, have passed away from lives of usefulness and self-sacrifice, and five remain, enjoying the companionship of a devoted father.
While all his daily time was taken up by labor, his night hours also were occupied by useful matters. One of the earliest mission schools was started under his superintendence, in one of the vilest sections of Philadelphia, and some of his best years were spent in endeavors to benefit those in the lowest conditions of society. For twenty-five years he acted as corresponding secretary of the Philadelphia Bible Society, and wrote its annual reports. Besides, his duties as a Presbyterian,—he being an elder for many years of the old Pine Street Church,—led him to the bedside of the sick and dying. Thus we see his aim in life was not a selfish one. His valuable qualities were soon recognized by the senior member of the house, Mr Lawrence Johnson, and he was accorded the position of foreman of the entire department, comprising the composing rooms and the stereotype foundry. The business of stereotyping was then in its infancy in America, and many obstacles had to be overcome.
In 1845 he was taken into the business as a partner, together with the two sons of Mr George F. Smith, who had retired a short time previous. The style of the house then became L. Johnson & Co.
With a portion of his hopes and ambitions realized, he was filled with new vigor to endeavor to outstrip all his former exertions for bringing the productions of the foundry to the highest possible standard. He gave personal supervision to the varied branches of work in his department. He would be frequently found at the case and stone manipulating the type to secure the choicest combinations and the most artistic display. A monument to his skill and care in typography rests in the large quarto specimen book that was brought out under his direction. As a trade book it was and is almost faultless. Every line speaks some quaint conceit or hides some quiet humor, and is as a rule expressive of the face or style of the type in which it is set. As an example of beautiful book-making it scarcely has an equal.
The exercise of the many pressing duties devolving upon Mr MacKellar impaired his health, and, acting under medical advice, in the spring of 1856 he removed his residence to Germantown, where he has ever since lived, an honored and respected citizen.
In the same year he started in connexion with the business the Typographic Advertiser, and was its editor and manager. This journal, the oldest in the country, maintains its place in the van against all comers. Its editorial management is now in the hands of his son, Mr William B. MacKellar.
One of Mr MacKellar's most successful adventures in the literary line was his work entitled the American Printer. This is a standard treatise on practical printing, and is the most successful book of the kind extant, having passed through thirteen editions.
In 1860 Mr Johnson died, and the surviving partners formed a new firm, under the style of MacKellar, Smiths, & Jordan. The establishment was named the Johnson Type Foundry in honor of the deceased partner. Mr Jordan died in 1884. The concern was lately formed into a corporation, taking in as active members Wm. B. MacKellar and G. Fredk. Jordan. Ever since Mr MacKellar was associated with the house this prosperous business has increased in popularity and importance.
During the trying times incidental to the war this house remained staunch and unshaken, and shortly after that troubled period the business seemed to be endowed with a new life and an impetus heretofore unknown. This was in a great measure owing to the judicious care used in introducing valuable and artistic novelties in types and printing material, and to the original and ingenious manner in which they were displayed.
Apart from his business, Mr MacKellar takes an active interest in many organizations. He is a director of several insurance and trust companies. Until recently he was President of the Philadelphia Book Trade Association. He is President of the Typefounders' Association of the United States. He is also a member of the Historical Society, the Academy of Natural Science, the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, and other institutions. He is an elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown. He is a man with a whole-souled and generous nature, and gives freely to benevolent objects.
While Mr MacKellar is not a young man, he is yet active. Though now relieved from many of the heavy pressing duties that were his lot in his younger days, he may still be found daily in his office at foundry, overlooking the general management of the business. He has always been a strong advocate and upholder of temperance principles, and took an active part in his ward in pushing forward and promoting the objects of the local option movement. In his manner he is unobtrusive, possessed of a gentle spirit, but firmness and determination mark his character when occasion requires it. In his domestic life he is the loving father, ever attentive to the wants and desires of his family. Frequent sorrows have darkened his pathway, but his strong faith and trust in an over-ruling Providence have again illumined the shadows and marked his course with new joys and hopes.
Of his genius as a poet we must not omit to make mention. At the present date he is favorably known to the public as the author of several volumes. His poems have a spirit profoundly religious, and their expression is pleasing and natural.
Very few occupations impose so severe a strain upon the eyesight as that of the compositor, and there is no class of artizans among whom near-sightedness is more common. It is not only the poring over bad reprint and crabbed manuscript; it is not only that the work is often carried on under conditions of lighting most injurious to the vision—the severest test of all is that of scrutinizing the faces of minute types to discern the character. Fine faces of rule have to be matched and brought into line; brass rules to be accurately adjusted to type ornaments; right-and left-hand ornamental sorts to be distinguished; characters of difficult scripts and profusely decorated ornamental founts to be discriminated; the face closely scanned for imperfections—and all this under the most varying conditions of the type itself, of accessibility—as for instance in a large form on the machine—and of light or semi-darkness. The proof-reader has all the advantage which a well-printed proof and the contiguous matter can give him; the compositor oftentimes, in the best-arranged offices, has to deal with pie in case, founts more or less mixed, and has to identify and locate perhaps a single and unfamiliar character. Is it any wonder that myopia is so common, and that so many compositors have to take to spectacles before middle age?
Our object in this article is to show that the typefounder, by a more systematic use of that labor-saving device, the nick, and without any extra trouble whatever, may relieve the wearied eyes of the compositor of a vast amount of wholly unnecessary labor. We do not forget that some founders distinguish small caps from lowercase sorts by an extra nick; nor must we omit to recognize here that the Caslon foundry has made one important advance in the systematic use of the nick to discriminate the size of the various spaces,—and the thanks of the trade are due them for so useful and practical a step. We often wish that the managing head of a large foundry could have twelve months of hard work at case in an average job office. It would dissipate not a few of the theories which look so well on paper in the specimen-books, and would lead to thorough and fundamental reforms in many departments. Unfortunately, too, there are too many intermediaries between the man who constructs the type and the toiling compositor who sets it up. The master who works in his own composing-room and sets his own type, is becoming year by year more rare. Hence, when long-delayed reforms are initiated, the more conservative founders tell us loftily that after all, the trade receives them with indifference. We know better.
Another difficulty lies in the fact that suggestions too often meet with scant courtesy. Some of our own ere now have been adopted with advantage, though no acknowledgment, private or otherwise, has been made of the source whence they came. When a suggestion is made for the general good, it is unsatisfactory to find it monopolized by a single house, to whom after all it does not rightly belong.
The first idea of the systematic use of the nick to save the eyesight came to us about ten years ago, when we had to lay a 30lb fount of Fromme's « Pompeii » groundwork, cast by Brendler & Harler, of Vienna. The fount, which was all in pie, had an eventful history. It came out for us in the Queen Bee, and the case went down with the ship on the Farewell Spit. After lying a month or six weeks at the bottom, it was recovered by divers, and sold by auction in Nelson. The packages having given way, the purchaser did not attempt to sort out the pie, which ultimately came into our possession. We found the work of distribution very trying to the eyes, and had more than one headache over the job. The sorts are mostly on emerald em body with one nick. These are some of them:
—We had a few pounds arranged when we made a very satisfactory discovery. In some instances the single nick was near the top—in others near the bottom—in fact, in three or four different places on the several types. Here, we thought, had we been needlessly trying our eyes, when the founder had thoughtfully distinguished the sorts resembling each other by the position of the nick! Alas—further examination soon showed that the nick was quite indiscriminately situated, and the old weary process of staring each character in the face had to be continued to the end. Yet how easy it would have been, by a very slight variation in the position of the single nick, to have accurately distinguished every character—and what an amount of time and toil it would save every time such a fount were composed or distributed!
No better or more difficult illustration of the use of a systematic nick could be given than that of a fount of Greek. There are only twenty-four letters in the alphabet, but there are a formidable array of accented characters. There are seven vowels, and six simple accents, which are combined so as to make fourteen. Therefore besides the ordinary upper and lower-case boxes, a Greek case has seven rows of fourteen boxes each, to accommodate accents alone. This is the scheme of accents:
This specimen shows the accents much more clearly than some founts do. It is a brevier body, and Greek is cut as small as diamond. In distributing, the compositor has to distinguish every one of these accents before he can put the letters in the right box. Every word contains one or more accents. Could a more painful strain than this be imposed upon the eyes? And we must remember that it is only in one position, when the light is reflected straight from its face, that the type can be decyphered at all, and that even then it is not nearly so easy to read as a printed character. Now with a systematic nick, the compositor need never look at the accent, and, moreover, could at a glance, detect an accented type in the wrong place as it lay in his case. There are six kinds of accents. Each would require a distinctive nick. Let them be, for example, indicated as follows:
With these marks, every accent could be readily distinguished. Here are examples of single and compound accents thus indicated:
Any of our readers can complete the series. That the system is practicable no type-founder would dispute—what an unspeakable boon it would be to the workman, none but a compositor can fully realize. It is simple, no single type having more than three nicks. Moreover the system is one of universal application. The Greek accents shown above, are an exceptionally complex example. In Hebrew, for instance, a very simple variation in the nick would be sufficient to distinguish characters resembling each other so closely as those shown in pairs below:
In half-fractions, an extra nick might distinguish the denominator from the numerator. In all cases of combination borders, shaded designs, right and left hand pieces, &c, where the distinction is slight and only to be detected by close examination, the variation of nick would at once supply the clue. Here for example, is a border from an American foundry. One piece is for use horizontally, the other vertically. The only difference in face is in the direction of the shade, and they are both nicked on the flat side, thus: If A were nicked on the flat, and B on the end, there would be no confusion. As it is, it is impossible to keep them from mixing, and the use of the border is always attended with annoyance. Typefounders—make a little more systematic use of the nick, and study the compositor's eyes!
The reform in type bodies is still causing much discussion in the trade press of England and America, and much curious and important information is finding its way into print. The matter has interested us greatly for many years past, and we have in preparation a series of articles dealing with the defects of the systems now passing away, the advantages of the reform, and the points in which it appears to fall short. The chief obstacle hitherto in the way of reform appears to have been that the typefounders know little of the practice of type-composition, and are fond of elaborating philosophical systems of proportion which look well on paper, but are productive of endless annoyance and loss of time in practice.
There is a natural desire to know something of the personality of those whose names are familiar. The readers of Typo will therefore be interested in the sketch of Mr Thomas MacKellar, which we give this month under the head of « Worthies of the Craft. » It is no fault of ours that we cannot give the proper authority for the article, which we have somewhat abridged. It is said to be from « the local paper » of Germantown, Pa., where Mr MacKellar resides. We hope our younger readers will study this narrative of the life of one of the foremost men who adorn the art of Printing. We need not enforce the lessons the history contains—they are plain enough—and are substantially the same as those to be gathered from the biography of Mr De Vinne in our February issue.
The Hawera Star objects to the grammar of the Wanganui Inspector of Schools, in writing: « Such people do not reflect how little support an inspector who failed a whole class for lack of intelligence in reading would get from committee, parents, and perhaps the board itself. » The Star does not go so far as to say that a school inspector who writes M.A. after his name is technically wrong, but it truly states that such a use of the word « failed » is inconvenient and confusing.
A description of the beautiful automatic spool-labelling machinery in use in American factories will be found on another page. After remarking that the large rooms once occupied by factory-girls are now filled with machines, the Inland Printer remarks:— « Poor girls, » thinks some one, « their occupation's gone! » True, but gone only to make way for new and better occupation for the same girls and more besides, in other departments of the mills. Such is the ultimate effect of every labor-saving improvement, cheapening production, increasing demand and enlarging instead of contracting the market for labor.
Mr Duncan Dallas, well known as an inventor of photo-engraving processes, has just patented an invention by which photography is applied to the production of elastic printing surfaces, either sunk or in relief. The invention has a wide range of application, including the printing of textile fabrics and paperhangings
A new process of photo-etching is now in use in London, which offers several advantages over former systems. An improved and more durable metal or alloy is used, the engraving is deeper than ordinary; and most important of all (especially for color work), the process is a cold one, so that there is no contraction.
The chief business quarter of Gisborne was swept by a disastrous fire on Monday, 7th March. The loss is estimated at £60,000. Among those whose premises were destroyed we notice the name of Mr T. Adams, bookseller and stationer. Mr Adams managed to remove his stock, but it was seriously damaged by water. This is the third extensive conflagration that has visited Gisborne.
Another destructive fire has to be recorded—this time in Wellington. It broke out at 4.30 a.m. on Sunday, 2nd March, at the rear of Huxley's tailor's shop in Lambton Quay, and raged for four hours, destroying buildings in Lambton Quay and Panama-street. Only a small area was burnt, but as the block consisted of lofty warehouses full of goods, great damage was done. The total loss is estimated at £120,000; insurances, £70,000. No printing offices were destroyed; but Messrs. Edwards and Green's premises were damaged at the rear to the extent of nearly £100. Amongst the property destroyed in Messrs. Kennedy and Macdonald's were a vast quantity of plans of Wellington and nearly every town in the colony; besides a large collection of manuscripts bearing on the history of the place, the results of information assiduously collected by Mr Macdonald for the past sixteen years.
We are in receipt of Stone's Otago and Southland Directory for 1887. This admirable work is a marvel of painstaking compilation. The present is only the fourth issue, and if the work continues to increase in the same ratio, it will soon rival the London Post Office Directory. The printing throughout is beautifully clear and uniform. Most of the work is in nonpareil, three columns to the page. Not the least interesting portion of the book is the advertising department, which we are glad to see is well patronized.
Some months ago a gentleman in Napier (in no way connected with the trade) was so annoyed at the appearance of the worn-out stereotypes of the cheap edition of a popular work he was reading, that he posted the book to the publishers—a leading house in Loudon— with a note of complaint. By return of post he received a letter of thanks for drawing their attention to the fact, and a copy of another work, in acknowledgment. Two or three months passed again, and last San Francisco mail brought him a copy, with the publisher's compliments, of a new edition of the original work, printed from new plates.
The following extraordinary official notice has appeared in the London Gazette:—« Printers and publishers are reminded that any one reprinting without due authority matter which has appeared in any Government publication renders himself liable to the same penalties as those which he might, under like circumstances, have incurred had the Copyright been in private hands.—T. Digby Pigott, Controller.—Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Westminster, November 22, 1886. » That public documents are public property is a fact so well known, that no little surprise was occasioned by the appearance of the notice. The law journals questioned its legality, and the various press associations moved in the matter. In reply to the Provincial Newspapers Society (we learn from the Printers' Register) an official assurance has since been given that « it is not the intention of the Stationery office to interfere with the privileges hitherto allowed to newspapers of publishing information of public interest extracted from Parliamentary papers or the official Gazettes. »
Fertility of invention and prolific production, no less than beauty of design, distinguish the German founders. In artistic types they lead the world. And a singular fact is, that the wonderful advances they have made, and which mark an era in typefounding, are all comprised within the last ten years. The firm best-known in this country—Schelter & Giesecke of Leipzig—issued No. 1 of their Mittheilung in May, 1876, when they showed the first of their magnificent series of modern borders—the Banner, No. 54. Our file of their unequalled trade paper is not perfect; but it shows a succession of designs from the one above-named to the « Holbein » and « Akanthea » combinations, which no foundry in the world has surpassed in an equal time. And the great advantage of these combinations is, that they are all in such perfect harmony of design, that from the earliest to the latest, they can be worked together—each novelty as acquired, increasing the usefulness of those already in stock.
No less remarkable, though less known in New Zealand, are the productions of Julius Klinkhardt, in the same city. We have already noticed the 15th section of his book, which alone contains variety enough to furnish a large office. The 14th has only just reached us, and is equally worthy of admiration. It is noticeable, that excepting German Text faces, the ornamental types are chiefly American, but the borders and ornaments are all original. They are all displayed with a perfection of technical skill and patience unequalled elsewhere; and excite a feeling of wonder as to where a sufficient market can be found for so many beautiful and costly novelties. We have added to stock some of the new designs of both these houses, and will find them of value in illustrating some of our forthcoming articles on Design in Typography.
Among Messrs Miller & Richards' novelties are a condensed variety (No. 2) of their pretty and eccentric « Doric » with lower-case; another striking eccentric letter, the « Mikado, » shaded, with lower-case, from pica upwards; a very peculiar letter called « Union »—roman at top and sanserif at foot, relieved with flourishes; and Ornamented No. 22—a flourished roman. Also, a very beautiful « Lace » border, consisting of two characters only—a running piece and a corner.
From the Mataura Falls Paper Mill Company, Otago (Mill No. 2, N.Z.) we have some excellent samples of brown wrapping and gray hag papers. We understand that the productive capacity of the mill will soon be increased by the erection of new machinery.
Mr W. H. Foden, printer, of Timaru, sends us a very neat memo. heading, in blue and gold.
Boston has raised its voice against protection, and demands a reduction in the American tariff. The present Secretary of the Treasury, Mr Manning, one of the ablest financiers in the United States, writes thus in his last annual report: « Our tariff laws are a legacy of war. If its exigencies excuse their origin, their defects are unnecessary after twenty years of peace. They have been retained without sifting and discrimination, although enacted without legislative debate, criticism, or examination. »
Elastic Mucilage.—To twenty parts of alcohol add one part of salicylic acid, three parts of soft soap, and three parts of glycerine. Shake well, and then add a mucilage made of ninety-three parts of gum arabic and one-hundred-and-eighty parts of water. This is said to keep well, and to be thoroughly elastic.
To Preserve Pencil Writing.—To preserve marks of the ordinary lead pencil, two plans are proposed: (1) Coat them over with a solution of collodion, adding two per cent. of stearine; (2) Immerse the paper containing marks in a bath of clear water, then flow or immerse in milk a moment, and hang up to dry.
To give Ink a Metallic Hue.—To give printer's dark ink a bronze or changeable hue, take one and one-half pounds of gum shellac and dissolve it in one gallon of ninety-five per cent. alcohol spirits of cologne for twenty-four hours; then add fourteen ounces aniline red; let it stand a few hours longer, when it will be ready for use. Add this to good blue-black or other dark inks, as needed, in quantities to suit, when, if carefully done, they will be found to have a rich dark or changeable hue.
Photographs on Leather.—A successful mode of taking photographs on leather has been patented by Herr Lewisohn, of Stuttgart. A coating of copal varnish is put upon the leather, and well dried; then a second coating is placed over it, composed of albumen and white lead. When this is dry the faced leather is ready for the silver bath, which forms the sensitive surface. The composition of the albumen and white lead varnish need not be very definite, so long as the stratum of lead deposited is thin and uniform. A little practical experience soon enables the operator to estimate the proportions to a nicety.
Olive Oil for Litho Rollers.—A lithographic printer, a practical man, writing in the Gutenberg Journal, states that, instead of preparing a new roller with strong varnish and block, as is done by many printers in France, he applies olive oil, rolling up in it until the leather, the flannel, and even the wood have imbibed as much as can be got into them; the surface is then scraped, and mordant and finally black applied. Scraping is done with a sharp knife in oblique streaks, first one way and then the opposite. The writer states that he has had in use for twenty-five years a roller prepared in this manner.
Slipping of Leather Belts.—The slipping of belts is a great annoyance, not always remedied by tightening. The writer has known a slipping belt to be so shortened as to spring the shaft without preventing the slipping. The radical remedy is to keep the belt pliable, so as to hug the faces of the pulleys; but this is not always feasible. The belt may be softened by neatsfoot oil or by castor oil. A siccative oil, like linseed oil, is unfit for a leather belt, as it has an affinity for the oxygen of the atmosphere and reverts to its acid base, which is injurious to the leather. When a ready remedy is demanded for a slipping belt, the powder known as whiting, sprinkled sparingly on the inside of the belt, is least harmful of any similar application. Powdered resin is bad, as it soon dries the leather and cracks the belt, while it is difficult to get it out of the leather; whereas whiting may be wiped off or washed out with water. The use of water on belts, preliminary to oiling, is good. The belt should be washed on shutting down at night, or Saturday, after the close of work, is better, and then the oil applied when the belt is partially dry. Never oil or wash a belt while stretched on the pulleys. If iron-faced pulleys were always lagged with leather, there would be little complaint of the slipping of belts. But often this slipping is due to too much strain on the belt; there is economy in running wide belts, wider than is the usual practice. Many a 3-ineh belt has to duty for a 4-inch belt, to the annoyance of the operator and the ruin of the belt.
From a humorous sketch in Harper's Magazine, by Mr John Habberton, we extract the following:—But whatever else happened, The Smithton Swain continued to sell; so people came slowly to tell one another that I was making a great deal of money. I learned this by the great increase in the number of persons who wanted to borrow money of me, and the large sums that were asked for; by the variety of subscription papers that were brought to me, and the number of business schemes with which enterprising fellows assailed me. I was also « invited out » a great deal by families which until then had barely noticed me. All this was embarrassing, for I had no right, under the terms of my contract with my publisher, to expect any money from my book for many months to come. How much I was reputed to be worth I did not learn until I was called upon by a lady member of the church to which I belonged; she was soliciting contributions to the fund being raised by the congregation for the endowment of a professorship in a theological seminary. « We have agreed, after consultations with our husbands, » said the lady, « that as the older members have sustained the entire burden of building the church, the younger men should be urged to assume this new and special duty. We have further resolved to ask each young man to give one-tenth of this year's income, according to the ancient custom of our denomination. » This was somewhat staggering, but as I knew that a few months after the year's end I should receive a large sum from my publisher, I hastily concluded the interview, and promised to accede to the fair petitioner's request. « What a splendid beginning! » exclaimed the lady. « It is really true, isn't it, Mr Smith, that fifty thousand copies of The Smithton Swain have been sold? » « I believe so. » « Dear me! » She pencilled rapidly on the cover of her subscription book for a moment, and then continued: « Fifty thousand copies at a dollar each comes to fifty thousand dollars, one-tenth of which is five thousand dollars. Now, Mr Smith, if you will kindly add one-tenth of your salary to the amount, I will know exactly how much to write down as your subscription.) » « But I have not offered you any part of the income of my book, » I gasped, « for I have not received a penny of it yet, and will not for at least half a year. I may never receive any. My publisher may fail, or I may die, or—something else may happen. Besides, I do not get all the money which people pay for the books; I get but a small percentage of it. » My visitor rose, flushed, and evidently angry. « It is all simple enough, Mr Smith, » she said, showing the figuring on her book cover. « Fifty thousand copies, fifty thousand dollars, ten per cent. of which is five thousand dollars. I believe you business men say that figures can't lie. Still if your conscience will allow you to defraud a holy cause by subterfuge, I do not know what I can do to prevent, except report the matter to the deacons as a probable case for discipline. » « But my dear madam —,» I began. It was too late; she was half way to the door; and one of my employers, noting the haste and manner of her departure, called me aside, and gravely expressed a hope that I had not forgotten myself so far as to make love to another man's wife.
The London correspondent of the Sheffield Independent describes the circumstances under which the announcement of the resignation of Lord R. Churchill was communicated to the Times. He states that Lord R. Churchill drove into Printing-house-square shortly after eleven on Wednesday night, and asked to see the editor. He was lodged with him for nearly an hour, at the end of which time, lo! as Mr Black says in his novels, a strange thing happened. As soon as Lord Randolph had been seen off the premises an order was issued to lock every door, back and front, and take the key to the editor's room. Despatches as they arrived through the night, were taken in at a window in the courtyard. Not a soul, from the editor's room to the companionship of the printer's devil, was permitted to leave the premises on any pretext whatever. For some hours mystery and consternation brooded over the establishment. The secret was till two o'clock in the morning locked in the breasts of the editor and two leader-writers. The paragraph announcing the resignation, and the articles commenting thereon, were written and held back till the last moment. But even then, the hour being one at which other papers were going to press, the doors were still locked, and it was not till the paper had gone to press that the doors were unlocked. This is « how they brought the news to Ghent, » and how it was jealously kept there.
Henry Ward Beecher, the great preacher, and an industrious literary man, died on the 3rd March, from apoplexy, at the age of 75.
Sloggerton, of the Carlisle Post, got a job to report a political meeting, and proud of the commission, he determined to show the newspaper world how reporting ought to be done. He'd had some lessons in phonography, and he got his friend Killarney, who was also supposed to write short-hand, to go halves with him. And they took a solemn oath that for once people should see a verbatim report, not a mean little summary of a few thousand words. You should have seen them set to work! No few minutes' spells for them. Each would take it down, every word, all complete, and then compare. At last the meeting was over, and they adjourned to the hotel to put their shorts into longs. But they found that where one had — the other had |, and where one had ) the other had (, which led to some confusion, especially as such little discrepancies occurred in every line. And after they'd been some three hours at it, the telegraph clerk came to know how soon they'd have their first slip ready, and then they had some words (not words belonging to the message); and then the Press Association Boss wired to say he hoped they'd have something ready that day week anyhow; and meanwhile the telegraph clerk sat on the other table, and quietly whistled and beat the devil's tattoo to amuse himself; and at last the man at the head office wired that if they weren't ready in 15 minutes he'd be dotted and dashed if he wouldn't shut up the shop. And then they gave the short-hand best, and wrote what they could from memory and bundled it off. And for hours after broad daylight the telegraph men and the Press men wrestled with that report and tried to make sense out of it!—« Polonius » in the Wanganui Chronicle.
Kibblings is the singular heading adopted by the Taranaki Budget for its column of jokes. According to Webster, the word signifies « portions of small fish used for bait on the banks of Newfoundland. » Typo does not quite recognize the fitness of the title, but it has the merit of originality.
The Sunny Corner Free Press, Bathurst, N.S.W., is edited by a lady. Another lady, with whom she had quarrelled, sued her for publishing libellous statements, and obtained a verdict for £100 and costs. « Feminine jealousy, » sagely remarks a contemporary, « will prove fatal to the employment of ladies as editors. » From which we may infer that editors of the masculine gender are never jealous, and never quarrel.
The Irish Bull has been acclimatized in New Zealand with considerable success. Here are two recent specimens, either of which would stand a fair chance in a prize competition: (I) « Rather than curtail our report of Mr G——'s lecture (which we should be compelled to do if we published it complete in this issue) we hold over the remainder of the report for another day. » (2) Detective W——, who left Auckland in April last in charge of Sheehan, and who has since been hanged for the Castletown-Roache murder in Ireland, returned to New Zealand in the Aorangi last week. »
The Editor's Purse is the title of a recent story. There is nothing in it.
Thoughts that burn—Rejected communications.
When Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsen, the Norse poet and novelist, visited the States, one of the papers asked: « Bjut whjat ojn ejarth djoes hje wjant wjith thjose j's ijn hjis njame ajnyhjow? »
« Let me see, » said the printer's devil, as he started away one Saturday with his week's wages, eleven shillings, in his pocket: « I'll go to the Aquarium to-night, that's a shilling; supper with bottled beer, that's eighteenpence; 'baccy for the week, a shilling; beer ditto, two shillings; theatre one night next week, that's one-and-six; and I'll buy that swell walking stick with a blue silk ribbon through a silver hole, and that'll just leave sixpence to take home to mother towards my week's board. »
« The digestion of an ostrich » is proverbial. Yet we were scarcely prepared to read of those lately imported into New Zealand that « they will eat with avidity chopped mangles, &c. »
Proper names get sadly mangled in telegraphy. In the name « Richby » in a Napier telegram in a Taranaki paper, it is difficult to recognise « Kuhtze. »
A letter has been received from Messrs W. and B. Cowan, of London, Manchester, and Edinburgh, stating that five tons of the New Zealand antimony from Endeavor Inlet had been carefully tested in their works at Edinburgh, and was reported to be superior to any antimony they had yet tried.
Austria is ahead of New Zealand in taxing industries. From the Printers' Register we learn that the Schöglmühl paper mill, near Vienna, received during its last business year a revenue of 349,170 fl., of which it had to pay in Government taxes 42,818 fl.—equal to 21¾ per cent. of its gross revenue.
The Earth is the title of a new English fortnightly penny paper, « dealing fearlessly and impartially with those subjects only which are ignored or misunderstood by every other journal and every educated man in the kingdom. » There seems to be a trace of the flavor of Colney-Hatch in this modest announcement.
Eighth Year of Publication.
Harding's 1887 Almanac New Zealand Year-Book and East Coast Local Guide
Has taken the Leading Position among the Annual Books of Reference published in New Zealand.
This valuable compendium of information is advancing with the times, and the last publication eclipses all former ones.—
Hastings Star.
As usual it is exceedingly well printed, and is brimful of useful information. The local directory is, from its completeness, one of the principal features in the book.—
Woodville Examiner.
This useful publication still maintains its character for full and useful information, and excellence of design and workmanship. As a specimen of the typographic art it is a credit to the colony.—
Temperance Herald.
Not alone is the work well arranged and tastefully got up, but it teems with useful and valuable information of every description, and will prove a great convenience to the public, especially the commercial community. The directory is very complete.—
Poverty Bay Herald.
This work is probably one of the most complete of its kind published anywhere, and contains Jewish, Danish, and English Calendars, with a great variety of general information of the most useful as well as interesting nature. The letter-press workmanship is of special excellence, and the publication is one its printer may justly feel proud of.—
Evening Press.
Harding's Almanac for 1887, the production of the enterprising and tasteful Napier printer of that name, is to hand, and bears evidence of still further improvement both in printed matter and the display of fancy type. As a useful and comprehensive almanac, replete with condensed information, the work cannot be excelled, whilst the assortment of type and the general arrangement of the advertisements are all but faultless.—
Independent(Gisborne.)
Two Shillings. Sent post-free to any address in New Zealand.
He Himene mo te Karakia ki te Atua. This popular Shilling Maori Hymnal has now been reprinted, with an appendix, containing additional hymns. All rights in connexion with this work have been secured by the Publisher. The Trade supplied.
The Great Volcanic Outbreak at Tarawera. The best account published. Sixpence, or with two plates, One Shilling.
Potona: a sensational Tale of the West Coast. ⅙.
R. Coupland Harding
Printer and Publisher, Napier.
Mr Edison, the celebrated inventor, is reported to be dying of pulmonary disease.
Mr R. C. Reed has taken the editorial charge of the Dunedin Herald.
Mr Hornsby, editor of the Napier News, has been elected a member of the local education board. Mr Haggen, lately proprietor of the same paper, has resigned his seat on the board.
Mr F. Bond has been appointed to the « Hansard » staff, in the place of Mr Edward Downey, resigned. Mr Bond has had long experience as a reporter, and the Wellington press congratulate the staff on the acquisition of so skilled a short-hand writer.
A crusade has been raised in Auckland against certain school-books known as the Globe Readers. If the books are half as absurd as the charges brought against them, we do not think they could ever have come into use.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harping, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—March, 1887.
Design, Display, and Decoration are the three points to be considered in ornamental composition, and each must be taken in its own order. Herein lies the fundamental difference between ordinary jobbing work and the attractive pages in a typefounder's specimen. In the latter, the natural order is inverted: decoration is often the first consideration, and the general design is found in practice to be quite inconsistent with any class of ordinary work. This is one reason why so many handsome designs in the specimen books are found of so little practical use in the average office. It is not always through incompetence on the part of the workmen: the real reason is that the combination is only suitable in rare or exceptional work. There is therefore a solid reason for the very general preference, on economical no less than artistic grounds, for the « straight-ahead » style of running borders. They are much less liable to misuse and in most cases look better than Egyptian, Assyrian, Japanese, or other elaborate combinations.
First, Design. This subject we have already dealt with. As used in these articles, the term signifies, primarily, the general or fundamental idea of the work as distinguished from its details. Let the design, for example, be architectural. It is manifestly improper to rear upon lofty columns an imposing edifice, and support the whole upon a foundation of leaves and flowers. If it be a banner, a line of letters apparently carved out of stone, casting a deep shadow, with architectural end-pieces, is egregiously out of place. Yet we have seen both these examples in actual work—of the latter we had a standing instance for many months in a printers' trade paper. Anything inconsistent with the general design gives it an appearance of unreality, and completely destroys its intended effect. Temples built upon a row of roses, or banners supporting several hundredweight of stone letters, are as false in art as they are ludicrously incongruous.
The second consideration, Display, is subordinate to the general design, and may be entirely absent. The banner for instance, may contain a closely-set announcement, without a single display line.
The third point, Decoration, we shall deal with at considerable length, in due course.
Our last article was devoted to Harmony in Display. We now proceed to the consideration of contrasted effects. Contrast, both in form and color, is the leading feature as a general rule in posters, handbills, theatrical announcements, &c. It also makes a great feature in trade notices. The draper who proclaims that he is clearing off his goods below cost, or the auctioneer who announces a great sale of furniture, as a rule do not appreciate subtle harmonies of form and color. Æsthetic considerations must give way to those of a more practical kind. Bold and striking contrasts are in such cases appropriate; and there is ample opportunity for the tasteful workman to exercise his skill.
In all kinds of displayed work, a few lines of subordinate matter greatly relieve the effect produced by the large lines, and impart an appearance of solidity to the whole. It is often worth while to forego all attempts to bring out lines of considerable importance, in order that the main features of the work may have due relief.
Contrasts may be bold, but should not be violent. And we may add that this rule, like every other relating to contrasts and harmonies, applies to color as well as form. Here is an instance of bold contrast:
Important Sale of Salvage Stock for the Benefit of Whom it may Concern.
Hawkes&SparrowHave received instructions to Sell by Public Auction, at their Mart, Main-street, on
Saturday, 3rd May
Absolutely Without ReserveThe following Salvage Goods from the late Fire:— 200
Cases Kerosine20Casks Brandy5Tons GunpowderAll more or less damaged by Fire. Also
A Miscellaneous Lot of Drapery GoodsTea, Sugar, Rice, and other GroceriesDamaged by Water.
And this is a specimen of violent contrast:
A Rare Opportunity!
To Make Room for New ShipmentsW. E. T. Blankette18DraperClearing off Last Season's Stock
At300Per Cent.
Under Cost Price.
To give even typical instances of the various kinds of contrasted effects would be impossible. The styles of type and the varieties of work are so numerous that each several job has its own character.
In a well-stocked office it would not be difficult to set an average business card one hundred different ways, and each one satisfactory. It is about eighteen years since Messrs. J. & R. M. Wood, in the London Typographic Advertiser, offered a premium for the best setting of a small card, the copy being supplied. The subject was a ticket of admission to a lecture. Some hundreds were sent in, and were all published in fac-simile in the Advertiser. All imaginable styles of display were represented. It is needless to say that no two specimens were alike. The majority were very bad. Some were the work of apprentices whose ideas of display were of the crudest. The most pretentious attempts at ornamental work were generally the worst. It is a remarkable fact, and bears out a principle laid down in our last article, that the card which obtained the premium, was set throughout in plain romans of various sizes, with a plain
We give two specimens of contrasted effects in display:
The Publisher ofTypoWill Give Insertion toIllustrationsRepresenting anyNew InventionsinMachinery or AppliancesConnected withPapermaking, Printing, Engraving, or Bookbinding.Electrotypes may be sent direct, or through our Agents, Messrs J.
Haddon& Co., 3 Bouverie-st., Fleet-st., London; and MessrsPalmer&Rey, Sansome-st., San Francisco.
Specimens of New Designs in Typesare duly acknowledged, and carefully preserved.Publications Reviewed
Advertisementsin this Paper cannot be detached from the Reading Matter.
The most glaring instance of violent contrast we ever met was perpetrated by an amateur who set an octavo page so full of large display lines (from five-line roman downwards, and nearly all full), that he had to take all the leads out, and then had only a nonpareil space left for the address. The first and last lines of the page therefore presented the following astonishing contrast:
The Printers' Register of 6th Jan., contains its usual ably-written « Retrospect of the Year. » We extract the following paragraph:—Among other printing processes and methods of producing printing surfaces, it may be noticed that very substantial improvements have been effected, although, as far as we are aware, no important discovery has been made. A number of large firms of printers are now practising on their own establishments zincography, photozincography, collotype, photo-litho, and photo-tinting. The camera has almost become an indispensable adjunct to the printing office. Several new processes for producing the fantastically-named chaostype, owltype, selenotype, &c, have been found out by ingenious printers; and this method may be regarded as one of the ordinary typographic decorations of the future. There is a larger resort than ever on the part of newspaper proprietors to cheap illustrations, and about a dozen firms in London alone are now engaged in furnishing surface blocks from photographs, produced entirely without the intervention of the engraver. Messrs. Cassell and Co. claim to have a new plan, whereby making-ready or overlaying of such blocks is entirely obviated, it being only necessary to lock them up and print as common letterpress.
A Melbourne compositor named Samuel Maddocks, addicted to drink, was evicted from his house for non-payment of rent. With his family, and another family in the like situation, he camped in a paddock at Richmond. In the party were two women and eight or ten children. At midnight a gang of prowling ruffians burst upon the helpless company, ran Maddocks off into the darkness, and ill-used him so that when, some hours after, he crawled back to the women and children, it was only to die. A witness heard at one o'clock a.m. sounds of trampling feet, and the victim's cries of « murder » as he was being hunted and beaten. A verdict of wilful murder has been returned against the perpetrators. Comment on this awful narrative would be superfluous.
Sir Edward Clarke, at a meeting of press men at Plymouth, said he had looked forward to the meeting with a little apprehension as to what their feelings might be with regard to him. Press men must be deeply imbued with the highest Christian graces if, after having suffered so much under his speeches, they still felt kindly towards him. But there had always been happy relations between himself and the members of the Press, for it was known that he had been a press man himself. He had known what it was to sign the newspaper book for his weekly pay, and he had also known what it was when reporting a case in one of the Chancery courts, to be approached by an ambitious solicitor desirous of public fame with an offer of half-a-sovereign if he would put his name in the paper. He had also known what it was to study for admission to a great profession, and during that time to make the greater part of his livelihood by the weekly wage of newspaper work. For four years, while working hard at studying for the branch of the legal profession to which he had the honor to belong, and in which he had been so fortunate, for four years at least he wrote the greater part of the literary reviews which appeared in the Morning Herald and Standard; and, except on one occasion, he never began that work until after nine o'clock in the evening. He was bound to say again and again during the last seven years, when he had taxed severely the abilities and the patience of the reporters of the Western papers especially, he had looked down on those who were toiling along after him with their short-hand, and had thought with a pang of the hard work they would have after the speech was over in getting it ready for the newspapers.
About 2 a.m. on 23rd March, a fire occurred at Willis's printing office, Cathedral-square, Christchurch. The building was partially gutted, and considerable damage done to the stock. Insurance, £700 on building, and £2,200 on stock. Cause, unknown. Mr Willis was in Napier at the time.
After the destructive fire of last December, the Napier Telegraph obtained, by return steamer from Auckland, a complete outfit of type, &c, for the newspaper department, from Messrs Baber & Rawlings. One of the items was a 1500lb fount of brevier, with the necessary cases. There is not much need for ordinary offices to send orders out of the colony, when a local firm keeps on hand sufficient stock to furnish an entire office at such short notice.
An interesting question in copyright is thus answered in the Printers' Register: « I have a first copy of a newspaper published in 1800. The paper is still published. Can I safely reprint the first number in the same manner as the Times was published some little time ago over the country? » « The copyright in the articles &c, has long ago expired, but to republish the paper without the permission of the present proprietor would be a piracy of title, and would almost certainly lead to legal proceedings. »
The Irish troubles are illustrating the old proverb about « an ill wind, » and have brought plenty of work to the printers. The Dublin correspondent of Salmon's Circular writes: The state prosecutions, which have extended to such length in the Dublin police courts, will test the resources of the Queen's printers to the utmost. The verbatim reports of the proceedings furnished by the Government reporters daily, must be turned out with equal promptitude, in order to enable the Crown officials to prepare their cases for the Commission Court, should the defendants be sent forward for trial, and also to enable the latter to prepare their defence. Compositors are consequently at a premium, and, as any amount of overtime is now available—men literally working night and day, with but little interval for rest—the wages earned at present by typos, in that and other houses similarly situated, amount to a big weekly « screw. » This state of things will probably last for the next three months.
The smallest good type of the fifteenth century known to me is a remarkably neat Roman letter on nonpareil body (about 12 lines to the inch), which type was used by Giovanni and Gregorio de Gregoriis, in 1498, in printing a beautiful book of the offices of the Roman Church.
Considering the difficulty of cutting symmetrical letters on so small a body, and of casting them in types at this early period in the history of typefounding, when tools were imperfect and experience was limited, this fount of nonpareil may be regarded as a feat in typefounding.
Types as small had been made before. In 1490, John Froben, of Basle, printed an octavo edition of the Bible in Latin, from types on nonpareil body; but these types, of Gothic form, although fairly printed, were not well cut nor cast.
This size of nonpareil, apparently made to meet a growing demand for smaller books, was not so popular as had been supposed. The book-buyers of the sixteenth century did not encourage the printing of books in any size of type smaller than brevier, which size is about 9½ lines to the inch. Brevier was largely made use of by the Elzevirs, but it was grudgingly tolerated by the book-lovers of that period. One writer sweepingly condemns the Elzevirs' duodecimos, which were practically no larger than the modern 32mo, as « petty types on a niggardly page. »
This scholarly dislike of little books did not put small types entirely out of fashion, nor did it prevent some typefounder, unknown to me by name, from attempting the still smaller size of pearl (about 15 lines to the inch), which was in use in the earlier part of the seventeenth century, which may have been made in the preceding century. In the year 1625, John Jannon, Printer and Typefounder, at Sedan, made a neat Roman type on a body now known as diamond, which size is about 17 lines to the inch. The first book printed in this size was a Virgil in 32mo, dated 1625. It could not have sold rapidly, for the same edition, with a new title, bears the date 1628. In this diamond type, Jannon printed six more books, all of which are now held in the highest esteem.
Louis Luce, a typefounder of the Royal Printing House of Paris, in 1740, showed a specimen of diamond type which he made at the order of the king. It was not a creditable production. Didot sneers at it as a type that could not be read.
Types on diamond body were also made by John Jonsson, at Amsterdam, in 1653. Diamond types were used in England at the close of the eighteenth century; but I do not find the size diamond advertised in any of the specimen books of British typefounders of that century.
In 1834, Antonio Farina, of Milan, cut punches for a small type, which he called occhia di mosca (flies' eyes). The type foundry of Corbetta tried to cast them, but found the work so difficult that they abandoned the enterprise. Twenty years after, Giovanni Gnocchi, of Milan, undertook the work with better success. From this type was printed an edition of the Divine Comedy, which attracted much attention in the Exposition of 1867. The types of this book are about 20 lines to the inch. Although this book has received great praise, it is not a good piece of typography.
The greatest feat in the cutting of microscopic types was done by Henri Didot, who, in 1827, at the age of 60 years, cut and cast a fount of small Roman types on a body which he called demi-nonpareil. In this type he had printed by his brother an edition, in 64mo, of the Maximes of La Rochefoucauld. Firmin Didot says, with pardonable pride of kin, that there has never been anything done as small as this before or since, nor has there been any approach to it. I find that the types in this edition of the Maximes measure a little more than 25 lines to the inch. Henri Didot describes the type as on a body of 2½ points. He probably means Fournier points (a system in which the point was on a little larger body), which were then in common use. This half nonpareil is certainly the smallest type ever made. It was cast by the polyamatype (a mould which easts many bodies at one operation), also the invention of Henri Didot. It probably could not have been cast at all in the ordinary mould of the period.
In 1849, Laurent and Deberny, typefounders, of Paris, published a miscroscopic edition of the Mr DeVinne gives some of these measures according to the French scale. To save our readers the necessity of reference to a comparative table, we have taken the liberty of reducing them to the British national standard.Fables of La Fontaine, which was exposed at the Universal Exposition of that vear. This edition of 260 pages, in 128mo, was printed by Plon Frères. The leaf was 2 1/10 inches high, and 1 ⅕ inches wide.
In 1855, the same foundry published a still smaller volume, Gresset, Ver-vert and other pieces, 160 pages and table. The size of the leaf was ⅞ inch wide, 1½ inches high, 33 lines to the page. The same size of type was employed for each book, but the last book was leaded. The body of the type is between 2½ and 3 points.
In 1858, Edwin Tross published an edition of De Imitatione Christi, printed by Giraudet and Jouaust. It consists of a title and 150 pages, 38 lines to the page. The leaf is 1 ⅕ inches wide and 1⅞ inches high. The type of this edition is smaller than that of Laurent and Deberney. It appears to be the type of Henri Didot.
In 1876, the University Press of Oxford printed an edition of the Holy Bible in diamond type. Each page has two columns of 70 lines. The leaf is 2¼ inches wide, and 4½ inches high. We have altered the measurement, there being a manifest error in our copy, which reads « sixteen millmetres. » Seventy lines of diamond occupy 4⅛ inches.
In 1873, John Bellows, of Gloucester, England, printed a French-English and English-French Dictionary, containing 548 pages of text and 16 pages of preface matter. It was beautifully printed, in two columns, with a red border on each page. The page of type is 2 3/10 inches wide, and 3⅞ inches high. This book was eight years in press. It has since been printed in many editions. The types made specially for the work were cast by Messrs. Miller & Richard of Edinburgh. They measure about 20 lines to the inch.
In 1822, Pickering began the publication of a series of small editions, beginning with Cicero de Officiis. In this style he published Virgil, the Jerusalem Liberated of Tasso, the Sonnets of Petrarch, Horace, Terence, the Divine Comedy of Dante (in two volumes), Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius. All these were printed in a beautiful manner by Mr C. Corrall, of London. In 1831, he had printed in two volumes, by Mr Charles Whittingham, of London, the Greek texts of the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. All of these were in diamond types, about 17 lines to the inch.
Jules Didot, the elder, who took the first prize for Printing in 1823, began the publication of the complete works of Voltaire, which were followed by the complete works of Molière, Plutarch, and a collection of French classics.
It would be impossible to give an account of all the meritorious works that have been printed in very small types, of which the number is increasing every year.
Nothing, as yet, has been made smaller, or even as small, as the types of Henri Didot; but no small types yet made are as clear and perfect as those of the brilliant of Messrs. Miller & Richard.
The smallness of a leaf does not necessarily indicate diminishing smallness in the size of the type. The smallest book I have ever seen is about ½ inch wide and 1 inch long, but the type was of the size of nonpareil, and the words were of one syllable.
The Printers' Register, 7th Feb., says:—At the recent conversazione of the Leeds Philosophical Society there was shown a highly-interesting exposition of photographic methods of book illustration, organized mainly through the exertions of Mr C. H. Bothamley, president of the Yorkshire College Photographic Club. A striking feature of this part of the exhibition was Urie's machine for printing photographs automatically on rapid printing paper by gaslight. The whole process, turning up and cutting off the light, printing upon the paper, and supplying the fresh piece of paper, is done by clockwork. The speed of the printing can be regulated from a second up to three minutes, according to the quality or kind of paper used. The only thing that has to be done by hand is to develop and fix the prints. The advantage of the machine is that as soon as the negative is obtained the process of printing can immediately commence. This machine can turn out prints at the rate of a thousand a day, and one important feature is that it requires little supervision so soon as the clockwork is started.
Imitation is the most fruitful source of the common errors in spelling. In our own early apprentice days, if we saw a word spelt or accented in an uncouth fashion, we thought there must be some reason for it, and took the earliest opportunity of copying our model. The proper and only safe course, in such a case, is to refer to competent authority. Much of the current mis-spelling is due to mere blundering; a large proportion to erroneous ideas of etymology.
« Idyl » is nearly always spelt « idyll. » It is said that the error was made by an amanuensis in transcribing Tennyson's great poem for the press. Once having appeared in a standard work, it has become the fashionable spelling.
« Ribbon » is sometimes spelt « riband » and « ribband. » This error is now very rare, thanks chiefly to Messrs. Stephenson, Blake, & Co., who have, with their Ribbon combination, disseminated the correct spelling throughout the world. The word is not derived from « band, » but from the Latin rubens (red), through the French ruban and old English riban.
« Rib-band, » on the other hand, a nautical term—« a long narrow piece of timber bent and nailed on the outside of the ribs, so as to encompass the vessel lengthwise »—is often wrongly spelt « riband » and « ribbon. »
« Lantern » in old books—and too often in new—is spelt « lanthorn. » The word, which comes to us through the French from the Latin, has no connexion with « horn, » and only absolute ignorance of etymology could ever have led to the erroneous spelling. « Th » being really one letter in English, the ugly word is divided by the eye into lan-thorn.
« Pannikin » should never be spelt « pannican. » It has no connexion with « can, » but is merely « pan » with a diminutive affixed. « Canikin »—the more appropriate word—appears to be obsolete.
« Bran new » is often erroneously spelt « brand. » Bra is an old word signifying line, and still survives in the Scandinavian and Scottish dialects. In English it is now only used in association with « new, » and has taken the « n » for euphony. We shall some day, perhaps, have a revised version of Huntingtower: « I'll bring ye a brand new gown, lassie. » The perversion is now pretty deeply rooted, and Typo may have a dictionary or two thrown at his head. But it is not the province of lexicons to make language, though by their errors they sometimes help to mar it. One authority makes the fanciful and far-fetched suggestion: « Bright as a burning brand »! In reality, the common usage suggests a box or cask just packed, with the manufacturers' « brand » obtrusively legible, or a ready-made suit still adorned with the sale-ticket. Someone may quote the Tatler. But the writers of the last century were not etymologists, and in matters of orthography, each man did what was right in his own eyes. We could find authorities for « gownd. »
« Chock-full, » a nautical expression, is frequently printed « choke. » A chock is a wedge or block, as for example a stone under a wheel. In the verbal form, it signifies to fix with a block, as « to chock a cask. » It may be correctly used in the intransitive, as « The woodwork exactly chocked into the joints. » In the correct phrase, there is nothing inelegant—the term forcibly expresses that all interstices have been filled. The incorrect spelling conveys a coarse idea of gorging with food to the point of suffocation.
« Bitter-end » is commonly written as two words, and quoted as if it involved the idea of bitterness. To « fight to the bitter-end » is a nautical expression which loses all its force when the technical term is misunderstood. To make this clear, some definitions may be required. « Bitts (Dan. bitte, Fr. bitte, from the same root as bite)—a frame of two strong pieces of timber fixed perpendicularly in the fore-part of a ship, in which to fasten the cables. Bittee, a turn of the cable around the bitts. Bitter-end, that part of the cable abaft the bitts, and therefore within-board, when the ship rides at anchor. » The idea of the term is to fight to the extreme end of the bows, as far as there is standing-room. The phrase thus applied is striking and forcible—as commonly used, it is simply meaningless.
« Home » is the term commonly applied by colonists to the mother country. When used in this sense, in some of the colonial papers, the word is distinguished by a capital letter. This is not only indefensible on grammatical grounds, but offensive to the eye. As in « heaven » and « hell, » the capital letter is wrong. And the undiscriminating comp. is beginning to « keep up » the word in all cases. So we read in a police report: « The prisoner's wife was trying to take him Home when the assault was committed. »
Another source of bad spelling is the idea of distinguishing various meanings of the same word. « Curb, » as in « curb-stone; » « story, » of a building; and « tire, » of a wheel, should not be spelt « kerb, » « storey, » and « tyre. »
« Bay rum » is a nostrum, the name of which is often mangled. It may be seen spelt « Bay rhum » and « Bey rhum. » This is simply bad spelling. In technical words, especially in printing, we find a similar affectation.
« Faint ruled » is very commonly spelt « feint. » The word is the ordinary « faint, » and in no way connected with « feint, » a pretence.
« Form » is spelt « forme »—even in technical books of good repute. It is pure affectation. Why not « sticke, » « bulke, » and « racke? »
« Pie » a good old word, is tortured by Yankee printers into « pi » and « pye. » To the first of these forms the language affords no parallel; the latter is obsolete.
« Serif » is spelt in many ways. We have seen « seriff, » « surryph, » and « ceriph. » The word comes from the Hebrew, and there is no fixed system of transliteration. In such a case, the simplest spelling is the best.
« Shoot-board » we find turned into the foreign-looking « schuteboard, » in an American trade-paper. A printer who spells like that deserves to be schott with his own schuting-stick.
« Aërated » is often spelt « Ærated. » This is enough to set one's teeth on edge. So far from the diphthong being correct, the vowels represent two distinct syllables, and are properly marked by the diæresis, on sign of separation. Some artist will yet give us « Michæl » and « Isræl. »
The sign « lb » is often incorrectly printed « lbs. » The plural of libra is libræ, and the « s » should never be used. No one writes « £s 20 » or « 51s. » « Rs » is sometimes printed for « rupees. » Here again the « s » is superfluous.
« Whiting, » in accordance with vulgar usage, is often printed « whitening. » But we do not remember to have ever seen the parallel word « blacking » similarly maltreated.
The « Sting-ray » is a fish of the ray tribe, whose flexible tail is armed with one or more ivory barbs or « stings. » No Greek or Latin name could better describe him than the vernacular. Vulgar little boys have corrupted his name to « stingaree »—and newspapers are beginning to do the same.
The « Snapper » (Pagrus unicolor) is a voracious fish whose character is well described in his name. Some ill-informed person started spelling the word « schnapper, » and the meaningless word is almost taking the place of the English name. This is a particularly egregious blunder, as the fish, being a water-drinker, has nothing to do with (« Schnapps. »
« Tea-tree » is generally mis-spelt « ti-tree, » under the erroneous impression that it is a Maori name. Some time ago a wager was settled by a Thames paper in favor of « ti. » But the editor was mistaken. An infusion of the leaves of the manuka (leptospermum), which is found in Australia as well as New Zealand, was used by the early colonists as a beverage, and the plant has ever since been known as « tea-tree. » The plant called ti by the natives ( Cordyline australis) is totally different, and is never called « tea-tree. » The publications of the Government printing office are generally models of correct printing, but this latter error is sometimes allowed to creep into them.
In Mackellar's Typographic Advertiser some time ago, objection was taken to the newspaper word « lengthy. » We quite agree that it should be avoided. It means neither more or less than « long »—it neither qualifies nor enforces the idea of length; and it clumsily sets forth in two syllables and seven letters what is more clearly expressed in one syllable of four letters. Familiarity has dulled our perception of its ugliness, but if the word is admissible, by all rules of analogy we would be equally justified in writing « strengthy. »
An English paper just to hand, objects to the advertisement of a Drury-Lane pantomime under the title of The 40 Thieves, on the ground that it imports the symbols of an exact science into the region of imagination. « The Forty Thieves » is of course correct. It would be well for young beginners to remember that whenever a certain or round number is given to express an uncertain amount, the use of figures is excluded. « A thousand difficulties lay in the way, » « Four or five times he tried, » « A man of about forty-five years of age, » are eases in point. The rule is also (except in mathematical and statistical work) to represent small numbers in words. « At half-past four, » « Seventy-five lives were lost, » &c. To show the absurdity of the use of precise signs of number in imaginative work, English writer gives some new readings in verse:
Of the 300 spare but 3, To make a new Thermopylæ. 1000 spurs are striking deep, 1000 spears in rest, 1000 knights are pricking close, &c. — But these examples are outdone by that of the American reporter, who wrote: « The proceedings were brought to a close by the beautiful hymn
10,000,000 are their tongues, But all their joys are l. »
The exigencies of the telegraph have led to the coining of very objectionable words, some of which appear to have come to stay. « Cablegram » is an instance. « To burgle » and « to suicide » may yet take their place in the dictionaries. The national tendency to clip words, to which we owe « cab, » « bus, » and « tram, » has a good deal to answer for. « Perambulator » is an inconveniently long word, and so « pram » is finding its way into print.
And here we must protest against attempts to perpetuate eccentricities of spelling in the names of places. We have in New Zealand a small town, the name of which is (officially) spelt « Feilding » after a gentleman whose whim it was to write his own name that way. The press, by refusing to adopt the perverted spelling, would only be using its influence in a right direction. English orthography is complex enough, in all conscience, without being further deranged by local and individual usage.
In the sporting columns of a newspaper we naturally look for slang. It is well known that the English language, when regard is had to grammatical restrictions, is altogether inadequate to the reporting of a race-meeting or football-match, to say nothing of a prize-fight. But we regret to see slang (mostly of American origin) creeping into departments where the ordinary rules of literature might be expected to hold good. A wonderful flower in Mexico, which takes in succession all the colors of the rainbow, « is further credited with perfume only in the middle of the day. » We do not credit the item at all; to credit the flower is nonsense. The cost of a new building is said to be « in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand dollars. » If newspaper writers adequately realized their responsibilities as conservators of the noblest language the world has ever known, abominations like these would be rigorously excluded. And it is a notable fact, that in every instance above given where a metaphor is involved, the tendency of the error is to degrade the thought and debase the language.
Printing without types is now an accomplished fact. A syndicate of seven American newspapers, including the New York Tribune and the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette have bought a share in the Mergenthaler patent. A type-composing machine is so modified that instead of the pressure of the key releasing a type, it brings a female die into line. When the line is completed, it is moved out of the way and dipped into a bath of stereo-metal, a cast being made of the single line. The metal and die are chilled in eight seconds, when the dies are again available for use. This or a similar process was announced about a year ago, when it was to revolutionize printing. With some difficulty the Printer and Stationer obtained a specimen of the work, which was published in fac-simile. The type was pica size, the lines a nonpareil apart, and the general effect was horrible—worse than type-writer work. The process must have been much improved since to be at all practicable for newspaper printing; but it is a decidedly retrograde step. Correcting is scarcely possible in such a process; and good printing is out of the question. The exigencies of modern newspaper production have not been conducive to good printing. The rapid stereotyping, and the curving of the moulds, deteriorate the work; and so imperfect are the plates, that it has been found necessary to abandon the ordinary figures for skeleton signs like those in a post-office stamp, in order that they may be legible. But this new process is worse than any yet devised. The practical compositor will wonder how the lines are spaced. « Justification, » we are told, « is made by having the letter-moulds elastic, or in other words, a trifle bent. When clamped together tightly the line is thinspaced, and when not under pressure it is wide-spaced. This of course gives the same effect on the mould as if the type were off its feet, and it presents this appearance. An irregularity runs throughout the entire impression. » So we should think. We regret that a great paper like the Tribune should set to work to ruin its readers' eyesight by so hideous an invention. The company reckon that every printing office in the States will find it necessary to hire a machine, which will bring in $10,000,000 per annum, one-half of which will be net profit! Typo would be sorry to take a share in the concern as a gift.
On the 22nd March a remarkable libel case was heard in Dunedin. Mr Joseph Wilson Robinson, an architect, had annoyed a young lady by accosting her in the evening, and forcing his company upon her. Her brother demanded an apology, and receiving no satisfaction, caned the architect, who charged him at the police court with assault. The law was vindicated by a penalty of one shilling and costs, and the magistrate commented strongly on complainant's conduct. For reporting the magistrate's remarks, commenting thereon, and thereby « degrading the plaintiff and subjecting him to public hatred, ridicule, and contempt, » the Evening Star was sued by Mr Robinson for libel, damages being laid at £50,000! The jury, after an an absence of three hours, found a verdict for defendants, which was entered with costs. The costs on a case involving such extravagant damages amounted to £1,262 10s, which it is scarcely necessary to say the plaintiff was not in a position to pay. A reform in the law of libel is urgently required, when a respectable newspaper, in the discharge of its ordinary functions, may be put to endless trouble and expense in defending such a preposterous action as that instituted by Mr Joseph Wilson Robinson.
The Wellington Evening Post, as will be seen by a paragraph elsewhere, has been less fortunate than its Dunedin contemporary. The ways of a jury are often mysterious indeed.
Our column of « Recent Specimens » this month is shut out.
The Auckland Weekly News is now printed from the web, on a Hoe machine.
Two hundred compositors are out of work in Sydney, and the working members of the Typographical Society have been ordered to pay one shilling weekly towards the relief of unemployed members.
A remarkable example of what is known as « double induction » is reported by the Hawera Star. Telephone messages between Patea and Manutahi were heard on the telephone wire from the Hawera post office to the railway station. The latter is not connected with any other wire, and is nowhere less than ten miles distant from the Patea-Manutahi line. It is supposed that the messages « jump over » to some of the telegraph wires between Hawera and Manutahi, and on reaching Hawera again jump to the telephone wire.
Precept and example do not always coincide. The Irish « national » papers are advocating the complete exclusion of English manufactures. But when the Dublin Freeman's Journal lately added a jobbing branch to its establishment, the machines and other material were obtained through a London house, to the unmeasured disgust of the Irish firms who could have filled the order. The Freeman's Journal has given one more example of that common type of patriotism so admirably described by Artemus Ward, who was willing to shed his brother's blood to the last drop in defence of his country.
Mr Ivess, a well-known journalist, having brought an action for libel against the South Canterbury Times, the jury found a three-fourths verdict for defendant. Mr Ivess has moved for a new trial.
At the Supreme Court sittings in Wellington on 13th April, Mrs Roeberry, proprietor of an oyster saloon, brought an action to recover £100 damages from the New Zealand Times, which had stated that a frightful stench arose from her premises. Judgment was given for defendant, with costs on the lowest scale.
The Evening Post, on the following day, was less fortunate. Messrs. Macmahon & Leitch, travelling players, claimed £1,000 damages for a statement published on 15th January to the effect that on their departure for Fiji there were a good many inquiries after them. The plaintiff Leitch, in cross-examination, said they had gone to Fiji for rest and quiet, thinking it a place where they would not be bothered with telegrams and letters. A copy of the Post was posted to them there. Mr Gillon, of the Post, gave evidence that after the appearance of the alleged libel he had received a cheque for £20 out of £25, to which he had reduced his claim, upon the representation of the plaintiffs that they had had a bad season, though he considered the services he had rendered really worth £50. The £5 balance he had sued for and recovered. Witness had had many inquiries as to what had become of the plaintiffs. A good deal of unimportant evidence was taken, and the jury after retiring for three-quarters of an hour returned with a verdict for the plaintiffs, damages £150. The Judge allowed costs on the lowest scale. If the published reports of the case are correct, the jury gave an extraordinary verdict.
Messrs Macmahon & Leitch are fortunate. After disposing of the Post, they « went for » the Press Association, which had telegraphed the paragraph as an item of news, They were again successful in gaining a verdict. Damages, £200!!!!!!!!!!!!
The same sheet may often be folded and imposed in many ways. A correspondent of the Printers' Register justly complains that the traditional schemes involve the unnecessary turning over of the sheet—sometimes more than once—by the folder. He states that he has in preparation a series of new impositions for fast folding. In our own office, we long since abandoned the ordinary schemes for this very reason. We also find a great advantage in Houghton's plan of bringing the first page to the centre instead of the corner of the form.
To Keep Small Ink Tins Clean.—A good plan is to remove the lid and place the tin in a black tobacco jar slightly larger. Throw away the lid of the can and keep the ink workable by pouring on the top a little glycerine. The lid of the jar is then put on, and the whole can be used without defiling the fingers.
Carton Paper.—Take of clear lard, five ounces; beeswax, one ounce; Canada balsam, one-tenth ounce; lampblack, q. s. Melt by aid of heat, and mix. Apply with a flannel dauber, removing as much as possible with clean woollen rags.
Gold Bronze.—Melt two parts of pure tin in a crucible and add to it, under constant stirring, one part of metallic mercury, previously heated in an iron spoon until it begins to emit fumes. When cold, the alloy is rubbed to powder, mixed with part each of chloride of ammonium and sublimed sulphur, and the whole enclosed in a flask or retort which is embedded in a sand bath. Heat is now applied until the sand has become red hot, and this is maintained until it is certain that vapors are no longer evolved. The vessel is then removed from the hot sand and allowed to cool. The lower part of the vessel contains the gold bronze as a shining gold-colored mass. In the upper part of the flask or retort, chloride of ammonium and cinnabar will be found.
The accuracy of modern machinery is exemplified in a new automatic shaving machine, for finishing stereo plates, lately brought out in Chicago. It works by steam power, and will finish plates of any thickness up to type height. The largest sized machine takes plates up to 30 x 18 inches. It is furnished with a scale graduated to ·12 inch, and so perfectly are the plates finished that a micrometer calliper fails to show a variation of so much as ·0001 inch. There are a good many printers in this part of the world who would like to have some of their stereo and electro plates put through just such a machine as this.
A new rule-working machine has been brought out in America, and is illustrated in one of our trade contemporaries. It is very pretty and compact, and is said to be the swiftest, simplest, most flexible, and precise of any yet invented. It cuts rules from the strip, mitering at the same operation and leaving a proper finish at both ends. It will mitre to any angle, and in case of star mitres at angles other than 45°, the mitres at both ends are automatically kept in relationship to each other. Right and left mitres are made with the same setting of the gauge; rules can be slotted at top and bottom at any angle; wood rule, reglet, furniture, electro and stereo plates, &c, can be cut and trimmed. In addition, a curving apparatus forms part of the machine, so placed that it is always ready for use without interfering in any way with the use of the cutter.
The recent death of Mr Erastus Brooks removes the last of the old journalistic landmarks of New York. He was the contemporary of Bryant, Webb, Greeley, the elder Bennett, and Raymond, when they were in their prime; and antedated some of them as a leading newspaper man.
Herr H. Klemm, who recently died at Dresden at the age of 68, was the founder and owner of several class papers, but was specially known as a collector of typographic curiosities. His magnificent collection of incunabula was lately purchased for £20,000 by the Government of Saxony for the Book Trade Museum at Leipzig. He also owned what was held to be the actual press employed by Gutenberg, the fragments of which were discovered at Mayence in 1856.
Italian and Austrian papers generally contain from 425 to 440 sheets per ream. English papers never contain less than 480, and in the case of news papers, 500. Importers would do well to bear this fact in mind when comparing foreign samples with English.
One evening, in the hush and quiet following a busy day in a well-regulated printing office, the « hell-box » became the scene of an unusual commotion. The inmates of this asylum for typographic unfortunates, whose careers of usefulness have reached an untimely and unmerited end, were holding an indignation meeting, to lay their grievances before the attentive ear of the Printing world. Mr Pica Quad, whose ragged battered edges and chunks of dry paste proclaimed his disastrous habit of too intimate association with gauge-pins, was chosen president, and after some remarks about his not being proud though often « stuck up, » he called for individual experiences and suggestions.
As is often the case, the biggest chap got the floor first, and proceeded to air his grievance as follows:—« Gentlemen, all of you, from Four Pica W down to the Scrap of an Agate Period, can see this horrible gash in my side. The lock-up was not careful to try every piece in the form before he sent it to press, and I happened to be loose. As a consequence I slipped part way out, the press caught me in his cruel jaws, and left me a wreck. For no fault of my own I must go to the hot place. I came near breaking the press, too. I demand a law com—— »
« Oh, that's all right, of course, » spoke up Cap H, « but very few suffer that way compared with the numbers who are abused as I was. Everyone can see that I am bran new and never even tasted ink; yet here I am, thrown away before having a chance to do any good in the world. I was dropped on the floor, as so many of us have been, but instead of being picked up I was trampled under foot all day, and at night rolled over and over by a great rough broom. I tried hard to preserve my fine lines and nice sharp corners, but, alas! I was fatally crippled and doomed to fiery dissolutions. »
« It was a careless trick that brought me here, » said Lower Case J. « After the Printer got the form I was in locked up, he dropped his shooting-stick and mallet right on top of us, and at one fell swoop my pretty little tail was gone. It was such a beauty of a tail, with a curl— »
« Oh, who cares about your insignificant tail? Listen to my tale, » interrupted rudely, Shaded Text B. « It is a shame I am obliged to stay here with you vulgar common types. I was high-born, and have been delicate all my life. The fool pressman knew I ought to be carefully handled, but he thoughtlessly ran a single line of us through on a heavy tympan left on the press from another job. Like the immortal J. N., we 'assumed the pressure,' but as a result we were thrown in here for fear we would get mixed with the Black Gothic. Drat careless pressmen, anyhow! »
« Amen! » swelled the chorus from all over the box.
« Say! » piped Thin Space's squeaky voice, « give us little fellows a chance, won't you? It's a disgrace that so many of us are here. Some of us Thin Spaces were bent out of shape by a lazy comp to fill a line tighter; some of our tender bodies were broken right in two by being jammed into a tight line, and lots of us are here in disgrace, though perfectly sound, because we were not considered worth putting back into the case. Now the foreman wonders what has become of all of us. Oh, I could tell him a thing or two about those lazy blacksmiths who bend us, and break us, and throw us away! Down with blacksmiths! »
Uproarious yells of « Death to the blacksmiths! » convulsed the box for the next few minutes.
As soon as he could be heard, Small Cap L spoke up: « If anything is more fatal to us than a planer with an idiot who claims to be a Printer pounding it as if beating a tattoo on a cast-iron anvil, I'd like to know what it is. [Applause, and cries of « So would we! »] A piece of dirt got under my feet and raised me a little high to paper. The pressman got me down level all right enough, Oh, yes! but you wouldn't know me from a shingle nail now. »
« The typefounder made me wrong in the start, » spoke the gruff voice of 36-Point Lower Case P; « he had no business to put such a large kern on me—might know I couldn't hold my tail when it stuck out unsupported a rod beyond my body. I tell you the Printer swore when my tail broke, for I was the last whole one in the case. »
« Here, too, » chimed in a silvery voice; « the founders made my lines so very light and razor-like that my face wore down on the first job. It was a shame, too, for I belong to an expensive script fount, which is now utterly worthless. I blush to think how little I returned for the money I cost, but it wasn't my fault. The founder ought to cut such type differently, or use harder metal, that's all. »
« Why doesn't some one say a word for us? » quavered the cracked voice of Thin Lead. « We are the most abused material in the office. Carelessly thrown about, bent or broken, our best labor-saving pieces ruthlessly clipped when the foreman's back is turned, pounded into spaces too small for us and broken to bits, our corners stuck into loose lines and broken off there to justify them, battered and banged about in all sorts of ways—it is a wonder that any of us escape an early retirement to the « hell-box. » If they'd only treat us better, there would not be such a drain on the proprietor's pocket for leads and slugs. »
« Nippers ruined me, » said Bijou K. « A careless chap tried to pull me out of a tight form, nippers slipped, usual result, face looks as if it had been monkeyed with a buzz-saw! No wonder founders sell nippers cheap; they could well afford to give them away, and throw in a chromo or comic valentine, adorned, as usual, with a picture of a red-nosed long primer comp with great primer feet, at work with his stick in the wrong hand. Banish the nippers! say I. »
« So say we all of us, » rang out from a hundred metal throats.
« Half of us don't belong here at all, » said Gothic Z. « Now, I am not injured at all—just carelessly thrown in here with a handful of pie by a lazy boy, simply because that was an easier way to dispose of us than to put us where we belong. One comp spent two hours looking for me this morning, and finally had to use a wrong-fount in my place. If the foreman or boss
Just then footsteps were heard approaching, so they precipitately adjourned and lay down quietly in the box. Soon the proprietor came along, and they felt him poke over the contents of the box, as he said to the foreman with him: « Say Jim, suppose you trade this box of worthless stuff for the leads you want. I don't see what becomes of all the material—I am buying all the time. I suppose, though, it is only the natural waste, and can't be helped. »
Next day, the box, containing several dollars' worth of good material, if only it were properly sorted out, was traded for eighty cents' worth of leads; and soon found its way back to the melting-pot, to begin once again the same old round it had so often gone through before.
Mr E. G. Kerr, proprietor of the South Canterbury Times, has purchased the Timaru Herald from the Herald Company, and takes possession on April 30th.
Mr J. T. M. Hornsby, who for more than a year has held the position of editor of the Napier News, is no longer associated with that paper. In the issue of the 14th April he published a valedictory address. That Mr Hornsby, during his short sojourn in Hawke's Bay, attained considerable popularity, was shown by his recent election to the Education Board, when he polled the largest number of votes. Mr J. Izett succeeds Mr Hornsby.
The Post says that a very large number of printers are applying to the Government Printer for work during the coming session. Mr Didsbury has already had to refuse about fifty applications, and cannot possibly take on another hand. He is only taking on about six extra men for the session, as most of the casuals taken on for last session were retained throughout the year in setting up the volumes of early Parliamentary Debates compiled by the late Mr FitzGerald.
Eliza Cook, according to the Literary World, resides at Wimbledon. She suffers extremely from neuralgia, and receives no visitors. She is in her seventieth year.
The first printing in America was done in the city of Mexico in 1539; the second press was set up in Lima, Peru; and the third in Cambridge, Mass., in 1639.
We have received from Mr H. J. Salmon, Manchester, a copy of No. 5 of his Printing and Stationery Trades Circular. It contains much useful and interesting matter, and numerous advertisements.
Avoid MS. abbreviations. It makes the foreman wild when he is hurrying up the matter for press, to find that the apprentice has been following copy thus:—« The Supt. explained the policy of the Govt. » « Govt » is a great stumbling-block to beginners. As in the New York Tribune's celebrated assertion that « it costs $50,000,000 a year to maintain the Spanish Goat in the island of Cuba, » and the still more « distressing » erratum for which a New Zealand paper lately apologized:—« As our readers are aware, we have never been supporters of the present God »!
The Hog is the title of a new journalistic venture in Chicago. Its success may be predicted, as it fairly bristles with good things, and is plentifully interlarded with humor. Each number has a short tale.
An enterprising Bengali gentleman, in the prospectus of a new Anglo-Native newspaper, announces that his journal will be « loyal to the Backbone, to the Crown, and to the Constitution. »
When the American war broke out, the Hartford Press published some very stirring patriotic appeals. Very soon, one of the comps. announced that he had enlisted. The volunteer was called in and congratulated by the editor, who complacently added,
« I suppose those recent editorials have been pretty effective? »
« That's so, » was the reply. « I could stand it no longer. Better risk a rebel bullet than set any more of your infernal handwriting! »
(He « got the bullet » then and there.)
This item did not originate in a New Zealand paper:—Amid a number of neglected and untidy graves in a New Zealand cemetery may be noticed one that stands out in prominence by the neat manner in which it is kept. It is enclosed by handsome railings, and in the centre is a marble slab, inscribed:
This ManAlways Paid for his NewspapersIn Advance.
A western paper has been compelled to devise an original scheme of spelling reform. The editor, in the first number, tells his story as follows:—« We begin the publication ov the Roccay Mountain Cyclone with some phew dipphiculties in the way. The typephounders phrom whom we bought our outphit phor this printing opphice phailed to supply us with any ephs or cays, and it will be phor or phive weex bephore we can get any. The mistaque was not phound out till a day or two ago. We have ordered the missing letters, and will have to get along without them till they come. We don't lique the loox ov this variety ov spelling any better than our readers; but mistax will happen in the best-regulated phamilies, and iph the ph's and c's and x's and q's hold out, we shall ceep—sound the c hard—the Cyclone whirling aphter a phashion till the sorts arrive. It is no joque to us; it's a serious apphair. »
Coincident with the Easter holidays, we find the annual extra crop of errors in the newspapers. A sure sign that the comps. have not all taken the Blue Ribbon.
Eighth Year of Publication.
Harding's 1887 Almanac New Zealand Year-Book and East Coast Local Guide
Has taken the Leading Position among the Annual Books of Reference published in New Zealand.
This valuable compendium of information is advancing with the times, and the last publication eclipses all former ones.—
Hastings Star.
As usual it is exceedingly well printed, and is brimful of useful information. The local directory is, from its completeness, one of the principal features in the book.—
Woodville Examiner.
This useful publication still maintains its character for full and useful information, and excellence of design and workmanship. As a specimen of the typographic art it is a credit to the colony.—
Temperance Herald.
Not alone is the work well arranged and tastefully got up, but it teems with useful and valuable information of every description, and will prove a great convenience to the public, especially the commercial community. The directory is very complete.—
Poverty Bay Herald.
This work is probably one of the most complete of its kind published anywhere, and contains Jewish, Danish, and English Calendars, with a great variety of general information of the most useful as well as interesting nature. The letter-press workmanship is of special excellence, and the publication is one its printer may justly feel proud of.—
Evening Press.
Harding's Almanac for 1887, the production of the enterprising and tasteful Napier printer of that name, is to hand, and bears evidence of still further improvement both in printed matter and the display of fancy type. As a useful and comprehensive almanac, replete with condensed information, the work cannot be excelled, whilst the assortment of type and the general arrangement of the advertisements are all but faultless.—
Independent(Gisborne.)
Two Shillings. Sent post-free to any address in New Zealand.
He Himene mo te Karakia ki te Atua. This popular Shilling Maori Hymnal has now been reprinted, with an appendix, containing additional hymns. All rights in connexion with this work have been secured by the Publisher. The Trade supplied.
The Great Volcanic Outbreak at Tarawera. The best account published. Sixpence, or with two plates, One Shilling.
Potona: a sensational Tale of the West Coast. ⅙.
R. Coupland Haeding
Printer and Publisher, Napier.
« To give free expression to the surging gangrene » is one of the neatest mixed metaphors we have seen for some time. It occurs in a leading article in an evening journal.
Some boys in Auckland, according to a telegram in a contemporary, have been sentenced to a flogging for « stealing fruit from orchids. »
Some of the New Zealand reporters are a little uncertain in the use of the plural. A morning paper lately reported the presentation of « a beautiful colon » to a volunteer corps. Not to be outdone, an evening paper the same day came out with « Counsels on both sides addressed the court. »
We have not met with any reference in the colonial press to the death of an Australian author of some note—Mrs M. J. Evans, better known as Maude Jeanne Franc. From the London Publishers' Circular we gather that she died at Adelaide, South Australia, on the 22nd October last. Her published writings consist of fourteen religious novels and nine or ten short stories. They are not of a high order of literary merit, but give many vivid and pleasing little glimpses of Australian country home-life. Some of them attained considerable popularity, and have passed through several editions.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—April, 1887.
Entering upon the third division of our subject—Decoration—we find a wide field before us, and one, so far as English typographic manuals are concerned, as yet unoccupied. On the general subject of Decoration an extensive literature exists, which may be studied with profit by the artistic printer; but so far as we are aware—and we have an extensive acquaintance with the literature of the craft—not one systematic treatise on the every-day subject of typographic ornament exists in the English language. Some such work is needed. We have never yet met with the compositor who did think he knew exactly how to set about a fancy job; when in fact, the special skill required is one of the rarest qualities to be found in the trade. Simplicity, unity of design, and harmony of effects—essential points of all good work—are not recognized by the average workman. Without the slightest technical training, and with such artistic capacity as he may possess entirely undeveloped, his only idea of a fancy job is to crowd together as many ornamental elements as possible—and if the work is in gold and colors to emphasize its defects by gaudy and inharmonious arrangements of staring hues. In fact, the distressing results of indiscriminate ornamentation are so common that many customers absolutely refuse to permit decoration of any kind to be introduced into their work. The really artistic printer suffers from the abuse of good material. The choicest and most beautiful designs are hackneyed and knocked about in the commonest work till the public eye is wearied of them. Can anyone forget the horrors of the outbreak of Japanese ornaments in every color of the rainbow six or seven years ago? Who does not remember the palms growing out of inverted flower-pots—the Egyptian obelisks in juxtaposition with Greek altars and Chinese pagodas, and the thousand other incongruities with which every kind of work—from folio handbills to trade cards and concert programmes—was decorated? The disgust occasioned by this abuse of good material could not fail to damage its legitimate effect and unnecessarily limit its use.
In every kind of art, Decoration is limited by the nature of the material employed. In every kind of art, the broad general principles by which it is governed remain the same. It should not be the primary consideration. It should harmonize with the general design, and should grow naturally out of it. It should not be thrown together at random, nor stuck in merely to fill a vacant place. Too great formality on the one hand, and extravagance on the other, are to be avoided; but the former defect is less serious than the latter. Simplicity is preferable to complexity. There should always be sufficient unoccupied space to bring the leading features of the work into due relief. The quality of « repose » gives a grace and dignity to work that is entirely absent when every available space is taken up with decoration.
Styles should not be mixed. While various combinations, and even the productions of different foundries, may sometimes be used with advantage in one piece of work, great caution is always required; and unless the compositor has shown proof of artistic skill and trained judgment, he should always be confined to a single combination in any given job.
In considering systematically the proper place and the limitations of typographic decoration, it is first of all necessary to classify the decorative material; and in so doing we may premise that the æsthetic revival of the past ten years or so has added several entirely new classes of ornament to the compositor's stores, besides permitting a freedom of treatment formerly impossible. There is thus a better field for individual skill, and a correspondingly greater risk of failure. There is no fixed system of classification, and the nomenclature varies arbitrarily, according to the ideas of the typefounder. For the purposes of these articles, therefore, we must make our own classification and definitions. It must be remembered that under any system the same material may be sometimes classed in more than one category.
— A better classification may be possible; but there will be no difficulty in placing any ornament in present use under one or other of the above divisions. Before taking them up in detail, it may be as well to define some of these titles.
Vignetttes.—We use this term in its widest sense, to include head-pieces, centre-pieces, tail-pieces, and « Card Ornaments » and « Corner Ornaments. ». Many so-called « combination borders » are really nothing of the kind, but mere collections of corner and centre vignettes. We shall strictly confine the term « Border » to such designs as may be combined or continued end to end so as to surround a piece of work.
Rules.—From this category we exclude the modern rules in which a pattern is repeated at intervals. These are merely borders in brass. We confine the term rules to purely lineal borders.
Running Borders are such as repeat the same design. A series may contain a single character only, or a running piece and a corner. Additional pieces are sometimes added for convenience of justification, but the number of characters rarely exceeds five or six.
Ribbon and Tablet designs are among the neatest and most legitimate forms of typographic decoration. They are of recent development. Under this head we may class wider extensions of the combination of type with brass rule, such as the various « Banner » and « Shield » designs. We shall be able to illustrate this portion of our subject from a very complete collection of such material.
Combination Borders afford a very wide field for examination and criticism. There is no limit to the size or number of their characters, and they may include every kind of ornament enumerated under the nine preceding heads. They may contain pieces varying in body from half-nonpareil to ten-or twelve-line pica. A single series may include any number of running borders of various sizes. There are rarely less than eight characters in a combination, and some recent productions exceed four hundred. It is in this line that the ingenuity of the designer has been most fully displayed, and that the skilled compositor finds the greatest scope for his talent. When we take up
The American Lithographer and Printer states that lithographic printing from zinc, heretofore attended with difficulties, and inferior to the work produced from stone, has now been brought to sudden perfection. A full account of the new method is promised.
A substitute for wood type or printing blocks is now made from paper pulp. The pulp is desiccated, and reduced to a powdered comminuted state, after which it is thoroughly mixed with a waterproofing liquid or material—such as paraffin oil or a drying linseed oil, for instance. The mixture is then dried and subsequently pulverized. In its pulverized state it is introduced into a mould of the requisite construction to produce the desired article, type or block, and then subjected to pressure to consolidate it, and heat to render tacky or adhesive the waterproofing material. Finally, the type is cooled while in the mould, so as to cause it to retain its shape and solidity.
The « Albatype » is the name of a new and economical method of making large letters for posters. A combination fount of blocks is supplied in 1-inch, 2-inch, 4-inch, and 8-inch squares, cut to various straight, oblique and curved shapes. A chart accompanies the fount, illustrating the manner in which they are to be put together. Plain and ornamental letters can be thus constructed, either solid or open on a solid ground. There is nothing quite new under the sun. Twenty-five or thirty years ago Figgins showed two series of ornamental « Initial Fragments » on emerald bodies, on much the same plan. They have long ago vanished from his specimen-book. The Central Type Foundry of St Louis, has also a set of « letter combinations » on long primer and pica bodies, by which very good letters of various sizes may be built up.
Mr. Ladewig (says L'Industrie Modeme) has devised a process of manufacturing from asbestos fibre a pulp and a paper that resists the action of fire and water, that absorbs no moisture, and the former of which (the pulp) may be used as a stuffing and for the joints of engines. The process of manufacture consists in mixing about 25 per cent. of asbestos fibre with from 25 to 35 per cent. of powdered sulphate of alumina. The mixture is moistened with an aqueous solution of chloride of zinc, washed with water, and then treated with a solution composed of 1 part of resin soap and 8 or 10 parts of water mixed with an equal bulk of sulphate of alumina, which should be as pure as possible. The mixture thus obtained should have a slightly pulpy consistency. Finally, there is added to it 35 per cent. of powdered asbestos and 5 to 8 per cent. of white barytes. This pulp is treated with water in an ordinary paper machine and worked just like paper pulp. In order to manufacture from it a solid cardboard, proof against fire and water, and capable of serving as a roofing material for light structures, sheets of common cardboard, tarred or otherwise prepared, are covered with the pulp. The application is made in a paper machine, the pulp being allowed to flow over the cardboard.
Printing on Tinfoil.—The impression is at first made from the stone on to a rubber roller and from this roller the ink is rolled or transferred off again upon the tin plate. There has lately been invented a steam press, which we think has also been patented. This press is working in the same plan, and the main principle is that the rubber has the qualification of taking a much sharper impression than any kind of paper in the market, and by its elasticity has also the nature of printing smooth and solid on a hard surface, even if the same is uneven. If the ink becomes too hard, by printing several colors on top of each other, add to the first color you print a trifle of yellow wax with venetian turpentine. This will prevent the trouble, and the ink will lift readily.
Shining Black Ink.—The best shining black ink, used for mourning paper, and the manufacture of which has up to the present time been kept a secret by the makers, may be prepared, according to the Papier Zeitung, of lampblack, borax and shellac. The ink is made as follows: In one quart of hot water two ounces of borax is dissolved, and to this solution about three times the quantity of shellac is added. After this mixture has been properly dissolved, the necessary quantity of lampblack is put in, the whole being constantly stirred. If the lustre be not satisfactory, the proportion of shellac is increased.
Glossy Writing Ink.—Any common writing ink can be made glossy by adding to it a little gum arabic or white sugar. If the latter is used care must be had not to use too much, else the mixture will be sticky when dry, and if too much of either gum or sugar is used the ink will become too thick to flow well.
Green Varnish for Metals.—For a green transparent varnish for metals, grind a small quantity of chinese blue with double the quantity of finely-powdered chromate of potash (it requires the most elaborate grinding); add a sufficient quantity of copal varnish thinned with turpentine. The tone may be altered by adding more or less of one or the other ingredients.
Hints to Draughtsmen.—A practical draughtsman in Wood and Iron gives the following simple suggestions, which will likely prove useful to some reader:—(1) In mixing up inks, the process is very much expedited by heating the dish and water in which it is mixed before commencing. It often happens in the summer that the flies walk over a tracing and eat off the ink in a very provoking manner. The use of vinegar instead of water will prevent this. In making a tracing, the cloth will take the ink much better if it is rubbed over with chalk. (2) Tracing-cloth that has been rolled up may be straightened out effectually and expeditiously by drawing it over the edge of a table or drawing-board, holding it down meantime with an ordinary three-cornered scale. (3) When there are a large number of drawings made and kept, a great deal of trouble and confusion can be avoided by making all the drawings on extra standard sizes. If a size of 16 by 24 inches be adopted, then the next larger size would be equal to two of these, or 24 by 32 inches. This enlarging or reducing process may be carried as far as the circumstances require, but it is always best to do it by the doubling or halving process if possible. One of the advantages of standard sizes of drawings is that they may be kept in a case of drawers, the size of which is made to accommodate the standard sizes selected.
Amateur Bookbinding.—Pack the papers smoothly, hold firmly, and drive a thin chisel through the pile about half-an-inch from the back. Push a strong tape through, and leave out about two inches; put three or four tapes through at even intervals; cut common thick paper boards large enough to project a little everywhere, except that one edge must come front of the tapes; draw the tapes tightly and glue down to the boards outside; skive a piece of leather—common sheepskin will answer—wide enough to cover the back and come on the boards an inch or two, and long enough to project a couple of inches at the end; paste the leather well; put it on the back; fold the ends in so as to come over the boards on each side; paste any fancy or plain paper over the sides, and, lastly, paste the blank leaf down to the cover side, and you have a presentable book, and very durable. Trimming the edges can be easily done by clamping between boards and cutting the edges with a thin sharp knife and a straight-edge. Of course, this is done before the boards are put on, after the tapes are in. This makes a flat-edged book, but for a thin book answers very well.
The enterprising Central Type Foundry, of St. Louis, have forwarded the last number of their Printers' Register. We note that since we had our last parcel of type from thence, the foundry has dropped the old irregular bodies, and adopted the point system. Moreover, they have cast the separate sizes of each series systematically to line at head and foot, so that no cards or pieces of paper are required in justifying together. Thus reforms come in one at a time. But our own experience is that the American « point » is not yet a fixed quantity—nor will it ever be until it is adjusted absolutely to 1/72-inch. The American 6-line pica, instead of being an exact inch, is (supposed to be) fixed at the peculiar fraction of ·996-inch, and pica therefore, instead of 72 ems to the foot, is (approximately) 72·2892. This absurd scale is adopted solely to conform to the foreign metrical system. In any case, the gain would be infinitesimal; but how does it conform? Not in one of the sizes in actual use! The pica corresponds to ·4217 centimeters; the 6-line to 2·5301. It is not till we reach 83 picas = 35 centimeters—that we touch the metrical scale. Of course the practical advantage of a correspondence with scale in every 83 lines pica—(and this does not apply to the other bodies)—is of no value whatever; yet to gain this, correspondence with the national standard has been sacrificed altogether. This system, it is evident, cannot last; and when the standard point of 1/72-inch is accepted we may at last expect uniformity. One reform only will then remain—to make the width of every character to even points, as in the « Shieldface » of Messrs Schelter & Giesecke. But this digression must not lead us to overlook the novelties before us. First, we note a very beautiful script called « Steel-plate, » sharp, delicate, and graceful. It is cast to 30 point, and has two sizes of lower-case. « Washington » and « Victoria » are two eccentric but bold and legible faces. They have a strong resemblance to each other, but the former has a lower-case, and the latter has not. The « Atlanta » has something the same character as the « Victoria, » but is more expanded. « Grimaldi » is something like the « Modoc, » but wilder in conception, and as the lines run out at various angles, it has an intoxicated look. The « Santa Claus » is another quaint design, worthy of the foundry which originated the « Harper » series. It is an irregular letter in outline, with the oddest of word ornaments, and initial caps for one and two colors. Some bold Old-style founts follow, and a page of Christmas cuts, besides some good novelties from other houses. Altogether, this is an excellent number.
Messrs Farmer, Little, & Co., New York, send us their latest specimen circular. The « Scribble » face of the Caslon foundry is here shown; several « star » combinations, much in favor in American advertising, by which the effect of a large letter is secured with all the lightness of ordinary nonpareil caps, a « Broad Gothic, » the most expanded sanserif we have seen; « Barb, » a peculiar letter, flat at the top and sharp-pointed at the foot; « Abbey, » an old-style latin, very legible, and carrying plenty of color; « Gothic Lined, » an original but not very pleasing style, the horizontal lines being disproportionately thin—almost to the vanishing-point. There are also bold figures and fractions for news work, to the singular width of three-fifths of an em. Bruce's patent figures—two-thirds of an em—are doubtless very convenient as well as clear; but three-fifths strikes us as a very awkward fraction.
Messrs P. M. Shanks & Co., of the Patent Type Foundry, London, have forwarded us their specimen book of printing types. There is an excellent selection, including many familiar English and American faces. A specialty of this house is a neat series of pica and nonpareil borders.
We have received from Day & Collins, London, a small specimen book, in paper covers, showing an excellent selection of wooden types and borders. Enclosed are several loose sheets of novelties, including some useful logotypes, and a selection of the well-known « Chinese » ornaments, cut on a large scale for posters.
From Messrs Gould & Reeves, London, we have a large specimen sheet of zinc combination rules, from half-nonpareil to great primer. The patterns are similar to those of Stephenson & Blake's well-known brass borders, &c. The rule is well cut, and is much less costly than brass. Over seventy kinds are displayed in the sheet, besides numerous combination patterns. Some of the latter are nearly an inch in width, and are bold and effective.
Messrs J. C. Paul & Co., King's Cross Road, London, have sent us a sheet of specimens of wooden types, end ornaments, and borders, comprising the newest styles.
No. 19 of Hailing's Circular has been forwarded to us. Mr Thomas Hailing, of Cheltenham, is known as one of the best printers in England, and the circular before us (the first we have seen) justifies his reputation.
We have the January number of Ullmer's Circular (London), exhibiting American and German novelties, displayed to advantage.
Messrs Vanderburgh, Wells, & Co., wood type manufacturers, &c., New York, send us an illustrated catalogue showing all imaginable labor-saving appliances in typography, engraving, and stereotyping.
Messrs Wimble & Co., Melbourne, send us two sheets of cuts. One contains a selection from the « æsthetic » series brought out by the Western Electrotype Foundry, and the other sundry subjects, including two good « Jubilee » portraits of her Majesty.
Messrs F. H. Levey & Co., New York, send us two neat specimen books of their printing inks. The larger of the two contains an excellent selection of inks for general work, and the smaller exhibits some beautiful « art shades »—olive, brown, terracotta, satin brown, russia leather red, &c.
The Union Type Foundry, Chicago, send us their card—a remarkable example of the « selenotype » groundwork. This and similar processes are supposed to be profoundly secret, but anyone who has ever cast a metal plate ought to be able to see how they are produced.
Jolly & Co., stereotypers, Port Chalmers, have sent us a specimen of « auroratype » printing in four colors. This is the same process as is variously named « owltype, » « chaostype, » « selenotype, » &c., and for certain classes of work it forms an appropriate decoration.
The proprietors of the « Liberty » job press, New York, send us price-lists and circulars.
From Messrs Fergusson & Mitchell, of the Otago Paper Mills, Dunedin, we have received a parcel of samples of brown and gray papers and paper bags, of excellent quality.
Messrs Edwards, Dunlop, & Co., Limited, Sydney, have sent us a specimen book containing samples of writing papers, billhead papers, tinted posts, duplex papers, plain and tinted cardboards, &c.
From Messrs Whitcombe & Tombs, importers, Christchurch, we have samples of large post and double foolscap papers.
Messrs T. Renn & Co., Austral Paper Works, Sydney, send us a large parcel of samples of printed tea-papers, brown papers, bags, &c., also specimen sheets of stereo blocks suitable for bag and tea-paper printing.
It is not (says the Australasian and South American) the sole province of commerce to produce, to sell, and to transport. Her mission is also to aid in the physical, mental, and moral elevation of the human race, and in her true sphere she is as much a daughter of God as religion or liberty. Every supernal influence operating for the good of man is opposed by powers malign. Hypocrisy and superstition counterfeit religion, treachery seeks to assassinate liberty, and greed works to defeat the glorious designs of commerce.
Certain of those gentlemen whom our American friends denominate « cranks » have been making themselves very busy in educational matters in Auckland. A year or two ago, the teachers decided—perhaps not very judiciously—that a single set of reading-books should be adopted in all the schools; and after full consideration, the choice fell upon Macmillan's « Globe » series, which accordingly came into general use. A few weeks ago, a fierce crusade against these books was instituted and persistently carried on by one or more anonymous writers. In the columns of indignant denunciation against the books two charges only seem to have been formulated. First, that the earlier books, intended for children up to seven years, contain fairy tales; secondly, that their geographical and astronomical references apply to the opposite hemisphere, and are therefore misleading to children in New Zealand. There might have been some reason in these objections had they applied solely to the reading-books in question; but they may be brought with equal truth against any other of the excellent books in use in the schools. The first objection shows great ignorance of the elementary principles of education. The reading-books are an introduction to literature, as well as to serious studies. The beginner has to be allured by interesting reading as well as instructed by that of a more solid kind. Would the critics eliminate from literature all the imaginative element? and especially at the period of life when the imagination is most vivid, and there is a natural and healthy appetite for that very class of reading? If so, they would deprive the teacher of one of the most effective means of training, moral as well as intellectual. The second objection applies to our whole heritage of literature, from the Scriptures downwards. The skilled teacher, so far from finding this a disadvantage, knows well how to turn it to account. When the reading book states that if we turn to the rising sun our right hand is to the north, the question naturally arises, how it is that the opposite state of things exists here? Similarly with the seasons. Is all English literature to be excluded from our schools because it falsely represents Christmas as coming in winter, May as the time of spring-flowers, and November as a month of fogs? Yet influenced by an agitation based on no better grounds than these, the local education board has prohibited the use of the Globe reading-books in the Auckland schools! We should much like to know the real reason of the agitation. There appears to be a clue in the suggestion that special books should be prepared for the Auckland schools on the protective system—the imported article to be abolished, and all the reading-lessons, in verse and prose, to be of strictly local manufacture. We hope the children will be spared such an infliction as this. Meantime, the Auckland booksellers have had a sharp lesson as to the risky character of schoolbooks as stock.
Another schoolbook, of the most rigidly scientific kind, has been placed by the collective wisdom of Auckland in the Index Expurgatorius. Parliament has, with commendable wisdom, decided that the physiological course of lessons should include instruction in the effects of alcohol and other narcotics on the human system. The authorized text-book in use is by Dr. Richardson, the greatest authority on the subject. At the last meeting of householders, after the election of the new committee and other formal business had been disposed of, and a large part of the audience had dispersed, certain individuals connected with the liquor interest proposed and carried a resolution prohibiting the use of Dr. Richardson's book in the schools. The irregularity of the proceeding, however, is so manifest, that it is hardly likely any successful attempt will be made to carry out the resolution.
Yet another exhibition of eccentricity remains to be noted. One of those anonymous gentlemen whose mission it is to fill a weekly column of platitudes in one of the big papers, has run full tilt at the study of the dead languages. Imitating a certain historic monk of Wittenberg, our anonymous friend nailed his thesis to a college door. In this he undertook to prove against all comers, that the study of the classics was absolutely useless. The monk of old « shook the world »—the Auckland press man has failed to shake anything. He may continue to cry « New lamps for old, » but he will not persuade any but very superficial readers that the past has no lessons for the present.
The Rev. J. A. Dowie, who has just completed a mission in New Zealand as « faith-healer, » has also assumed the position of general censor. Upon the press in particular, he has poured out his wrath. The ground of offence was always the same. The reporters took the trouble to look up some of his cases, and found that to say the least, the rev. gentleman had been guilty of exaggeration. The way he spoke of the Nelson papers is a fair sample of his style in relation to the press:—
If he were a press man he would start here and knock them both out of time. Pleasantly alluding to the presence of « literary liars » in the room, Mr Dowie said the « Evening Wail » (Mail) had decided to ignore him. « This was a truly awful thing, but he thanked God he had survived it. » [A Mr Colin Campbell here remarked that Mr Dowie was not being ignored that night—the reporters were present.] « Thank you » said Mr Dowie. « I do not know them by sight, but I can generally tell their faces by the look they have of pale brandy. I never knew a reporter who did not stink of brandy or tobacco or beer, or some such beastly stuff. » He then referred to the Colonist. « God Almighty, » he said, « would punish it for its abominable lying, and if he was not a real Christian he would smash it by serving it with a writ for libel—£2,000 damages. » When Mr Dowie had finished, the Mail reporter left the room, the lecturer calling after him, « Oh, ye generation of vipers! »
It is to be noted that the speaker claimed to be « a real Christian. » Certainly no one could have guessed it. We are glad that he appears to belong to no recognized Christian sect. He is pastor of a « Free Christian Tabernacle » in Victoria. In Wellington, he was quite epigrammatic. « The printing press was the greatest power on earth in the present generation. The daily newspaper press was in the hands of Satan, and was a disseminator of lies. » He gave a lecture in Wellington on « The Doctrines of Devils, and the Healing Impostures of Seducing Spirits. » This was not, however, a disclosure of his own doctrines and methods, but an attack on Spiritism, and a very stormy meeting was the result. Strangely enough, after all this, the Auckland press received Mr Dowie favorably; but they very soon were compelled to expose his inaccuracies, whereupon they came in for a full share of vituperation. But the « healer » was quite impartial. He attacked the medical profession in the grossest terms; he abused the churches and ministers of religion all around; he; poured out his wrath on the Government, which included « a Jew and two infidels » (with adjectives which it is not necessary to quote); and absolutely refused to « heal » a Freemason, because the patient declined
A correspondent with a taste for figures sends us a classified list of the hundred-and-sixty-eight periodicals registered in New Zealand at the beginning of March, 1887. They include 47 daily, 15 thrice-weekly, 19 semi-weekly, 62 weekly, 2 fortnightly, and 23 monthly. The following is a list of the titles, sub-titles being excluded:
and one each of the following:
There is a notable absence of originality in the above list. We have, however, a small collection of titles invented by New Zealand journalists to describe their contemporaries, in which much more freedom is displayed.
From the official returns for 1886, just to hand, we extract the following figures relating to imports into New Zealand during the year:
In the item of writing ink, £102 worth, for Government use, was imported duty-free, and £5,253 worth of stationery came in duty-free for the same reason.
The reception Typo has received from the go-ahead printers beyond the Pacific has been very gratifying to us. There had not been time when the mail left for many of our exchanges to respond; but the notices in those to hand are of a very appreciative kind, as are also private letters from some of the prominent men in the craft. One of these gentlemen, who conducts a leading trade organ, notifies us of his intention to « steal » from our columns « with persistent regularity. »
Book-keeping should be done in the office books, and not in printed entries at the foot of advertisements. The largest advertising businesses in the world are managed without resort to this clumsy device. It is a sign of bad system. In a contemporary we notice memoranda like these in the advertising columns:—« 524 hsp30-8f » and « 646 b ap30 my 14 28. »
The items relating to the state of the trade in Australia in this month's Typographical Journal are brief, but significant: « Sydney, 20th April.—Trade as dull as ever. » « Melbourne, 30th April.—Trade still dull. »
If Mr Dowie be correctly reported in Truth, he must be a believer in « the antiquity of man, » and specially of the Jewish people. It is startling to read that « more than eighteen hundred centuries ago a man went into a Jewish synagogue to worship. » We are reminded of the Shakspeare tercentenary ode by one of Mr Punch's correspondents, opening thus:
« Accept, dear Will, my homage plenary On thy three-hundredth tercentenary. »
The Dawn (Wellington) makes a distinction between « Spiritist » and « Spiritualist; » but our contemporary's definition is precisely the reverse of that in general use. The distinction of meaning is well marked. A Spiritualist is the opposite to a Materialist. The one is a believer in a spiritual region and spiritual beings, which the other denies, and in this clear and evident sense of the word Spiritualist, all Christian denominations are included. The term Spiritist is a denominational term, and is properly applied to those who seek to hold intercourse with spirits, and shape their creed and order their lives from supposed spirit teachings. The creed of a Spiritist is sometimes pure materialism. « Spiritualist » is a generic term; « Spiritist »is specific.
On Thursday morning, 28th April, a disastrous fire occurred in Wellington, resulting in the complete destruction of the fine building occupied by the postal, telegraph, and customs departments. The building was the finest public office in the city; it was three stories in height, and was surmounted by a high clock-tower. It was completed in 1884, and with the fittings, cost £27,000. The destruction of records, telegraph instruments, &c., brings the loss up to £30,000, which falls upon the colony, all public buildings being insured in a special public department. There is no clue to the origin of the fire, which was discovered at 4.45 a.m. by Mrs Davis, one of the cleaners attached to the establishment. The fire originated near a lift, and the flames rapidly rose to the roof, and breaking out through the windows into a square central courtyard, soon gained full possession. The Brigades worked hard, but were practically powerless, having no means of reaching the heart of the fire. All the mails were saved, and with wonderful resource and enterprise, the postal and telegraph departments were again in good working order in the course of the day.
The following list of « misused words » is from Tweed's New Grammar, an American publication. We copy the list as it stands, though some of the errors enumerated are fortunately unknown outside of the United States.
Last month, under the head of « Some Common Errors, » we referred to a single instance of the misuse of caps; and we now purpose to deal more fully with the subject. In the primitive forms of writing, capitals, punctuation signs, and even spaces between words, were unknown; but as language became more complex, the use of such grammatical signs became apparent. Yet, even at the present time, the usage—even as relates to division of words—is not settled, and is left greatly to individual discretion. To any grammatical rule which might be formulated, exceptions could immediately be found: hence the usage of the best writers and printers is anything but uniform—and we have no better guide. Therefore, in this and succeeding articles, instead of following the beaten track and laying down a multiplicity of rules, we shall seek as far as possible for general principles, and illustrate correct and incorrect usage by analogy.
To lay down hard and fast rules as to the use of capitals is impossible—the nature of the work to some extent has always to be considered. Thus, capitals are properly used much more freely in advertisements than in ordinary matter. That the distinctive use of capitals may be altogether abandoned without serious inconvenience is clear, no such distinction being observed in titles or monumental inscriptions. Not only is the custom of different languages variable, but that of the same language at different periods.
One important office of the capital in modern English is to distinguish between proper and common nouns; but this distinction was formerly made in quite a different manner. In the time of Shakespeare common nouns were written indifferently with and without capitals, but proper nouns were distinguished by italic. Later still, it became the rule to write every substantive with a capital, the italic still fulfilling the important purpose of distinguishing proper names. The use of capitals for common nouns passed away early in the present century, and we find Benjamin Franklin, who must have been something of a conservative, protesting against the change, and at the same time deploring the abandonment of the long f. He tells us that a Frenchman who was perplexed with an involved English sentence, read it easily when all the nouns were distinguished by capitals. But the change was made, and the italic was reserved for emphatic words. A trace of the old fashion still survives, however, as the names of ships, newspapers, and dramatic heroes are still usually printed in italic. Names of horses, strangely enough, are never so distinguished. The use of capitals to distinguish nouns is still the German practice, and is also the Danish custom, though the Swedish, a closely-allied tongue, has abandoned the practice. In English, every line of poetry and every verse of Scripture begins with a capital—in Swedish the capitals are used in such cases only as the punctuation requires.
One of the commonest errors in the matter of caps is to write the words « Bible, » « Christian, » and « Christianity » with a small letter. That this is anomalous and incorrect, a moment's consideration will show. No analogous word is ever so treated. Did any one ever see « koran, » « zendavesta, » « buddhism, » or « wesleyan » in any correctly-printed English book? Yet the more offensive error meets us every day—even in religious literature. Elliott's Horæ Apocalypticæ affords an instance in point. The usage in that book is by no means uniform; but we find « christianity » and « christian » (both in the substantive and adjective forms), of frequent occurrence. This is the more noticeable in those sentences where the term is used in contrast to « Pagan, » « Gnostic, » &c., with a capital letter.
The practice of indicating pronouns referring to the Supreme Being by a capital should be confined to distinctively religious publications. It is decidedly out of place in secular work. It is not followed in the Scriptures, either of the Authorized or Revised Versions; and most English scholars are of opinion, with the revisers, that its introduction would have been a disfigurement of the sacred text. A similar practice in the case of dignitaries, is inexcusable. « His Honor » and « Your Excellency » are not only ungrammatical, but snobbish.
In English, adjectives formed from proper names, as « Scottish, » « Baconian, » are distinguished by a capital. This is contrary to the usage of other European languages, and is attended with disadvantage. In fact, where such adjectives have become compounded with nouns, and are of a trivial character, the capital is very commonly dropped, as in « roman candles, » « prussian blue, » and « venice turpentine. » We may yet see the English conformed to continental usage, and the capital dropped altogether in the case of adjectives. A ludicrous instance may be noticed in the case of the « Jerusalem » artichoke, in which the adjective is a corruption of girasóle, and has no reference to any proper name—yet is invariably printed with a capital.
« Press, » « pulpit, » and « platform, » should not be distinguished by a capital, as it leads to confusion. This rule applies to any abstract noun which is in common use as a proper name. « The Canterbury press » signifies the newspapers of the province in general; « the Canterbury Press » one in particular. Sub-editors are often perplexed in deciphering telegrams where such an expression occurs, and the context affords no indication of the meaning.
Scientific names, in zoology and botany, are of two classes. In one class the specific name is simply descriptive, as tuberosum, punctata, &c.; in the other, it is a proper name latinized, as Smithii, Brownii, Jonesii, and Robinsonii, or Indica and Japonica. The generic name always takes the capital, the specific name only in the latter class. Thus we write Agaricus campestris, Coracias Abyssinica.
The use of capitals in titles is very variable, and it is difficult to lay down precise rules. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, are often thus distinguished; but the relative importance of the word has always to be considered. Thus, « To Renew Old Rollers, » is correct as a heading, though neither of these words would be distinguished by caps in the text. « An old Method of utilizing Waste Material » is also correct. In this case, the verb and one of the adjectives, being of minor importance, are kept down.
Analogous to the heading is the word which embodies the leading idea of an article. Thus in an essay on Light, it is quite correct to distinguish the word throughout with a capital—not as a proper noun, but as the title-word. The various adjectives used in systematic treatment of the main subject, as Solar, Artificial, Reflected, or Transmitted, might also thus be distinguished; but not if they only come in by way of casual reference.
Men of conspicuous genius, like Carlile and Dickens, may afford to indulge in mannerisms of punctuation and the use of capitals, which it is not safe for smaller writers to imitate. The tendency of the best writers is to make less use of capitals than was formerly the fashion. As the profuse use of italic is a sure mark of weakness of composition, so an undue use of capitals is an indication of an inflated style.
As there is no likelihood of the tariff proposals now before the House of Representatives being passed in their present form, it is scarcely necessary to go into particulars regarding them. The outlook, as regards trade, is not, however, encouraging. Instead of an anticipated surplus of £1,500 the Treasurer reports a deficit of over £92,000. Neither the Government nor the House, so far, have manifested any desire for retrenchment, and the only resource appears to be an increase of nearly £200,000 on the year's taxation. This is proposed to be effected partly by an increased property tax, but chiefly by increased Customs Duties. As these are to take the protective form, they will (if adopted) yield the minimum instead of the maximum of revenue. Many articles heretofore admitted free are to be taxed; and stationery and other goods formerly paying 15%, are to be increased to 20%—really nearly 25%. So greatly would this restrain trade, as most likely to result in actual diminution instead of increase in the revenue. But the worst of all signs is the absence of self-reliance on the part of the colonists themselves. There is scarcely a trade or industry (the noble craft of printing excepted) which has not made some kind of appeal to the State to bear its losses or implement its gains.
Heavy gales, with shipwrecks and loss of life, have prevailed during the present month. On the 11th inst., the Northumberland, with all her English cargo for Napier, and a good deal of home cargo shipped at Lyttelton, was driven ashore in Hawke's Bay and broken to pieces. The crew were saved, but four men were lost by the capsizing of the steamer Boojum, which had gone out to render assistance, and was also wrecked. Among the cargo was a quantity of books and stationery, and twenty bales of paper shipped to two of the local newspapers.
A deputation of Otago gentlemen interested in the printing and publishing trade waited on Mr Downie Stewart last week with reference to the proposed duty on imported almanacs and calendars. Mr Wilkie, the spokesman, said that almanacs for the year were already ordered, and as agreements with the importers were already made, the latter would have to be at the loss or cancel the orders. The deputation only asked at present for the removal of the duty for the present year, but if it were not removed altogether the importation of almanacs would be stopped. Mr Stewart said he would lay the matter before Sir Julius Vogel. If the deputation would make up a list of the classes of printed goods that could be turned out in the colony, and another of those that could not, he would submit them to the Colonial Treasurer.
Mythology is not a strong point with the colonial comp. The ketch Frithjof was wrecked on the coast early this month, and her name turns up as « Frithjoy » and « Free-joy » in the telegrams.
Eighth Year of Publication.
Harding's 1887 Almanac New Zealand Year-Book and East Coast Local Guide
Has taken the Leading Position among the Annual Books of Reference published in New Zealand.
Two Shillings.
Sent post-free to any address in New Zealand.
R. Coupland Harding
Printers and Publisher, Napier.
The following figures show approximately the comparative popularity of the leading English female novelists. The sales of Miss Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret amount to 450,000 copies; Mrs Wood's East Lynne, 120,000; Miss Muloch's John Halifax, Gentleman, 90,000.
A late number of the American Inventor of Cincinnati, says:—« We print this month's issue for the first time by means of electricity. The Sprague motor is used; and is an immense advance on any other kind of power. We are running four presses with a single motor, and it is quite a novelty in action. »
The Wesleyan Spectator recently questioned the veracity of « The Vagabond, » an Australian writer. Instead of accepting this as a compliment to his imaginative powers, he claims £20,000 damages from the paper. Perhaps we shall next hear of Mark Twain demanding a million or two of dollars from the Christian Union for impugning the accuracy of some of the statements in A Tramp Abroad.
A foreman printer in Boston writes to one of the foundries that he has to « fish most of the specimen and sample sheets out of the counting-room waste-basket. » The complaints that reach Typo are of a different kind. The comps can't get a sight of the exchange copy because the man who first sees it puts it in his pocket to read at his leisure! We can't help it—in fact we mean to make the paper more useful and attractive still. So send along your postal notes.
We are in receipt of the American Exporter for March, a first-class general trade paper, printed throughout in English and Spanish. The Exporter, we notice, has the courage to denounce in unmeasured terms the so-called « Retaliation » bill, in connexion with the dispute between the United States and Canada; and clearly shows that if the measure is carried out, it is the States that will pay the penalty in loss of trade.
From Melbourne we have the Australasian Typographical Journal, an old-established and neatly-printed monthly, the recognized organ of the Australian typographical societies.—The direct mail per Rimutaka brings us our first exchange paper from London—The Printer, (the organ of the London Society of Compositors), a neat quarterly.—From London we have also the solid and practical Printing Times. The back volumes of this periodical are reckoned among our typographic treasures.—From New York, the American Lithographer and Printer of 2nd April is to hand. Our readers will see that we have laid this excellent paper under contribution in our column of « Trade Wrinkles. »
A tramp Printer, while passing a drug store, heard a gentleman remark to the druggist that he was the exact picture of Charles Dickens. The observant comp saw at a glance that the druggist was flattered. Pretty soon he returned, and stepping into the drug-store said to the proprietor:
« Excuse me, sir, for addressing you, but in passing your house I could not help but notice a striking resemblance between you and the late famous Charles Dickens, whose manuscript I have many a time set up. The sight of your face in a moment turned upon me a flood of recollections in relation to the great novelist. »
« Won't you be seated? » asked the druggist.
« No, I am in something of a hurry to get a pint of whisky for a sick friend. »
« I have very fine whisky here, sir. »
« Yes; but as my finances are low, or rather exhausted, I am compelled to get it where I am known. Up the street here a gentleman credits me. »
« I can let you have it on the same terms, » said the druggist, smiling in recollection of his resemblance to Dickens. « I never have any misgivings in regard to a man whose face bears, as yours does, such indications of honesty. »
The printer secured the whisky, and when he reached the « ranche, » a squalid room where he lived with another printer and a shoemaker, he related his experience, when they all agreed that a rich mine had been discovered. For several days the first printer secured the whisky, and then the second went around and was struck with the resemblance. Finally the shoemaker's turn arrived. He was drilled carefully by the printers, and cautioned, on account of his neglected literary training, not to make any ventures.
« Oh, I can hold it down, » said the shoemaker. « Give me the bottle. I'll get the best he's got. » He went to the store, and meeting the proprietor said:
« Well, sir; it's mighty strange, but you are exactly like Dickson! »
« Like whom, sir? »
« Dickson, the bookbinder. Don't you know him? »
« No, sir; I don't. »
« It's mighty strange. The boys have been coming around here for some time, talking to you about Dickson, and gettin' the whisky, but when I come you don't know anything about it. Fill up this bottle, anyway, cap'n. I don't want the gang to guy me. »
The druggist took the bottle, and moving around different jars filled it, while a revengeful twinkle danced in his eyes. When the shoemaker returned to the « ranche, » the printers complimented him on his success, but shortly afterwards, when they heaved and groaned in awful sickness, they cursed the druggist, his whisky, and the illiterate shoemaker.
The Salem (Mass) Gazette has been issued without a break or the loss of an edition for 100 years, and during that time, with the exception of two-and-a-quarter years, has had but two editors. These were Thomas Cushing and Caleb Foote. The latter is still senior editor, hale and active after sixty-one years of service and sixty-nine years' continuous connexion with the office.
It was a printer who made Henderson, N.C., the largest city, territorially speaking, in the world. The intention was to extend the limit 1,000 yards in each direction, but the printer made the bill read 1,000 miles, and so it passed the American Legislature without the error being noticed.
A settler named Cziglelewski has been naturalized. It has been found impossible to naturalize his name.
In the good old times in Wellington, « Old Smith » of Thorndon Flat, had the mysterious words vide et crede placed over his shop door. This phrase was freely and popularly translated « No credit here. »
According to the Philadelphia Call, a shorthand writer at Washington can report a speech with such rapidity that the speaker finds it utterly impossible to keep up with him.
The Wellington Post suggests a kind of amnesty of prisoners in the jails to commemorate the Queen's Jubilee. The idea is excellent. No more effectual means could be devised to make this a memorable year, than to turn our criminals loose on society
We have received Nos. 1 and 6 of Truth, a small weekly published in Wellington. Mr Grigg, the proprietor, is an old Napier journalist, having been for some years one of the proprietors of the Herald, and afterwards sub-editor of the Telegraph. Truth is a semi-religious paper, of decidedly Protestant principles, inclined to Dowieism, and would be the better of more careful proof-reading. It has an odd fashion of lumping dissimilar items together in the same paragraph. Judging from the advertising support it has secured, it appears to be a success.
The outbreak of a « gigantic naphtali fountain » is recorded in the foreign telegrams of a contemporary. Jehoshaphat! what next?
An important addition to the literature of typography has been made by Mr Talbot B. Reed, who has brought out in quarto, a History of the Old English Letter Foundries. The work is published at a guinea-and-a-half.
The accidental substitution of a note of exclamation for a period in the announcement that a decoration had been conferred upon Count von Holstein has subjected the proprietors of the Hofer Tageblatt to the confiscation of an entire issue, and an action for libel.
The Napier fire of last December greatly increased in magnitude as the news spread. Locally, the damage was supposed to be under £50,000. In the London papers it was placed at £80,000. In the Scotsman, £110,000. In Paris, Galignani's Messenger stated that half the town was burnt. An Italian paper stated that all the town had been destroyed, and 100 lives lost! Possibly some word of a negative kind had been read as « 100. »
The telegraph, with its indiscriminate use of capitals and small letters, plays grievous havoc with proper names. In the lists of lives lost in the sad Boojum fatality, we find the words « stranger » and « landsman » figuring as « Stranger » and « Lambson. » The London Times not long ago sub-edited a telegram thus: « Mr Edmond Richard Wallace, the only son of Sir Richard Wallace, died of heart-disease while playing at bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne. » « Bagatelle » was really the name of Sir Richard Wallace's villa.
The cipher « I.H.S. » has, as is well known, more than one interpretation, and it is a disputed point among scholars which is the original. Some recent light has been thrown on the subject. « Mamma, » said a little girl in the Napier cemetery, « what is the meaning of 'I.H.S.' on that grave-stone? » « It means 'I Have Suffered,' my dear, » was the reply.—Fully as ingenious was the Yankee printer, who placed the Roman cipher « S.P.Q.R. » in large letters on the front of his place of business. His interpretation of the historic symbol was: « Small Profits: Quick Returns. »—« R.S.V.P. » has been interpreted, « Remember—Six, Very Punctual. »
—Pacific Printer.Anon.
We have to thank Mr F. Ullmer, London, for back numbers of the Standard Circular.
The Lyttelton Times is now printed from the web, on a « Victory » machine.
The N. Z. Times, we read in some of our exchanges, has been enlarged to eight pages. We cannot speak from personal knowledge of of the fact.
Mr D. Chamier, editor of the Waipawa Mail, has left on a visit to the old country. Mr Hornsby, late of the Napier News, has taken his place.
Mr C. D. Whitcombe, formerly Commissioner of Crown Lands at New Plymouth, has accepted the sub-editorship of the Auckland Bell.
Our English papers just to hand record the death, on the 6th March, of Mr. J. Dellagana, sen., aged 59 years. The deceased was one of the original founders of the celebrated firm of stereotypers, J. & B. Dellagana. He and his brother were the first to cast rotary stereotype plates for the Times and other leading London dailies.
Mr James John Field, chemical ink manufacturer, died on 20th December last.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—May, 1887.
Following up the subject of Decoration, we naturally consider in the first place the simplest and most generally used of all decorative appliances—Ornamental Types. The fertility of invention and prolific production of this class of material in the last few years has resulted in such an enormous variety as might well confuse the learner who approaches its study for the first time. The entirely arbitrary nomenclature in use by the manufacturers is also perplexing. Notwithstanding all the care the typefounders take to avoid appropriating names already in use, it is unavoidable; and not only are the same faces differently named by different houses, but the same names, such as « Gothic, » « Celtic, » « Runic, » « Egyptian, » are applied to styles possessing no feature in common. The great house of Bruce, in New York, has discarded descriptive names altogether; but this is a doubtful advantage. The names are sometimes very appropriate; and it is certainly easier to remember « Relievo » and « Arboret » than « Style 2217. »
Vast, however, as is the variety, and confusing as are the arbitrary names, the whole field of ornamental founts may be readily classified under certain leading heads; and in a surprisingly short time the practical printer is able to detect at first sight a letter which he has not seen before. In fact, a trained eye can recognize the difference when a pattern has merely been re-cut by a different hand, or when a single letter of a fount has been intentionally varied.
In classifying ornamental Types, it is impossible to avoid overlapping, especially as in the search after novelty it has of late become a common practice to mix styles. Any system of arrangement must be open to criticism and improvement; but some classification is absolutely necessary as a preliminary to the subject. We have therefore to consider, first the essential forms of the characters, and secondly, the way in which these are modified, decorated, or distorted.
The simplest and most rudimentary form of letter, as well as the most ancient, is the sanserif, sometimes very inappropriately styled « gothic » and « grotesque. » Strictly speaking, this style has no lowercase. The addition of lower-case to correspond is an innovation within the memory of most of our readers. The simplicity and legibility of this form of letter, and the rapidity with which it can be inscribed, especially fits it for monumental inscriptions. For this purpose it has been used from the earliest times, and is used still, to the exclusion of almost every other character. In printing, it is specially appropriate to memorial cards (in which the monumental style is retained); and in general jobbing to the bold display lines in posters and advertising work generally. In its simple form it is not an ornamental letter—it is in fact, the farthest removed from ornament; but as in ordinary printing it has been displaced by the « roman » character, it ranks as a job fount. It is especially out of place in title-pages. We show a typical line of this style, which is the foundation of every other kind of character in present use:
Sanserif, An Ancient Form. Simple and Legible.
This fount will answer as well as any other to illustrate the modifications which may be introduced into any style of letter, without departing from its distinctive character. The specimen shown is of average proportion. The style may be modified
The letter thus modified is still unadorned. It may become « sanserif ornamentedy » by modifications of another kind:
This list (which does not profess to be exhaustive) will show the almost endless variety of form available to the designer; and sanserif, from its essentially simple character, is not susceptible of so many kinds of modification as romans, gothics, and scripts. We will not recapitulate the above list in referring to other styles, as any character in use may be treated in all these ways. And the thirteen methods of modification may be multiplied into each other indefinitely. Thus a style of letter might be represented by the formula « 1 3 f a b »— that is to say the sanserif might be at the same time thick, expanded, face-tinted, blocked, and shaded.
We may mention one more modification:
We now pass to the next development—that of the cursive or lower-case letters. Even where their form seems most to diverge from the capitals, as in the a, e, or t, the fundamental resemblance can always be traced; and a favorite device with designers is to interchange these forms, as in the letters T, C, &c. All founts with lower-case may be classified in three great divisions (1) Gothic, or Old English; (2) Roman; (3) Script. Italic occupies an intermediate position between roman and script, shading off at one end of the scale into one, and at the opposite end into the other; but can scarcely be counted as a separate style.
Roman. Many founts of this character have no lower-case; but there are none to which the small letters could not be added if necessary. The essential difference between the roman and sanserif already described consists in the addition of the « serif. » This adds much to the beauty of the letter, and as it is usually thinner than the main lines, introduces the element of contrast. The letters cannot be formed so rapidly, as for example, in the case of the capital I, which is composed in roman of three straight lines; in sanserif (|) of but one. The serifs of the roman afford much scope for decoration, and in many cases determine the style, as for instance:
Latin, in which the serifs taper off to a point. This is a very recent style, and has become very popular. It is sometimes called « Runic » and « Celtic. »
Other styles are formed by ornamenting the stems of the letters in various ways, as in
— Before proceeding to the next section we will describe some of the peculiar and exceptional styles of letter, which are not easily arranged under general heads, and also indicate where a want of system exists on the part of designers, to the great detriment of the printer.
A very useful Dictionary of Typography and Lithography is being published from month to month in La Typologie-Tucker.
The book trade in China is being revolutionized by the art of photo-lithography. Most of the books issued in that country are reprints of standard works, and the cutting new blocks is always attended with liability to error. For the reproduction of such works, the art of photo-lithography is specially adapted. Two firms at Shanghai, one English and one native, are at work in this direction, and some editions of classical works have been turned out, the quality and cheapness of which have made the Chinese students enthusiastic.
An Auckland paper of the baser sort recently lampooned the wife of a college professor in some doggrel lines. The lady was addressed by her Christian name, and the attack was not only scurrilous, but indecent. No daily newspaper in the colony would deliberately have copied such offensive matter; but the writer, by sending it abroad as a press telegram, succeeded in smuggling it into some of them. Subeditors cannot be too watchful of items, especially by wire, from unknown correspondents. By the inadvertent publication of such malicious matter, they not only injure their reputation, but may incur serious penalties under the libel laws.
To an Englishman who happens to travel in the United States (says the Printing Times) the characteristic of the American business programme which strikes him most forcibly is, that tradesmen are doggedly resolved to do one of two things, either to produce a somewhat inferior article in immense quantities at a price hitherto unheard of, or to produce, regardless of cost, some article superior of its kind to all other similar ones. No one seems content with mediocre aims in business. It must be big, either the best work possible, regardless of expense, or an immense output of inferior stuff at the lowest price; but of the two, the best class has by far the greater number of votaries.
The common widths of book pages, miscellaneous jobs, and newspaper columns are to some number of pica ems; therefore the pica em is taken as the basis for the self-spacing type. The thinnest space in all founts is some exact fraction of a pica, and this fraction of pica is called the unit of measure. All characters, spaces, and quads in the fount are made some exact multiple of this unit in width, so that the sizes of all faces will work perfectly together in the regular labor-saving measures. This unit of measure may be one-sixth, one-seventh, one-eighth, one-ninth, one-tenth, &c., of a pica em, as may be desired, to produce condensed, medium, or extended faces. The following table gives the sizes of bodies, units of measure, and lengths of alphabets. In the first column will be found the various sizes of bodies; in the second, the number of units contained in one em pica; and in the third the measurements of a lower-case alphabet in ems of each particular body:
In the foregoing table will be noticed a nonpareil with one-twelfth of pica as a unit of measure. This is one-sixth of the body of nonpareil, or the six-to-em space, which preserves in this particular fount the old three-to-em space and the old en and em quads. The same is true of the brevier on one-ninth of pica, the Bourgeois on one-eighth of pica, and the pica on one-sixth of pica.
The minion on one-twelfth of pica will have as its unit a seven-to-em space, or one-seventh of the minion body, and will set at right angles or work into squares of the body, as will also the pica on one-seventh of pica. The nonpareil on one-tenth of pica has the old five-to-em space of nonpareil as its unit, and will work into squares of nonpareil or pica.
In a complete fount of the old kind of body-type there are about 190 widths of bodies. Appended is a table showing the different widths of bodies of self-spacing old-style. It will be readily seen that there are but nine widths of bodies all told, and that the four-unit width predominates largely over any other, there being fifty-nine characters of this width. We omit the italic characters from the table, as they all go on the same widths of bodies, and are interchangeable with the roman:
In roman founts, except old-style, there are but eight widths of bodies, the eight-unit width being omitted.
Any compositor can see that no combination of units can be made that will not come within a certain number of exact units of filling a line. If a line of matter lacks, it must lack one or more exact units.
Self-spacing type sets line-for-line with the ordinary roman, when the lengths of the alphabets are the same.
Repeated experiments with the new type have shown that the average compositor gains about twenty-five per cent. in speed, with no trouble in justification whatever. In the matter of the correction of proofs the gain is enormous. Say there is an a for an e; as a is four units wide and e three, e and a one-unit space justify the line perfectly. Even this measure of trouble is avoided in many instances. As twenty-six of the most common lower-case characters are of the same width, they can be substituted for one another without the change of a space.
Another item worthy of consideration is the greater durability of the type. It is always on its feet, and therefore is not worn by « pounding. »
In tabular work there is a great gain in speed and neatness. By the addition of the new character |, it is easy to set perpendicular lines of any length, line by line.
Self-spacing type does not require a conscious effort to master its principle—the compositor acquires intuitively and at once all that is necessary for the perfect use of the system. He is relieved of the mental process of spacing and justifying which he now goes through.
This system secures a regular relation between letters, spaces, and figures. Under the present lack of system, the three-to-em space and the en figure are used, no matter whether the face be expanded or compressed; in self-spacing type every character and space will be increased or decreased in width relatively with the face of the type. Finally, the changes in the proportions of the letters have made the type more legible, and less injurious to the eyes.
« The Little Wonder » is the name of a new cylinder treadle machine, specially adapted for paper bags and handbills. The machine contains several new features, and can be worked at a greater speed than treadle machines of the ordinary patterns.
Paper and Press describes and figures a new plate-printing machine, the special feature of which is a mechanical wiper, which relieves the printer of the dirty work of wiping the ink from the face of the plate by hand. The movement of the human wrist is admirably imitated, and the hitherto insuperable difficulty of mechanically wiping the plate clean without wiping out the fine lines, has been overcome. It is applicable either to flat or cylindrical plates. To prevent the wiping-cloth from inking-up, and thereby losing its efficiency, a long cloth is used, which is fed at such a speed over the face of the block, when the latter is not in contact with the face of the plate, that the wiping surface is constantly renewed.
The Anderson reporting machine, a kind of simplified type-writer, of American origin, appears to be a decided success. It has been operated by a little girl, thirteen years of age, at the rate of 237 words per minute. The machine is held in the lap of the operator, who, after a little practice, has no occasion to look at the keys, and the secret of its great speed lies in the fact that any combination of the keys may be struck at a single impulse of the hand, without moving the position of the fingers.
Several new and very important inventions in lithographic appliances are recorded in our English exchanges. One of these is a patent called Litho-plate. A thin calcareous deposit of the same nature as the lithographic stone is artificially produced upon a metal plate. The surface is said to be superior to that of the natural stone; there is an enormous gain in lightness and portability; and the cost is only about one-fourth. The idea is not altogether new; but it has only lately been brought to perfection.
The « air brush »is an appliance lately introduced into lithography, which has found much favor. The color is contained in a soft pad connected with a pneumatic tube which the artist works with his foot, governing the supply by the amount of pressure. Very little practice is required to master the new instrument, and there is said to be a great gain in speed, as well as in softness and breadth of effect.
The Printing Times devotes a long article to the subject of Day's shading and printing mediums for lithographers. These may be used for graining, stippling, lining, and otherwise shading drawings on stone, zinc, cardboard, paper, tiles, glass, or other flat surfaces. The mediums are transparent gelatine sheets which have been cast from engraved plates (or wood blocks or engraved stones), and form therefore a replica of whatever was engraved on the original in relief upon one side, while they are perfectly smooth on the other. The parts in relief can be charged with ink, and set-off upon any flat surface. When by repeated use the sheet is worn out, it can be replaced by another from the same original. This invention saves much drudgery in representing skies, clouds, stipple-work, tints, and various textures. The transfer is made with a burnisher, and the transparency of the medium enables the operator to transfer exactly so much of the tint or texture to his work as he requires. Practical men speak highly of the invention.
Last month, in reference to the point system, we wrote: « One reform only will then remain—to make the width of every character to even points. » Our American exchanges, since to hand, show that the first step has been taken in this direction; and we do not hesitate to say that the time is not very distant when every fount, plain or ornamental, will come in accurately to pica, as easily as a combination border. The annoyance arising from discrepant bodies, about which so much agitation has taken place, is insignificant compared with the trouble which arises in justification of lines, through the width of the several characters bearing no proportion either to a pica standard or the body of the type. In another page we quote the patentees' article describing the new style, and we may add, that having gone carefully into the subject, we endorse all that is said as to the advantage of the new method. Any one who has ever set table work must have noticed how much more rapidly the figure columns are composed than those of the text; and we consider that the estimate of the inventors, that twenty-five per cent. is saved in time of composition, is under rather than over the mark.
Let us consider some of the present anomalies. Figures are to an en body, and space accurately with em and en quads. The comma, which is always used with figures in tabular work, is (generally) just half the width, and with the middle space, justifies correctly. But the £ is on a body of two-thirds of the em—in conjunction with the comma, an incommeasurable fraction of the em. The £, to work harmoniously with figures and commas, should either be ½ or ¾ of the em. The beautiful English brevier in which Typo is set, is a particularly troublesome letter in this particular. We have a large fount, to which we have added from time to time. The first portion had the comma to the usual thickness of one-fourth of the body—the last addition, consisting of 500lb, had the comma to a nondescript thickness, something less than a thick space, the face and nick being the same as before. To keep them apart is out of the question, and since they have been mixed, it is impossible to set a column of figures straight without examining every comma that is used. Equally absurd is the fashion, which has been much exaggerated of late years, of making the apostrophe smaller and thinner than the comma. We have a long primer, in which the comma is ¼ of the em in width, and the apostrophe about ⅙, and slight in proportion. The two characters should be exactly alike, varying only in position. When brought into close juxtaposition, as in a short quotation like "No," the effect is often very ridiculous.
Many of the characters in an ordinary fount are anomalous in thickness, and have no equivalent in any single space or combination of spaces. Such are the t, s, e, z, &c. The n is generally narrower than the space to which it gives its name. The typefounders denounce the comps who bend spaces; but the fault lies elsewhere. In many cases there is no other alternative but to cut brevier or nonpareil spaces out of paper—as we had to do not many days ago in some tabular work in nonpareil where there was only one space in each line for justification. A hair-space would not go in, and a piece of stout paper had to fill the place.
The spaces themselves are anomalous. From the em to the middle, they bear a fixed proportion to the body: 1, ½, ⅓, ¼. Below this all is confusion. The thin space is sometimes ⅕, sometimes ⅙, sometimes quite a random thickness. The hair-space may be any thickness, and of late years has been gradually thickening to an extraordinary degree. We have founts of two-line great primer in which it is nearly a ¼ pica.
Some of the old landmarks disappear in the new system. Width is regulated by « units, » and the fixed measurement of the present scale are replaced by relative measures. Thus the thick space and en space of a full-faced fount are wider than those of a condensed letter. The spaces no longer relate directly to their own body-fount, but to pica, and no matter what size the type may be, if the measure is set to pica, the justification will be exact. This more than makes up for the abandonment of the fixed points of the present system.
It is noticeable that the time-honored en figure body has quite disappeared from the new scheme. Let us take the four sizes of nonpareil shown in the table. The present width of nonpareil figures is 3 points. In the most condensed nonpareil in the table it is ⅗ 0/6 5, and in the wider faces 4, 4/2 5/5; 5, and 44/5 respectively. These fractions may appear very unmanageable; but they have the advantage of being systematic and corresponding with the spaces, and come out right at the end of the line. In an ordinary fount, figures excepted, there is no system, and the proportions are incommeasurable. We think the new system is defective in giving fractions a fuller body than figures, and we see no mention of half-fractions in the scheme. The plan has also this objection, both from a printers' and founders' point of view, that all « peculiars »—mathematical signs, superiors, &c., now used interchangeably, will require to be cast specially for each fount of varying width. Thus, if a printer had 11-unit nonpareil and 12-unit accessories, it would throw all the system into confusion. This is a decided disadvantage.
There is an evident gain in the matter of legibility. The only specimens before us are in the old-style character, which we thoroughly dislike, but it is clearer reading than the ordinary old-style. In this respect it differs from the letters designed four or five years ago to secure this very object by M. Motteroz, who only succeeded in producing some hideous results. A new feature also is the character of the italic. The letters are precisely the thickness of the corresponding sorts in the roman, but have none of the cursive style of ordinary italic lower-case. They are just roman characters sloped, and the effect is very peculiar, though not unpleasing.
One more reform might have been introduced—the conforming of the small caps to the lower-case. This would have saved the cutting of special punches for small cap o, s, v, w, x, and z. Small caps are at present a nuisance—neither one thing nor another. A few years ago they were so like the lower-case that they were always getting mixed: Oo Ss Vv. Latterly, they have in some cases grown nearly to the size of the caps, and get mixed with them, as in the following example in nonpareil: oO wW. This is worse, as for one of the chief purposes of small caps—that of catch-lines in display—they are useless. They ought to correspond precisely with lower-case. We should then need no extra nick, and the mark « l.c. » would no longer have to be sprinkled over the proofs by the reader.
We are not sure that the system, though in its own way unexceptionable, is the best possible. We would like to see the proportions one-thirteenth, one-seventh, &c., thrown out altogether. By dividing the point, say, by four, and starting with a universal unit of 1/48 (or if necessary 1/96) pica, the whole process would be reduced to one of simple addition, which is, to our mind, the only sound basis on which type proportions can be fixed. The least mixing of spaces of the new system would introduce even worse confusion than there is at present; under the system we suggest, it would be harmless, and the characters and spaces of each fount would have a fixed relation to every other. It would not then be necessary to have more than one series of « peculiars » to each size.
A good beginning has been made; but we hope to see the system extended to every fount, no matter what its face may be. It would be especially useful in case of letters like the « Relievo, » « Roman Scroll, » and « Arboret, » designed to work in combination with borders, and could be successfully carried out without distorting the letters in any degree.
We have but one more remark to make in conclusion. This new scheme will make more pressing than ever the necessity for a systematic nick, as advocated in our article on page 18 of the present volume.
Until recent years, very little definite information on the subject of type standards—a matter of fundamental importance to the craft—has been accessible to printers. They knew and deplored the absolute want of system that prevailed, and which was fully admitted by the founders themselves; but it was commonly supposed that the evil was so wide-spread and deeply-rooted as to be beyond the reach of remedy. The voluntary attempts at reform which have recently been made, and the measure of success with which they have been attended, have not only demonstrated the possibility of a thorough reform, but have placed it among the probabilities of the future. The subject has been widely discussed, and exact information is now accessible.
This matter has engaged our attention for many years, and we purpose dealing with it in a series of articles. As a necessary preliminary, we publish tables of the various systems in vogue, old and new. We hope our readers will both study and preserve them carefully, as they will be referred to frequently in future articles. We do not know of any publication in which so much information on the subject has been hitherto brought together for comparison.
The following valuable comparative table, showing the number of lines to the foot of the various English founts, is from Austin Wood's Typographic. We could give the names of the founders, but as the compiler has not chosen to make them public, we do not do so. « A » to « E » are the five associated foundries, which can be identified by any reader possessing the types and taking the necessary pains. « F » represents the Austin Foundry; and « G » the old American standard.
The earliest reference we have to this system is in the Chicago Specimen (Marder, Luse, & Co,) of 1879. The loss of their moulds and gauges in the fire of 1871, and the necessity of commencing de novo, gave that firm the opportunity of introducing a harmonious system. The pica em was divided into twelve equal parts or points, and the relative sizes adjusted as they now stand. But the article, by a strange oversight, omits to state the size of the pica. We think we are justified in assuming it to be one-sixth of the inch precisely; in which case the system is identical with that of Mr N. C. Hawks.
Mr N. C. Hawks (says the Pacific Printer), formerly a job printer of Milwaukee, Wis., recognizing the necessity of a true system of justification, first suggested to the American founders the plan of multiple bodies, which should agree also with the standard inch; thus rendering superficial measurements of matter easy and certain, by the use of the mechanics' square and rule. The plan is similar to the French system of Didot, the only difference being the standard of measurement.
The following is the table of sizes:
American.(1) This is the unit of measurement, and is 1/12 of pica, or 1/72 of an inch. It is, of course, too small for a type body, but is used in leads and rules. Some series of letter require the American lead in lining the faces, where two or more sizes are used together in the same line; although its double, the saxon lead, will accomplish this in most cases.
German(l½) is ⅛ of pica and ¼ of nonpareil.
Saxon(2) is ⅙ of pica and ⅓ of nonpareil. It is the most useful of the lead and rule bodies. Four saxons are equal to a brevier; five are eq al to a long primer; six are equal to a pica.
Norse(2½) is ¼ of long primer.
Brilliant(3) is ¼ of pica and ½ of nonpareil.
Ruby(3½) is ½ of minion and ¼ of english.
Excelsior(4) is ½ of pica and ½ of brevier.
Diamond(4½) is ½ of bourgeois and ¼ of great primer.
Pearl(5) is ½ of long primer and ¼ of paragon.
Agate(5½) is ½ of small pica.
Nonpareil(6) is ½ of pica and ⅓ of great primer. Twelve nonpareils make lin. exactly.
Minion(7) is ½ of english.
Brevier(8) is ½ of Columbian and ⅔ of pica.
Bourgeois(9) is ½ of great primer and ⅔ of pica. It is exactly ⅛ of an inch.
Long Primer(10) is ½ of paragon.
Small Pica(11) is ½ of double small pica.Pica (12) is ⅙ of an inch.
English(14) is two-line minion; a nonpareil and a brevier; an excelsior and a long primer. A pica and a saxon lead justify with it.
Columbian(16) is two-line brevier; a nonpareil and a long primer; an excelsior and a pica, &c.
Great Primer(18) is two-line bourgeois; three-line nonpareil; a brevier and a long primer. A great primer three-to-em space is the same as a nonpareil three-em quad. Great Primer is exactly ¼ of an inch.
Paragon(20) is two-line long primer; a brevier and a pica; a nonpareil and an english, &c.
Double Small Pica(22) is two-line small pica; a long primer and a pica; a nonpareil and a columbian. A great primer and two saxon leads justify with it.
Double Pica(24) is two-line pica; four-line nonpareil; three-line brevier; a nonpareil and a great primer; a long primer and an english, &c. It is exactly ⅓-inch.
Double English(28) is two-line english; a long primer and a great primer; a pica and a Columbian, &c.
Double Columbian(32) is two-line columbian; an english and a great primer; a brevier and a double pica, &c.
Double Great Primer(36) is two-line great primer; three-line pica; six-line nonpareil; four-line bourgeois, &c. It is exactly ½-inch.
Double Paragon(40) is two-line paragon; four-line long primer; five-line brevier; eight-line pearl, &c.
Canon(44) is two-line double small pica; four-line small pica, &c.
Four-line Pica(48) is two-line double pica; three-line Columbian; six-line brevier; eight-line nonpareil, &c. It is exactly ⅔-inch.
The new system was sneered at as a « fad » by the older and larger foundries; but met with such immediate and general appreciation on the part of the trade that half-a-dozen or more foundries adopted the new scale, to their own great profit, and to the serious depreciation in value of type cast on the old bodies. The old foundries were now compelled to seriously consider the position; a convention was held, and all, with the exception of Bruce, adopted the interchangeable system. But the influence of two large houses—MacKellar and Farmer, Little, & Co., was so great as to force a change in the standard pica from ⅙-inch to the nondescript and bastard size in use by the Johnson Foundry.
For the bodies of our foundry (Mr MacKellar writes, in the Typographic Advertiser), we use as a standard a steel rod 35 centimeters long, which is divided into 83 parts, each part being equal to a pica body, and the twelfth part of pica (called a point) is the unit by which we measure our type. This steel rod serves also as a standard for the height to paper, which, being 2⅓ centimeters, make 15 type-heights equal to 35 centimeters. Gauged by our standard, the six principal bodies of the American foundries, from which the other bodies are supposed to be derived, show the following dimensions: Minion varies from 6¾ to 7¼ and brevier from 7⅝ to 8⅛ points. Bourgeois, while it is made as large as 9 points, differs generally but little from 8½ points. Long primer measures mostly from 9⅝ to 9¾, and in some foundries 10 points. Small pica varies from 10¼ to 11, and pica from 12 to 12 ⅙ points.
The following table of the relative sizes of English and German type bodies, is published by the Inland Printer, with the remark that it is not strictly accurate. As, however, Hr. H. Berthold of Berlin, by whom it is constructed, is one of the most exact of men, and manufactures the most accurately-cut brass-rule for the leading German foundries, his figures so far as the German bodies are concerned, may be accepted without question. Any inaccuracies may be attributed to the varying standards of English houses. The first column of figures shows the equivalent of the body in eighths of pica, the second in Didot point. German names are in italic.
For the following elaborate table we are indebted to the St. Louis Printers' Register, published by the Central Type Foundry. The English and German scales, shown separately in the Register, we have thrown into one, distinguishing the German bodies by italic. The American standard is the latest, based upon the Johnson pica (12-point) = ·166 inch; 83 picas = 35 centimeters. The continental scale is based on 133 Cicero (Corpus 12) = 60 centimeters.
The standard taken by the Patent Typefounding Company is the pica type, which is divided into twenty points, and to each body is assigned a certain number of these points, as will be seen from the last column of the following table. On this system any body with pica spaces and quadrats, or with leads cast to the pica body, will work with any other body in table-work without justification, and with most of them the relations are of a very simple character. The scale of the old foundries is from Savage's Dictionary of Printing.
To give some idea of how completely this is effected, we subjoin a table of the relations, from five to one line of pica to the other bodies. Before this can be clearly understood, it will necessary to show the sizes of leads on this system, and how, by the addition of one extra space-line or brass to the ordinary leads, any definite decimal portion of the pica, that is, any number of points, can be obtained. The leads are as follow:
No. 1 2to pica = ½pica = 10points (nonpareil clump).
" 2 4" = ¼" = 5"
" 3 5" = ⅕" = 4"
" 4 8" = ⅛" = 2½"
" 5 10" = 1/10" = 2"
" 6 (Brass) 20" = 1/20" = 1"
We will now show the different methods of forming any number of points from one to ten to render the system of practical application on table work, marginal notes, &c.
From the two following tables it will be seen that any body may be used with pica in table-work, or as marginal notes without justification, or what is equivalent, pica quads may be used in an emergency for the blanks and margin of any body without justification, using leads only.
To take an illustration:
The following table shows the relation of from one-to five-line pica to the other bodies, in lines and points. Thus the first item reads: 5-line pica = 5 lines small pica+ 10 points.
The following standard for the bodies of type originated by George Bruce, in the year 1822, has been found very satisfactory. It disturbs but trivially the sizes which are most used, while it fixes the body of every size in exact and correct proportion with the other sizes. This standard is based on the system of geometrical progression, doubling at every seventh size in any part of the series. Each size is, therefore, 12·2462+ per cent. larger than the size immediately above it, as shown in the following columns:
Every mail brings evidence of the activity of the type-founders, both English and foreign, in designing and producing novel and beautiful varieties of type. Especially do we note the energy of the American houses in this respect. The most important novelty is Messrs Benton, Waldo, & Co.'s « self-spacing » type, fully described in another page. Arrangements are in progress by which instead of bare descriptions of the new faces, we will be able to present our readers from time to time with the founders' own specimens in the form of supplements; and we are sure that the enterprising printers of this colony will lose no time in adding the best modern designs to stock.
The New York Art Age contains some exceedingly beautiful photogravure reproductions of etchings, chalk drawings, &c., published as supplements. « Process » work as a rule is coarse and scratchy; but these specimens leave nothing to be desired. Paper and Press contains some choice wood-engravings, photo-engravings, and chromo-printing. The Inland Printer has also a number of fine photo-reproductions, showing the wide interest the American printers and publishers are taking in this branch of the graphic art. The American Lithographer and Printer publishes occasional supplements showing fine specimens of lithographic work. Two of these, each in twelve colors, have reached us by the present mail. We have at least one art-lithographic establishment in New Zealand. Typo will be happy to show in supplemental form, the kind of work that can be produced in the colony.
The Cleveland Foundry is to the front. The pretty and favorite « Elberon » now appears with a lower-case; the same design with the addition of a tint-shade is shown under the name of « Auroral; » and a lighter face, with tint-shade, retaining the same character, entitled « Astral. » The « Armoric » is a pretty expanded style with lower-case; « Argent, » a graceful copper-plate style of letter, tint-faced, shaded, with lower-case; « Tablet, » one of the angular « geometric » styles fashionable in the States at present—we do not like the broken appearance of the characters generally; the figures in particular in all founts of this class are mere caricatures, and scarcely recognizable. Let any one try to draw a 6 or 8 with straight lines and right-angles, and the effect will be anything but pleasing. A « Latin condensed » is a very close copy of Stephenson & Blake's letter of the same name, with the addition of end-ornaments which are so large and obtrusive as to mar the line. « Hardware » is a modification of S. B. & Co.'s « Wide Latin » which has had so great a run—we do not like it as well as the model. The « Magic » Border (18-point) consists of three pieces only, two running sorts and a corner, all on em body; but twenty different borders are shown built up from them, and other effects could be devised. This is an economical kind of combination, A larger size (18-point) of the favorite « Daisy » border is shown; and lastly an oddity—the « Ragged-edge » border, containing eleven sorts, and representing a torn and frayed sheet with ink blots upon it. What next?
The Manhattan Type Foundry show two fancy styles with lower-case—the « Manhattan, » heavy, and the « Mayflower, » light; the « Ridgeway, » a flourished roman; and some new sanserifs and ionics.
Marder, Luse, & Co., Chicago, show a good wide letter with lower-case, sufficiently described by its name, « Concave Extended. » The word-ornaments are altogether too conspicuous. They are the full height of the letters, and quite equal in prominence. These auxiliary ornaments are grievously overdone in many late styles. « Roumanian » is a good extended lined concave, without lower-case; « Spartan, » a bold roman, moderately ornamented and rimmed—a telling style; « Criterion, » a hair-line variety of the « Modoc; » and « Parthenian, » an expanded old-style.
Barnhardt Bros. & Spindler show the « Princess » Script—a beautiful angular hand, in two sizes, and « Dotted, » an ornamental latin, some of the letters being set off with dots. It is a good style; but the N is very inelegantly shaped.
The Boston Type Foundry shows the « Kismet, » an eccentric style, but graceful and legible; « Monroe, » a hair-line condensed latin; and « Banner, » a back-slope hair-line, the caps being decorated with a curious heavy flourish at the head.
Farmer, Little, & Co. show « York, » a light flourished roman, and « Inset, » an initial style, with a piece cut away from the right-hand side for the insertion of smaller letters. It differs from former letters of this kind in being built up in sections. Thus the first half of the C, G, O, &c., are printed from the same character. « Heading Script » is a useful style, with large and bold lower-case.
The Illinois Typefounding Company introduce a variation on the « star » combinations referred to in our last issue. This is the « Maltic, » a series of founts built up of nonpareil maltese crosses. They are shown in ordinary width, condensed, and extended, and range from 24-to 72-point. We show these styles in the margin. We may add that they were originally devised by compositors in evasion of a newspaper rule excluding from advertisements any character larger than nonpareil. As they came quickly into common use, and the process of composing them was tedious and unsatisfactory, the typefounders met the demand by supplying regular founts. —The same foundry shows, under the name of « Dainty, » an eccentric hair-line with lower-case, the tops of the letters thickened.
The Baltimore Type Foundry has brought out a new style under the name of « Easter. » It has a slight resemblance to the « Chaucer, » with something of the cursive character, and is pretty and effective. The « Rhombic »is another of the broken-backed « geometries. » The lozenge-shaped O, and other letters in which angles take the place of curves, are not pleasing.
Messrs Baber & Rawlings have sent us specimens of a new series brought out by the Fann-street Foundry, London. It is called « Egyptian ornamented, » and is a light concave with lower-case and small caps. It is an elegant and effective job letter.
In response to a suggestion from the editor of this paper, Messrs Schelter & Giesecke of Leipzig, writing under date 9th April, say:— « The Architectural Combination, series lxii, we shall from this date cast also on rectangular body. » The following are some of the pieces referred to:
This will be a great convenience to printers using the combination in cases where curvilinear work is not required.
Brother Jonathan welcomes Typo thus—It is a well made-up eight-page quarter-demy, and contents of the paper prove that its editor is an able and a practical man. We heartily welcome the enterprise; and we feel fully assured that Typo has come to stay.—Americn Lithographer and Printer. Right well has the editor done his work. Replete with sensible and well-written articles, which bear the mark of a cultivated and conscientious disciple of the art, Typo is a handsome quarto, and the only paper published in New Zealand exclusively in the interest of the printing and kindred trade. It is published monthly in the city of Napier, and is well worth the price of subscription.—Pacific Printer. The initial number is a worthy one in many respects. It is very attractive, well-edited, and last, though not least, modest in tone. Some of our American trade journals might pattern after it in this respect, to their credit.—Printers' Album.
The « protection » screw in America has had another turn. Certain States having imposed taxes on goods and samples from neighboring States, retaliation followed, trade began to stagnate, and great consternation ensued. The Supreme Court has just declared these taxes to be unconstitutional. « In the matter of inter-state commerce, the United States are, in the opinion of this Court, but one country, and are and must be subject to one system of regulations. »
At a recent Johnsonian Club dinner in Brisbane, Sir Anthony Musgrave, the Governor of Queensland, said: I venture to believe with many of you I have some tastes and sympathies in common. I am not exactly a literary man with a wooden leg, like Mr Boffin's friend who read to him Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, but I am a sort of lame literary man, limping along after his fashion in the land of letters; though, as Charles Lamb said his works must be sought for at the India house, so I say mine must be found at the Colonial Office in the shape of some thousands of despatches, many of which have not received half the attention that they deserve. But besides this, I once had the temerity to publish a book which, I am sorry to say, did not sell very well. At times I indulged in occasional contributions to reviews which have not always produced the effect that they ought. But what I am proudest of is that I really was editor of a newspaper for three months, and I think I acquired more knowledge of the world in those three months than in any other three months ever since. In that time I managed successfully to quarrel with a bishop, to fall under the displeasure of the elders of the Church, to strain my relations with some of my best friends, and to lose a good many subscribers, to say nothing of the fact of being obliged sometimes, at the thirteenth hour, to sit down and write an article in place of that which the other fellow did not send in time. In fact, I managed to get the whole thing into a pretty muddle, and the situation was becoming so very interesting that I really felt quite sorry that increase of other duties about that time obliged me to terminate my connection with the paper—not, however, jesting apart, before we had in many respects, sown some good seed, which afterwards bore good fruit.
Transparent Paper.—A French paper contains the following recipe for making transparent sheets of paper: Saturate a sheet of suitable thickness in copal varnish; when dry, polish with pumice stone. It is then covered with a layer of water glass, and is rubbed with felt. It is said that the paper will then be as transparent and smooth as glass.
Zinc Plates in Lithography.—A litho printer writing to L'Imprimerie, gives the following recipe for the treatment of zinc plates:—Pour half a pint of hydrochloric acid into a porcelain vessel, slightly narrower and shorter than the plate, which will thus rest on the borders of the vessel. Allow the plate to remain for ten minutes, and on removal, the emanations from the acid will be found to have produced a uniform grain. A solution of potash should afterwards be used to remove all traces of acid from the pores of the zinc, and the plate should be finally rinsed in clear water. By this method the lithographers may procure a plate fit to receive a transfer or any other composition, the operation of rubbing being entirely obviated.
To Prevent Screws from Rusting.—It is well known that iron screws are very liable to rust, more especially when they are placed in damp positions. When employed to join parts of machinery they often become so tightly fixed that they can only be withdrawn with considerable trouble—a fracture sometimes resulting. In order to avoid this inconvenience screws are generally oiled before being put in their places, but this is found to be insufficient. According to the Moniteur Industrielle a mixture of oil and graphite (black lead) will effectually prevent screws becoming fixed, and, moreover, protect them for years against rust. The mixture facilitates tightening up, is an excellent lubricant, and reduces the friction of the screw in its socket.
To Emboss Cards.—Take a piece of six-ply card stock, with a smooth white surface, just the size of the card you wish to emboss, and sketch the shape of the panel you desire with a pencil, afterwards cutting out the design in one piece with a sharp knife: then trim the edge of the inside piece so that it will play freely through the outside piece. Paste the outside or female die firmly on the back of a wood letter large enough to hold it; and the inside, or male die, very lightly to the same letter; then lock up the letter and put it on the press; remove your rollers, make a good hard tympan, and after thoroughly pasting the surface of the inside die, take an impression, and hold the platen on the impression until the paste has had time to dry. On opening the press the under die will leave the wood letter on which it was lightly held, and adhere to the tympan, leaving the outside die attached to the letter on the bed of the press. Then set gauges and feed in your cards in the usual way, and proceed to emboss.
Preventive of Mildew.—These of our readers whose books have been, or are likely to be, attacked by mildew, may preserve them to some extent by placing a saucer of quicklime near, in the bookcase, or shelf, or where convenient. The lime absorbs the excess of moisture, and must be renewed as it becomes slaked and loses its strength. It is equally good for putting in linen chests, iron safes, or wherever there is likely to be any mustiness owing to the exclusion of fresh air.
Vaseline to Preserve Bindings.—Mr F. Chance writes: Bookbindings become deteriorated in many ways. I have looked about for something which might preserve or renew the suppleness of my leather bindings, and in general keep them and other bindings in the best possible condition. At last it occurred to me, about twelve months ago, to make use of vaseline, which has the advantage of being a mineral substance, and is, therefore, very much less liable to decompose than anything belonging to the animal or vegetable kingdom. I have used it with every kind of binding—whole bindings (calf and morocco), half bindings, with cloth or marbled paper sides, and cloth bindings. I have found it to succeed admirably, and I can at once single out by the appearance, and especially by the brightness of the gilding, the books which I have subjected to the process. It answers better, however, with leather and with cloth than with the marbled sides or edges of books, though even these I have not found to be in any way damaged by the treatment. It might be thought that an unpleasant greasiness would be produced, but this is not so— at least not for more than a few hours. The bindings seem to drink up the vaseline as if they knew it would do them good. Neither does the smell of vaseline persist for long. At the same time it is well to be cautious, and anyone who is disposed to make trial of the plan here recommended would in the first instance do well to confine his attentions to elderly or valetudinary bindings.
The Stout-Vogel Government has been defeated on its fiscal proposals. This was not so much on the ground of the obnoxious nature of the proposed tariff— though this had been condemned by every chamber of commerce and nearly every newspaper in the colony—as on the general principle that in the present state of the colony retrenchment instead of increased taxation is the true policy. It is to be regretted that a most important motion in the right direction—the reduction of the number of members of the House of Representatives —was lost, though by a majority of one only. A dissolution has been granted, and the great question now before the country is not so much free trade v. protection, as retrenchment v. increased taxation. The Treasurer's proposals would have imposed an additional burden of £300,000 per annum upon the taxpayers, a very small portion of which would have reached the Treasury.
The Times, which had to some extent lost its ground in late years, has again come to the front with its tremendous attacks on the leaders of the Irish « national » party. Its special and exact information can only have been supplied by undiscovered traitors in the camp. The publication in fac-simile, on the 18th April, of a letter bearing the signature of Mr Parnell, apologising for his public denunciation of the Phœnix Park murders, caused an excitement unparalleled in the history of journalism. Mr Parnell, in the House of Commons, denounced the letter as a forgery. The Times, in reply, challenged him to give them the opportunity, in a court of justice, of substantiating their statements. This challenge he did not accept. Opinions are divided as to the authenticity of the document; but while, on the one hand, it is clear that The Times would not have risked its journalistic reputation on anything short of convincing evidence, on the other hand, Mr Parnell, if the victim of a diabolical conspiracy, could by simply accepting the challenge have effectually silenced his opponents.
An important decision on the subject of libel is recorded as we go to press. The proprietors of the Tuapeka Times were sued by Mr A. Paterson, who claimed £300 damages for libel. The alleged libel was contained in an article headed « An Honest Bankrupt, » in which Mr Paterson's disposal of his assets preparatory to filing his schedule, was made the subject of severe comment. The alleged facts were contained in the bankrupt's own testimony, under examination by the Official Assignee. His Honor Mr Justice Williams, in giving judgment for the defendants, laid down the principle that the sworn testimony of a bankrupt was privileged in the same way as evidence in a court of justice, and it necessarily followed that fair comment on the same was also protected. In the present case, the bankrupt had himself proved the alleged fraud, and the defendants had not exceeded the limits of fair comment.—We hope to be able to find room for his Honor's judgment in full next month.
Eighth Year of Publication.
Harding's 1887 Almanac New Zealand Year-Book and East Coast Local Guide
Has taken the Leading Position among the Annual Books of Reference published in New Zealand.
Two Shillings.
Sent post-free to any address in New Zealand.
R. Coupland Harding
Printers and Publisher, Napier.
When the point system was introduced, conservative founders both in America and England, said that printers were indifferent to the reform. Yet almost immediately after, job types on the old bodies were selling in America at ten per cent. discount, and now the most beautiful faces (new) are offered at twenty per cent. off list prices.
The Poverty Bay Independent having been bought out by the Herald, a new thrice-weekly has been started under the title of the Gisborne Standard. We are in receipt of No. 1, which is vigorously edited, contains a large amount of well-selected reading matter, and seems to have good advertising support. We do not admire the effect of old-style and modern body-founts used side-by-side in the same page. Mr C. Wilson is the printer and publisher.
The Dunstan Times thinks the Standard « will prove a sharp thorn in the side of the other three papers published in Gisborne. » Gisborne has only one other paper. Is the Times thinking of Napier?
Mr Hornsby, late editor of the Napier Evening News, has taken proceedings against that paper for libel, and claims £2000 damages.
The Australasian Oddfellow, published monthly in Dunedin by Mr W. Reid, is in future to bear the title of the Australasian Friendly Societies' Journal; and its sphere will be correspondingly widened, to include the orders of Foresters and Druids. The paper is edited by Mr H. J. Williams, Wellington.
La Typologie-Tucker (Paris) writes: A new typographic organ, bearing the title of Typo, has appeared at the antipodes. This interesting paper, which reaches us from Napier, New Zealand, is printed and published by Mr R. C. Harding, who has not only bestowed great attention upon the typographical part of his work, but has made it instructive as well as interesting by the number of useful recipes each issue contains. We welcome our new contemporary, and wish it success.
We have specially to acknowledge the courtesy of our American contemporary, the Inland Printer, in sending six monthly exchange numbers in order that our file may be complete from the beginning of the current volume.
Countryman—That feller in the telegraft office up there thought he was mighty smart, but I fooled him!
Policeman—You did? How?
Countryman—Oh, easy enough. You see, I went there yesterday to send a message to St Louis, and told him what I wanted. « All right, » sez he, « seventy-five cents. » So I paid him the seventy-five cents, and I'll be darned if he did a thing but rap that old brass clicker of his fifteen or twenty times, and then hang the message on a hook.
Policeman—Well, do you call that fooling him?
Countryman—You just hold on, and I'll tell you. To day, I wanted to send another message to St. Louis, but I'll be darned if I wanted to pay seventy-five cents. So I went up to the office, kinder polite like, and sez I, « Mister, » says I, « there's a young lady outside as sez she wants to speak to you. I'll tend office for you while you're gone. » Well, sir, he bit right away. Off he went in a hurry, and before he got back I had plenty of time to clink his old brass machine all I wanted, and hang my message on the hook just as he did the day before. I know they got it up, too, at the other end, for the minute I got through the old machine went to clicking like blue blazes, 's much's to say, « All right old man, we hear you. » Oh, I fooled him good, I did. Your Uncle Peter lives in Wayback, but he ain't no fool, he ain't; not by a long chalk, no sir-ee!
The Intelligent Compositor leaves his mark upon technical organs as well as the more hastily-prepared daily newspapers. One of our American trade contemporaries credits a recipe to « the French Source. » « A French source » is what is intended.
There is a curious typographic slip in an article in one of our American contemporaries on some old masters in painting. « The Tenniels, » we are told « often border on caricature. » It is scarcely necessary to say that for the name of the famous English cartoonist we should read « Teniers. »
As an example of the hold Pinafore has taken, we may mention that a North Island weekly, lately referring to Lord Dundonald, spoke of him as « Captain Corcoran »! [Cochrane.] It was in the same paper that the Intelligent Compositor gave us some information about « a neutralized Chinaman. »
A correspondent of the N. Z. Schoolmaster has caught us tripping, and points out « Carlile » for « Carlyle » (p. 36). « After this, » he says, « I very much fear the 'retort courteous.' » Well. we see a few literals in the Schoolmaster —two very prominent, in the departmental headlines. We find « straight-jacket. » (Hold out your hand!) But the Intelligent Comp. by simply misplacing a comma, has brightened up our contemporary's columns with a flash of real genius. Under the head of « Editorial Notes » one of Bret Harte's characters figures as « Abner, Dean of Angels. » —If Alter Ego watches our columns carefully he will doubtless soon be able to retaliate. Typo's devils have all the perverse ingenuity of the genus, and our reader is fallible.
Book Agent—« Councillor Green-bax, can I sell you an encyclopædia to-day? »
City Father—« No! What do I want with the darned thing? I'd break my neck the first time I tried to ride it. »
A female contributor brought in a communication written on both sides of the paper. The editor scowled and refused it. « Well, » she retorted, « I'd like to know if you don't print on both sides? » There's no such thing as arguing with a woman.
There was a man in our town, who thought him wondrous wise; he swore by all the fabled gods, he'd never advertise. His goods were advertised at last—and thereby hangs a tale: the ad. was set in nonpareil, and headed « Sheriff's Sale. »
Dawson is an artist of rather indifferent ability. To a friend who dropped into his store, he remarked:
« No, I don't go into society very much. I am wedded to my work. »
« The deuce you are, » returned the other, glancing around the room at the product of his friend's skill. « Well, if this is your work, I think you would be justified in making the application for a divorce, and I don't think there's a court in the land would refuse it. »
A country paper contains the following satisfactory announcement: « A number of deaths are unavoidably postponed. »
Mr Clepmore, editor of the Daily Blue Wing, went fishing one Sunday, and broke his leg. The Rev. Mr Gidfelt heard of the accident, and « improved the occasion » thus in his evening discourse: « Here we have a striking example of the retribution following the violation of the Sabbath. If Mr Clepmore had been at church, he would not have broken his leg. » The following Sunday, as the Rev. Mr Gidfelt was ascending the pulpit steps, he slipped on a piece of orange-peel dropped by a Sunday scholar, and broke his leg. On Monday morning he read in the Blue Wing an account of the accident, with the following comment: « Here we have a striking example of the retribution following self-appointed censorship. If the Rev. Mr Gidfelt had not been at church, he would not have broken his leg. »
In an early issue we shall have the pleasure of laying before our readers as a supplement a specimen sheet of a new and beautiful German combination. The founders advise us that they had the sheet in the press at the time of writing.
Mr De Vinne has published an interesting book describing the growth and development of the Roman character at present in use. There is no man living who is better qualified to deal with this subject.
The Jubilee ode by the Poet Laureate is one of the most amazing failures ever perpetrated. It is the blankest of blank verse, and has been mercilessly satirized in Punch. It has been cruelly but aptly described as a bad imitation of Walt Whitman.
The mixed metaphor still brightens the otherwise dull leading columns of some of our contemporaries. The following gem sparkles forth from an article on the land question: « Who are they? Not those who have absorbed and monopolized the best lands of every provincial district, burning their fingers in the process by the self-devouring worm of high interest united with primitive barrenness, but the class of colonists officially stated by Mr Ballance in his Wanganui speech. »
In the State of Wisconsin there is a printer whose example some of onr colonial comps would do well to follow. Having seen favorable notices of Typo in the American press, he sends us a subscription order, « as I subscribe » (to quote his own words) « for about all the trade journals that are printed, and am generally well paid in doing so. » Here, at all events, is one secret of the acknowledged excellence of the work turned out by American printers.
From every point of view, the protection and bonus system is a blunder. Mr Bracken, in the House, having moved that a Government bonus be offered for the production of white printing paper in the Colony, Messrs Coulls, Culling, & Co., papermakers, telegraphed to the Premier that they had no sympathy with the proposal. They add:— « We have no intention of entering on the manufacture of white printing paper, but will confine ourselves to specialties in wrapping, shop and bag papers. We are safe in saying that fine white paper cannot be produced in the Colony at present. We are of opinion that bonuses by the Government were one of the causes of the failure of the late company, as they led to the introduction of imperfect machinery. »
We have to acknowledge with thanks the following exchanges: Inland Printer, Chicago (from October, 1886); Paper and Press, Philadelphia (from April, 1887); Art Age, New York (from January, 1887); Printers' Album, Chicago (from April, 1887); Typologie-Tucker, Paris (from April, 1887); Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Druckereien, Frankfurt (from April, 1887); Revista Tipográfica, Madrid (from February, 1887.)
During a recent strike of book-printers in Leipzig, the Government forced all book-printers serving in the army in that section to take the place of the strikers.
Mr William Stevens, a noted printer, and well known as the proprietor and publisher of the Family Herald, died in April, at the age of 80.
Mr John Godfrey Saxe, a well-known American poet, died in the month of April, at New York. Mr Saxe was born in Vermont in 1816, and practised law in his early life. His first volume of poems appeared in 1849, and he soon afterwards devoted himself to literature and lecturing.
Our American contemporaries record the death, on April 19th, in the 54th year of his age, of Mr Robert S. Menamin, editor and publisher of the Philadelphia Printers' Circular, and member of various typographical societies. He had conducted the Circular for twenty years.
Mr Zenas Marshall Crane, the veteran paper manufacturer of Dalton, Mass., and one of the most notable figures in the history of the trade in America, died suddenly in his office on the 12th March. He was in his 73rd year, and in apparent good health and spirits to the very moment of his death.
La Typologie-Tucker records the death, at the good old age of 89, of M. Pierre Théotiste Lefevre, a distinguished printer, and author of valuable practical treatises on the art. M. Lefevre took great interest in extending the industrial opportunities of women, and in 1879 organized a school for the instruction of female compositors.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—June, 1887.
Great as is the variety of Ornamental Types, they can all, as we have shown in our last article, be readily classified under a very few general heads. The printer has to complain, not of want of variety; but of want of system in variation. The hap-hazard style which has characterized the sequence of type bodies has been equally annoying in the matter of design. It would be supposed that a founder, in designing a new series, would naturally take into consideration the styles he had already produced, and where it could be conveniently arranged, would so shape his new design as to supplement and add to the value of the old. Yet nothing is more rare than the production of a new style having any fixed relation to an existing pattern. Looking through the large specimen books of the two principal American houses, we oan only find three or four instances of this being attempted. Bruce's « Style 1526, » was followed some time afterwards by « Style 1527, » an italic to correspond, and « 1525, » a heavier letter of the same character. The two series of « Monogram, » 530 and 531, are the only other examples we find out of some thousands of styles. MacKellar supplemented his « French Clarendon Shaded » by the « Slanting Shaded, » but they are about twenty pages apart in the book, and there is nothing to show that one is complementary to the other. So with « Black Ornate » and « Sloping Black. » The only other instance we know is the supplementing of the « Arboret » by « Arboret No. 2. » What is now the exception, would be the rule if type-foundries were conducted on rational principles. There is, let us say, a standard series of roman, with the corresponding italic. This is the body-fount. A series of ionic is being cut. What would be easier than to make it line with the roman? A series of sloping ionic is devised. Why not make this correspond with the former ionic, and at the same time with the standard italic? Next, a fat-faced roman and a fat-faced italic. In the ordinary foundry, these would be cut without any reference to each other or to any pre-existing fount. We know a fine set of heavy-faced italics, nonpareil to pica, which have been shown for years by two English founders, with no roman to correspond. In all but very exceptional cases, ionics, clarendons, sanserifs, latins, and all the other styles now so freely used to emphasize words in ordinary text, could be cast with a uniform beard, corresponding to the standard roman of the same body. Sanserifs, latins, ionics, &c, cast on the slope, should always correspond with an upright letter of the same style. The printer would benefit by the harmonious effects he could introduce into his work, and would save time by working different faces in the same line without papering or carding; and the founder would benefit by selling two and often three or more job founts where he now sells one.
It is strange that the obvious advantages of system in designing haye been so overlooked by the founders, not only in types but in borders and ornaments. In the latter branch some of the German firms are introducing a systematic sequence; but the whole field of design in types, plain and fancy, has been occupied at hap-hazard. Not one step has yet been made to produce a systematic series of properly-graded sizes and styles. The printer who should confine himself to one foundry would find his material as chaotic as if he had bought it of fifty houses. We have only to look critically through any specimen book to see the utter want of system. We have the wreck of a Caslon and Livermore book (out of which, in bygone days, we learned our alphabet) issued about 1830. The range of design is very limited—the fancy styles of late years had not been dreamed of— but in its pages we find a rational system of gradation of styles. It is the only specimen book we have seen of which as much could be said, and the most go-ahead founder of 1887 might take some useful hints from that old book, notwithstanding all its defects in design— its cumbrous antiques, its inordinately fat romans, its hideous « Italians, » and its grim borders.
It is evident that where new designs are turned out by the hundred without reference to any standard, that a vast amount of useless material must be produced. Styles come out so closely resembling each other that they are continually being mixed; while on the other hand gaps exist in every department which there is nothing to fill. It would be the easiest thing possible to systematise the products of a foundry. We will suppose that in a given size—say brevier—there are roman and italic founts, full-faced, narrow, and wide. Let the lower-case alphabet of the narrow equal, say, 14 ems pica, of the ordinary face, 15½; of the wide 17. There we have a basis from which all the allied characters could be measured. Take, for example, Ionic. A narrow ionic should correspond letter for letter with the narrow roman; No. 2 with the full roman; No. 3 with the wide roman. No. 4 might run to 18½; No. 5 to 20; No. 6 (wide) to 21½. Wider founts could be cut if desired; but the whole series should correspond precisely in every respect save width. So with antique, latin, sanserif, and fat-faced roman. In this case, every new fount would take a fixed place in a well-defined system, and the printer, having any one, would find it to his interest to adhere to the one series. Then, when sloping founts are cut, let each one be the exact complement of one of the existing founts. As regards founts without lower-case, the caps of those already described, cast on a body one size smaller, would form another harmonious series. We need hardly say that a systematic width of character (on the principle of « self-spacing » type) would simplify the scheme, and add enormously to its value.
It might, at first sight, be supposed that the system we have outlined would be a check to invention. On the contrary, it would stimulate production, merely regulating what is now altogether chaotic and perplexing. Not only this, each foundry would be able to mark out a special path of its own, and would have its own circle of admirers and supporters. At present, there are too many designs and at the same time too few. While the very foundation styles show large gaps in sequence and orderly gradation, crude designs are thrown upon the market in eight or ten sizes at a time. Not one of the specimen books can show an orderly and systematic series in any given style—sanserif, latin, ionic, or antique—such as we have outlined. Let the plain styles once be brought out on a rational system, and the same principle would soon be extended to the ornamental styles. The starting-point in every case should be the standard roman.
Before proceeding to our next subject—Word and Line Ornaments— we will briefly notice some of the styles of type not easily classified under the headings given in our last month's article. There are first, letters built up of uniform pieces, such as we illustrated under the
Allied to these are the « sectional, » in which the letter is in halves, and crossed by a band; and the « Mortised » initials, in which part of the letter is cut out on the right-hand side, for the insertion of smaller types. Another style much in favor is a grotesque and exaggerated imitation of the old-style character, with the letters irregular in size, and in some cases out of line. Such are the
These have their place in decorative work; but must be used with caution, being very liable to abuse. The most original and the earliest of these eccentric forms is the « Harper, » which has had an extraordinary popularity. It has been cut from pica up to large-sized poster letters, and entire books have been printed in the character.
Mr A. V. Haight, renowned for exquisite color-printing, is contributing articles on the subject to the Inland Printer. We regret that the April part, with the first of the series, has failed to reach us.
If the new English libel law amendment bill is passed, the Mother Country will have set the colonies a good example. The Pall Mall Gazette says: It is to be hoped that it will speedily become law, as far, at any rate, as its two main provisions are concerned. By the first of these any journalist defendant in an action for libel may apply summarily to a Judge sitting at chambers to order the action to be stayed on the ground of its trifling nature, or because the plaintiff has not suffered substantial injury, or upon other grounds; and if he can prove any of them to the satisfaction of the judge, the action is to be stayed, or at least the judge shall order the plaintiff to give security for the defendant's costs before he be allowed to proceed. This provision will at once put an end to actions by men of straw, who have so much to win and nothing to lose under the present system; and it will prevent the recurrence of a great hardship upon newspaper men, who have so often been put to great trouble and expense to defend themselves against a frivolous or unfounded charge brought by a person who is unable to pay the costs when defeated. By the second provision the Judge is obliged to order security for a defendant's costs wherever a plaintiff is wit hout means. This will enforce fair play, by making each party to a libel action stake his money beforehand. It is not to be expected that so strong a reform as this will not meet with keen opposition, but we are certainly not without hope that justice will prevail, and that the newspaper man will at last be placed on an equal footing with defendants in other cases. That will be for the public good even more than for that of the journalist.
An American novelty is a pair of pliers of peculiar shape, by which common pins can be bent into excellent gauge-pins.
« Inkoleum » (says the Pacific Printer) is the name of a preparation lately introduced for instantly reducing and refining all kinds of printing inks, no matter how old or stiff, to any consistency required, and making them work clear, free and easy, on any kind of paper, and in any temperature. It also prevents paper from pulling or sticking to the form. No spreading of sheets is necessary, as the ink with its use dries quickly on the paper. It is composed of essential oils and spirits, with all gummy substances removed, forming the purest, finest, and most penetrating preparation extant for reducing printing inks. It is the invention of a printer and pressman of twenty-two years' constant experience, and not until recently was it consummated, though portions of it he has used for the past fifteen years, thereby justly earning many encomiums for fine work. The inkoleum never dries on the rollers, and their washing is unnecessary—unless to remove lint or dirt—as its chemical action preserves their suction and elasticity. On starting press in the morning, no matter how cold the room, if the rollers need no washing, a few drops applied immediately soften the ink, ready for working the finest jobs. Colored ink left on the press overnight, by its use works readily in the morning. The saving of ink and time trebly pays the expense of its use. The inkoleum never changes; it is always of the same consistency, whether 40° below zero or 100° above, consequently it never freezes. By reducing ink with this preparation, presses can be set in rooms where the thermometer is below zero, and newspaper and job work done as well as though it were seventy degrees above. Good inks for fine work are always stiff and hard, and need reducing. Practical tests substantiate the fact that one pound of $1.50 black ink, reduced with inkoleum, will cover as much paper as two pounds at 75c, thus enabling printers to use better ink at the same price, thereby turning out a better class of work. In summer, when rollers are soft and sticky (caused by the damp hot atmosphere drawing the glycerine from them, often causing a refusal to take ink) inkoleum will be found as valuable as in winter. It is sold in half-pound bottles, at $1 per lb.
Our opening article on this subject last month contained tables of all the systems of type bodies in present use in Europe and America. To these we may have to add some which are only of historic value. The tables we have given are valuable, not only as showing the gradations of sizes, but their successive relations, so far as systematic arrangement has been introduced. In transferring the tables, we have copied also the descriptive matter, letting each manufacturer set forth the advantages of his own scheme—so that for certain opinions expressed, we ourselves are not responsible. So far, we have dealt only with the bodies of the founts; but all three dimensions of the types are of equal importance. Before referring to the height and width of types, we give a table showing the names of the standard sizes in French and Italian. The table in the second column of p. 43 will enable the reader to compare these, so far as they correspond, with the English and German standards. The Fournier point, on which this table is constructed, is larger than the Didot, twelve of which equal Cicero body.
The French « Petit Romain » is the German « Corpus, » and « Gros-Texte » is equal to « Mittel. »
We come now to the standard of height. This, like the other measurements, began at hap-hazard, as is well illustrated by the case of the oldest foundry in England—that of the Oxford University Press. In that large establishment, there are actually two heights of type in use, one for the Bibles and another for general literature, and neither of these correspond with the English standard. Types from outside foundries have to be specially cast for this office, both to height and body; and though it has been more than once in contemplation to adopt the national standard of height, so much capital has been invested in the type and machinery in use, that the sacrifice of good material would be too great.
The English standard height is equal to the diameter of a shilling, 29/32;-inch, =·92-inch. There is a slight, but only an infinitesimal variation, in the types from the different English foundries. English and American type is cast true to height; French type is planed down after casting, and is so uneven as to require making-ready. Ten years ago, we imported an expensive border fount from Austria, planed down to English height, and though it came from one of the best foundries on the continent, the heights were so irregular that we have never been able to use it with any satisfaction. American type is more variable than English; the Johnson standard (15=35 centimeters) we have already given. The American standard is said to be ·002-inch higher than English; but Bruce's, Zeese's, and the Dickinson Foundry type is appreciably higher than this, and cannot be worked close to English type or brass-rule without making-ready. The old Scottish height (still in use in some offices) is one-hundredth of an inch higher than English. In France the height was fixed by statute in 1723 at 10½ lines, or a fraction less than ·88-inch; but the height was not enforced, and types were sold varying from 10¼ to 11½ lines, to the great annoyance of the printers. The French height is ⅕0-inch higher than English; the German 1/90-inch higher; and Polish and Russian types are often more than an inch in height.
The third dimension is that of the width of letters. It is only very lately that any attempt has been made to reduce this to system, though endless annoyance has been caused through the incommeasurable dimensions of the characters. It is the more strange that nothing was done in this direction, as the reform, unlike any other change, could have been carried out without the slightest inconvenience or expense to the typefounders. Even where the letters (as in Figgins's « Brunswick Black » and MacKellar's « Arboret, ») were designed to work with combination ornaments, there was no relation whatever between the width of the characters and the spaces of the fount. So far as we know, the first founts made to systematic width were Schelter & Giesecke's « Shieldface » series in 1882. The « self-spacing » type we have already referred to in our June number; but we should have stated that Messrs Benton, Waldo, & Co.'s founts therein described, were not the first cast to systematic width. The Milwaukee and St John Foundry had already brought out something of the kind; but by an extraordinary oversight, instead of a system of universal application, they devised one adapted specially to 13-ems pica, and which was useless in any other measure than 13-ems and the multiples of that width.
In our next article we shall consider the principles involved in the various systems in use. For much of our information we are indebted to an article by Mr De Vinne, which we find in Caslon's Circular. It is necessary, in considering the subject, to have precise data, and we have at some pains, collected our information from the best authorities.
A large number of journalists are in the field as candidates for the new Parliament.
All through Europe (says the American Lithographer and Printer) a new branch of work has been introduced in lithography which rises into a severe competition with sign-painters and manufacturers of lettering. This is the printing and embossing of letters in gold and colors, which are then cut out and sold in stationery stores, &c. The letters, of all sizes, are enamelled, and appear similar to the porcelain and ivory or enamelled iron and celluloid letter, but the fact that such letters of beauty and elegance may be bought for one penny or less will tend to bring them into general use. By their use any one can produce a sign over doors, windows, or such. The backs of these letters are coated with a paste, which will cause them, when wetted, to adhere to metal, glass, or wood, and when varnished with shellac, permit of washing with water.
In the Minnesota legislature, Chaplain Allison recently remembered the reporters in his prayers. It is no wonder that Yankee humorists are irreverent, when their ministers set them the example. This is how the reverend gentleman burlesqued the language of Scripture in his devotions: « And now, dear Lord, bless the reporters, whose nimble pens catch every word almost before it is uttered. Like Thyself, they are omnipresent, and almost omnipotent. If we take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, they are there. They meet us in the jungles of Africa, they waylay us in the solitary cañons of Colorado, and when at length we find the latitude of the magnetic pole, behold there they are. May their light and goodness be equal to their power, and in the general assembly of heaven let no reporter be excluded. »
« The Pica Blunder » is the title of an article in the Paper World. The new American Inter-state Commerce Act provides that all railroad lines must expose their freight and passenger traffic tables at each station on the road—the same to be printed in pica type. Nonpareil has hitherto been the usual size. The result has been a « boom » for the foundries, which have all been working day and night on pica—to the neglect of everything else—and a tremendous tax on the railroad companies. The Missouri Pacific Railroad Company have to pay a printing bill of $100,000, and the lowest bill will be about $10,000. One office ordered 10,000lb of pica figures for immediate use. A freight-sheet rushed in by a railway company to be turned out « at once, » was found, when reckoned up, to fill a sheet 12×4 feet! The hardship is, that all the necessary forms are standing in nonpareil, and will probably be required again as soon as the Act can be altered. No one will benefit but the founders.
Why do not the English founders send out specimen sheets to the trade? In these colonies, for one English specimen that reaches us, we have a dozen from America and Germany. Formerly the founders used to exhibit new styles in the Printers' Register and other trade papers—now they leave that method of publicity to the enterprising German. Their travellers make the round of the English offices; hut what about colonial printers? We have before us No. 43 of Caslon's Circular. This quarterly was started twelve years ago to represent the English typefounding industry. This it has very imperfectly done. The other associated foundries are always referred to in the Circular in the most friendly style (in striking contrast to the American trade organs)—but not one of them has ever made use of its columns to advertise a novelty. Again and again we have asked English founders to send us from time to time their new specimens. Not one (Caslon excepted) has ever done so. What they have done has been sometimes to post us a great book—differing, perhaps, by only two or three pages from what we had already—with five-shillings-worth of stamps on the wrapper. Some of the founders have colonial agents; but do not even keep them posted. What on earth is the use of producing new and useful designs, if they will not let their would-be customers know what they are doing? We sent once to an English foundry for a good-sized book-fount, adding: « Be sure and enclose sheets of your novelties—our latest from your house are about three years old. » The type duly arrived—there was half-a-bushel of sawdust in the case—but not a scrap of printed matter!
We cannot quite except Caslon from this category, though he is enterprising enough to publish his beautiful Circular. It does not do justice to his own productions. The one before us is a good number. It shows first some « peculiar » italic caps, such as may be seen in books of the 17th century printed from Dutch type. These can now be supplied to all old-face founts from two-line great primer to minion. Those who admire old-face letters will lose no time in adding them to stock. We do not. A series of « Plantagenet » is shown—an elegant round hand italic for circulars, with enough of the old-style character to give it a quaint appearance. The cap. O is a little ambiguous—it is too much like an old-style V. A pretty « Ivy » border on two-line pica is shown. The design represents the ivy leaves (in silhouette) on a trellis. The light and shade are artistically balanced, and as there is but one character, the border is economical enough. We have only one fault with it—it does not join up quite perfectly. There is just the faintest white line between the pieces, marking off the pattern into squares. Next we have a series (No. 16) of combination ornaments. It is quite in the American style, but with an artistic refinement which is not American. We congratulate the Caslon Foundry on its inconsistency. Turning back the pages of our valued file to January 1881, we read: « To draw the line accurately at the happy medium where useful practicability ends and extravagance begins is no doubt a difficult task.… The border-line above indicated has, in our judgment been reached, if not passed, by such productions as the Ribbon and Scroll Borders, the Banner and Book Borders, Filigree and Combination Ornaments. But now we see type pictures introduced—very clever and pretty in their way, but, we venture to think, of little and certainly only transient benefit to the letter-press printer. »—And so on, for a column. In Autumn 1882, introducing a new and elaborate geometrical border, it is favorably contrasted with « ornaments of the picture character, » which « soon pall upon the taste. » A year passes, and we are startled by the « Classic » corners, with flower-pots, butterflies, beetles, obelisks, palms, Pallas, Flora, Penelope, &c., introduced with a half apology, but in full assurance that they will be received with « universal admiration and satisfaction » on account of their « beauty and purity of design. » After this the « Oriental » Series, with fountains, flights of steps, rising sun, &c., did not surprise us. But what of series 16? What would Caslon of 1881 say to Caslon of 1887 with his black teapot in the corner and his row of little tea-cups on pica body! What of those exceedingly queer fish in silhouette—eels, skates, squids, &c., with a background of wavy lines, to represent their native element? Typo has the « Classic » and the « Oriental » corners; and will have the teapot and the fish, too, erelong—for odd as it may read in description, the series is a capital one for decorative effects. Next, we are told that a series of six animal drawings by Harrison Weir have been brought out in three sizes by the Caslon Foundry; but by that inexplicable perversity of which English founders alone are capable, not one of them is shown! We have a half-column of disquisition, and not a specimen. The founder « will be pleased to send specimens to any who will apply for them. » Does the editor think of possible buyers sixteen thousand miles away, who would require to write a letter, put a sixpenny stamp on the envelope, and then wait three months for a reply and another four months for the blocks—or else order them blindfold?
One more grumble. Why do not founders mortise their corners and other ornaments? It took a good deal of time, with saw, chisel, and file, to cut the notch in the corner of the ornament at the beginning of this article; and every stage of the operation was accompanied with risk to the type. It should have been done in the casting. The Cleveland Foundry show this piece with a figure printed right in the corner, tacitly implying that it is mortised; but they supply it quite square, with a waste space of 3×2 ems inside the line. This is not fair to the printer.
Messrs. Baber & Rawlings send us specimens of initials (seventh series) from the Fann-street Foundry. The initial is white on an ornamental ground, enclosed in a square—a well-designed series, shown in two sizes. Also initial ornaments in three sizes, Nos. 25 to 42. These are the same as the series 1 to 24 (specimen on p. 25 of this volume), with the addition of handsome ornaments at head and foot. For our own part, we would prefer the ornaments separate, to use at discretion with the first series.
The Typographic Advertiser (Springtime) is full of new things, and is nevertheless disappointing—the fantastic rather than the useful predominating. We must except a very pretty series of outline trade cuts, of which twelve are shown in a supplement. We have seen nothing better in American specimens—and English houses have not yet produced an original set. We expect more of this series will follow, and will he appreciated as they deserve. Some outline index cuts are shown in the same supplement; also a set of weather signals, as used in the United States. A good legible newspaper series of type is shown in four sizes. In display types we have « Cadmus, » a flourished roman, very like half-a-dozen other late American styles; « Hansard, » an extended skeleton with lower-case, of very irregular device, some of the letters being ornamented and others perfectly plain—not nearly as useful as an entirely plain letter; « Pynson, » an ornamental letter difficult to classify; partaking of the qualities of ronde, roman, and black,—an effective style; « Recherche, » a neat hair-line with lower-case, in which the ornamentation is not overdone—pretty and really useful; but with tremendous beard to head and foot of lower-case letters. (These founts, in which the character occupies so small a portion of the body, are profitable letters to sell by the pound.) Lastly we have « Grolier, » a detestable script with extravagant initials. Five pages are taken up with a combination border (No. 96) in three divisions. The ornaments are of the kind which the average customer marks out of his
The Cleveland Foundry show their useful « Magic » border on pica body. The new size is, to our taste, prettier and more attractive than the two-line pica already noted.
Herr Julius Klinkhardt, of Leipzig, in the specimens acknowledged in our earlier numbers, shows founts of chess-type, with a novel character to represent the « bishop. » Another novelty is a very neat fount of domino type. Through the courtesy of the founder, we are able to show specimens of both these designs. We also show a black and a white bishop of the ordinary style, for comparison.
The organized opponents of free trade in this colony have an equal objection to free speech. Both in Dunedin and Christchurch public meetings to be addressed by freetraders have been broken up in confusion by « roughs » sent there for the purpose. In each case the lecturer was a gentleman of standing and ability, and in each case the local representative body of protectionists arranged the « demonstration. » Fortunately they are not able to gag the press, which is almost without exception in favor of freetrade.
Herr Karl Krause, of Leipzig, has sent us his complete illustrated catalogue of paper-cutting, calendering, perforating, and other machinery for printing and bookbinding. All kinds are included, from the massive machinery required in the largest paper-mills to handy little machines suitable for small job offices. Some of the latter—as, for example, the smaller-sized gold-lettering presses—are not shown in any other catalogues that we have seen, and would, we believe, sell well in this market. The catalogue occupies 120 large 8vo pages, is beautifully printed, and enclosed in a cover of tasteful design. All the machines are manufactured by Herr Krause, and his works, illustrated on the back cover, are a small town in themselves. In a note accompanying the book, Herr Krause says he will be happy to forward a copy post-free to any of Typo's subscribers on application. Mr P. Erfurth, of the Continental Export and Agency Company, Limited, informs us that his firm have been appointed New Zealand agents for Karl Krause's manufactures.
Messrs Dietz & Listing, Leipzig, have sent us a small and beautifully printed catalogue of paper-and card-cutting, scoring, gold-lettering, and other machinery. The requirements of moderate-sized offices have been well studied. We note some ingenious machinery for cutting oval and circular cards, passepartouts, &c.
From the establishment of H. Jullien, Brussels, we have received an illustrated price-list of printing and lithographic machines. Among the specialties shown are a patent registering attachment; a manifold numerical machine, with adjustments for coupon work; mechanical lock-up apparatus, &c.
The San Francisco mail, to hand just as we are closing the present issue, brings us a budget of specimens and trade papers, which we will note in detail next month. We have to thank the Central Type Foundry, of St. Louis, for their beautiful quarto specimen book; and Messrs Golding & Co., Boston, for their Catalogue for 1887. This firm occupy magnificent and extensive premises, and appear to keep in stock requisites from every manufacturing house in the States. Their catalogue is the most compact and comprehensive we have yet seen.
Messrs Pears of London made a costly present to the Adelaide Exhibition—150,000 copies of the frontispiece for the exhibition programme. The work was in the best style of chromo-lithography, from a drawing by Sambourne, and cost a large sum of money. Had these been bound up they would have passed as printed books, but being undoubtedly « works of art » the customs authorities demanded duty. The promoters of the exhibition declined to pay, throwing the responsibility on Messrs Pears' agents,—and then made a handsome sum by selling the pictures to the contractor for the exhibition catalogue!
The balance sheet in the estate of the unfortunate Mr Bracken is not of a nature to tempt one into newspaper investments. There is a deficiency of £588, and these are some of the items: « Contingent liability in respect of uncalled capital on 40 shares in T. Bracken & Co., Limited (Evening Herald newspaper), £327 10s. Assets—130 shares in the Morning Herald Co., cost £580, value nil; 40 shares in T. Bracken & Co., Limited (Evening Herald), cost £230, value nil. » Mr Bracken is a clever, steady, and popular man, and has toiled hard and honestly for twenty years; but newspaper « property » has landed him in the bankruptcy court, with assets amounting in all to £20.
An excellent step has been taken by the trade in Victoria. To do away the disastrous system of strikes and lock-outs, a « Board of Conciliation » has been formed for the purpose of mediating in disputes between employers and employés. The Board is to be composed of not more than eighteen nor less than ten permanent members, half of whom will be appointed by the Trades Hall Council, and half by the Executive of the Victorian Employers Union; and when deemed necessary by such permanent members, an additional one or three members, as is considered requisite, will be elected from outside the two bodies mentioned. The rules and constitution of the Board are published in full in the Australian Typographical Journal.
Zinc rule is denounced in Caslon's Circular. « Zinc, » says our contemporary, « will not stand atmospheric influences—the face will oxidize, and crumble away in time. The mixture of zinc, also, either with stereo plates or types, is a fatal error. » To show that this caution is well-founded, we will give our own experience of zinc in juxtaposition with type. More than twenty years ago, when Typo was a P.D. in his present office—when methods were primitive, founts meagre, and supplies difficult to obtain—a catalogue job came in, in leaded nonpareil; there were no leads to the measure, and lengths had run out. The foreman was a man of resource—he cut the zinc lining of a packing-case into strips, and the lead-cutter did the rest. Didn't they spring! The pages used to shrink an inch in the locking up, and the centres arched up and rose, as the quoins were driven home, like the back of an angry cat! But the first sheet was worked; the form washed and distributed, and the second sheet taken in hand. Our « zincs » by this time were pretty flat; they did not yield more than a quarter of an inch in the lock-up, but we noticed a grayish look both on the zinc and the type. Sheet No. 2 completed the job, and the form was set aside for a few days, and got perfectly dry. Then we unlocked it. We found it was a veritable stereotype! Galvanic action, assisted by the penetration of the lye, had oxidized the zinc and united it to the type-metal. We could have thrown the pages across the office without pieing them. But we boys had to dis. that nonpareil. We knocked the lines apart with the mallet. We cut away the zinc with knives—and then, with bleeding fingers, we separated the letters. The zinc strips that we took out were not half their original thickness; they were ragged at the edges, and were pierced with holes. The remainder of the zinc was encrusted on the type, as rough as sandpaper, and as hard. We had to scrape every letter; for our nonpareil had turned into an irregular kind of minion. There was a salt-water pond hard-by, where we used to fish for eels when the day's work was done. We collected our « zincs, » and pitched them into it—all except a few which had got mixed with the leads, and remained to afflict us. Since then, we have had zinc in our stereo-metal, and lost a week's work over a hot fire in midsummer, besides two hundredweight of good metal, and we don't know how to get the zinc out. [Can any one tell us?] Some zinc-bottomed galleys came into our possession once, and anything more destructive to type (except a comp. of the blacksmith stamp) we never came across. So we do not look kindly on zinc. In noticing specimens of zinc rule, we have no objection to eulogize its admirable cut, or even to note that its price is low. But we cannot describe it as « cheap. » We are afraid it might turn out to be dear at any price.
The result of the printers' strike in Milwaukee (says the Paper World) was very disastrous. First tie compositors struck for an increase in wages, then the pressmen followed. So many non-union printers and pressmen flocked to Milwaukee that both the unions offered to compromise if their members were taken back to work. The employers, however, declined the offer, and have signed a compact not to recognize the union any longer. This is a sad result of a sad mistake. It is always better in case of difficulty between employers and the employed to appeal to arbitration.
To Erase a Rubber Stamp.—To take from paper the impression in red ink of a rubber stamp, first remove the oily material of the ink with ether or naphtha, then bleach the powder.
To Remove Dust from Polished Surfaces.—To remove dust, without scratching, from the finest polished surfaces, the Moniteur Industrielle says, take (by weight) of cyanide of potassium, 1 part; soap, 1 part; chalk-blanc de Meudon, 2 parts; water sufficient to make a thick paste.
Substitute for Gum.—A correspondent of the Papier Zeitung recommends the following for printers and others as a gum substitute: Take 2lb of good dextrine, pour over it half-a-pint of cold water and stir vigorously for about ten minutes; when the dextrine is thoroughly soaked put it over a fire and keep it continually stirred for about five minutes. The substance will then be of the consistency of milk. This condition is reached when the bubbles begin to rise, and the solution looks as if beginning to boil; boiling, however, must be carefully avoided. Now cool the liquid in a shallow wide vessel and add about l¾oz. of glycerine, and it is ready for use.
Management of Inks.—An American contemporary says:—The management of inks seems little understood by many printers. Printing ink is substantially a paint, triturated to extreme fineness, and laid on the paper by type. There are occasions, of course, when the least amount of color that can be put on is sufficient, but it generally needs more. Especially in one class of work, that of handbills and posters, whether highly ornamented or not, more is required. The first requisite in this case is that they shall catch the eye quickly, which cannot be done by hair-line faces or small quantities of ink. They should be charged with color. That they are not is frequently owing to the ignorance of the pressman. His overlays and underlays are not right. They cover too great a portion of the form, or underlie too much of it, and the whole object of having them is lost. Principal lines should have more impression than weaker ones, and this is generally better accomplished by underlays than overlays, for not only is the impression stronger, but the line will take more ink. The more slowly the impression is made, the blacker the line will appear, as the ink then has time to penetrate. It is a useful thing sometimes to run a piece of work through a second time, thus giving more color. House-painters do not finish a house at once, but lay on one coat after another until the requisite intensity is obtained. Especially should this precaution be followed in pale or weak colors, such as the various yellows. One great reason why this hue is hardly ever used by printers, except through bronzing, is that it always looks pale and ineffective on paper. The remedy for this is additional presswork. The color, in its various modifications with red and black, is very effective, as can be seen by looking at the leaves of trees in autumn, which are compounds of green, brown, red and yellow, the first soon disappearing and brown being the last.
Working Cardboard.—A correspondent writes: In working cardboard on a small drum cylinder, I am troubled by a slur on the last line, caused by the stiffness of the board, which prevents it from conforming readily to the curve of the cylinder, so that as the impression ceases, the sheet flies out flat, making the job look dirty on the edge. I have obviated this by passing cords around the cylinder, fastening one end to the rod which holds the paper bands, and the other to be braced against, which the fly strikes, the sheet moving under the cords while being printed; but is there no better way? Answer.—Take one or more pins, according to the size of the job, cut them off, so as to make them type high, or a fraction over, which place in the furniture, so as to catch the end of the cardboard, and the slurring referred to will be prevented,
Map-Engravers' Wax.—Half an ounce gum benzoin, half an ounce of white wax, four ounces linseed oil. Boil down one-third.
Silver Ink.—White gum arabic, one part; distilled water, four parts; silicate of soda in solution, one part. Triturate with the best silver bronze powder, enough to give required brilliancy.
Cement for Iron.—Thoroughly mix and wet with sulphuric acid six parts of sulphur, six of white lead, one of borax. This makes a reliable cement for connecting iron.
To Render Fabrics Non-inflammable.—Soak them in a solution of 4 parts borax and 3 parts of epsom salts or sulphate of magnesia, shaken or well-mixed together, and immediately dissolved in from 20 to 30 parts of warm water. Thoroughly soak fabrics, wring out and dry in the open air.
A general election is close at hand, and there was never a clearer issue before the country. Taxation has reached its maximum limit, and any further restriction of commerce or tampering with land tenure can only aggravate existing evils. The present deplorable depression is mainly due to reckless waste of the resources of the country. A strong party has arisen who demand that the public expenditure be reduced half-a-million per annum—beginning in high places. « It is not a cry for retrenchment, » said Sir Robert Stout, « it is a Roar. » And it well may be—for there is only one alternative.
Eighth Year of Publication.
Harding's 1887 Almanac New Zealand Year-Book and East Coast Local Guide
Has taken the Leading Position among the Annual Books of Reference published in New Zealand.
Two Shillings.
Sent post-free to any address in New Zealand.
R. Coupland Harding
Printers and Publisher, Napier.
There has been a good crop of libel actions at Gisborne, most of which have come to nothing. In one, £5000 damages was claimed, None of the actions involved any particular legal point, and not one possessed the slightest public interest. This little town maintains its reputation for quarrels and litigation.
Mr A. D. Willis, of Wanganui, announces that his Christmas cards for the new season are in course of preparation. Among the numerous lithographic establishments in New Zealand, Mr Willis's is the only one, so far as we are aware, that has made any attempt at fine-art work. To this branch he has devoted both personal attention and considerable capital. His ball programmes are known to all the printers, and his greeting cards to all the bookselling trade. To both trades Typo's advice is: Encourage local industry.
The publisher of the Illustrirte Zeitung, of Leipzig, has sent us a specimen copy of that paper, one of the best illustrated weeklies in the world. The full-page engraving of the Velino waterfall, Italy, in the number before us, is a specially fine piece of work. From the same house we have a specimen part of Meisterwerke der Holzschneidekunst, an art work, demy folio. The engravings are printed in the finest style, on plate paper, on one side of the sheet only, and each one may be justly styled a « masterpiece. » There are ten in the specimen number, two of them (« Sappho, » after Alma-Tadema, and « An Idyl, » by Paul Martin) occupying two pages each. The letter-press descriptions are on a separate sheet. This work is published in annual volumes of twelve parts each—about 80 plates to the volume, and the number to hand is Part I, vol. Ix. We have also some prospectus sheets of the work, which may be obtained at our office.
In last month's issue we gave a brief outline of Mr Justice Williams's judgment in the libel case Peterson v. the Tuapeka Times, delivered on the 24th June. We now quote the judgment in full. His Honor said:
The published matter undoubtedly reflects on the character of the plaintiff, and is therefore libellous, unless the defendants succeed in establishing a justification. Now, the defendants have not pleaded that the imputations contained in this paragraph are a question of truth or otherwise. What the defendants pleaded is this—that there was a meeting of plaintiff's creditors, at which the plaintiff made certain statements, and the publication complained of is nothing more than a fair comment upon such statement; that the defence involves a question of law as well as of fact, involves the question as to whether the occasion of the publication is what is called a privileged one. As to the first question, whether the statements made upon oath by the plaintiff before the Official Assignee were made on a privileged occasion, it seems to me that I would be going altogether too far to say that the publication of everything that takes place at a meeting of creditors stands on the same footing as the publication of proceedings in a Court of Justice. We know perfectly well that at such meetings creditors very often lose their tempers, and use language which is perhaps altogether uncalled for. I am not going to decide, and I do not think it is necessary for the purpose of this case to decide, that a meeting of creditors stands on the same footing as the proceedings in a Court of Justice. What, however, is commented upon here is not what took place generally at the meeting of creditors, but certain statements which were made upon oath before the Assignee at such a meeting. It now seems to me that the examination of a bankrupt before the Official Assignee is in effect a judicial enquiry. If we turn to the Act we find that by §31 the Official Assignee is an officer of the Court. By §37, sub-section 5, it is his duty to summon and preside at a meeting of creditors. By §30 it is the duty of the Assignee to make a report to the Courts as to the conduct of the bankrupt. By §63 the Assignee may call a meeting of creditors; and by §64 it is the duty of the bankrupt to attend such meeting, and submit to an examination. This examination may be upon oath. If the bankrupt does not answer the questions he is guilty of contempt of Court, and, of course, as the examination is upon oath, if he gives untrue answers, he is liable to be indicted for perjury. The §99 of the Act gives the Assignee a further power to summon and examine the bankrupt upon oath; and by §160, if the bankrupt refuses to be sworn, or will not answer, the Court may commit the bankrupt to prison. By §151 we find that the Court, when the bankrupt applies for his discharge, has to examine the Assignee as to the bankrupt's conduct, and the state of his affairs; and by §157 the Court may act upon the representations of the Assignee, and refuse or suspend an order of discharge. Clearly, therefore, the Assignee is an officer of the Court, and is conducting this examination as a part of the machinery of the Court, and for the information of the Court. That seems to constitute the examination a judicial proceeding. It is quite true that the Assignee may have the right of preventing the public from being present at the examination. The creditors, however, certainly have a right to be present, and that being so, in that case it falls exactly within the observation of Baron Channel, in the case Reytes v. Leader, which has been already cited, that supposing the proceedings are of a judicial character, if the Judge leaves his Court open to the parties interested, that is enough to give protection to a report of what occurs. I hold that the publication of the examination on oath of bankrupts before the Official Assignee stands on the same footing with respect to publication as the examination of witnesses in an ordinary Court of Justice. If that is so, it follows that a fair comment on the evidence so adduced is protected in the same way as the evidence would be protected in the present case. The bankruptcy, I understand, is still pending before the District Court, and it might well be if the comment had been made, not upon the evidence of the bankrupt himself, but on the evidence of other witnesses, hostile to the bankrupt, that, as the proceedings were pending, such comment would not be privileged; and as the proceedings were sub judice, it would be best for the newspaper to wait until there was an end of the case. I don't say that the comments are simple; it is simply comments on the statements of the bankrupt himself, that the rule necessarily implies, but provided that the comments in themselves are nothing more than a reasonable person might justly make. Now, in the present case, I feel satisfied that the comments which have been made do not come within this rule. If one read the evidence which the bankrupt admittedly gave, the conclusion which a rational person would come to from the statements of the bankrupt would be that the conduct of the bankrupt had not been what it ought to be. Nor does the article complained of really say any more than that. I do not think it does. What it says practically is this, « the bankrupt, out of his own month, has shown he has not acted honestly, » and it seems to me that that is a very fair and reasonable thing, under the circumstances, to have said. It is objected that there are two statements in the comment which are not justified by the statement which the bankrupt made. One is a statement about his having sold cows at under value, and the other is about his exchange of horses with his brother-in-law. These are, however, really minor details, and it seems to be quite fair to say that being minor details as they are, they really are within the principle of fair comment, although they may somewhat go beyond the statement of the bankrupt himself. Fair comment is defined by Justice Stephen as follows:—« A fair comment is a comment which is either true, or which, if false, expresses the real opinion of the author. As to the existence of the matter of fact or otherwise, such an opinion has to be formed with a reasonable degree of care, and on reasonable grounds. » Well, the whole of the rest of the statement of the bankrupt seems to be « that he has not been acting as he ought to have done. » If a man makes such an admission as the sale of four cows for £7, surely it is not an unfair inference, looking at the whole of his statement, that there was a sale for under value; and the same remark applies to the exchange of horses. On the whole, therefore, I am of opinion it was quite open to defendants to have commented on the statement of plaintiff, and there is no evidence to show that the comment was other than fair and honest.
Waste-paper baskets all over the land have been overflowing with Jubilee odes. In Nelson, however, the papers have published these ditties literally by the yard. A single effusion, in the Colonist, occupied forty-two inches in brevier. The following lines will show its quality:
The poet was requested to recite it at the public celebration, but was merciful, and composed a shorter ode for the purpose.
The present depression is keenly felt in the printing trade. Many good hands are out of work. The electoral rolls, now in the press, have made no perceptible improvement, owing to the keen competition for the work—which, in some instances, has been secured at rates considerably below the cost of composition.
A newspaper correspondent lately asked why a certain writer was « singled out for an amount of apparently malicious tergiversation. » Someone is always getting tripped up over these big « dictionary words. »
The Printing Times reports that « a new tri-weekly paper, the North-west Post, has just been published at Formby, New Zealand. » The P. T. must have mistaken the colony. There is no such town or newspaper in New Zealand.
The « Tenax » roller composition, sold by Messrs Seegner, Langguth, & Co., Auckland, has been for some time in use in our office, and has proved very satisfactory. As its name imports, it is tough and durable; and in respect of quality of surface and uniform excellence under varying atmospheric conditions, we find it quite equal to more expensive preparations.
The Australian Typographical Journal for July is to hand. From Sydney we learn that the Evening Globe has ceased publication, having lost £20,000 during its two years of existence, and that thirty-eight men have been thrown out of work. The societies are being heavily taxed to relieve the unemployed.—In Melbourne, notwithstanding that Parliament is in session, there is no improvement in trade prospects, business being extremely dull.
Mr W. J. Marsh, of Arrowtown, has purchased the Lake County Press.
Mr P. Galvin is the new editor of the Marlborough Express.
The Jubilee Herald is the name of the latest newspaper venture in Wellington.
At 1 a.m. on the 7th July a fire took place in Farringdon's Owl printing office in Fortstreet, Auckland. The interior was gutted, but the building was not destroyed. The plant was insured for £250.
The Auckland Star is now printed from the web, the proprietor having added to his plant two Victory machines. This is, we believe, the third newspaper office in the colony in which web machines are used.
It is reported that efforts are being made in Wellington to effect an amalgamation between the New Zealand Times and the Evening Press, and float the joint concern as a limited liability company.
Mr Joseph Ivess has started a paper at Timaru, in opposition to the old-established Herald. Like the dozen or so of Mr Ivess's previous newspaper ventures, it bears the title of the Mail.
Mr T. Bracken, well known as a writer of humorous verse under the signature of « Paddy Murphy, » has been compelled to seek the protection of the bankruptcy court. His failure is attributed to heavy losses in journalism—a line which has proved disastrous to many clever literary men. In the last Parliament Mr Bracken represented Dunedin Central District; and much sympathy is expressed on his behalf, as, but for his insolvency, his reelection would have been almost certain.
Mr. Joseph Ivess has probably started more papers than any other man in the colony. But no sooner are they in operation than he casts about for fresh fields. It is about a month since he launched the Timaru Mail; he is now reported to have secured an interest in a Napier paper, and intends contesting the Napier seat. Mr Ivess was elected to the last Parliament for the district of Wakanui, which is now merged in other electorates.
Two or three weeks of sharp frost with heavy falls of snow on the ranges, followed by unseasonably warm weather with steady rain, caused unprecedented floods and much disaster in the South Island. At Hokitika, Greymouth, and Kaiapoi the loss has been greatest. The Greymouth people on the lower levels of the town had six feet of water in their houses, and have named it « the Jubilee flood. » Between 3 and 4 a.m. on the 7th July the water was flowing in and out of the Argus premises. The paper was made up with four inches of water on the floor. By the time the forms were ready for press, the fires were all out, and the paper was worked by hand, the water being over the men's knees. The completed issue was then carried off and distributed as far as practicable in boats.
The Auckland Bell should have its clapper taken out and cleaned. In a late issue it referred editorially to « the damned scoundrels who misrepresent us in Wellington. »
Among other exhibits by Messrs Spalding & Hodge, papermakers, at the Adelaide exhibition, is a roll of tissue paper, nine miles in length, and weighing 3½ tons.
Messrs Schlag & Barthel, Leipzig, send us illustrated circulars showing non-explosive steam boilers, steam pumps, &c.; also of hand-lever and treadle job printing presses.
As a pendant to the paragraph we quoted on p. 37 regarding the comparative popularity of English novels, the following, from an American exchange, is interesting: Something like a million copies of East Lynne have been sold in America, and the writer never received one penny from them. The same is true of some fifty thousand performances of the play, which under a copyright would have brought her in £100,000.
It is proposed by the friends of the late Randolph Caldecott to place a memorial tablet to his memory in the crypt of St. Paul's, beside the monument to George Cruikshank.
Mr Robert Cocks, probably the oldest music publisher in the world, died recently, in his ninetieth year. After serving his apprenticeship, he started in business in London as long ago as 1823. In 1881 he retired from the firm, and was succeeded as senior partner by his son.
Mr Samuel Cousins R.A., the celebrated engraver, died on the 7th May, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. A few years ago, Mr Cousins, who had made a considerable fortune by his works, gave £15,000 to the Royal Academy to form an annuity fund for the benefit of old and unsuccessful artists.
Mr James Grant, author of The Romance of War, The Aide-de-Camp, and other well-known military novels, died on the 5th May at Westbourne Park, after an illness of three months' duration. He was born in Edinburgh, on 1st August, 1822, and spent some of his early years in Newfoundland, whither his father, an officer in the army, had been sent with a detachment of troops, when the son was only ten years old.
Napier, New Zealand, Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—July, 1887.
However quaint or eccentric a style may be, there is generally some kind of work to which it is appropriate. But this consideration does not justify the ordinary printer in investing largely in out-of-the-way styles. There are, in large cities, houses which make a specialty of peculiar and (so-called) old-style work, where every fantastic novelty is at once adopted; but in all ordinary offices, the plain work so entirely predominates that the eccentric styles are scarcely in place. All kinds of every-day work—all that is most profitable—can be satisfactorily executed without them, and if they are absent from the composing-room, « they never will be missed. » In writing of combination letters, built up of stars, &c., last month, we characterized this kind of work as useless and unprofitable. We must not include, however, in this category the regular « letter combinations » of the St. Louis Foundry, already casually mentioned in this paper (p. 32.) With these, very well-formed letters of almost any size can be readily constructed. They fill a very useful place in jobbing material, and if the compositor possess the requisite skill, he can produce exceedingly good effects by their judicious use. The « Albatype, » for posters, is an analogous device, which is also favorably reported upon; but which we have not yet seen in use. One of the peculiar fancies in recent job styles is an imitation of « type-writer » work, by the St. Louis Foundry. The construction of the type-writer requires that each character shall occupy precisely the same space—hence the W, m, &c., are inordinately thin, and the i, 1, points, &c., very wide. This peculiarity is imitated in the fount, which is pica size, and all the characters are an en in width. It is, of course, an ugly letter—its sole object being to convey the idea that the circular has been specially written from dictation, instead of printed. It has had a great sale in America.
After Ornamental Letters, the next subject to engage our attention is Word and Line Ornaments. Though it has always been customary with compositors to decorate ornamental lines with « flowers » and pieces of border, suitable or otherwise, it was as lately as 1877-8, when the Johnson Foundry brought out the « Filigree » and « Glyptic » series, that the first systematic attempt was made to produce those ornaments, some of which are now to be found in every job-room.
But a somewhat analogous decoration—the Typographic Flourish—had long been in use. It originated in France, and is still in great favor with French printers. Derriey, a French founder noted for his type combinations (scores of which may be seen in English specimen books under the name of « French Borders ») has produced some elaborate series. German founders have been busy in the same field; and one of the finest sets we have seen, containing some very large and boldly-designed pieces, is Wilhelm Gronau's fourth series.
There is a good reason why this class of ornament is not popular with English printers. It is borrowed from copper-plate printing, and strictly speaking, is not adapted to typographic work at all. The methods of the two arts are so different as to require a correspondingly different decorative treatment. The free and sweeping curves so easily traced upon the plate can only be stiffly and laboriously imitated by the typographer, who is necessarily obliged to work with rectangular material. All the early designers of ornamental types fell into the error of copying copper-plate models, such as may be seen on the engraved title-pages of the last century. The resulting styles were as unsatisfactory as they were elaborate, and it was not until the punch-cutters completely emancipated themselves from the copper-plate tradition, and struck out a new line, that any real excellence was attained in fancy type. Since then, the progress has been rapid, and there is now a clearly-marked contrast between the two classes of work. Even in scripts the same rule holds good—the old copy-book style has been abandoned, and the typographic forms have developed a freedom and beauty entirely their own. Of all patched-up horrors we know of none to exceed a lithographic job produced by a process of double transfer—from a copper-plate design, with type lines introduced into the blanks. The most uneducated eye can detect the incongruity. A few of the antiquated copper-plate fancy styles still linger in the specimen-books, but they have been practically obsolete these twenty-five or thirty years. It was therefore with some surprise that in Bruce's last Supplement (Style 1087) we noticed an attempt at the revival of one of these forms.
The curved line with flourished ornaments is the natural and appropriate decoration for engraved work. The flourishes can be made to sweep across the face of the letters, or, crossing the interstices only, may appear to pass behind; thus uniting with the general design. In type-work this is not possible, the two sets of flourishes being always more or less sharply divided by the line of type. Still another objection to their use is, that very few styles of letter can be found to harmonize with them.
We know of no better or more useful series of type flourishes than Series A and B of the Cincinnati Foundry. They are cast to pica and nonpareil bodies, and the two series together contain 106 sorts.
In this specimen four pieces are used; the two end-pieces being on an L-shaped body. The following is an example of some of the smaller pieces in use:—
The effect of copper-plate is more closely imitated in the brass-rule flourishes (54 characters), patented by the same house. We show some of them in use:
It will be noticed that the brass flourishes embrace the lines more closely than those of metal. In our first two specimens, the break in
In this, as in all other flourished ornaments, abundance of space is essential to effective display. In the above example, with only three small lines of type, the design occupies two inches in depth.
The strangest and most pretentious amateur production we have seen has been sent to us by a friend. It is No. 1 of the Jubilee Herald, a 32-column weekly, started in Wellington last month. The sheet before us is anything but a good specimen of printing. The heading is adorned with a sadly-smudged portrait of her gracious Majesty, to whom, by the way, the paper « is respectfully dedicated. » An advertisement on the first page sets forth that « the foreign and Colonial news enterprise of the Jubilee Herald places it in the lead of any other such newspaper venture in the colonies. » There is, however, very little news of any kind in the big sheet. The leader (on the mission of the press) is an extraordinary essay, two columns long, interspersed with anecdotes from Plutarch, Ovid, &c. The following is an extract: « And so it is that before many centuries shall have passed away the word 'history' shall also have passed away into oblivion and become a word of the past, while the term newspaper will most agreeably to public wishes supplant it with its long columns of purified, sifted, and authenticated narratives. In the hope of this state of things being hereafter realized, and with the view of serving our own purposes also, we have entered the field of letters, and at no small expense have imported a splendid printing plant, with which on our own account we have printed this newspaper, the Jubilee Herald, » &c. In a local, the editor tells us how a part of the printing machine was broken in putting together, and was efficiently replaced « in a few days » by a local firm, innocently adding: « The only thing that surprises us is, why some such firm as —, possessed as they are of the best machinery in this line, do not start the manufacture of Wharfedale printing machines. Thousands of pounds annually are sent out of the colonies for these machines, which might be saved to the colonies by their local manufacture. And as printing machines come into the colony duty-free, to encourage such an industry 25 per cent. ad valorem should be put upon them. » On behalf of the trade, we must thank our amateur friend for these suggestions. He is evidently as oblivious of patent-rights as he is of political economy or the Queen's English. Another paragraph dilates upon the subject of his machine and plant—vast novelties to him—and travels off to the literary merits of his paper. « We write differently to others, therefore we are read; and having been read we become 'par excellence' the only newspaper that should be supported in the advertising line. » The editor's ideas of reporting are original. Holding that police-court news « is not very desirable for Sunday readers, » he intends to « select some cases from the courts suitable for decent readers. » Some of his original paragraphs, however, are coarse enough. A long biography of the late Prince Consort and a history of England (!) occupying 2½ columns, beginning with Hengist and Horsa, and chiefly anecdotal, help to fill the sheet. The latter concludes thus: « The above historic facts should form a useful compendium for young men preparing for matriculation, and has been compiled by the editor of the Jubilee Herald with this object in view. » But for this explanation, we might have supposed it to be intended for the coming centuries, when history shall be obsolete, and a file of the Jubilee Herald take its place. A long article, headed « Biographical » seems to account for the appearance of this unique phenomenon in journalism. The editor has in hand a biographical cyclopædia of New Zealand notabilities, which would have been in the press ere this but for « the exorbitant high charges made for such work. » Therefore the editor has set up his own office and started the Jubilee Herald. In a few weeks (or months) he will be « a sadder and a wiser man. »
The advantage of a systematic sequence of sizes of type bodies being admitted, two important points remain to be settled—the standard to which all measurements have to be referred, and the system by which that standard is to be divided. On the first point we have already expressed our opinion that no private standard should be accepted. Each of the five great English foundries has a different long primer—all developed by imperceptible variations from the original Caslon body. A comparison of Austin Wood's table (p. 43) with that of Savage (p. 44) is instructive as showing how great a variation has taken place in the English bodies in less than fifty years. In Germany, the « System Didot » of different houses will be found to vary. All else is measured by the national scale—the building itself—the fittings—the chases, the machine tables, the paper on which the form is printed—and the national scale is the only one affording a perpetual standard for reference and correction. We are therefore glad that Messrs Caslon—the only English founders who have as yet introduced the aliquot system—have not followed the bad example of the Americans; but have taken the English inch as the basis of their scheme. The standard being fixed, there are two systems of division—by geometric and arithmetical progression. The first is the most scientific in theory—the latter immeasurably the best in practice. The geometrical system gives an exact proportional relationship between successive sizes of type throughout the scale—a result which no system of arithmetical progression could give. But it has the fatal objection of introducing incommeasurable fractions; and so far as we know is adopted by only one foundry in the world—Bruce's of New York. In the point system, where nonpareil equals 6, minion 7, and brevier 8, the beautiful geometric proportion is not secured; but the great practical advantage is gained that a lead one unit thick will adjust each of these bodies accurately to the next above it, and the same lead equals ⅙ of nonpareil, 1/7 of minion, and ⅛ of brevier. The series differ by a variable proportion, but a fixed unit. In Bruce's system, where the size of the body doubles regularly at each seventh step, each size is larger than the preceding by 12·2462+ per cent, and to adapt nonpareil to minion would require a lead ?0103 + inch thick; minion to brevier, 0115+ inch, and so on. While we cannot but admire the theoretic beauty—in fact perfection—of the system, we believe it is almost as irritating and unpractical in actual use as no system at all. Further, it will not range with any other system in use. The pica is 71·271+ ems to the foot. The aliquot parts of the foot are found only in the series agate, small pica, and meridian, which run 160, 80, 40, and 20 lines respectively. These differ from other standards, the small pica of the point system equaling 78·8609 ems to the foot instead of 80. Messrs Bruce say their system « differs but little in the principal bodies from the various systems used by other foundries. » This is true; but it is precisely these small differences which give the printer trouble. In our own office we have about a dozen sizes of pica and about the same number of two-line emerald. Many of the pica quads may be mixed with no very serious inconvenience; but those belonging to border founts require to be kept carefully apart. Let any one space a line of Stephenson & Blake's pica or two-line pica with Figgins's quads, and observe the result when the form is locked up, and they will realize what these little differences amount to in practice. The geometric system gives a certain facility in computation in casting-off matter; it would also be found useful in composing various-sized editions of the same work to correspond page for page. This latter result, how-ever, has been attained under the ordinary system; and to carry it out thoroughly, the sizes of the standard pages should also increase in regular proportion by geometric progression. Such, however, is not the case at present.
Issac Pitman was born at Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, 4th January, 1813. His father, who was a manager of a cotton-mill in the town of Trowbridge, had eleven children, Isaac being the second son. Early in life young Pitman was sent to school, and at the age of twelve took up a position as clerk in the counting-house of his father's establishment. In this employment he continued until his nineteenth year, when, having a desire to labor in the more congenial and intellectual occupation of teaching, he underwent a course of tuition at the Normal College of the British and Foreign School Society, Borough Road, London, in order to fit himself for the duties of a schoolmaster. In 1836, after occupying the position of master in a school at Barton-on-Humber, he established a British school at Walton-under-Edge, and it was at this time, while performing the duties of a teacher, that the idea of inventing a system of shorthand entered his mind. Mr Pitman had early taken much interest in literature and music, and he was, as we gather from an address delivered in Manchester in 1868, full of interesting autobiographical details and quaint references to his early life, « quite as familiar with Addison, and Sir Roger, and Will Honeycomb, and all the Club, as I was with my own brothers and sisters. » Owing to the inadequacy of his early education, the proper pronunciation of words proved a great obstacle—an obstacle which, we might add, is not alone confined to young men of scanty education—and, in order to remedy this defect, he read through Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary, &c., and compiled a list of the different words, for the sole purpose of ascertaining the correct method of sounding the « dumb symbols » that he was accustomed mentally to mispronounce. It was to this study of Walker, particularly in the introduction of his Dictionary, that Mr Pitman attributes his first idea of the art of phonetics. Indeed, it was something more than this, for in it he found the groundwork for the production of a phonetic system of shorthand, although it was not until about a year after, when he had laid the phonetic foundation which greatly helped him in his work, that he began the study of shorthand. The system he first learnt was Taylor's, a somewhat cumbrous one, by the aid of which he was, after four years' practice, able to report a slow speaker verbatim. Impressed by the advantages accruing to the possessor of a knowledge of shorthand, and being desirous that every boy in the kingdom should have a knowledge of the art, he compiled a little manual of Taylor's system, which he considered sufficient for the purpose, to be sold for three-pence. This little work he showed to Mr Bagster, the well-known Bible publisher, with whom he was on very friendly terms, asking him to undertake its publication. Mr Bagster, however, on the advice of a friend, counselled Mr Pitman to bring out a new system, instead of writing an abridgment of one already in the market. Accepting this friendly advice, Mr Pitman set to work during the early months of 1837, the result being that in the autumn of that year his new book was ready for the printer and came out in November, from the house of Mr Bagster, under the title of « Stenographic Sound-hand. » The production of this system created quite a revolution in the history of shorthand writing, possessing, as it did, the advantages of accuracy, clearness, and swiftness—advantages which many modern inventors appear entirely to forget. The second edition of the work appeared in 1840, under the title of « Phonography, » and since that time the system has had an extensive, and, for a shorthand work, unparalleled sale, more than a million copies of the « Phonographic Teacher, » the first instruction book, having been sold. The publication of the Phonographic Journal, (now the Phonetic Journal, having a circulation of over 20,000 copies a week) in Manchester, in 1841, gave a considerable stimulus to the movement; and the inception of the Phonetic Society in 1843, which has now over 3,400 members, helped in a large measure to cement together the admirers of the system of Phonography and the adherents to the science of phonetics. Many societies are now actively engaged in various parts of the country in the teaching of Phonography and the promotion of the mutual improvement of their members; and the system has quite a literature of its own, numerous well edited and written magazines being produced in phonographic characters.
Many of the standard works of our English-speaking race, such as the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, Bacon's Essays, Macaulay's Essays, Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, Sir Thomas More's Utopia, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, have been published in Phonography, and have commanded a large sale among shorthand enthusiasts. Vegetarians will be interested to learn that extracts from the well-known Dr Lambe's Report on Regimen in Chronic Diseases, published in London in 1815, with preface and notes by Mr Edward Hare, C.S.I., who is now a vice-president of the Vegetarian Society, has also been published in the corresponding style of Phonography by Mr Pitman, in 1869; and that an ever-circulating manuscript magazine, written in shorthand, devoted to the advocacy of the truths of Vegetarianism in general and the principles of the order of Danielites in particular, has been conducted for several years by Lieut. T. W. Richardson, an energetic worker in the cause of food reform.
Mr Pitman, however, is not only a food reformer, but he is an earnest advocate of abstinence from intoxicating drinks, and he has done much active work, both in practice and precept, towards freeing the people from that terrible curse of modern « civilization »—drink. As an instance of the bent of his mind, after convincing himself that the use of intoxicating liquors was injurious to the body, both physically and morally—he calmly knocked the bung out of his beer barrel and poured the contents into the sewer.
In religion Mr Pitman is a Swedenborgian; and he has occasionally endeavored, through the medium of the Phonetic Journal, to draw forth from their present unwieldy setting some of the gems of thought which here and there are to be found in the voluminous works of the man Swedenborg, whom Emerson truly and eloquently styled a « colossal soul. » He has done much in his time towards helping the free libraries movement, having distributed considerably over ten thousand volumes of general literature and phonetic books to different free libraries in the kingdom. The end of the present year—the jubilee year of the invention of phonography—will bring to a close a worthy record of fifty years' labor for the cause of phonetics, food reform, and temperance, and, through these movements, the common advancement of the people at large; and we are sure that it will be the general hope that he may long live to continue his noble, zealous, and untiring labors.
Ivory and amber are now so imitated in celluloid as to defy detection, and for manufacturing purposes the celluloid is preferred.
Messrs Caslon & Co. send us a sample of their improved leads, made by machinery, which are said to be very superior in accuracy and finish. The fine parallel lines on the metal are evidence of the operation of a planing or shaving tool.
The new catalogue of Messrs Golding & Co., briefly acknowledged in last month's Typo, contains every imaginable requisite for a printing office. Every manufactory and typefoundry in the United States appears to be represented. From the same firm we have copies of their periodical, the Printers' Review.
The large quarto specimen book of the Central Typefoundry (St. Louis) is one to delight the go-ahead printer, It not only exhibits the every-day styles of plain and job letter, and the special designs of the firm, but shows in detail all the out of-the-way signs, accents, and peculiars, which every printer requires at some time or other, and which some of the founders seem never to have heard of. We note two neat founts of weather-signal type. — From this house we have also a parcel of back numbers of their periodical, the Printers' Register, containing valuable and interesting matter.
An advertisement from Messrs John Haddon & Co. appears in this issue. We have had dealings with this house for five or six years past, and find it to our advantage to do nearly all our English business through them. Messrs Haddon do an extensive Indian and colonial export business; and being also practical printers and publishers on a large scale, are intimately acquainted with the markets, and are often in a position to obtain more favorable terms than the printer who deals direct with the manufacturer. Their acquaintance with the colonial markets enables them also to fill open orders in any line in a satisfactory manner.
Journalism to-day is the mightiest power in human hands, and rightly-directed, has achieved the noblest triumphs. The business of the Empire was lately put aside for a day while Parliament took in hand the redress of a private wrong—the case of a woman whose reputation had been aspersed by a modern Dogberry. An article in the Pall Mall Gazette had drawn attention to the case. Two years ago, the same paper, by its articles on « Modern Babylon, » raised a popular agitation absolutely without precedent, and triumphantly secured a reform in British law for which the society for the Protection of Women, with a host of titled and influential patrons, had for forty years striven in vain. We need not give any particulars of the latest press triumph—the Langworthy case—for the whole world is ringing with it, and for a few pence any one can purchase the detailed narrative. Here, again, the same newspaper has brought to the light of day an infamous crime, and has defeated a wealthy scoundrel who had successfully defied the highest courts in the land. Not only was he defeated in England; but the courts of the Argentine Republic have given their verdict against him, and, moreover, have the means of enforcing it. Of these courts, he had insolently written: « My lawyer, Dr Jose Marie Rosa, who is both judge and advocate, will speedily dispose of any case he [Mrs L.'s solicitor] may bring into court. » The Pall Mall Gazette's narrative, published in the Spanish language from day to day in the Nacion, has raised as strong a feeling of indignation in South America as in England itself. It is painful to see how sorry a figure the Times presents in the affair. That a paper with so grand a record and such vast wealth should have allowed it-self to be quietly muzzled by a firm of solicitors, and that nearly the whole daily press of London should have followed its example, is the most humiliating feature of the whole business. But the triumph is the greater for the Gazette. Four huge machines were running night and day to supply the demand for the paper while the narrative was in course of publication, and on the appearance of the appeal for funds to fight the case, money literally poured into the office from sympathisers with the injured woman. No knight of old ever did so much for the poor and oppressed as Mr Stead of the Pall Mall Gazette, and we hope the modern press everywhere, like the journal he so ably conducts, may be « a terror to evil-doers. »
Our article (p. 18) on systematic nicking of type, has brought us a very interesting letter from Messrs Caslon, the premier founders of England. Writing under date 27th June, they say: « We note your remarks on distinguishing sorts difficult to discern on the face, by a special nick. Very good notion if practicable; but we are sorry to say there is a huge practical difficulty in the way. To nick sorts specially would enormously increase the cost of type. A change of nick can be effected in two ways only: by shifting the mould for every character, or running a nick in with the plane after the type is fiuished—both costly and tedious processes. No printer would pay the extra cost for the sake of compositors who cannot see well enough. We note also that you appreciate our system of casting spaces and quads—every 'body' having its own distinguishing nick. »—We were therefore in error in saying our suggestion would involve « no extra trouble whatever, » and we are sure our readers, like ourselves, will value the information Messrs Caslon have so kindly given. Still, have they not overstated the difficulty a little? We instanced the extra nick distinguishing small caps. Figgins puts an extra nick near the top at the back; Miller and Richard a small one in front near the top; and Reed a similar nick at the back near the centre. The other associated foundries, so far as we are acquainted with their types, make no distinction. The extra nick in all these cases is very small, and appears to be put in by the second process mentioned by Messrs Caslon. That is to say, three of the five great English foundries habitually distinguish six sorts of each body-fount with a special nick, and make no extra charge. We recognize the difficulty of carrying out so elaborate a change as we suggested in the matter of Greek founts; but as regards the Hebrew, for example, no more trouble would be involved than is already taken with roman. A still more excellent way in regard to Hebrew is adopted by certain continental houses, who so emphasize the points of difference between the characters that they are readily distinguished. We did not make so unreasonable a suggestion as that type should be modified to suit defective vision—what we did was to complain of the manner in which good sight is impaired under the present system.
Printers who have long been afflicted with the soddened wood and rusty screws of the ordinary galley, will welcome the latest invention—a solid « all-brass » galley, brought out and patented by Mr Dearing, a practical printer of San Francisco. He believes it is « the coming galley. » So do we. There is a fortune in it.
At Dunedin, on the 13th inst., a deputation of master printers waited on Sir J. Vogel, pointing out the injustice done to them by allowing printed stationery, &c., to be imported free. They stated that if they imported envelopes there was a duty to pay, but if the banks, &c., imported envelopes with a line of print, they were admitted free.—Typo can only say that it is only by a very lax interpretation of the tariff (such as would not be tolerated at Napier) that such goods as described can be imported free. Envelopes do not cease to be stationery by being printed upon. Bound diaries, and even the little printed « birthday books, » with blanks for autographs, are classed as stationery, and are not allowed to pass as printed matter.
Mr Ivess, in a speech quoted elsewhere, narrated part of the history of the Timaru Herald. He might have added that not long before it came into his possession it was one of the most flourishing and influential papers in the South Island. Of its rapid downward career while in his hands, he gave some idea; but it reached still lower depths. The rival proprietor (against whom Mr Ivess had brought an unsuccessful libel action), bought the concern. The last issues of the Herald before the transfer Mr Ivess filled with flaming advertisements of a new paper to be published in the same town, and which he soon afterwards started. The new journal, some two months old, is now in the market, and Mr Ivess has taken over the Napier Evening News. We should be sorry to think that the ethics of journalism, as thus exemplified, should ever become the standard of the New Zealand press.
If the « distinguished colonist » occasionally makes himself ridiculous at home, the distinguished visitor to the colonies generally contrives to make things come out pretty even. We have in New Zealand been visited by a lady advertised as a celebrated journalist, lecturer, and elocutionist, who was good enough to publish her « impressions » of the colony. As a piece of fine writing, the record of these impressions is superb. The wooden houses of Invercargill were not exhilarating; the railways were painful; the Grand Hotel of Dunedin was « not a place to elevate the mind. » A critic reminded the lady that this was not the primary design of hotels; but that the one in question possessed an elevator for the body. All the natural features of New Zealand met with approval; but not until the lady happily fell into freethought circles in Dunedin did she find anything else worthy of commendation; and her article concluded with a fine anti-climax in the following patronising strain: « Mr Farra, the secretary of the Freethought Association, showed us over the Lyceum Hall. A tinsmith by trade, he is also a very intelligent man. Mr Bracken, the poet, is a very fine fellow. Then the Premier, whom we met there, struck us as one of Nature's and Fortune's favorites. He is decidedly a handsome man. »
Sir Charles Reed & Sons, Of the Fann-street Foundry, London, are still producing tasteful and beautiful novelties. Their agents, Baber and Rawlings, send us a neatly-displayed sheet showing eighteen varieties of Japanese corners, a groundwork to correspond, and four quaint and pretty vase ornaments. We regret to see that this house is bringing out novelties on such obsolescent bodies as english and double pica. Reed and Caslon are the only English founders who give the colonial buyers a chance of selecting from their new styles. The other foundries may be bringing out new and attractive faces; but if so, they neglect the colonial market, where the 'cute Yankee and ambitious German are fast occupying the field.
From Mr A. Sauvé, London, we have specimens of a series of national ornaments and portraits of the Queen, appropriate to the Jubilee year; also a sheet of well-designed sporting emblems, for cricket, football, tennis, &c.
No. 41 of Caslon's Circular—a back number, specially sent to make up a deficiency in our file, contains the finest pica roman (No. 26) we have yet seen anywhere. Bold, clear, legible, and harmonious, it is more gratifying to the eye than any fancy letter ever devised. Yet this is precisely the kind of type that « aesthetic » and « artistic » printers neglect. It passes our comprehension how publishers and readers have so long tolerated the wretched affectation of sham « old-style » work when modern faces have been brought to such perfection. Germany may excel in combinations, and America in fancy letter; but in body-founts England leads the world.
By the San Francisco mail we have Brace's Fifth Supplement, which contains four series of ornamental letter, comprising in all nineteen founts, none of which are provided with lower-case. Style 1085 is a neat condensed ornamented, light and pretty. No. 1086 is another condensed, lined, and being a mixed style, difficult to classify. The M and N are simply sanserif; the O is a hexagon; the E and T are provided with serifs—the latter differing from every other character in the fount in having one at the foot. 1087 is an old-fashioned copperplate engravers' letter—a tuscan, blocked and shaded, and adorned with a « rupert's drop » at the side. 1088 is another old friend —a sanserif, with a very broad blocking, running from the top and right-hand side, giving the letter the appearance of tilting forward. The double-pica of this face (under the title of « Perspective ») has been in the specimen-books for a good many years; Messrs Bruce have now completed the series in five sizes, from pica to 4-line pica.
Farmer, Little, & Co. have produced a bold and peculiar letter, with lower-case, under the title of « Bowl. » It is a striking and very effective style.
Marder, Luse, & Co. send us the Chicago Specimen, No, 1, vol. xxi, in which we find a flattering notice of our own paper. We note a page of specimens of pica figures for the new style of railroad table work; « star dashes » (* ** *** ***) in four sizes, for separating paragraphs in book-and job-work, and two neat sets of U.S. weather signals.—By the mail to hand this week, we have specimens of some original and very peculiar borders, suitable for old-style work, by the same firm.
Messrs Schneidewend & Lee, printers' furnishers, Chicago, were burnt out on 25th April. On the 30th they had a new machine-shop equipped, and were hard at work filling orders.
At Melbourne recently, Mr James Scott, a solicitor of Richmond, brought an action to recover £200 damages from the proprietor of the Richmond Australian for having suppressed from the police-court reports all mention of the fact that he had appeared in certain cases. The notice of action was accompanied by this letter:—« Your continued, unwarrantable, and malicious suppression of my name as solicitor from your reports of the proceedings in the Police Court at Richmond for the last nine or twelve months (though I appeared on Wednesday last in three cases, some of which are reported in Saturday's issue) cannot, as tending to my injury and prejudice, any longer be tolerated. Further, in your issue of the 7th inst, in your report of the public meeting of the ratepayers at the Town Hall as to the loan, all the speakers are pretty fully reported, and all that is said with regard to my speech (admitted, as I am informed, to be the speech of the evening) is 'another speaker supported the resolution,' not even mentioning the name. Such reporting I can only characterise as being unjust, unfair, malicious, and calculated to lower and degrade me in the eyes of the public, and to prejudiciously affect my business in the district, and cannot be submitted to. » On behalf of the newspaper proprietor, application was made to Mr Justice Holroyd that the action should be dismissed as frivolous and vexatious, and as an abuse of the process of the Court. His Honor, in dismissing the action with costs, said that he did not know of any law which compelled a man to publish reports of anything.
A correspondent wishes Typo to recommend some good hand-books. —MacKellar's American Printer; Southward's Practical Printing; Crisp's Printers' Book of Reference. We expect a supply of these and other valuable trade books of reference at an early date.
About the time we published our article on the advantages of a systematic nick, a correspondent of the Inland Printer was making a similar suggestion. His proposal was that the figures I and O in old-style founts should be nicked differently from the small-cap I and O, as they are continually being mixed.
The newspaper contributor and his friend the comp are always coming out with unintended jokes. « The London Tribuner » for « London, Trübner » as an authority, is equal to « the French Source. » « The nefarious consequences of this pernicious habit » is a curious example of interchange of adjectives. « David in Solomon's armor » is a metaphor of startling originality—and incongruity. « He sent his man Home to make arrangements » is a fine example of ambiguity arising from the practice of dressing an adverb in the garb of a proper noun. « A nail in the coffin of the goose that lays them golden eggs, » from the correspondence column of the youngest Wellington paper, is worthy of the gifted editor himself. « Them golden eggs » is suggestive of the Jubilee singers. To these native specimens we may add a brilliant exotic from the New York Home Journal, which represented a learned judge as reserving his decision upon a certain motion « until he had seen the morning papers »—when he had really waited to see the « moving papers. »
Mr Ivess, in his election speech at Napier, said: « No man had done more for printers than he had. He had started newspapers and given them employment, and many a newspaper proprietor got his first start in life from him. » What the workmen think of Mr Ivess may be gathered from the resolutions passed at their meetings, and from many columns contributed to the daily papers during the past month. But he is regarded with equal disfavor by master printers—be is a veritable Ishmael of New Zealand journalism, as his reputation for libel actions abundantly testifies. Judged by his own test—that of the number of papers he has started—he has certainly done much for printers. If the multiplication of small and struggling country sheets and poorly-equipped job offices be a boon, Mr Ivess is a benefactor. In the same speech he said: « Two-thirds of the papers throughout Australasia were conducted with cheap labor such as he had described, and if they employed all men at £2 10s a week they would have to go through the Bankruptcy Court and suspend operations. » Making all allowance for exaggeration, the question naturally arises: Who but Mr Ivess and men of his stamp are responsible for this state of things? The man who establishes a business where a reasonable opening exists, takes a personal interest in the venture, charges fair prices, pays fair wages, and makes the concern remunerative, is a gain to the whole community. He, on the other hand, who engages in such unbusinesslike speculations as that of Timaru, and saddles his workmen with a share of the loss, not only does irreparable injury to his own trade, but indirectly to every other industry.
Clear Shellac Varnish.—To get an absolutely clear solution of shellac has long been a desideratum, not only with microscopists, but with all others who have occasional need of the medium for cements, &c. It may be prepared (according to the National Druggist) by first making an alcoholic solution of shellac in the usual way; a little benzole is then added and the mixture well shaken. In the course of from twenty-four to forty-eight hours the fluid will have separated into two distinct layers, an upper alcoholic stratum, perfectly clear, and of a dark red color, while under it is a turbid mixture containing the impurities. The clear solution may be drawn off.
Mucilage of Acacia, or Gum Arabic.—It is usually stated that the preparation of this mucilage in the cold renders it less liable to become thick and muddy. This the Pharma. Zeitung, in a late issue, disputes upon the authority of H. Notfke, who recommends the hot treatment. The following is his plan. « By repeated experiments I have become convinced that the keeping qualities of mucilage gum arabic are improved by using hot water for solution. The water is first heated to boiling, then allowed to cool to about 80° C. (176° F.), and this is then poured upon the gum arabic, which had previously been carefully washed with cold distilled water. The whole is well covered, set aside in a cool place, and frequently stirred. Solution will take place rapidly. Any water lost by evaporation is replaced before straining. The straining must be done by passing the mucilage through a woollen strainer, previously washed repeatedly with distilled water. The strained mucilage should be filled into small bottles (2 to 8 oz.), which had previously been carefully dried in a drying oven, and must be still hot when filled. They should be filled to about three-fourths of the neck and at once corked, the cork, if possible, being pushed down so as to meet the surface of the mucilage. Mucilage thus prepared is clear and bright, and, if put up as here directed, keeps well, though it generally becomes faintly opalescent after a few days. But this happens also to mucilage prepared by the cold process. If the mucilage is heated in a steam bath, immediately after it has been strained, it will keep still better, but this second heating renders it quite opaque, which is not considered proper. »
Faint Lining.—This recipe is both simple and cheap: Dissolve a few ounces of gum arabic in water; use eight drops to a pint of ink; mix blue paste with warm water, and always strain through a cloth. If you wish a slightly darker blue, add a few drops of alcohol. This ink will run smoothly on any kind of paper.
White Ruling Ink.—To make a white ink that can be used in a ruling pen as India ink is used: Mix Chinese white with water containing enough gum arabic to prevent the immediate settling of the substance. Magnesium carbonate may be used in a similar way. They must be reduced to impalpable powder.
New Watermarking Process.—A German papermaker has invented a process for the imitation of water-marked papers by such means that the lines are produced after the paper has been printed or calendered. The design or device to be produced is drawn on thin paper and pasted on to cardboard, say of one inch in thickness. The design or device is then cut off and pasted on to a stout cardboard, and covered with a thin sheet of paper. If, then, the plate or relief thus produced is passed through a calender, together with a paper to be marked, the desired effect will be produced. The relief or plate may be used a great number of times.
Etching Metal Surfaces.—The following method of etching metallic surfaces, by which it appears possible to produce highly decorative effects, has recently been published. The article to be treated is electroplated with gold, silver, nickel, or other metal, and on this the design which it is desired to produce is traced with some suitable acid-resisting substance. It is them immersed in an acid-bath, by the action of which those portions of the surface which are left unprotected are deprived of their electroplated coating, and the naked metal beneath is given a frosted or dead appearance. The article is then well rinsed to remove all traces of the acid employed, and the acid-resisting varnish is removed by the use of alcohol, oil, or other proper solvent. The result is a frosted or dead-lustre surface of the original metal, upon which the design in the electroplated metal stands up in relief. If, for example, the article be one of copper and the plating silver, the design will be in silver upon a dead copper ground. It is manifest that the operation may be reversed, that is, the design to be reproduced, instead of being protected, as in the foregoing procedure, may be left unprotected, and the remainder of the electroplated surface covered. In this ease, the design would appear to be in dead copper on a silver ground.
No little stir has been caused in the trade by the candidature of Mr Ivess for Napier. The wage-earning class are strong enough (if united) to return or defeat any candidate, and it is this class he claims to represent.
In the House last year, speaking on the subject of railway laborers' wages, he said: « I do not hesitate to say that I was returned to represent labor, and I trust the interests of labor will always command my attention when important matters like this come before us. »
The wages question having been raised, the Herald asserted that Mr Ivess had twice reduced his workmen's wages at Timaru.
Addressing the electors on 3rd August, Mr Ivess said: « In an article in the previous morning's Herald it had been stated that when he took the Timaru Herald he reduced wages, and made further reductions at the end of six months. He would show them that that was totally untrue. (Loud applause.)
He would give the explanation, which he felt to be due to himself. When he entered on the proprietary of the Timaru Herald on March 1st, 1886, he found it losing something like £1000 a year. It was clearly impossible for him to conduct it and stand that loss. So he called the hands around him and gave them the preference to any others. He said, 'I am desirous of replacing no one of you if we can come to some arrangement.' There were eight printers, and they made an offer to him to contract to do the composition on the paper for £25 per week. Seven men got £3 a week each, and the foreman £4. At the time they entered into the agreement he told them that if any one had a chance of bettering himself he was at liberty to leave at a moment's notice, and they had scarcely entered into the contract when one man found other employment and left. At the end of six months he told them that in consequence of heavy losses he would not be able to continue the arrangement, and he put them on piecework at the rate of 1s per thousand letters composed. They earned from £4 to £4 11s a week under that arrangement. He also raised the editor's salary £1 a week. After continuing a month, losing at the rate of £70 to £80 a month, he had to explain to the men that he could not give more than £2 10s a week for 6½ hours per night and overtime at the rate of 1s 6d per hour. This was cheerfully accepted, and the best proof of that was that five out of the eight were still employed there at the same rate. He believed that one of them was on the Hawke's Bay Herald. Of course it was much to be regretted that an employer conducting a newspaper had to retrench, but he did not pay a lower rate than was paid in Napier, where he believed £2 10s was the rate of wages. »
The following letter appeared next day in the Herald, under the signature of « One of those who signed the contract »:—
Having been one of the compositors who entered into the contract with Mr Ivess to « farm » the Timaru Herald when he took over that paper, I beg to be allowed to point out to the electors several « trifling » mis-statements made by him in his address last evening. Up to the time Mr Ivess took over the paper we were paid the price recognized by the trade throughout the colony, viz., 1s per thousand letters. When it became known amongst us that Mr Ivess had taken a lease of the paper quite a consternation was created in our little flock, and most of the compositors tried hard to Ret employment elsewhere, well knowing Mr Ivess's liking for cheap labor. Only one man succeeded in getting employment elsewhere. A few days before he took possession he came and informed as of the change in the proprietary, and notified us that he would be compelled to dismiss some of us and put on boy labor, he not forgetting to tell us that he had men ready to take our places if we opposed the introduction of this cheap labor. We held a meeting, at which it was decided to make a proposition to Mr Ivess. Recognizing the fact that the paper was losing from £700 to £1000 per annum, we offered to prepare the paper and hand it over to the machinist for the sun of £25 per week, or an average of £3 per week for each man, we allowing our foreman £4. This was a very great reduction—to some of the fast hands as much as £1 and over per week. Mr Ivess agreed to our proposal and an agreement for six months was drawn out and signed by eight of us, the amount of work to be done being stated. By accepting this reduction we thought to prevent boys being introduced, but we were no sooner bound by contract than he commenced to fill the place with boys. Our contract was just what he wanted. He had us by the « wool » and could train up his boys to take our places by the end of the term if needed,—a state of things we wanted to prevent. We were « euchered. » We faithfully fulfilled our contract. We gave him work that would have cost him nearly double if paid for at the ruling rate. We worked from sixty hours upwards, the most of that being by night—and we got £3 per week. At the end of our contract we were put on piece-work, that is, each man was paid according to the amount of work done. This was too expensive for him, so he « rose » the wage from £4 to £2 10s. When Mr Ivess offered us £2 10s per week he did not state what hours we were to work. We were to work till the paper was set up. If the men worked « 6½ hours per night, » that meant from two to three hours' work during the day, which would bring the total up to about nine hours per day. There is no other morning paper in the colony where such a low wage is paid, and I doubt if in the whole of the Australasian colonies. In Invercargill, Dunedin, Oamaru, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Wanganui, and Auckland the price is 1s per thousand. Even in Tasmania, where labor is exceedingly cheap, the price is not so low, while in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide the price is over 1s per thousand. It is ridiculous to compare the wage paid for day-labor with that of night-work, but Mr Ivess quoted the former to show what was a fair rate. Everybody must admit that night-work—which is most injurious to health, and which sends many a man to his long home years before his time, and a trade the members of which are the shortest-lived of any trade or profession—should command a better wage than day-labor. The recognized wage for day-labor in this town is £2 10s per week, which is little enough to keep a family on when rents are so high. Mr Ivess says no man has done more for printing than he has. It is the general opinion of our trade that, with one exception, no man has done so much injury to our trade. Although Mr Ivess has started a number of papers in various parts of the colony, I do not know one of which he may feel proud. They are all very inferior papers, and he generally employs the cheapest labor—men who have half learnt their trade, and who could not hold their own among good men. Mr Ivess says the reduction was « cheerfully accepted, and the best proof of that was that five out of the eight were still there. » Can any man who has received a reduction of wage from £4 to £2 10s say he feels cheerful? I know I felt very merry, and judging from the expression on the faces of my fellow-unfortunates, they felt as « cheerful » as I. Out of the eight men who « farmed » the Timaru Herald there were some time ago only four left on the paper, three of whom receive £2 10s per week, the other being foreman. One of the three is a man with a large family, and who had to submit to the inevitable, much against his will. While Mr Ivess ran the paper, I never before worked in a companionship where so much discontent existed among those employed…Mr Ivess admits reducing the wages of his men. As he referred to me in his address, I take this opportunity of laying the facts before your readers.
On the 6th August a meeting of journeymen printers was held in Napier. There were 40 present, representing all the newspapers; but upon it being resolved to report the proceedings, the News hands withdrew. Resolutions were unanimously passed as follows:—
Mr Ivess, subsequently addressing a public meeting, said the printers' meeting had been got up by the employers, on political grounds. He also said that at Timaru he gave the men £25 a week, and the foreman £4.—The journeymen printers held a second meeting, on 20th August, and unanimously resolved:
The Rangitikei Advocate describes a certain journalistic candidate as a « political tomtit. » The candidate, addressing the electors, described himself as a « duck. » How shall we classify this rara avis?
Vincent Pyke, when called to account by the Speaker for an ambidextrous vote on a question of ministerial policy, gave a satisfactory explanation. As a consistent ministerialist, he could not do otherwise—he had followed the Premier into one lobby, and the Treasurer into the other. Mr Ivess has been twitted with the fact that he is the proprietor of two North Island papers—one (Napier) giving unqualified support to the ministry, and the other (Patea) an uncompromising opponent. The critics forget, apparently, that the political situation (like the Island itself) has two sides—and that Napier and Patea look forth upon opposite horizons.
Mr R. Rhodes, late of Tauranga, is about to start a printing office at Coromandel.
The new Government printing office in Wellington is to be lighted by electricity.
The New Zealand Chess Chronicle is the name of a new venture in Wellington, designed to fill a niche hitherto unoccupied in our serial literature. The first number contains four pages crown size. It is printed and published by Mr N. Manley.
The Volunteer News is the title of a small weekly lately started in Auckland. It has an innovation in the matter of the leader-head, which, in place of the customary title of the paper, has a two-inch display advertisement, setting forth rates of subscription, &c.: the effect is far from pleasing. It is printed and published by Dignan & Kelly.
Two eight-page weekly papers have appeared at Port Chalmers under the title of the Union Shipping Gazette. Two gentlemen had arranged to bring out such a paper in partnership; but disagreeing, each took up the venture single-handed. One paper made its first appearance on the 1st August, the other on the 2nd; and the confusion since resulting has occasioned quite a « Comedy of Errors. » The craft, since their launch, have been in frequent collision, each striving to run the other down.
Few of our exchanges exhibit better presswork than the little Lyell Times. To those who remember the old Lyell Argus, no more striking example of the progress of the district could be adduced.
From La Typologie-Tucker we learn that a new typographic journal has been started at Abbeville, entitled La Compositrice. Its object is to defend the professional interests and to unite in one body the small groups of compositresses scattered over France. It is edited by Mlle Jeanne Daussy.
The Jubilee Herald of 20th Aug. is just to hand. It is much better printed than No. 1; but on very bad paper. News is still conspicuously deficient, the columns being filled apparently from school reading-books and old scrap-books chiefly. It contains five poems, one being a revised version of part of the well-known « Pilgrim Fathers. » It begins « The sullen waves beat high » and another line is « The wealth of seas?—the sports of war? » It is simple desecration thus to mangle English literature. Of the six stanzas printed, four have been tampered with, and we are glad to see that the editor appreciates his own share in the poem so well that he has not put Mrs Hemans's name to it. To have done so would have been to libel the dead. The gem of the paper is an original poem by Mr Pat. MacCarthy, entitled « A Tragedy, Bodghe Jail, June, 1887. » We quote it as it stands:
'Twas moonlight, and the soft rays fell On a dark form imprisoned there. A slave lay in a prison cell, And breathed the dark pestiferous air. His breathing low and soft fell on My ear attentive at the door; In one hand I a dagger held, In t'other hand a saw. A blow, a shot, a stab, a rush, And all was silence there, The victim of the Landlord curse Had vanished into air. And there was rain, a murky mist, And pestilence and buryin', But the proudest man who slept that night Was that poor son of Erin.
Here is a stupendous enigma. The only thing apparent is that Patrick perpetrated a very cowardly deed. Armed to the teeth—a pistol in his belt, a saw (an ugly weapon) in one hand and a dagger in the other—he enters the cell, first making sure that his intended victim is sound asleep. Not content with using the three murderous weapons, he literally annihilates the prisoner with « the Landlord curse »—a form of imprecation evidently more potent than dynamite. The corpse having disappeared, the pestilence and buryin' remain to be accounted for; and it is by no means clear who the proud sleeper was—the assassin or his victim—or what cause either of them had for pride. We give it up.—Is the J. H. nothing more than a huge (double-) Royal Jubilee Joke?
We have to acknowledge with thanks the following new exchanges: The Typographic Chronicle (No. 1), London; the Papermaker's Circular, London (from 10th June), Chicago Specimen (from No. 1 vol. xxi); Electrotyper, Chicago) from No. 2 vol. xv); the Printers' Review, Boston (sundry back numbers); and L'Imprimerie, Liége, Belgium (from 5th May.)
The Lyttelton Times is now a penny paper.
Mr M'Harry, a dismissed teacher at Kokatahi, has issued a writ for £1,500 against the West Coast Times for libel. The Grey River Argus was lately served with writs for libel by two separate parties in one day.
Sir J. Pope Hennessy has issued a writ for £30,000 damages against The Times for libel. The article on which the action is based relates to his restoration to the Governorship of New Guinea.
According to the penny-a-liner who « did » the funeral of the Duchess of Norfolk, the coffin was « removed in a stately procession which carried one back 300 years. » Which was it—a procession or a retrocession?
The Bruce Herald sits heavily on a writer in one of the papers, who objects to the Bible in schools because « it is not in good English »! By what standard he judges does not appear; but the Herald says that compared with the language of Scripture « the most brilliant performances of the cleverest modern writers and rhetoricians are either egregiously stilted or miserably tame. »
Otago papers report the death of John St. Clair Inglis, one of the oldest printers in the district. Deceased was a clever workman, but a rover, and had a checkered career.
With much regret we note the sudden death, at Christchurch, on the 16th August, of Sir Julius von Haast, one of the most distinguished scientific men in the colony; at the age of 63. Heart disease was the cause of death.
Otago papers record the death, at Clyde, of Mrs George Fache, wife of the editor of the Dunstan Times. The deceased lady, who was highly esteemed, leaves a family of ten—the youngest only a fortnight old.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—August, 1887.
In our last article, we placed the Typographic Flourish in the category of Line Ornaments; but the term is generally limited to a very useful and effective class of decoration introduced by the Johnson Foundry ten years ago, and which has since that time come into general use. In the Typographic Advertiser in 1887, there appeared in four sizes a style of letter entitled
—one of the most original as well as beautiful of the productions of that celebrated house. Few designs ever attained such immediate and general popularity. The special characteristic of the style was that the small caps were made to run from the centre of the initials, and that a series of ornaments, to break the abruptness of the transition, was supplied with each fount. With the largest size, twenty-four pieces were supplied, as shown below, and these formed the first series of what were afterwards known as « Line Ornaments »:—
The popularity of these designs was owing to their supplying a want. It was soon found that the ornaments could be effectively employed with other faces of type, and that they rendered possible a new style of display, lighter and less formal than could be attained with previous typographic resources. The twenty-four pieces, however, did not afford a very wide scope, and the original designers soon followed up the idea by series 5, 6, and 7–1 to 4 representing the four sizes of Filigree aforesaid. The new combinations showed some improvements—the chief being that all the pieces were east to nonpareil lengthwise as well as bodywise, which was not the case with series 2 and 4. Each of the new series had its own character, while all might be worked in combination with good effect. Series 5 consisted of fine lines with solid ornaments, and contained 36 pieces, including some neat corners.
Series 6, containing 25 characters, consisted entirely of open ornaments, without heavy lines:
Series 7, containing 24 characters, approximated more closely to the original Filigree, the ornaments being shaded with parallel lines:
With these five series (two of the Filigree sets, pearl and bourgeois, do not combine with the others), an inexhaustible variety of ornament seemed possible; but this kind of decoration, being subject to none of the arbitrary rules or limitations or ordinary type ornaments, may be carried to any extent. Other foundries had by this time taken up the idea, and carried it out with varying success. In 1879 MacKellar came out with two new and very beautiful sets, 8 and 9. Both of these corresponded with series 5, there being no outline ornaments nor half-tones. The characters were more numerous than in former series. No. 8 contained 48:—
The special character of series 9, containing 37 characters, was, that it introduced pieces on curved bodies, on the system already adopted by the same house in its « Elliptical » combination border.
In 1880 followed two series, 10 and 11, on oblique bodies. Series 10, consisting of 10 characters, has nothing in common with the others, and its deficiency in rectangular pieces makes it a very imperfect combination. We would welcome about twenty additional pieces, on square and curved bodies. This is all there is of it:
Series 11, 28 characters, corresponds with the others, except that the design is slightly heavier. Series 11 and 12 may be effectively used where there is plenty of space—the latter especially, as any of the former series will combine with it.
In the combinations of other founders, there is little that is not in one or other of the series shown above. Otto Weisert, by whom these designs were brought out in Germany, with the national taste for running borders, added a few cornel-pieces, to correspond with the sorts shown below, thus the easing the adaptability of the ornaments.
No more series have been brought out by the Johnson Foundry; but to several recent founts, such as the « Queen Bess » script, « Trojan » (a modification of the Filigree), « Lady Text, » « Mortised, » and « Artistic, » ornaments have been added carrying out the same idea. It will be noted that the ornamentation throughout is entirely conventional, there being no attempt (as in the « Arboret ») to represent foliage or other objects. Various arbitrary names have been assigned to combinations of this class—among others, « Word Ornaments, » « Card Ornaments, » and « Typographic Charms; » but throughout these articles they will be described as « Line Ornaments. »
A new pantograph, of ingenious and simple construction, has been invented by Lieut. C. S. Riché, New York. In addition to reducing and enlarging, it can be made to distort or caricature, or reverse a drawing. This latter quality makes it specially useful to engravers and lithographers.
An awkward mishap occurred in the Hawke's Bay Herald office yesterday morning. As a form of advertisements was being lowered to the press-room, it fell out of the lift, resulting in « the wreck of matter and the crash of words. » Over a hundredweight of pie— mostly nonpareil—lay around; and as there was no time to remedy the disaster, the paper came out with the fourth page blank.
The Volunteer and Civil Service Gazette has an infallible remedy for all the evils under which the colony labors. Vote « straight » for the party who by liberal expenditure for « defence » will make New Zealand « take a leading position. » Nothing like leather! The colony will suffer for years to come from the mad waste of half-a-million on worthless fortifications during the last war scare.
The latest London advertising horror is thus described:—« With an india-rubber boot, a rubber stamp fixed on the sole thereof, and an inking apparatus worked from the trousers pocket down into the boot, the advertising fiend soon covers the flagged footpaths with no end of printed announcements. » This is a good deal quicker and more ingenious than the stencil advertising nuisance which was suppressed in Wellington by a special borough bye-law.
New Zealand (says the London Paper and Printing Trades Journal) makes the latest addition to the long list of typographical journals in the form of a monthly four-page [sic] quarto entitled Typo, printed and published by R. C. Harding, of Napier, and intended to represent the printing, stationery, bookselling, and fancy trades of the colony. The initial number is very neatly got up in modern type with treble-rule borders and judicious ornamentation in headings and initials, while the contents, both original and selected, shew that editorially it is in practised hands. We have scissored a few items from its pages for the benefit of our readers.
Mr H. Sell, 167-8 Fleet-street, London, has sent us a copy of his Dictionary of the World's Press for 1887—a wonderful work for a florin. We have found the volume for 1886 a valuable book of reference during the past year; and the present issue—a large 8vo of some 1300 pages—is nearly double the size of that of last year. Moreover, the colonial information is more fully and correctly given. The book is freely illustrated, containing portraits, autographs, fac-similes of celebrated newspapers, &c., also valuable original articles on subjects of interest to journalists and advertisers. It contains among other departments, a complete alphabetical list of the four thousand periodical publications—daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual— published in Great Britain, with date of publication, price, and other particulars. The book should be in the office of every journalist and bookseller.
The degree to which material is depreciated by use or time is a question which is attracting much attention among printers to-day. Nothing ever becomes perfect. The machine which was bought last week, perfect in every respect as it seemed to the buyer, may this week be stopped, and a part of it be in the hands of the machinist for repairs. Type is constantly depreciating. Every time it is picked up and put into the stick, every time that the cylinder of the press strikes against it, or every time that it is thrown into the case, it is injured. The care of the compositor, the use of electrotyping, or the absence of demand of that particular kind, may keep it longer, but it goes in the end. Every month or so the dust in the bottom of the cases must be blown out—a dust composed largely of metallic particles detached from the parallelograms of lead and antimony. It is impossible to say how long type will wear. There are country offices in which little call has been made upon particular founts, where instances of type bought thirty or forty years ago may be found. Those of ten years' existence are numerous; but in cities where space is valuable, and where type is discarded after losing its power to make a clear impression, few body founts can be seen in letterpress offices that are over six years old; many founts are completely worn out in two or three years. Formerly, when there was no stereotyping on newspapers, the life of type in those offices was much less. Before 1860 one daily newspaper found it necessary to get a new dress every three months, and another every six months, for at the end of these periods the old dress was completely battered to pieces. Such ill-usage is, however, extreme. The existence of a fount is, generally speaking, for four or five years; the miscellaneous material around the composing room twice that time, and the machines, counting repairs, a dozen years. Thus eight per cent, a year must be applied to the renovation of machines, twenty per cent, to type when very closely used, and ten per cent, to stone, cases, chases, sticks, and so on. Less than this will not keep in good condition an office which is fully employed, but, of course, those in which the plant is equivalent to the use of two score of men, while it doees not employ over a score, will wear out much more slowly.
£1,000 per day is, in round figures, the amount of additional taxation proposed by the Stout-Vogel ministry. On this issue they were beaten, and have appealed to the country—to be defeated again.
An india-rubber « ring » is being formed in the United States. A band of speculators, with consciences as elastic as the material in which they are interesting themselves, are endeavoring to form a « corner » in the trade. They are not expected to succeed.
The Minister for Mines, Mr Larnach, in his nomination address, said his opponent was « a sanguinary perverter of the truth, and if he had got any intelligence, then he could reduce those words to two words only. » Small wonder that the respectable portion of the press is unanimously opposed to the present administration.
The Mail, the thrice-weekly reprint of The Times, distinguished its jubilee number by an ornamental border around each page. The border is a simple silhouette flower, by Bauer & Co., Stuttgart, running from corner-pieces containing the national emblems of rose, thistle, and shamrock.
Messrs A. B. Fleming & Co., of Edinburgh (« the largest printing ink works in the world ») send us a finely-printed quarto pamphlet, with descriptions and illustrations of their extensive works, and advertisements of their wares in many languages—not excepting the Maori! We fear the aboriginal custom will not cover the interpreter's fee. The pamphlet is well worthy of preservation, if only on account of the numerous valuable « wrinkles » on the use and preservation of printers' ink.
Reporters have arduous and too often thankless duties—and never is this more the ease than at election times. They are so much in the habit of turning crude and ungrammatical orations into decent shape that this is looked upon as a matter of course. Afterwards, to be accused of incapacity, and told that the speaker can't undertake to provide them with brains, is a little rough. Such is the singular line taken by a candidate in a northern city, whose meetings conclude with « three howls for the reporters. » But if they declined to report him at all—or still more unkindly, reported him verbatim—what a fuss there would be!
Our former articles have embodied a good deal of information as to the various standards, which we have taken from authoritative sources. The necessity for such data may be realized when the loose manner in which statements arc commonly made is considered. It was recently stated in the London. It was recently stated in the London Printer' Register that the picas of the Sheffield Foundry and the Johnson Foundry were the same, and were exactly ⅙-inch! Any printer with the types before him can satisfy himself in a moment that they do not correspond, and by careful measurement can prove that neither of them is ⅙-inch. A. correspondent of the same paper published the results of his own mesurements as follow:—
These are not correct, actually or relatively. Austin Wood's table (p. 43), which, as far as we have tested it, is accurate, shows that all these measurements should be over instead of under, the inch. MacKellar's (·0996), on the other hand, is under. Recognizing this fact soon afterwards, the Register found fault with Messrs Caslon for introducing the inch as their basis of measurement, arguing that the standard being now practically settled by the American founders, the English houses should follow suit, and adopt it as an « international » system. More surprising still, the head of the Caslon Foundry wrote in reply: « To settle the matter, I have written to Mr Johnson for a steel standard of his pica, which I assert is the same as the [new] Caslon pica, making 72 to the foot. » This notwithstanding the assertion of the Johnson Foundry that their standard pica is equal to ⅜⅝ centimeters, or as otherwise authoritatively stated, 1 pica =·166 inch; 6 picas =·996. Mr Smith (Caslon & Co.), disputing the accuracy of the figures of the correspondent of the Register, says that measurements not based on steel standards are fallacious. As we have already said, these figures contain manifest errors, as, for example, Caslon's and Miller & Richard's picas being made to agree. M. & R. cast the largest English pica, 71 lines to the foot; according to Wood's table, Figgins, Reed, and Wood (71¼) correspond, Caslon (71¾) follows, and the Sheffield Foundry, as all printers are aware, casts a smaller pica than any other English house = 71⅞ lines to the foot. The Typefounding Company claim that their pica is exactly 72 to the foot; and Caslon's new standard is on the same basis. This is the only possible common « international » ground recognized by the English-speaking peoples, as the convenient inch and foot measurement is the sole standard in practical use in Great Britain, the Colonies, and the United States, and will not give place to any outlandish modern system. MacKellar's pica is smaller still, being 72-2892 lines. Of all the approximations, that of Stephenson & Blake comes nearest to the national standard. The difference in a foot being only ⅛-pica or 1/48-inch +, a single pica em exceeds ⅙-inch only by the infinitesimal fraction of 1/3456-inch. MacKellar's varies by ·2892 of an em (minus) in a foot. Our own measurement, with an ordinary foot-rule, shows a difference as nearly as possible of ⅙-pica, which would make a single em 1/2592 inch less than ⅙-inch. It is of little consequence to printers what results the steel standards may give, if the types are not trustworthy; and how high authorities can assert that varying standards agree when a difference is perceptible to the touch in three or four ems, and to the eye in six or eight, it is difficult to understand. One thing, however, is clear: that an exceedingly minute change would bring every varying body to the one rational—and measurable—scale. Even in Miller & Richard's pica—the farthest from the national standard, the excess in a single em is only 1/432 in.
A common source of error is measuring quads. Careful printers know this, and set their measures by single types set sidewise, thus: come out right at the foot. On this point, the following, from Golding's Printers' Review, is worthy of study:—
Recently we opened a package of pica spaces and quads sent out with a fount of border by the Johnson Typefoundry, for the purpose of testing their accuracy. Using a Brown & Sharpe micrometer— one of the most delicate measuring instruments made in this country —we found that, in twelve quads taken at random, only four were absolutely accurate bodywise, and only one lengthwise. The standard pica is ·166-inch. The measurements hereunder show the variations by ten-thousandths of an inch, those too small being marked—, and those too large +:—
In our opinion, the Johnson Typefoundry cannot be excelled for accurate typemaking, and the above test goes to prove that it is practically impossible to cast quads accurately. The printer who wishes for accuracy must abandon quads as a standard.
We have not found the Johnson foundry type in any respect more accurate than that of the other large houses. The only accurate quads we know of are the border quads cast by Miller & Richard; and those of our readers who have them in stock will have noticed not only their unusual height, but the peculiarity that none are supplied larger than one em of 2-line emerald. If they looked closely into their invoice, they would probably note also that the quads were charged border price. We have no doubt that they are cast with special regard to accuracy: at all events it is a pleasure to use them, notwithstanding that their great height is sometimes inconvenient.
Before taking leave of the old bodies, we copy the following table of American standards, also from Golding's Review. We have given some of the facts in general terms already (p. 51), but we prefer precise figures, which, as type of the old make is in use in some New Zealand offices, will be of interest. The table is significantly headed: «Why a new standard is needed, » and bears out our former observation, that the variation in height, which in England does not amount to the thickness of a sheet of tissue-paper, is very perceptible in the United States:
Standard Height of American Types.(The dimensions are stated in decimals of an inch. The letters attached to the names in the table of height, indicate the same foundries in the table of bodies.)
It would be unfair to the typefounders to impute to them all the blame for irregular bodies. Printers have insisted on alteration of moulds to bastard sizes for no better reason than to gratify the whim of customers who required a given number of lines to fill a certain length of page or column; and, according to Austin Wood, « one of the largest bygone printers commenced this confusion of bodies and height-to-paper by ordering his foundry to make moulds of every size considerably below the then acknowledged standard, the professed object of which was to avoid borrowing or lending sorts. This plan considerably increased, so that founders are continually put to the inconvenience of altering their moulds, both as to height to paper and depth of body, in order to accommodate their customers. »
An event of some literary interest during the month has been the appearance of the first volume of Mr White's « Ancient History of the Maori, » an official publication, and the immediate sale of a large edition. « History, » in this case, is a misnomer—the secondary title, « Mythology and Traditions, » better explains the character of the book. Mr White possesses a practically inexhaustible collection of native genealogies and traditions, and some years ago was commissioned by Parliament to publish the results of his life-long accumulations. The work has already cost the colony a large sum of money; and it is satisfactory to know that so far as the first volume is concerned, there has been some financial return. This, however, has arisen from causes quite apart from any literary or scientific merit the work may possess. No sooner had the first orders of the trade been supplied, than one of the Wellington papers stated that the book was grossly indecent; and the Government, taking alarm, meditated suppressing the remainder of the impression. The day the telegram containing this information appeared, the whole of the copies in the hands of the booksellers were sold; and a speculative firm in Wellington lost no time in making the Government an offer for the rest of the edition, which was accepted. The charge of indecency was unwarranted and unjust, and the foolish people who rushed to buy the book on that account have doubtless repented their bargain. The Maori traditions have this in common with all other mythologies, that in striving to account for the mystery of life and its beginnings they have made free use of emblems and forms of expression which are not quite in accordance with civilized usage. In dealing with such matters, Mr White has decently paraphrased the original Maori.
We scarcely know whether Takitumu is intended to be classed as a scientific work. To our own thinking, it is not in that respect to be ranked much above the stories of « Uncle Remus, » while it entirely lacks the literary qualities which promise to secure for « Brer Rabbit » and his associates an abiding popularity. There is a too evident want of discrimination in the selection of matter. The same story is repeated again and again with but slight changes, and the result is somewhat irritating. It is much as if some publisher should collect all the current versions of « Cinderella » and publish them one after another in a volume. The conclusion is irresistible that individual narrators felt quite at liberty to vary details at pleasure. Some of these traditions have an obvious admixture of foreign matter; as, for instance, the story of Tu-whaki (p. 57). « He took clay, and kneaded it with his spittle, and rubbed it on her eyes, which restored her sight, » is suggestive of something quite outside of Polynesian mythology. There are half-a-dozen variants of the same story in the book; and in one only does this suspicious passage occur.
Some of the most skilled Maori scholars hesitate to translate native proper names into English, excepting where they convey a simple idea or an obvious compound. Mr White has no hesitation whatever. He breaks the longest names into constituent parts, and gives a more or less intelligible rendering. This, like Mr Tregear's new philology, is no doubt « delightfully easy, » but we venture to say it is an exceedingly misleading process. The short glossary at the beginning is enough to show how unscientific is Mr White's method, and to cast a doubt upon his interpretations. What are we to say to mixed definitions like these:
Here we find nouns, verbs, and adjectives, jumbled in confusion. Words so treated become mere counters. Given some hundreds of similar ambiguous definitions, and all the proper names in Maori could be translated with a facility equalled only by its inaccuracy. Po = night; rangi = heavens; therefore Porangi = Night-in-the-heavens. This is not one of our author's renderings; but it is on the same principle. Every credit must be given to Mr White as an industrious collector; and had he only possessed an equal measure of insight and discrimination, the work would have been a very valuable contribution to philology and ethnology. Perhaps its most important feature is the large number of chants and incantations, which, for obvious reasons, are less liable to perversion than legendary stories. It is a singular fact that all Maori songs are traditional, native poetry having for generations past been a lost art.
As a literary work, Takitumu does not take a high place. Its wearisome genealogies and endless repetitions, make it as somnific as the Book of Mormon. Neither poppy nor mandragora, nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, could more effectually medicine the ordinary reader to sleep than a few pages of this ancient lore. The lithographed illustrations of tattooing are poor specimens of graphic art; and the nude figure of Tiki in the large folding sheet at the end of the book is a ludicrous piece of wood-engraving. Typo's P.D. could equal it with a kauri board and a jack-knife. We notice a slip in p. 26, where references are made to « plates » 1, 2, 3, 4, which really relate to separate figures in a single plate facing the page. As in all other work brought out under Mr Didsbury's supervision, the typography is good.
Fortune-tellers claim to rule the planets. Artists and novelists might make similar pretensions, such liberties do they take with the heavenly bodies. A critic lately went through the Royal Academy exhibition of paintings, noting the relative aspects of the sun and moon, and found some strange phenomena represented. The star-besprinkled skies in an ordinary engraving are altogether unlike anything ever seen in the heavens. The southern cross is a familiar object enough, and a favorite emblem; but we have never seen it correctly represented outside of a star map. Not long since, in a popular Australian story, the hero, after gazing on the sunset, turned and watched the faint crescent moon arise in the eastern heavens, apparently without the slightest surprise at the wonderful sight. Mr Proctor, the astronomer, in reading King Solomon's Mines, was particularly impressed by a solar eclipse which remained total for half-an-hour, and occurred the day after full moon and two days after new moon. Beside this unique phenomenon, the other marvels of the book are insignificant. Even in the simple matter of disposal of shadows, artists sometimes produce remarkable effects. A favorite cut in American specimen books, (No. 3664 Zeese; No. 1555 Cincinnati), represents a landscape with an obelisk and palms, and an enormous sun on the horizon. Something in the picture appears seriously wrong at the first glance. The illumination does not proceed from the heavens at all. Two sides of the obelisk are turned from the sun. One of these is in deep shadow—the other in brilliant light.
Politics have been played very low in New Zealand during the present contest. The inmates of refuges contribute nothing to the taxes, but have the same electoral rights as the rest of the community. This is, however, the first time that they have been registered wholesale. The Napier roll has « Old Men's Home » as the place of abode in numerous cases. In Otago a pauper writes to a « liberal » (« Liberal » being in this topsy-turvy land nearly equivalent to « Tory » in England) organ that he has placed ninety-three names of inmates of the Benevolent Institution on the Roll, and boasts that they will « give a block vote for Rutherford, and turn the election. » He candidly adds that they know nothing of Rutherford except that he is « the nominee of the Protection League. » Next week we will look with some interest to see whether Dunedin pauperdom has succeeded in turning the scale. It might be supposed that this is the lowest deep; but it is not so. Six months residence qualifies, and crime does not disqualify. Therefore, last general election, a prisoner who had been sent from the country to a town jail and had just served a sentence of six months' hard labor, thereby qualifying, was seized by a committee, placed on the roll, and his vote recorded!
Some of the candidates in the South Island have had very unpleasant experiences. Eggs, flour-bags, dead cats, rats, and other objectionable missiles have come freely into requisition—these being apparently the best arguments the protectionist league could discover to confute the free-trade speakers. But in the Ashburton district, Canterbury, a candidate has had an adventure which exceeds anything yet recorded. By some mistake, the schoolhouse where he was to deliver his address had not been opened; and standing on the steps, he announced that his meeting must be postponed. Thereupon, he was pelted with stones and clods, and fled, hotly pursued by both horsemen and foot. He was chased two miles, mud and tussocks soaked in water were hurled at him, and at last he took refuge under a culvert. When dragged thence in an exhausted condition, he begged his tormentors to put him out of his misery at once. The ringleaders in the outrage are known; but we regret to say that « for political reasons, » the injured man declines to bring them to justice.
A contemporary is enthusiastic over the reception at a railway station of a candidate, who was welcomed by « the wringing voices of five hundred working men. » Thus remorselessly does the type-setter wreck the finest rhetoric, wring the heart of the editor, and fill him with wrath. — The quiet of an Otago up-country journalist is disturbed by a « booming monster » of a church-bell, the « nightly peeling » of which is a nuisance. At this rate the nuisance should rapidly disappear, even if the bell has many coats as an onion. — Taranaki folk think a great deal of their breakwater, and guard it from injury with touching solicitude. We learn from a local paper that an iron railing has just been placed there « with a view to protection from persons incautiously going over the end. »— For a ball in Invercargill it is announced that « the dance tickets will be limited to the size of the hall. » Upon which a contemporary remarks that it must be the fashion down south to have very small halls or very large tickets. — An Otago volunteer corps is thirsting for the blood of the reporter who described their new drill-shed as « 10 feet long. » Only a 1 dropped into the 8 box. — « Gentlemen with fireplaces » can find accommodation with a Napier advertiser who has apartments to let. — A daily contemporary refers to « the accent of a Swiss mountain. » A foreign accent, we presume. — A fervid political article, full of sound and fury, concludes with the assertion that « the eyes of the country are now concentrated upon every man. » This being too transcendental for us, we passed it on to our Poet, who comments as follows:
From a far country—even from Buenos Ayres—a printer with a foreign name sends an order for Typo. Yet there are still some printers in New Zealand who have not subscribed!
Miss Maxwell, wood engraver, Dunedin, sends us some specimens of her work. They represent different styles of the art, and are all exceedingly good. A figure subject in outline, displays artistic taste as well as mechanical skill in its execution. We hope Miss Maxwell will find a profitable field for her talent.
At Hastings, on the 2nd September, before G. A. Preece, R.M., Alfred Amory George, printer, was charged by James Henry Clayton proprietor of the Hastings Star, with false and malicious libel. The ground of action was a long letter written by accused to Mr W. Beyer, Napier, and shown by him to other printers. The letter professed to « tell how his [Clayton's] paper is run, » and described prosecutor as « a blackguardly scoundrel whom every printer ought to shun. » The accused, who reserved his defence, was committed for trial, bail being allowed. His Worship expressed his disapproval of criminal proceedings in a matter of this kind, and refused to certify for costs.
The London paper Tit-bits has been publishing accident insurance coupons—the friends of any person killed in a railway accident being entitled to £100 from the publishing office if a copy of the paper is found on the person of the deceased. That the offer is bonâ fide has been proved in one instance by the payment of the amount. But tin Inland Revenue Office has taken proceedings against the paper. Each copy being to all intents and purposes an insurance policy, should have borne a penny stamp; and the penalty for each unstamped policy being £20, the publisher has rendered himself liable to a penalty that would pay the National Debt. He has obtained a legal opinion to the effect that there has been no breach of the Revenue Act; but he will probably find some difficulty in inducing the Courts to take this view of the matter.
The « Kerbstone Howler » is the elegant title invented by the Saturday Review for the Pall Mall Gazette. The Saturday is sorely exercised over the Langworthy exposure, and displays its own powers of ululation with piercing effect. The article in question exhibits an ostentation of legal knowledge almost sufficient to justify a suspicion as to its source of inspiration. The scrupulous accuracy of all Mr Stead's statements regarding the case constitutes, in the reviewer's eyes, an aggravation of his offence, as precluding the actions for libel which would have been promptly instituted had a single erroneous statement appeared. The crime of blackmailing is punishable with penal servitude for life. The Gazette, in reporting a case of the greatest public importance, which the rest of the press had chosen to ignore has, according to the Review, been guilty of as serious a crime against society—but for which English law provides no penalty!
For printing the innocent-looking word « sheepwash » the Melbourne Argus has had to pay £250. A certain firm imported 13 tons of bisulphide of carbon, a most dangerous chemical, as ordinary merchandise, thus evading special freight and insurance charges, and causing deadly risk to the ship and all on board. The master of the vessel having stated that the stuff was shipped as sheepwash, the Argus in forcibly commenting on what Mr Justice A'Beckett afterwards called « a danger of the most terrible description, and an offence of the most serious character, » inadvertently copied the shipmaster's statement. The importers, on the sole ground that the goods were described in the shipping documents as « merchandise, » instituted an action for libel; but a verdict was unanimously given for defendants, who, as the Judge said, had made the statement « in discharge of a duty to the public. » A second trial was obtained, and a two-thirds majority of the new jury was idiotic enough to find a verdict for the plaintiffs, with £250 damages. The Argus has had the satisfaction of putting an effectual stop to the villanous practice it has exposed, and willl not be much inconvenienced by having to pay the amount awarded; but the fact remains that more than human accuracy is sometimes demanded of the journalist who ventures to denounce the grossest wrongs or abuses.
Durable Autographic Ink for Litho Work.—White wax eight ounces, and white soap two or three ounces, melt; when well combined add lampblack, one ounce, mix well and heat it strongly; then add shellac, two ounces; again heat it strongly: stir well together; cool a little and pour it out. With this ink lines may be drawn of the finest to the fullest class without danger of its spreading, and the copy may be kept for years before being transferred. The ink is employed for writing on autographic paper, and is prepared for use by rubbing down with a little water in a saucer, in the same way as common water-color cakes or india-ink. In winter this should be done near a fire, or the saucer should be placed over a basin containing a little warm water. It may be used with either a steel pen or a camel's-hair pencil.
Quick-drying of Printing.—An American contemporary says: Often it is necessary to dry the printings quickly so as to be able to deliver to customers with as little delay as possible. This is especially the case when orders are received for prices current, circulars, &c, on strong printed paper or ordinary writing paper, which takes considerable time to dry by the ordinary process, and which should not be sent out before they are completely dry, as they are likely to be soiled or blotted. Of all means purposed hitherto for speedy drying, the best is, undoubtedly, the use of calcined magnesia, which is dusted lightly on. Calcined magnesia is a little higher priced than other powders used to-day; but this is of no consequence when we consider that the magnesia is far lighter than any of the others. Thus we have in the same weight a far greater quantity. There is also another occasion where we would do well to use magnesia. This is when a bronzed imprint is taken, before a copy is taken with different colors of ink. If we do not take care not to commence with the bronze, before all the other colors are dry, particles of bronze become attached to these colors, and cannot be completely taken away. In thus drying the leaves before applying the bronze, this inconvenience is avoided.
Glycerine as a Dryer.—It may not be generally known that ink will dry very quickly on paper damped with glycerine water. Posters with large and full-faced types will dry in a quarter of an hour, while the drying process, when the printing has been done on paper simply wetted in the ordinary way, will require hours.
Stereotypers' Paste is composed of the following ingredients: Water, flour, starch, gum arabic, alum, and whiting. The best flour and starch are to be used. These foregoing articles, excepting the whiting, are thoroughly mixed, and heated by steam. When the mass is thoroughly homogeneous, sufficient whiting is added to give it stiffness.
Frost-proof Ink.—Aniline black one dram, rub with a mixture of concentrated hydrochloric acid one dram, pure alcohol ten ounces. The deep blue solution obtained is diluted with a hot solution of concentrated glycerine one-and-a-half drams, in four ounces of water. This ink does not injure steel pens, is unaffected by concentrated mineral acids or strong alkalies, and will not freeze at a temperature of 22 or 24 degrees below zero.
Printing on Leather.—A correspondent writes: I want to print or stamp in black upon passbook skiver (uncolored sheep's leather, such as is used to cover passbooks and law books). What can I use that will dry quickly? On former occasions I used regular printers' ink, mixed with a little quick-drying varnish, but it took over a week to dry. Answer.—loz. beeswax, ¼oz. gum arabic, dissolved in sufficient acetic acid to make a thin mucilage; ¼oz. Brown's japan, ½oz. asphaltum varnish. Incorporate with lib wood-cut ink.
Type-Writer Ink.—The ink that is used in inking the indelible ribbon in type-writers, which writes black, but copies a very dark blue, is made as follows: Take vaseline of high boiling point, melt it on a water bath or slow fire, and incorporate by constant stirring as much Prussian blue as it will take up without becoming granular. Remove the mixture from the fire, and, while it is cooling, mix equal parts of petroleum, benzine, and rectified oil of turpentine, in which dissolve the fatty ink, introduced in small quantities, by constant agitation. The volatile solvents should be in such quantity that the fluid ink is of the consistency of fresh oil paint. One secret of success lies in the proper application of the ink to the ribbon. Wind the ribbon on a piece of cardboard, spread on a table several layers of newspapers, then unwind the ribbon in such lengths as may be most convenient, and lay it flat on the paper. Apply the ink, after agitation, by means of a soft brush, and rub it well into the interstices of the ribbon with a stiff toothbrush. Hardly any ink should remain visible on the surface.
Monday is General Election day, and the indications point to the deserved defeat of the Government « all along the line. » We are therefore justified in looking for restored confidence in business circles, and consequent revival of trade. The only Minister whose return can safely be predicted, is the scapegoat of his colleagues—Sir Julius Vogel. Never before in this colony has a Government been so forsaken by the press. Only one daily paper of any standing in New Zealand has remained faithful. The three newspapers at the seat of Government are all in opposition; the idea of starting a Government organ has been abandoned; and—direst humiliation of all—the ministerial supporters are the weekly papers Truth and the Jubilee Herald!!
We have already (p. 37) mentioned the libel action by « The Vagabond » against the Victorian Wesleyan Spectator. He claimed £20,000 damages, and has been awarded ¼d, without costs.
From Marcus Ward & Co. we have a sample of their new « Oriel » school primers and reading books. The primer is illustrated in colors, in the excellent style of all the work of this house, and the matter in the reading books is well chosen and admirably illustrated. We have no doubt that these books will gain an extensive popularity.
The sale of the Revised Version of the Bible throughout the United States has fallen dead flat. Hundreds of thousands of copies remain on the shelves of the book-stores. After the first curiosity to compare the new with the old was satisfied, people returned to the version of 1611, to which, in all probability, they will keep as long as the world lasts.
An apprentice named Fisher had a narrow escape from being killed at the Government printing office, on the 20th inst. He was employed working about the engine which drives the electric light, and got up on a plank to lubricate the shaft, about ten feet from the floor. While engaged in filling the oil cups an apron which he was wearing over his coat was taken round the shaft. He endeavored to tear himself away, but without success, and in a few seconds he was being taken round the shaft at a great rate. Fortunately he wound his legs and right arm round the shaft, otherwise he would most certainly have been dashed to pieces against the end of the engine-house. After going round at a fearful rate for nearly a couple of minutes his clothing gave way, and he fell to the floor in a state of nudity, his collar, necktie, boots, and socks being the only articles which were not torn away. On examination it was found that the youth had no bones broken, though he had several nasty bruises.
The Leading Exponent of Typographical Progress in America.
Quicksilver, according to the Coromandel News, has been discovered in paying quantities in the Hauraki peninsula. This is satisfactory news. We would suggest Mercury Bay as another likely place for this valuable mineral.
The Colonist, Nelson, has come out with a new heading. It is no great improvement on the old block, which has had thirty years' wear and tear. If our Nelson contemporaries only came out with new type, they would be disguised beyond recognition.
There are now published in the United States 14,160 newspapers and periodicals of all classes. Of these, 700 are religious and denominational papers. About 600 newspapers are published in German, and 42 in French. The Polish, Finnish, and Welsh papers have the most unpronounceable names—as, for instance, the Dzienswiety and the Przjaciel Ludi, of Chicago; the Yyhdpswalla in Sanomat, of Ohio, and the Y Wawr, of Utica, N. Y. One paper is published in Gaelic, one in Hebrew, one in Chinese, and one in Cherokee.
We have received two beautifully-printed catalogues of presses and machinery from the Babcock Printing Press Company, Connecticut, and Revised Catalogue of printing machinery and materials, from the Birmingham Machinists' Company. From Messrs Sleicher & Schull, the celebrated German papermakers, we have samples of their No. 24 copying paper, which will give six legible copies at one operation with fifteen minutes' pressure; eight in twenty-five minutes; and twelve in fifty minutes.
James Silk Buckingham, M.P., at one time a compositor at the Clarendon Press, tells in his autobiography of a mischievous prank played by some Oxford undergraduates. An edition of the Book of Common Prayer was in the press, and when the sheet containing the Marriage Service was ready, access was secretly obtained to the office, and in the two places where « as long as ye both shall live » occurs, a k was substituted for the v, making it read « as long as ye both shall like »! It was only in the course of distribution of the types that the change was detected; and the whole impression of the sheet had to be cancelled.
At a football dinner in Napier, one of the speakers, a Frenchman, administered a « drop-kick » to the local press as follows:— « What do the editors know of poleetics? Pshaw! One is a sheepfarmeer, one is a carpenteer, and the other a composeetor. They have never travelled. They know nothing. » The gentleman who thus « set up » as press critic bears the typographic name of Bourgeois. The offended editors do not intend to have him « pulled, » though they would not object to see him the subject of an « improved lock-up, » or consigned to a « galley. »
Denmark is to have a « National Biography » in ninety-six parts, to be finished within the next twelve years, under the editorship of the Secretary of State Archives.
The order of the Auckland Education Board, prohibiting the use of the « Globe » reading-books in the public schools, referred to in our article on p. 34, has been rescinded.
There is a well-known native owl, called « mōpōke » or « morepork, » from his characteristic cry. In a southern paper we find him disguised as a « mope-hawk »!
We regret to learn that Messrs Palmer & Rey, our San Francisco agents, suffered serious loss by fire on the 24th July; owing however, to their large reserve stock, their business was not in any way suspended.
Long-suffering journalists continue to complain of the costly rubbish sent through the wire by news agencies. The fact that a race-horse sustained a sprain while exercising was the subject of a recent cable message from home.
The leading lithographic organ in the United States—the American Lithographer and Printer—reaches us in an enlarged form, and with a new and effective heading. The L. and P. is one of those thoroughly practical papers that meet with deserved success.
The following « Notice to Correspondents » in the Bruce Herald speaks for itself. It is creditable to the writer both as journalist and candidate:—« Seeing that the proprietor of the Bruce Herald is one of the candidates for the representation of the district at the forthcoming election, we have decided, for obvious reasons, to publish no letters on political subjects during the contest except under the names of the writers. »
Devil is the startling title of a four-page quarterly which reaches us from New York. It is published by Megill & Co., and is full of composing-room wit and humor. No. 3, to hand by this month's mail, contains a capital cartoon, and four small humorous sketches. There is more genuine fun in this number than in half the ordinary comic papers. This particular printers' devil ought to be found in every office.
From Messrs Earhardt and Richardson, Cincinnati, we have received Nos. 1 to 3 of the Superior Printer, a new monthly trade organ. Those who have files of the old Model Printer will remember Mr Earhardt's work as unsurpassed in harmony and arrangement of colors. A job in one of the numbers before us, in which twelve colors are produced in five workings, is the perfection of color-printing. But who is the kakographic genius on the S. P. who deliberately spells fat « phat » ?—We hope Mr Earhardt's excellent paper will prove in every respect a success.
The Tipperary editor whose ear was bitten off by an enthusiastic Home Ruler, thought it about bad enough; but when the offender complained of his « bad taste, » he felt that insult was added to injury.
A man who « wanted little here below » went into the newspaper business.
The country editor wears no diamonds. Paste is good enough for him.
A petrified man has been found in Tennessee. He is supposed to be the original Man-who never-Advertised.
An article on « Rhubarb » had just been put in type. A visitor entered—and converted it into pie.
Examiner: Please translate the phrase, De mortuis nil nisi bonum. Student: « Of the dead nothing remains but bones. »
A French paper translating an item from an American contemporary about a railway car being set on fire by « a heated journal, » renders it « a hot newspaper. »
We have to acknowledge new exchanges as follows:—Paper and Printing Trades Journal London, quarterly (from June, '87); Superior Printer, Cincinnati, monthly (from No. 1, May); Press and Type, Chicago (from April); [Printers'] Devil, New York, quarterly (from No. 3.)
We have to acknowledge No. 1 of the Coromandel News, a very creditable paper, which made its appearance on the 23rd August. The opening article is well written, and shows a just appreciation of the objects and scope of a local newspaper. It is printed for the proprietor by Mr Richard Rhodes. We are sorry to see that it is too large, by several columns, for the district. The News has our best wishes for its success.
The Advocate is the title of a twelve-page demy fortnightly paper published in Auckland by Messrs Dignan & King. « Faith and Fatherland » is its motto; in other words its creed is Roman Catholic and its political platform a national government for Ireland. In the copy before us (No. 9), there is an interesting biography of the unfortunate and gifted Gerald Griffin. The paper ought to be a success, as the Roman Catholic population in Auckland should be sufficient to support a local organ.
Is the American Model Printer dead? We have subscribed from the first, and our latest number is ii 4, April 1885—one ahead of any other subscriber we know of. Between Nos. 3 and 4 seventeen months elapsed; but there has been a long spell since. Two more numbers were promised to complete volume ii—when will they appear?—And what has become of Austin Wood's lively Anglo-American Typographia?—a paper from which we have gathered some very useful information. The double number 4-5, two years old, is the latest to hand.
Mr John Palgrave Simpson, author and play-writer, died in London on 19th August.
M. Voirin, a well-known and ingenious printers' engineer, lately died at Paris, aged 60.
Mr Henry Mayhew, the first editor of Punch, and author of « London Labor and the London Poor, » died in London on 25th July.
At Great Yarmouth recently died the Rev. Joseph Philip Knight, the composer of « She wore a wreath of roses, » « Rocked in the cradle of the deep, » and many other songs, some of which, though more than half-a-century old, are still popular favorites. Mr Knight was born in 1812, and was ordained to the charge of St. Agnes, in the Scilly Isles.
Mr S. Spalding, of the well-known firm of Spalding & Hodge, papermakers, died at Adelaide on the 19th June. Mr Spalding had visited South Australia partly on account of his health, and partly on matters connected with the Adelaide exhibition.
Mr Thomas Spalding, late senior partner in the firm of Spalding & Hodge, papermakers, Drury Lane, died on 29th June, in his 81st year. All his life he had made it a practice to consecrate a tithe of his gains to Christian objects, and for many years he has thus devoted large sums to church extension and various charitable works in an unostentatious but effective manner. The Rev. Andrew Reed, brother of the late Sir Charles Reed, was his son-in-law.
An English telegram of 4th September records the death, at the age of 62, of Mrs Emma Jane Worboise, a popular and prolific writer of religious novels. Many of her stories made their first appearance in serial form in the Christian World, and for some years she has edited the Christian World Magazine. She was the daughter of a clergyman, and was left an orphan at an early age. She has been a widow for some years, and leaves a daughter who inherits her gift for storytelling.
Mr David Burns, for 37 years a resident of Nelson, died on the 2nd September, aged 76. He was a relative of the poet, and himself possessed a measure of the « divine gift, » having published some years ago a volume of verses, which met with a favorable reception.
The South Star Hotel, at Blenheim, was burned to the ground on the morning of 27th August. The fire broke out at 1.30 a.m., and the lodgers upstairs escaped with great difficulty. One, an elderly man named David Henderson, was burned to death; and Mr Richard Winter, editor of the Marlborough Times, jumped from an upstairs window and sustained a compound fracture of the leg, besides being much bruised and singed. Mortification ensued, and he died on the 29th. Mr Winter, who had an eventful career in New Zealand, had been formerly connected with the Wellington Chronicle, Wanganui Chronicle, Wanganui Herald, and Marlborough Express, and was one of the cleverest journalists in the colony.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—September, 1887.
Judging from their wide and immediate popularity, there must have been in the various series of Line Ornaments, something specially commending them to the letterpress printer. A little examination will show what these qualities were. As the flourish is the natural and appropriate decoration for copperplate styles, so the line ornament is adapted to the straight lines and right angles of letterpress. It will be noticed that, however disguised by ornamentation, the leading characteristic of this style is the right angle. Besides this, another important recommendation was the entire absence of formality. The original type of border, which repeats the same design, and carries it solidly all round the page, has an important place, and will never go out of use; but it is quite unfitted for line decoration. Moreover, it usually represents (in a more or less conventional manner), some natural or artificial object, such as foliage, embroidery, fringes, and mouldings. But the line ornament is, in its own place, more satisfactory as a decoration, being merely suggestive, and never representative. The old-fashioned copperplate flourish-work swans, lyres, &c., were decorative in this way—they satisfied the idea of decoration without any pretence of accurately portraying the object indicated. So with line ornaments. An endless variety of forms, such as shields, banners, and ribbons, may be suggested, without any of the stiffness attaching to the ordinary combination borders. We in no way disparage the latter; but considered as decoration, the lighter and merely suggestive style has the advantage, inasmuch as accuracy of representation is altogether unattainable with type, and no attempt in this direction can be quite successful. In illustration, we show the suggestion of a banner in series 5 of the ornaments, from MacKellar's specimen sheet side-by-side with a banner composed from Caslon's design:
This shows the characteristics of the two styles, and among the advantages of the ornaments is this—that they are more readily composed. With the curved series, very good suggestions of ribbon designs may be constructed, and here again it compares favorably with the combination border on the same principle—the « Elliptical, » an earlier production of the same house. The heavier border, unless used with very bold type, has an overshadowing effect; besides which, the rectangular lines of construction come out rather too strongly.
To display the curved and serpentine designs to full advantage, a wide measure—40 to 45 ems, is required. In the curved designs, a straight piece is sometimes put in the centre, as in numerous examples in the specimen book. This should be avoided, if possible, as any flattening of the curve has a bad effect. Very ugly broken curves are sometimes produced by compositors who repeat the same curve—an inexcusable blunder, which not only mars the design but injures the type. Another error is to bring a wrong pair of curves together in the centre. When properly composed, the curves blend into each other perfectly.
One of the chief errors in the use of these ornaments is that of overdoing them. We have seen—in a specimen-book, too—a page of hair-line letters so over-adorned that the text was smothered. To subordinate the text to the ornament is a fundamental error in any class of decoration.
The fact that the ornaments do not require to touch in all parts of the work materially simplifies their use; while, on the other hand, the many points of contact they present, enables them to be combined to an indefinite extent, producing numerous light and effective pendants, centre ornaments, tailpieces, &c.
As card and circular borders they are generally a failure, as they lack the necessary solidity of effect. It is a mistake so to use them, every job office possessing material better suited to the purpose. As an adjunct to borders and brass rule, however, they come in with excellent effect.
We regard the Line Ornaments as among the most original and useful additions which have been made in late years to typographic appliances—as is sufficiently shown by the general appreciation in which they are held. For the decoration of lines, centres, and corners they are unequalled, and there is no other material to fill their place.
It might be supposed that with several hundred characters, all possible requirements would be met; but at least one more series would be useful. Some day, perhaps, the founders will favor us with a series of oblique ornaments to 45°, with quads to correspond. They would be more serviceable than those in present use, which are to 60° and 30° respectively.
Typo's three election forecasts—that Mr Ivess would not win the Napier seat; that the ministry would sustain a decisive defeat; and that restored confidence in business circles would follow—have all been fulfilled to the letter. Mr Ivess ran his opponent very close, scoring 950 against 1,008—so that the block vote of journeymen printers, forty or fifty strong, settled the election. The ministry fully expected a defeat, but some of the ministerial organs did not, and were wofully disappointed at the result. So were certain confident partizans, who had hired brass bands and made extensive arrangements for « popular » demonstrations. Our third forecast was quickly justified. Immediately on the defeat of the ministry becoming known in London, New Zealand inscribed stock, which had been below par for two years, rose to 100, an advance of ½ per cent.; and within a week had risen another ½ per cent., the tendency being still upward.
The Auckland Bell predicts dire disaster as the result of the verdict of the colony. It is always safest to accept the Bell's forecasts as the farmer did those of Francis Moore's Almanac regarding the weather—when he read « Fine, » he prepared for a storm. But we sincerely hope that one prediction: « Local industries will be left to their ordinary development »—may be realized. One great cause of the present depression has been the persistent and vexatious intermeddling of the State with the natural and orderly growth of trade. Industries that proved profitable to the promoters and the country have been regarded with suspicion and harassed with taxation, as tending to too great an accumulation of wealth; while every branch of legitimate trade has been crippled to « foster » such exotic growths as distilleries, tobacco factories, sugar refineries, &c. A Government that has the courage and good sense to « leave local industries to their ordinary development » will benefit the country more than it would by raising a new loan of twenty millions.
At the annual general meeting of the Auckland branch of the N. Z. Typographical Association recently, the following officers were elected: President, T. R. Hales; Vice-President, F. Christmas; Secretary and Treasurer (re-appointed), T. A. Hockings; Trustee (re-appointed), Jas. Corbett; Board representatives, J. H. Kirkham, J. R. Cross, and J. Graham; and as representing the different offices, J. Lane, Star; E. Martin, Herald; Geo. Hardwick, Bell (since resigned, and succeeded as collector by Mr Kirkham); W. Edmondston, Leader; and J. Boyle, Atkins's office.
At a subsequent meeting of the Board, Thos. Smith and Thos. Cox (machinist) were accepted as ordinary members, and W. Wright and W. Jennings as honorary members.
Prior to Mr Jennings' proposal for re-admission, that gentleman, at the invitation of the President, appeared before the Board to give an explanation of his reasons for leaving the Society eight or nine months ago. It transpired that the chief cause of his secession arose from what he considered an exhibition of personal animus towards him on the part of the then Secretrry, further aggravated by the then Board accepting the statements of the Secretary and ratifying his action without notifying him of the fact and affording him an opportunity such as the present of refuting the statements made against him. After Mr Jennings had retired, the Board discussed the question, and finally agreed that there appeared to be at least some fault on both sides: but it was matter for regret that, considering Mr Jennings' previous career as a member of the Association, the paragraph in the report recording his secession should have contained the words « at a critical juncture, » thereby conveying the idea that he seceded through unworthy motives.—The Board instructed the Secretary to mention this matter in his correspondence with Typo, and also to insert a paragraph in his next half-yearly report, so as to correct the now evident injustice done to Mr Jennings.
Business is very dull here. Several men are out of work, with little prospect of obtaining any at their trade for some time to come.
It is quite evident that the new Parliament is on the whole a great improvement on the last. According to one of the most thoroughgoing organs of the late ministry, it is « eminently respectable. » Whether it is worth the £20,000 or £30,000 which the general election cost, remains to be seen.—The eighty-three inmates of the Benevolent Institution duly voted at Caversham, and it is reported that eighty « blocked » for Rutherford—who, it is satisfactory to add, was defeated by over 200 votes.—The Minister of Mines, notwithstanding his un-parliamentary language, secured his seat.
Every mail brings fresh evidence of the enterprise of German houses in pushing trade in these colonies. The direct mail brings us a copy of No. 1 of the Export Journal, published by G. Hedeler, of Leipzig. It is a closely-printed quarto, of over forty pages, in English, French, and German, and contains notes and articles on tariffs, patents, exhibitions, publications, &c., besides numerous advertisements, and a directory of manufacturing and export houses. The list of trade papers is not a mere catalogue of names, but includes an abstract of the contents of the latest numbers. The list of new books comprises important works in all modern tongues, and titles in Russ and modern Greek give a curious polyglot appearance to the page. So much information could have been compiled only with great labor and expense: and the new periodical cannot but prove of service both to import and export houses.
A peculiar newspaper case has been decided in the Supreme Court in Wellington. It appears that the present proprietor of the Pahiatua Star, on purchasing the property, gave a four-months' bill for £600, with the understanding that it should be afterwards renewable at stated periods. In December last, on the note falling due, an instalment of £50 was paid, and a bill for £550 given, endorsed by a number of local residents. This bill was transferred to a private discounter, who refused to renew it, and upon its being dishonored, took proceedings to recover the amount with interest. For the defence it was alleged that the promissory note was made void or materially altered without the consent of the defendants by the addition of the words « Payable at the Bank of New Zealand, Woodville, » and by striking out the words « This note is renewable for a period of one year and eight months, the sum of £50 to be paid off at each renewal, by Alex. Birnie, John Stone Crimp, and Edward A. Haggen signing the note and becoming joint makers. » The jury, after half-an-hour's deliberation, gave a verdict for £550, with 8 per cent. interest; and judgment was entered up for plaintiff, with costs on the highest scale.
The land of Gutenberg leads the world in artistic combinations and fine-art typography. Messrs Schelter & Giesecke, of Leipzig, have sent us their new specimen book, which is not only a cyclopædia of systematic type ornament, but contains some of the finest examples of typographic decoration ever executed. The book is a large octavo, printed on both sides of the leaf, and contains four hundred pages of type specimens alone. To each section is prefixed a beautifully-illuminated title-page. The first section contains body-founts, English and German; the second, plain and ornamental job-letter, including many original productions; the next section includes scripts and ornamental initials; and a very complete collection of Russian, Greek, Hebrew, and Oriental founts follows. The next department is that of ornamental combinations, in which Messrs S. & G. are not surpassed by any house in the world. Next follow figures, signs, braces, indexes, and music; then a large collection of vignettes; and two more divisions— brass rule and printers' requisites—complete the book, which, however, is supplemented by a valuable catalogue of sixty closely-printed nonpareil pages, in which is set forth every item, its weight and price, with a cipher key for orders by wire.
Herr H. Poppelbaum, of the Krebs Foundry, Frankfurt-am-Main, sends us No. 4 of the Typographische Neuigkeiten, a handsome quarto, in which the novelties of his foundry are exhibited. The cover is in four colors, displaying a large and graceful silhoutte border, new to us. Compositors using MacKellar's « oak » ornaments are often annoyed that the design is so imperfectly carried out. Hr Poppelbaum has added six characters, of obvious utility, including opposites to and , and a pretty centre-piece, with two birds naturally drawn, contrasting very favorably with the miserable little object in the original series. If these new sorts could be cast to range with the American fount, every printer who uses it would get them. Diagonal quads, at an angle of 45°, are shown. It is strange that English and American founders persistently refuse to cast these simple and useful auxiliaries, and that printers requiring them must send— as Typo had to do—to Germany. An original and beautifully-cut mediæval letter is shown in twelve sizes, 6-to 60-point, under the name of « Holländsche Gotisch, » and a clean-cut and graceful script, « lnglesa, » in four sizes. There is a fine collection of head-and corner-pieces, and lastly, a charming but expensive series of « Amoret » initials in two sizes—the smaller about 5 ems square.
French typefounders have a wide reputation, but until last mail we had never received a specimen sheet from one of them. We have now to acknowledge a packet of finely-printed specimens, from the foundry of M. Gustave Mayeur, of Paris, including a number of original styles. One of these is an admirable French-face bookwork roman, 16-point, after models of 1819—when old-face had gone out, and before spider-limbed styles had come in. If preferred, the fount is supplied with e instead of e, thus producing an old-style effect by the change of a single character. Some pretty series of initials are shown—one pattern, on a shield, being original and striking. There are also some effective shield ornaments, in halves, mortised to admit square initials. We notice some American designs— the « oak » ornaments among the number. These have been re-cut, and the changes, though almost imperceptible, are for the better.
The same remark applies to the « auxiliaries » series 2 of the Cleveland Foundry, which we find here with additions and improvements. In the piece in the margin, for example, the simple omission of the perpendicular line enables it to be used in the centre or at either end of the line, as preferred. — A page of styles for visiting-cards shows that French printers use much more variety in this kind of work than English fashions will permit.
The Manhattan Foundry, New York, send us their First Specimen Book, small quarto, neatly printed, and containing some good notions. Prominence is given to the « Baker » brass-rule ornaments, in two series, 69 sorts each, for thick-and thin-face rule respectively. They are excellent combinations, and are calculated to save no end of time, trouble, and waste, in cutting, mitering, curving, and justifying.— The « Scenic » combinations are better in idea than execution. Some of the figures are not well drawn, and the characters do not join up well. The notion is susceptible of wide development, and we expect to see it greatly improved upon. Some of the original running borders, nonpareil and pica, are good, and they are all effectively shown. The most original idea in the book is a series of thirty-two « artistic » trade cuts, thoroughly German in conception, though Yankee in execution. They are heraldic in style, and, to our mind, too fanciful in most cases for their intended purpose. Half of them might be used for title-page vignettes or tail-pieces, without their original intention being suspected.—We wish this young and enterprising house success.
The St. Louis Foundry show two new scripts—the « Royal, » a plain legible round-hand, and « Old-style, » a good imitation of the quaint caligraphy of a hundred-and-fifty years ago: for old-style printing this will be in demand. The admirable « Art Gothic » appears in two new sizes, 10-and 60-point. And there are three more « eccentrics » with lower-case: « Jupiter, » « Apollo, » and « Hermes. » The latter, a condensed style, takes Typo's fancy.
Barnhardt Bros. & Spindler show three sizes of « Standard » script —plain lower-case and flourished caps. The same house has brought out a good extra-expanded old-style italic called « Lightface Challenge »; a title series called « Spencer »—old-face, with all the ugly points emphasized; some « art » ornaments of the forked-lightning genus, and four new series of word ornaments.
Messrs Foster, Roe, & Crone, Chicago, send us specimens of their « latest art fakes, » including « slobs, curlicues, and beauts.» The ornaments are as fantastic as the names,—in fact, indescribable and incomparable.
The Cleveland Foundry have brought out an eccentric titling letter called « Oxford, » with ornamented initials, and some ornaments of the scribble style just at present in favor with American printers.
Under the name of « Copygraph, » Messrs Farmer, Little, & Co. have brought out a new pica type-writer face.
The Union Typefoundry, Chicago, show some neat and original borders, from 6-to 24-point.
An Australian supply house sends us a sheet of cuts, marked at a « tall » figure. The best of them could be engraved in New Zealand at the price.
From the Austin Foundry we have specimens of a series of sixteen trade emblems, 10 x 6 ems, of no special merit.—And this is all we have had from England in two months.
Old New Zealand is passing away. Its beautiful and characteristic fauna and flora are fast disappearing and giving place to alien forms; its native inhabitants are rapidly diminishing, and with them perish their language and traditions. But far greater loss than these—the worthy pioneers who laid firmly and well the foundations of civilization and liberty in these islands, have mostly departed for ever, and the residue are following fast. Who is to take their place?
There is a well-defined line of demarcation between the sturdy and self-reliant men who bore the burden and heat of the day, and the non-colonizing class of new-comers who have so easily and so readily entered into the fruit of their labors. More than this, there is something of antipathy. The most ominous feature of the recent election strife was the rancorous hostility evinced by the noisier section of the « new chum » element against the few remaining representatives of the brave men who, half-a-century ago, went forth with their lives in their hands, tamed the wild inhabitants, reclaimed the barren wastes, and founded the scattered towns which are large and wealthy cities to-day. They were no ordinary men who carried out this great work; many succumbed, physically or financially, to overwhelming obstacles—and for those who remain, if they attempt to take any prominent part in the affairs of the country, their reward is too often the vilest obloquy from men whose sojourn in the land dates from yesterday, who care naught for its future, and whose ignorance of its past history is stupendous and appalling.
It would have been better for this country had it, been content to hasten slowly. The progress it had achieved twenty-five years ago had been solid and substantial. Those who had made it their home had come to stay, and had no desire to sacrifice the future for temporary gain. But the discovery of gold in 1861 changed the whole aspect of things. The colonizing element was swamped by the vast wave of gold-seekers who were dazzled by the prospect of sudden and easily-earned wealth. It was then that the late Mr Cargill, in Dunedin, in words which have become a proverb, urged his fellow-members in the Provincial Council, to strive to maintain the « old identity » which was threatened with destruction.
In the great « rush » of those days there came an obscure journalist, Mr Vogel, who has since made a broader mark, for good or evil, on the country, than any other man. He had no sympathy with the « old identity » nor with plodding industry. In ten years he had come to the front, and for seven years, the country was flooded with wave after wave of immigration from nearly every country in Europe. Vast sums of money were borrowed, and extensive public works undertaken; and property rose to fictitious values. But the prosperity was not genuine, and long years of depression have at last taught the community a salutary lesson. By an unmistakeable vote, it has solemnly renounced Vogel and all his works.
Old New Zealand, we have said, is passing away. Where is Young New Zealand? Years ago, when the first native-born member, the late Mr Sheehan, was returned to the House, there was much gratulation; and no member of more brilliant abilities ever sat in our Parliament. But he has had few successors. The sons of the old colonists have that patriotic affection for the country that every true man feels for his place of birth. They, at least, are not altogether ignorant of the history of the colony; nor are they indifferent as to its future. In most cases they have had advantages, educational and otherwise, such as their parents did not possess. Yet only in very exceptional instances are they taking the place that should be theirs by right. Their chief weakness, generally speaking, is their too great devotion to sport and athletics. It is significant that in the biographical notes of newly-elected members which have appeared in the press, the strong point of one young New Zealander is his skill in the cricket-field, and of another, his prowess at football.
We hope, ere another general election takes place, to see a change in this respect. The present position is not without indication of danger. In the late elections an element of anarchy and violence made itself in some instances strongly apparent. The genuine colonist influence was often in danger of being completely swamped by reckless spirits who, had they been in a majority, would have quickly plunged the country into ruin. And such a result may be not far distant unless Young New Zealand awakens to a fuller sense of its duties and responsibilites.
Mr W. Colenso, F.R.S., read an interesting paper at the October meeting of the Napier branch of the Philosophical Institute, on the « jubilee » of the Press in New Zealand. Mr Colenso came out as missionary printer, landing on 30th December, 1834, and the first press and plant were safely landed on 3rd January, 1835. He had not selected the material himself, and some of the most essential articles had been forgotten. However, he was not discouraged, and in addition to much other work, succeeded in completing the New Testament in Maori in 1837. We intend giving an abstract of this paper next month.
Among the incidental matters which might profitably engage the attention of our new Parliament is a reform in the law of libel. Something on the lines of the English Libel Law Amendment Bill is sorely needed. Here is a case in point. A solicitor named Henderson, at the Bay of Islands, took action against the local paper, the Northern Luminary, and just as the case was about to be called in court, withdrew his action. The defendant, who had been put to an expense of between £200 and £300, has no redress. The withdrawal of the action at the last moment is equivalent to an acknowledgment that it was groundless and vexatious; and such being the ease, the defendant ought in all equity, not only to be able to recover his expenses in full, but substantial damages as well. We know of no form of revenge against a journalist more cowardly than to rob him thus by legal process, and skulk out of court when the case is ready for hearing.
Typo has from the first made a special feature of notes of new inventions, and it is with more than ordinary pleasure that we record the latest—the « Marsh Automatic Folding Attachment, » a photograph and description of which has been sent us by the inventor, Mr R. G. Marsh, machinist on the staff of the Evening Press, Wellington. The contrivance is exceedingly simple as well as ingenious, and as it can be attached to any printing machine, and is not costly, will no doubt come into general use. The apparatus receives the sheets from the tapes of the printing machine, and after giving them two or more folds as required, returns them so that they are delivered by the flyers on the taking-off board in the same manner as open sheets. The contrivance is entirely automatic, and may be thrown out of gear without stopping the machine, when the sheets are delivered open in the ordinary way. Mr Marsh found considerable difficulty in having his ideas carried out by the engineers, but has now the satisfaction of seeing his apparatus in practical use, and a complete success. He is taking measures to protect his invention by patent in the principal manufacturing countries of the world, and we hope that for many years to come he will reap the fitting reward of his genius.
All printers acquainted with the literature of the craft are aware that types are cast from a matrix made by striking a steel die into copper. The illustrations of the counter-punch, the punch, the « strike, » and the finished matrix, are familiar to all; and the great cost of type is largely owing to the tedious and expensive process of engraving the steel punches. Should a printer require three or four special characters, such as peculiar accents, not in the typefounder's stock, he is charged one guinea each for cutting the punches. We have long been convinced, on many grounds, that some less costly process was practised by American founders, and probably by German houses also; and that their extraordinary productiveness as compared with English houses must be due quite as much to readier methods as to superior enterprise. That electrotyping was resorted to we doubted, as the founders denounce the process itself no less than they do the piratical firms who by this means appropriate their original faces. « Electrotype copper, » says Caslon, « is not capable of bearing the contact of good hard metal such as it is absolutely necessary type should be made of in these days of printing by machinery. » Conner, in the New York Typographic Messenger, writes of « the vile stuff, misnamed type, from bogus or electro-matrices. » And later: « Electro-matrices . . are liable to swell or vary in line, height, and thickness; not having an angle to assist the type in its delivery from the matrix —except such as may be made through the agency of a graver, which is often so imperfectly done as to cause the letter to chafe on its sides, producing light points on the face—the counters are liable to break out, the face is smaller than the original, and in every way inferior to the article produced through the agency of steel punches driven in copper. » In the article first quoted, the same authority says; « In the whole of our large assortment of book and newspaper letter (Roman or German) we have not a single electro-matrix. » Only a careful reader would note that fancy styles are not included in this statement. The London « pirate, » Morton, says that most of the modern fancy types are reproduced by a process similar to his own, and that being originally cut on type-metal, « strikes are impossible. » Two or three years ago, we made inquiry regarding electro-matrices of a gentleman in London who is an authority on the subject. His reply was: « All the founders use them. » But the great specialty of the American houses—the engraving machine—by which is secured a rapidity and accuracy hitherto unattainable, and by means of which alone it is possible to produce tint shades like those of the « Horizontal, » « Tinted, » and kindred styles—does not seem to have come into use in England. This, in conjunction with electrotypy, has caused a revolution in the art in America as complete as when hand-casting was superseded by machine—but it has not, as yet, made type any cheaper! In the last number of the Typographic Messenger, Mr David Bruce, the veteran punch-cutter, writes candidly: « When the art of electrotyping was first introduced as an auxiliary to type-founding, I, having adopted for a long time the specialty of letter-cutting, saw at a glance my vocation gone: but I bowed reverently to the advance of science. »
In the Inland Printer Mr Sehraubstadter, a type-founder, describes the electrotype process, in an article so interesting that we copy it entire in this issue. The illustrations, which in the original are the natural size, have been reduced one-third lineal, and very neatly and accurately engraved for our pages, by Miss Maxwell of Dunedin.
Our conclusion is, that whatever rubbish may have been produced by electrotypy, and however it may have been misused by piratical manufacturers, types from electro-matrices are quite equal in quality and often superior in design to anything produced by the older process.
Paris typefounders are busy. One firm, Lespinasse & Olliere, is executing an order for a 150,000lb fount. The type is required for a dictionary.
« Its getting near Christmas, isn't it Father? » asked a little six-year-old the other day. « What makes you think so, my dear? » « Because the boy has begun to bring the paper right up to the porch. »
Mr Willis's new patterns of Christmas cards are out, and are the best yet produced. They include pretty views of Lyttelton Harbor, Ocean Beach, Port Chalmers, Wellington Heads, &c.
« As sure as the sun will rise to-morrow, » predicted the Auckland Bell, « the Stout-Vogel administration will be strengthened by the present general election as no ministry was ever strengthened before. » The Prophet of Bel is a false prophet.
The St. Louis Printers' Register says:—« Typo is the name of a new venture in printers' journals, coming all the way from Napier, New Zealand. It is an excellently edited and well printed sheet, and is deserving of a long life. We hope we may see many succeeding issues. »
Our Auckland correspondent has sent us a copy of the last annual report and balance-sheet of the local branch of the Typographical Association. It deals with matters deserving of serious consideration by all engaged in the trade. To some of these we have referred in former numbers; but we intend taking up the subject again.
Messrs Benton, Waldo, & Co. write us from Milwaukee that though they have doubled their producing capacity within the past twelve months, they are so far behind with orders for their self-spacing type that they have had to cease advertising and call in their salesmen. Brother Jonathan knows a good thing when he sees it. « The punches of this type, » they add, « are cut by machinery of our own construction, and they are just as much more perfect as machine-work is than hand-work. » A reference to Mr Benton's machine will be found in the article on Electro-matrices, page 71 of this issue.
The paper read by Mr Colenso before the Philosophical Institute supplies an important chapter in the early history of the Colony, and, incidentally contains much information as to the first books printed in New Zealand, the settling of the orthography of the Maori tongue, &c. We hope to see it in full in the next volume of the Transactions, In seconding the vote of thanks, Mr R. C. Harding referred to Mr W. Colenso as the William Caxton of the Colony. He also inquired as fo the whereabouts of the old Stanhope press—the first printing press in the colony, but no one present could answer. Can any of Typo's readers supply the information? If it passed safely through the Maori troubles, it is probably in use as a proof-press—or stowed away in some lumber-room. It ought to be in the Colonial Museum. Will our contemporaries pass this query along?
A valuable contribution to the early history of the colony has been published by Mr A. D. Willis. The little book is entitled « Interesting Chapters in the early History of Wanganui, » and is illustrated by two lithographs, representing Wanganui in 1847 and 1887 respectively. Capt. Wilson, of Hawera, it appears, recently found the diary of his late father Dr. Wilson, covering the eventful period of the Gilfillan tragedy and subsequent native troubles. The diary had been lost for many years, and the historical portions are here reprinted. The second part of the book is by Mr C. Burnett, and records his first impressions and observations on his arrival in 1856. To Typo, who remembers Mr Burnett's arrival, and whose first recollections are of Wanganui, this part of the book is of great interest. The Chronicle was an institution when Mr Burnett came, but must have been a very young one, for if we remember rightly, it first appeared in 1856. We can still recollect the commotion on the Thursday morning when No. 1 of « our new paper » came out—a four-page demy weekly, in large type. Caps being short, the italic case was freely resorted to. W of course gave out first, and the frequent recurrence of « We » and « Wanganui » used to suggest mild jokes as to the printer's condition. « No sober man, » it was remarked, « would allow his letters to reel about in that fashion. » Long prior to this, however, the Wanganui Record, on blue foolscap, of one and sometimes two pages, published at irregular intervals, was printed by the late Mr Francis Watts, on a small camp press, which afterwards passed into the hands of the Rev. C. H. S. Nicholls, who held the double office of parson and schoolmaster. A few years ago, Typo, hearing that his old teacher was at the Upper Hutt, made a pilgrimage thither, and saw again the press on which was printed the first newspaper in Wanganui. Mr Nicholls, we believe, has still some copies of the Record—a curiosity now-a-days. Wanganui, by the way, is correctly written and pronounced « Whanganui, » but the earlier settlers, for some unknown reason, had an invincible objection to the aspirate in this case, and have never recognized it.
Although almost every treatise on the history of printing mentions or describes the copper matrices struck from a punch, the electrotype matrices—which in this country probably exceed the other kind in a proportion of seven or eight to one, are barely mentioned, and where a few words are spoken of them, it is only to condemn their use.
Though there are many imperfect matrices of this kind, and the comparative ease with which faces can be copied, has tempted a few to open foundries without proper tools or appliances, there is no doubt as to their producing, when well made, as good type as that cast from a copper strike. In the larger sizes, 36-, 48-, and 60-point, the tendency of the matrix struck from the punch is towards hollowness of the face—a bad fault, which the electrotype does not have. Besides its many other advantages, it has rendered possible the production of the handsome modern faces, with their delicate lines and shadings.
Soon after the discovery of electro-deposition, type-founders attempted to use it in producing matrices. The first results were crude, and were almost confined to copying faces that had been cut on steel. A type was hung in the battery by a thin copper wire, and the face coated with a sheet of copper. When this was of sufficient thickness, the shank was cut away, and the head of the type, or « eyelet, » placed in an oblong iron box, about the shape of the matrix, and held in position by a wire, as in Fig. 1. Melted lead was then poured in the box, and the wire withdrawn or nipped off. The matrix was then taken from the box and a cast taken. The shank of the type thus cast soldered itself to the head of the original type, and drawing it out, left a perfect reverse copy of it. These matrices were fitted up in line, set, and height, exactly like the copper strikes. Afterward quads were placed about the type to be copied, in order to give the copper deposition a wider face or bearing, and zinc was substituted for the lead.
Though much cheaper than the copper strikes, these matrices had fatal defects. The lead first used easily bent or wore. The zinc, though harder, was still too soft, and was brittle and porous; besides, the « eyelet » often came loose. In such a case, nothing remained but to make a new one. To obviate these faults, a mould of type-metal was cast around the type, and the whole matrix deposited therein by the battery. But this was slow and expensive, and it was difficult to obtain a thick smooth deposit.
To an American, Edwin Starr, of Philadelphia, belongs the honor of a successful solution of the problem. Cutting a hole in a plate of copper, the head of the type is placed in it, and enough copper deposited to fill the hole. Fig. 2 represents a plate, with a type in position. It will be noticed that the sides of the hole are sloped to prevent the eyelet from slipping out. When the hole is filled, the type is withdrawn, the surplus copper removed, and the plate riveted to a heavier one. This not only makes the matrix stronger, but prevents the eyelet from becoming loose. Brass plates were afterwards substituted for the copper, and this form is in use to-day.
Fig. 3 represents the plates riveted together, and Fig. 4, the matrix as it appears when fitted in line, set, position, and height. The minutest perfection or blemish is copied by the deposition, and the type cast from such a matrix is a perfect counterpart of the original.
In later years, a new school of engravers, headed by Mr Ruthven, of Philadelphia, has sprung up, cutting exclusively on metal, and producing ornamentation and finish the punch-cutters never dared to attempt.
In perfection of finish, such forms as the « Raphael, » « Ruskin, » « Steelplate Gothic, » &c., silence all attempts to bring the process into disrepute, and lately Mr Benton has cut roman type on metal with his engraving machine, having such a high finish that it is safe to say that even in this field, until this time wholly given up to the punch-cutter, the electrotype matrix will also drive out its copper rival.
The verdict of the general election was unmistakeable. Ignoring all the side issues raised, such as tariff details and land tenure, the country gave a decided vote for retrenchment. Two ministers were defeated, one being the Premier—a circumstance without precedent in New Zealand. Sir R. Stout's rejection has completely broken up the Stout-Vogel combination, and is perhaps the most satisfactory result of the election. To the ex-Premier himself it is the best thing that could have happened. Several prominent men on the other side were defeated, but they can be well spared. Both of the old parties were too far committed to existing abuses. One disturbing element affected the result. The so-called « Midland » railway scheme was expected to circulate a good deal of money in Nelson, Westland, and Canterbury, and these provincial districts gave almost a block vote for the late ministry. This only adds to the significance of the decision of the country as a whole. Major Atkinson has formed a ministry pledged to retrenchment, and mostly freetraders; they have a working majority in Parliament; while the state of the colonial finances is such as to disarm factious opposition, and to a great extent silence local demands for expenditure. Measures of reform, necessary as they are, must cause serious temporary inconvenience; but the outlook, on the whole, is brighter than it has been for years past.
The ministerial jubilee of the Rev. Horatius Bonar, author of many beautiful hymns, is to be celebrated in November.
The Bookbinder, « a monthly, journal for bookbinders, librarians, and all lovers of books » (London, Clowes) will be a welcome addition to trade and technical literature. It is ably conducted, and beautifully printed and illustrated. Every bookbinder should subscribe to it.
Nos. 1 to 3 of the American Art Printer are to hand. It is published bi-monthly by Mr C. E. Bartholomew, one of the founders of the old Model Printer, to which it bears a strong resemblance, though it is decidedly a better magazine. It is printed on a special surfaced and calendered paper, which shows up the type to the best advantage. A leading feature is the fine examples of color-printing published as supplements. The first is a specimen by Haight & Dudley; the second a splendid Egyptian vase, in brass-rule, type, and tint, followed by a good piece of color-work from England. No. 3 has a banner and a fine specimen of curved rule-work, brought out in tints. This and the vase are by the editor, Mr P. S. M. Munro, and are so good that many New York printers doubted that they were produced by typography until they had inspected the forms. There are also some beautiful reproductions of paintings and drawings by the « Ives » and other new processes. This paper marks the highest level yet attained in American art typography.
Mr R. L. Stevenson, the novelist, has arrived in the United States on his way to Australia. He is travelling on account of his health.
Have you no initial T, Art Printer, that you start Dorman's ad. with a J? And is it not a little hard on Figgins to turn him into Higgins?
At the R.M. Court, Hastings, on 7th Oct., J. H. Clayton, of the Star, was sued by A. A. George for £8 9s 8d, a disputed claim for overtime. Plaintiff was nonsuited, without costs.
Nine months ago the Hawke's Bay Herald premises were completely destroyed by fire. The new building, which has just been completed, at a cost of about £4,000, is a handsome brick structure, reflecting the highest credit on the architect, Mr Lamb. The internal arrangements are very convenient, and afford scope for all probable extensions of the business for many years to come.
The Wellington correspondent of the A. T. Journal writes: « One of the 'rags' here, and a wretched one at that—is produced by boy labor, from the reporters down to the machinist. » The legitimate printer, who pays fair wages, is injured by establishments of this kind—but he lives to see the place that once knew them know them no more.
The New Zealand Times office narrowly escaped being blown up a few nights ago. On the sub-editor, Mr Mansford, opening the door of his room and entering, he found the place full of escaped gas, and on examination found the three jets turned full on. Further investigation showed that the aperture in the door had been blocked—leaving little doubt that a dastardly attempt had been made to wreck the building. Mr Mansford had a match in his hand when he entered the room. Had it been alight, he probably would not have survived to tell the tale.
There is a daily paper in Dunedin, which we have never seen, called the Herald. In sore distress at Sir R. Stout's defeat, the editor sought consolation in poetry, and offered a premium « for the best sixteen lines of verse dealing with Sir Robert Stout's defeat for Dunedin East. » As a general rule, editors would prefer to give amateur poets a trifle to send their rhymes to « the other office. » Typo's devil has to mourn a lost opportunity. Had he known of the offer, he might have competed, with fair prospects of success. One Mr Julius Arnold took the prize with a poem beginning
The blow has fallen! and we stand aghast To see the foe thus conquer in the field.
Some considerable degree of « frenzy » must have been wrought up to produce verses like these. « The foe » is good. The Herald published the unsuccessful essays as well, to the extent of a column, from which it appears that one competitor—a lady, of course—did hit the right nail on the head, concluding thus:
To forfeit public confidence is hard enough for a public man, without having his defeat made the subject of rhymes which read like burlesque. The Herald may have succeeded in advertising itself, but it has been at the expense of Sir Robert.
Old-Established Good Going Printing Business in Dunedin for sale.—Apply to Cowan & Co., Crawford-st., Dunedfn.
The parcels post system came into force in this colony on the 1st October.
Mr Archibald Forbes, whose case was considered hopeless, has recovered his health.
There were three thousand carriages in line at the funeral of Katkoff, the Moscow editor.
Out of the ninety-six members of the new Parliament, seven are connected with the press, and fourteen are lawyers.
The Victorian Parliament has again—and we think rightly—refused a grant of £1000 to the representatives of Marcus Clarke. It would be a difficult task to discover anything in the works of the deceased writer on which to base a plea for public recognition of this kind.
Paper and Press, of Philadelphia, is one of the best and best-printed of our trade contemporaries. The August issue is a magnificent number, of 96 large quarto pages, faultlessly printed. It contains fine specimens, in black and tint, of the new processes of photo-engraving.
We have to thank Messrs Haight & Dudley, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for two books of specimens of fine printing, for 1886 and 1887 respectively. They maintain the high reputation of the firm. An Easter hymn, in three colors, is one of the most tasteful as well as one of the simplest in the book for 1886; and an interesting specimen is a six-block engraving, shown in all its stages. In the later volume there is a varied selection of styles, including some fine examples of rule and color work.
The country newspaper's « literary supplement » (usually printed in Australia) is quite an institution. It contains an odd medley of « scientific » items of unknown origin, « latest » fashions of doubtful date, a sensation serial, and a column of humor, where last-century epigrams from Elegant Extracts mingle with saws from Josh Billings and quips from Mark Twain. It is, however, in the make-up that the supplement affords the most amusing reading. This department seems to be left to the « devil. » One is never quite sure where to find the next column. If an article is too long for the column, it is cut off at the paragraph nearest the foot, and the disjecta membra are distributed over other parts of the sheet. Another simple method is to remove dividing rules, and jam up a number of items under a heading that belongs to one only. Here is a recent example:
A Yankee editor advertised the other day that he would take a good dog in payment of one year's subscription for his paper. The next day 43 dogs were sent to the office. The day afterwards, when the news had spread into the country, over two hundred farmers sent two dogs each by express, with eight baskets full of puppies, all marked « C.O.D. » The offer found its way into the neighboring States, and before the end of the week there were eight thousand assorted dogs, from bloodhounds down to poodles, tied up in the editor's front and back yards. Some hundreds broke loose, and swarmed on the stairways and in the entries, and stood outside the sanctum and howled, and had fights, and sniffed under the crack of the door, as if they were hungry for a taste of the editor. He climbed out of the window up the waterspout, and out on the comb of the roof, and wept. There was no issue of the paper for six days, and the only way in which the friends of the journalist could feed him was by sending luncheon up to him in balloons. At last somebody brought a barrel of arsenic and three tons of beef, and poisoned the dogs, and the editor came down, to find on his desk a bill from the mayor for $8,000, being the municipal tax of $1 per head. The announcement has been withdrawn.
The superiority of Man to Nature is continually illustrated. Nature takes a good many quills to make a goose; but a man has often made a goose of himself with one.
Physician (examining rural editor for life insurance purposes): « Your circulation does not seem to be impaired? »
Editor: « No. We're printin' 630 copies a week now, again' 600 a year ago! »
The following gentle hint is from a Kansas paper:—« There i$ a little matter that $ome of our $ub$criber$ have $eemingly forgotten entirely. $ome of them have made u$ many promi$e$, but have not kept them. It i$ a very important matter. It i$ nece$ary in our bu$ine$. We are very mode$t, and don't like to $peak about it. »
The following new exchanges are acknowledged with thanks:—American Art Printer, New York (from No. 1, January, 1887); The Bookbinder, London (from No. 1, July, 1887); Printers' Sales and Wants Advertiser, London (No. 5, July 15); Effective Advertiser, London (from August, 1887; Export Journal, Leipzig (from No. 1); Typographische Neuigkeiten Frankfurt (from No. 4, June, 1887.)
Our valued exchange, the Art Age, has not come to hand lately. The February number is the latest on our file.
It is veritably a « tricksy sprite » who presides over printers' errors. In a morning contemporary, the Governor, in opening Parliament, is made to say: « The aim of all, of whatever political breed, should be to promote the establishment of a numerous and prosperous agricultural community. »
The Christchurch Press is now printed from stereo plates, on a web machine.
The Patea Mail, after many vicissitudes and changes of proprietorship, discontinued publication at the end of last month.
Mr J. Ivess has disposed of the Timaru Mail to Messrs H. E. Muir, of Dunedin, and T. Lawson, of Palmerston.
Mr P. A. Crawford has started a paper at Rotorua, entitled the Hot Lakes Chronicle. Hot water appears to be the favorite element of some newspaper men, and Mr Crawford has chosen a region where the supply is unlimited.
The following, from a political opponent, is a high testimonial to Mr Wakefield's ability and influence:—« The defeat of the Government in this election is unquestionably due more to Mr Edward Wakefield, as editor of the Wellington Press, than to any other man, or ten men, in the colony. »
Mr George Fisher, Minister of Education in the new cabinet, was, fourteen or fifteen years ago, a journeyman compositor in the Government printing office. He became sucessively a press reader, a journalist, a « Hansard » reporter, Mayor of Wellington, a member of Parliament, and a Minister of the Crown.
Mr P. Galvin, editor of the Marlborough Express, met with a serious accident on the 8th October. He was accompanying the cricket team to Havelock in a coach, and was holding the horses previous to starting, when he was knocked down, and a wheel of the coach passed over his hip. He was taken home on a stretcher, very much shaken, but no bones were broken.
The election excitement cools down very slowly in Wairarapa. Three weeks after the polling day, Mr G. C. Beckett, editor of the Observer, was assaulted by a butcher named Deller. The R.M., who characterized the assault as serious and unjustified, imposed a fine of £3 and costs, besides binding the offender over to keep the peace for three months.
Denis Kearney and the « sand-lot » agitators of San Francisco have, apparently, imitators in this country. From Wellington we have No. 2 of The Anti-Chinaman and Working Men's Advocate, a weekly 16-column demy sheet, published at one penny. The leader is in a large-faced pica; the rest of the reading-matter in long primer. Whether the literary portion is supplied by Chinese or other « cheap labor » does not appear; but when we read of « a white man, occasionally interlarded by a genuine American citizen, of the Uncle Tom breed, » we realize our need of the services of an interpreter. The most remarkable thing about the new paper seems to be, that it should have reached a second number.
Mr Joseph Parker, a wealthy papermaker, of New Haven, Connecticut, died on 22nd August, aged 77. He was the first manufacturer of blotting-paper in the United States.
A London telegram dated 16th October records the death, at the age of 61, of Mrs Craik (Miss Muloch), author of John Halifax, Gentleman, and many other popular works. This announcement will be received with general regret.
Lady Brassey, the author of some charming books of travel, died on the 14th Sept., on board the yacht Sunbeam, and was buried at sea. Her death was caused by fever, said to have been contracted off the Australian coast.
Mr John Ogden, publisher of the Argosy, died suddenly at Ilkley, Yorkshire, on the 18th July. He had taken a trip on account of his health. He was out with his wife for an afternoon walk, when, feeling suddenly faint, he went into a chemist's shop, where he died.
Stephen S. Hoe, junior member of the firm of printing-press manufacturers, died on the 29th July, at his father's house in New York. He was born in 1846, and was a grandson of Robert Hoe, the founder of the firm, who came to New York from England in 1803. Mr Hoe, whose health had been failing for about a year, was unmarried.
Mr James Madison Conner, the well-known New York typefounder, died on 14th July. He was the son of Mr James Conner, (who founded the establishment fifty years ago), and was born in 1825. Mr Conner was the inventor of some of the most valuable appliances of the typefounders' art, as well as the designer of some of the most popular faces produced by the firm. He leaves a widow and six children.
Mr Alexander Bonar Fleming, the founder of the well-known printing-ink firm of A. B. Fleming & Co., died on the 28th July. He must have possessed rare business gifts, as the factory, established in 1852, is the largest of its kind in the world. He will be much missed in Edinburgh, where his handsome fortune was freely devoted to public and private charities. He leaves a widow, but no family.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—October, 1887.
Keeping in view the order laid down in a former article, we now come to the subject of Word Ornaments—a form of decoration in which one of the most primitive devices of written language re-appears in one of the most recent developments of typography. We have already referred to the analogy between typographic display and punctuation; and of this the Word Ornament is an illustration—designed primarily for display, it may be considered as in a measure filling both capacities. In the archaic forms of writing, no marks of punctuation were used, nor even divisions between the words—a style adapted only to a very simple form of literature. To place a special sign or mark of separation between each word was an early device, and the same thing may be seen in many comparatively modern inscriptions: « Here Lyeth Y e Body » &c. And with very slight change, this is what we have in the modern Word Ornament.
As usual, something of the kind can be traced in compositors' work prior to the introduction of the ornament by typefounders. It was not uncommon to see catch-lines lengthened by a dash at each end: « —— In —— », « —of the— », &c.; or a display-line adorned with typographic flowers. The practice might have been more common, had combinations ten or twelve years ago been furnished, as they generally are now, with pieces which might be used singly for such a purpose. But the dash thus used never looked well. It was too obviously the ordinary punctuation mark out of place, and was as easily recognized as the o in the middle of the old-fashioned dividing rules (——o——).
In 1878 MacKellar brought out the « Glyptic » series, the very oddity of which, he said, would compel admiration—a claim that has a strange appearance now, when such faces as the « Harper, » « Modoc, » « Owltype, » and « Mikado » are in common use. The « Glyptic » was the first fount produced with the adjuncts since known as Word Ornaments. They were eight in number—three pairs of end-pieces and two sorts to place between words, and were in harmony with the general character of the type:
The letter became popular at once, and is now found in most jobbing offices. The ornaments were freely used with other founts; but a year passed before the idea was further carried out. Then appeared « odd » than the « Glyptic, both furnished with appropriate ornaments. With the « Cabalistic, » eleven characters were supplied:
Since 1879 nearly half of the new ornamental founts have been supplied with these adjuncts—heavy and light, hair-line or open-faced, according to the style of the letter. There is, therefore, a great and increasing variety; and most of the foundries make up the ornaments in parcels, and sell them apart from the founts. Not only may they be had as small as nonpareil, but they are cast as large as four-line pica, and cut in wood in still larger sizes for posters. In some recent founts, as we have already had occasion to remark, they are so large and obtrusive as to spoil the effect of the lines. This error was avoided in the earlier designs.
As ornaments, these auxiliaries should be sparingly used, and never crowded. Their chief purpose is to lengthen out a line otherwise too short, and if they are jammed close to the letters, they look exceedingly bad. In a display page, the end-ornaments may sometimes in a manner supply the place of punctuation-marks. They are not of much service at the end in lengthening a display-line to balance a page, as the eye ignores them in reading, and invariably balances the ends of the words, no matter how much ornament may be added at the end. This may be seen from the following example:
It is therefore between words only that they are properly available for this purpose.
As in job offices these ornaments are often laid apart from their appropriate founts, a word of caution is needed in their use. A hairline ornament should not be used with heavy-faced letters, nor an open-faced one in a solid line, and vice versâ. We show, in the first place, examples of Word Ornaments used as a substitute for punctuation signs:—
Auction Sale ofHousehold Furniture
Books and Wearing Apparel.
Harding's1888Almanac and Directory.
The following are examples of methods in which Word Ornaments are commonly misused. In the first, they are overdone and crowded together, making the line difficult to read:
The line in this case would look much better without the ornaments. In the following examples they are out of harmony with the letters:
Annual Regatta
Philosophical Institute
Our next subject will be Ornamental Initials.
The Cleveland Foundry send us a neat and compact little book, in which their latest novelties are artistically displayed.
The following item appears to have possessed no interest for our colonial contemporaries. We meet it for the first time in an English exchange:—Under the heading of « A Journalistic Jubilee, » the South Australian Register of 10th June gives a history of itself. Just fifty years old on the day mentioned, it was the first newspaper printed in South Australia; and, at starting, the printing was done in a small reed hut, on the site of the future City of Adelaide. In a MS. memoir left by Mrs Thomas, wife of the original proprietor, she writes: « We built a rush hut a short distance from our tents for the better accommodation of part of our family; but they had not long occupied it before everything was suddenly ordered to be cleared out to make room for the printing-press, in order to print the proclamation of the Colony, and in this place, about twelve feet square, the first printing in South Australia was produced. » This was on 20th December, 1836. —New Zealand was ahead of South Australia as regards the introduction of the Press.
John W. Oliver, who began the printers' art in Baltimore in 1826, and who, in conjunction with his brother, conducted one of the most extensive printing establishments in New York for years, is still, in his cheery old age, carrying on the business at Yonkers. To him is due the introduction of the cylinder-press in job-work. Forty years ago, all work, with some trifling exceptions, was done wet. A customer who came for a ream of billheads had to wait for at least two days. The paper was carefully wet down and allowed to remain till morning; then it was turned, to break the back of the sheets, and remained till towards evening, when the printing was executed. The sheets were then to be dried, which, as they were thick, required considerable time, and were then put into the standing-press. After this had all been done, the job was ready for delivery, but although the indentation of the paper had been taken out by the standing-press, the gloss of the surface was lost. The moistening had effectually destroyed that. All other job-work was done in the same way, the impressions being pulled upon a Smith or Washington press, or perhaps on a Ramage. When the cylinder or Napier press had been in use for a few years, it occurred to Mr Oliver that a smaller-sized press might be available for jobs, and if so the paper could be worked dry. This would make the paper appear much more showy, and, with a quick-drying ink, would diminish by from two to three days the time necessary for the execution of an ordinary order. On this project being laid before Colonel Richard M. Hoe, he gave it his assent, and caused a post-folio cylinder to be made expressly for the purpose. One printer before had essayed to use a small-sized press, but was not successful with it, probably owing to his using the same overlay system that he had found to be useful in wet work. In Mr Oliver's hands, however, it turned out well. The thick blankets were discarded, nothing being used except a few sheets of paper, or a thin overlay of rubber, and he speedily added other presses of the same kind. Most of the trade, however, while acknowledging the seeming superiority of the new process, declared that it could not last in the long-run, as it was very hard on type. This was about 1844, but it gained favor so rapidly that about 1852 almost every office was partly supplied with cylinder presses. Among those who doubted that the new method would work was George Bruce, the eminent typefounder. Three or four years after printing of this kind had begun, he took occasion, on his seventieth birthday, to call upon Mr Oliver and acknowledge how much he had been mistaken. « You were right and I was wrong, » he declared.
From Mr A. D. Willis we have a large lithographed portrait of the late Sir Donald M'Lean. The likeness is very good; but the artist has given a somewhat severe expression to the countenance.
Last month we stated that English founders did not east oblique quads. Caslon, who is generally « to the fore, » has now brought them out, on pica body, to six different angles—45° of course included.
Among the applications for patents in a recent Government Gazette is one by Henry Sutton, of Ballarat, Victoria, for an improved process of converting a photographic image on a gelatine surface into a relief or intaglio printing surface.
The St. Louis Printers' Journal is a neatly-printed quarto, containing a good display of new styles of type, and advertisements of many useful office sundries. It is published by the Printers' Supply Company, of St. Louis.
The first move in the direction of more stringent protection has been made by a new member, Mr Reeves, who endeavored to have an impost of 2s 6d per ton placed on imported coal! Even Mr Reeves's fellow-protectionists shrunk from supporting a tax which would so obviously injure every manufacturing industry in the colony, and the proposal was shelved.
The inland revenue officers at Cardiff have taken proceedings in the police court against all the local stationers for selling plate without a licence—said « plate » in each case being a silver pencil-case, retailed at from 9s to 16s 6d. The magistrate very reluctantly inflicted a fine of 5s in each case. The annual licence fee is £2 6s, which it was stated would not be realized in twenty years' sales of the articles in question. The maximum penalty for the offence is £50. Trade journals characterise the action of the revenue officers as « tomfoolery. »
A new patent subscription-list book shown in the St. Louis Printers' Journal is an excellent invention. The idea is capable of extension, and for all engaged in the compilation of books of reference, indexes, &c., would prove of great value.
Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, send us specimen pages of some of their publications. Mr Hill's geography is already well known and appreciated, having passed through several editions. The excellent series of New Zealand Public School copy-books are also well known. The School reading-books for Standards II and III (judging from the few pages before us) will compare favorably with any in the market. The printing and engraving are of the best class, and the quality of the paper leaves nothing to be desired. We don't like the « old-style » type; but that is a matter of opinion. We are glad to see good illustrations and descriptions of native birds and plants.
« The old lady who counts her own troubles as trials, and those of her neighbors as judgments, is not yet dead. » And she has made her most recent appearance in the New Zealand House of Representatives, in the person of Sir Julius Vogel. Offended at a perfectly legitimate inquiry placed upon the order paper by the member for Marsden, he commenced an attack upon that gentleman, who he said knew nothing of the manners of polite society. For this he was called to order by the Speaker, when he aggravated his offence by making wholesale charges of drunkenness, &c., against the other members—going so far as to taunt « one of the high officers of Parliament » with having found it necessary to take the pledge. His own gout, he informed an astonished House, was « the act of God »—other members' ailments were « the act of the Devil, » and the results of their own misconduct. Refusing to submit to the Chair, Sir Julius was « named, » and had to retire from the Chamber, when the House passed a resolution upholding the Speaker. He has refused to make any apology; the result being that he is almost deserted by the considerable following he had at the beginning of the session. He has, however, delayed the business of Parliament a week—at a cost to the country of £400 a day —thus maintaining his reputation as an expensive politician.
We have long suspected that the Bell was « cracked. » On the 16th it published an outrageous article, in which the charges made by Sir Julius Vogel were repeated and fixed upon the Speaker and other members of the House by name. The article has caused wide-spread indignation and disgust, and more is likely to be heard of it.
The annual report of the Auckland branch of the N.Z. Typographical Association begins by deploring the depression, which has thrown many deserving men out of employment. It goes on to say: « No doubt this depression has been the chief cause of the delay of the much-desired consummation of the hopes and aims of the Branch when they appointed a committee, some time ago, to interview the the master-printers re their mutual agreement to a scale of charges for work and the standard upon which they should base their calculations, namely, journeymen's wages. Unfortunately, competition seems rather to have become keener, with a consequent and too painfully evident desire for cheap labor, male or female, and a large increase in the number of apprentices in most of the offices. This continued increase in the number of apprentices is sapping the vital interests of the trade, and destroying its value as a profession, as their number is increasing in undue proportion to the increase of business. It is a matter for deep regret that so many master-printers, now-a-days, lack the interest formerly shown in the welfare of their employés, and their grade in the social scale. The result of this is that wages at the present time, in this city, are so low that even the steadiest of men experience the greatest difficulty in suitably providing for their families, and educating and bringing them up in that degree of respectability which their calling should enable them to do. After a little time, when the present depression has passed over, your Board recommend that the Branch again make an effort to influence the master-printers in the direction above referred to. It would almost seem that some of the employers were under the impression that if they acceded to our proposal an immediate increase of wages would be expected by the men; but not so. The men would be content to bide their time in this respect if, in the meantime, the employers would adopt their suggestion, which would enable them to cut down the number of apprentices by about two-thirds the present number, or at least lessen the number taken on annually to that extent. This would leave room for so many more men, who are now continually travelling from place to place in the vain search for work. And young men coming out of their time, after their seventh year at the utmost, would then be paid more freely what they would be entitled to—journeymen's wages. »
From the preface to Mr Pope's book we gather that it took its present shape by a simple process of evolution. The first design was a small treatise intended to give young Maoris clear ideas of the institutions existing around them. Such subjects as rent and value, it was soon found, were scarcely susceptible of such simple treatment as was at first intended; and the changes then introduced led to the plan being widened until the completed book took the form of a general introduction to sociological subjects for beginners, either European or native; covering the whole ground of social science as prescribed for the sixth standard of the public schools. At the same time, the original simplicity of plan was not lost sight of, the more complex subjects being dealt with in separate chapters. The result is a very complete treatise, of over 300 pages. It might at first be supposed that a work of this kind, undertaken by direction of the late Government, would be influenced in some degree by the political bias of the party in power; but such is not the case. The assurance in the preface that the work has no political significance, and that no restrictions were placed upon the author in carrying it out, is quite borne out by the contents. The political economy of the book is sound; and most of the popular fallacies regarding currency, foreign trade, protective duties, land, capital, and labor, are exposed and refuted. The author possesses in a high degree the art of illustrating principles by concrete application, and the numerous incidental references to Maori ways and ideas will be found an advantage even greater to the European learner than to the native, as affording the opportunity of shewing the same principles at work in widely different states of society. We miss the ordinary logical clearness, however, in chapter v, in the incidental reference to the State and liquor legislation, where there is some confusion both of terms and ideas. In fact, the whole subject is so loosely stated that no definite conclusion can be gathered from what is written. The writer makes no distinction between manufacture, sale, and use: and overlooks the principle that there are many private evils which the State may not touch, but the traffic in which it is called upon to prohibit. A weak point—for which the author is not responsible— appears in dealing with such subjects as individual conduct and motive. We here enter upon a region which—owing primarily to sectarian jealousy—our author finds is forbidden ground. He has to speak of « the powers of Nature » with a capital N, and to treat of the development of society almost as if family and State relationships, and the very perception of right and wrong, had been evolved in the conflict for existence among tribes in a state of animalism. That such is not the author's intention is plain from page 170 and elsewhere—but a system of education which prohibits clear teaching on the very fundamentals of a subject of such importance must be radically at fault. Some might be offended; but what then? A large proportion of the people are protectionists—they will find much to irritate them if they read Mr Pope's book. There are some who would protest against the statement that the earth is a rotating sphere. We think that, while in a few minor matters the book is open to improvement, it is on the whole a very valuable educational work.
International commerce has its its penalties as well as its advantages; and among the former we may reckon the world-wide distribution of animal and vegetable pests. A few years ago, New Zealand was almost exempt from these destructive creatures—now every garden and orchard bears testimony to their presence and persistence. More than one small treatise on the subject of garden pests has already been issued, and useful papers have appeared from time to time in the Transactions; but Mr Maskell's work is the most thorough attempt of the kind that has yet been made—in fact, no private publisher would have undertaken the risk of producing so complete a book. The volume before us contains 116 pages and 23 plates, mostly colored, and is entirely devoted to one class of garden enemies, the ubiquitous, and often malodorous and altogether disgusting « scale » insects. The various nostrums in common use are examined. Some of these, it appears, are so effective as to kill both insect and plant; others kill the plant, and do the insect little harm; many kill the insect and leave the eggs; others, again, are neutral. The potent pyrethrum, it seems, is useless against coccids. Of all insecticides, kerosine, properly applied, appears to be the best; but against the horrible and omniverous Icerya Purchasi—only too well known in Napier, which will batten upon the juices of any vegetable, from the orange to the bitter horehound,—the only remedy is to cut down the plant, and burn it, root and branch. The lithographic plates, drawn by the author, and executed at Mr Willis's establishment, reflect the greatest credit on the artist, Mr Potts. We can offer no criticism as to their correctness as to form and color, which we take for granted; but we can appreciate the accurate register. Everyone who has a garden should have Mr Maskell's book. Pests of other orders and classes are to be dealt with in a future volume.
Mr Willis, of Wanganui, has published a very useful « eight-hours » wages ready-reckoner, compiled by Mr. J. Anderson, C.E., of the Public Works Department. It contains 43 pages of tables, lithographed in fac-simile of the author's copy. While the effect is not so neat as that of typographic work, the possibility of compositor's errors is effectually prevented. Any large employer of labor will find the book pay for itself the first week it is used.
The report of the Auckland branch of the Typographical Union opens up some important questions, and the extract on another page is worthy of serious consideration, as giving the views of thoughtful men on the subject. The suggestion that journeymen's wages should be the standard upon which estimates are based is so reasonable and obvious that nothing but a grasping and suicidal competition could ever have led to any other basis being adopted. But every day's experience shews that in many, if not most, offices boy labor is the standard—if, indeed, the whole result is not reached by « rule of thumb. » The result is seen in disgraceful work, and in the degradation of an honorable profession. It is easier to indicate causes than to find a remedy, and the report before us says: « Unfortunately your Board cannot discern any means for the immediate amelioration of this state of things. » But we would remind the « cut-throat » masters who run offices with boy (and girl) labor, and turn the unfortunates adrift after two or three years, utterly unqualified to earn a living at the trade—that this system is far more expensive than to employ the best skilled labor; that, except under the most careful supervision, the loss in damaged machinery, wasted material, and spoiled work, together with general carelessness, slowness, and want of efficiency, more than equals the difference in wages. It is evident that in every printing office there should be one or more learners, to relieve skilled hands of unprofitable duties, and in time to take their places—but the common practice of filling an office with youths, with one half-skilled man to look after them, is as mischievous in the long run to the employer as it is to the trade as a whole.
Every trade in the colony suffers from the same cause; but the evil which lies deepest, and is most difficult to reach, is one peculiar to the printing and publishing trade. Many offices are not run as commercial concerns at all. A local clique requires an organ to work a point—a would-be statesman who can find no independent paper to support his candidature, opens an office of his own—a religious or charitable league think (vain hope!) that by starting their own office they can pay their expenses by profits on job-work. Generally these concerns die young—but the evil does not end here. Two or three men out of work buy the plant for a trifle, raising the purchase money by mortgage; work as they would never work for a master; cut prices to gain a connexion; fail—the concern passes into other hands, and the mischief is perpetuated. But the evil is intensified when a paper is run as a private organ by a candidate or politician who is possessed of wealth. We have known thousands of pounds sunk in offices which supplied no public want, and in which profit was an entirely secondary object. As exponents of « public opinion, » journals like these are a libel on the community, while commercially they have well-nigh succeeded in ruining the trade. We lately saw a great rarity in a little coast paper—a leading article. We read it with some interest—only to find that the proprietor was the local brewer, and was extolling his own beer! The legitimate tradesman has to compete with trading companies and wealthy amateurs. Here is the great evil with which the trade is infested—but where is the remedy?
A very suspicious matter has been brought to light during the past month, and no satisfactory explanation has yet appeared. Just before the general election, the Wellington Post copied from the Lyttelton Times an article headed « Men of Mark in Finance, » professedly from an English paper dated some time in June last, entitled the Financial Critic, in which Sir Julius Vogel was belauded. Some little surprise was occasioned by the article, Sir Julius not being in very high favor with the English financial press. But there were some curious circumstances connected with the matter. No one could be found who had seen or heard of such a paper—it was unknown to press directories and post office registers; the article itself, though commencing with the editorial « we, » several times lapsed into the first person singular, and, slight as the detail may appear to casual readers, it was a remarkable fact that one of the papers editorially referred to the opinions expressed as from « the financial critic »—an equivocal way of printing the title of a contemporary. The Wellington Press, after making special enquiries, denounced the article as a fraud, and stated that no Financial Critic existed. The Post retorted that the newspaper was known to persons in New Zealand, and that two copies of the issue containing the article had been received in the colony—one having been sent to the editor of the Lyttelton Times, and another to Sir Julius Vogel. The Press, in reply, challenged any person in the colony to produce a copy; but the challenge has not been taken up. We lately received direct from the publisher a copy of Sell's marvellously-complete Press directory, only just published—and there is no Financial Critic there. The affair reminds us of Mr Gammon's celebrated tombstone in Ten Thousand a-Year. « Dr Ghoul, » being a quack, may advertise laudatory notices of his « American Slops, » with such names as Times and Tribune attached to mislead the unwary; but never before in New Zealand have we known this particular kind of quackery to be attempted in politics. As the two journals chiefly concerned do not admit that they have been hoaxed, the public are entitled to a full explanation. At present it would appear that there is an inventive genius somewhere who deserves to rank with Ananias—and Shapira.
No country is « free » where the Government presumes to intermeddle with the natural development of legitimate trade. In the United States, an alien may land in the country, and take his chance of finding work or becoming a « tramp; » but if his abilities are such as to have procured him an engagement beforehand, the least inconvenience that will befal him (according to our excellent contemporary the American Lithographer) is imprisonment until such time as he can arrange for a passage back to his own country, while his enterprising employer forfeits to the State $1000! Truly an excellent way to keep brains out of the country. The time is not far distant when « protectionist » and « lunatic » will be regarded as synonyms.
With a view to make the New Zealand Typographical Association more popular, it has been suggested that its constitution be amended by the addition of a « Provident » branch, which shall make grants in case of death, sickness, or accident. A draft of suggested alterations in the rules has been circulated. While the object of the scheme is very laudable, we regard the proposal as a mistake. There may be « too much of a good thing, » and there are already in New Zealand too many friendly societies for its limited population.
In former articles we have shewn that any system of measurement based on a private instead of a national standard is not to be relied on, and can never meet with general acceptance. No such attempt hitherto has been successful; and anyone who compares the picas of the American houses professing to have adopted the Johnson standard—or even the Johnson picas cast at intervals of three or four years—will probably find they do not agree.
We have shewn that until lately, in English-speaking countries, there has been no system. But where a system of gradation has been established, it has generally been based on a national standard. The first, devised in 1737—just 150 years ago—by Fournier, a French founder, was based on the French inch, divided into 72 equal parts, or points, of which 6 constituted a nonpareil and 12 a pica. The aliquot measurement was carried through the whole scheme, and the system—with the exception of a minute difference in the standard— was exactly the same as that introduced within the last few years in America. The scheme is not therefore, « American. » It may have been often independently worked out by others—as it was by the present writer many years ago; but to Fournier belongs the credit of not only devising, but carrying into effect, the greatest reform in type manufacture since the invention of printing. His system was based on three fundamentals: (1) A National Standard; (2) divided into aliquot parts; (3) on a duodecimal system. Mr DeVinne complains of Founder's unscientific procedure in illustrating his plan by a rough brass-rule diagram. We see no great force in this objection. A national scale being the basis, it would have been superfluous on his part to have supplemented it by a private, and possibly imperfect, standard.
After the death of Fournier, the celebrated founder Ambrose Didot took up the system, basing it upon the royal foot of France According to Piazzi Smyth, (pied-de-roi) = 12·7892 English inches. How Fournier obtained his scale does not appear from the data before us, but his standard was nearly one-twelfth smaller than that of Didot.F.R.A.S., an authority on international measures, the old French inch (interdicted since 1840, but surviving, as we have seen, in type standards throughout the world) is = l·094 British inches. That of Prussia (abolished in 1872) is = l·030. MacKellar's standard does not correspond with either of the twenty-six varying inches shewn in Smyth's table, but comes nearest to the Nuremberg inch: = 0·997 British inches; MacKellar's 72-point = 0·996.
In England the continental 6-point nonpareil is called « emerald, » in America, « minionette. » It is almost unknown as a scale for body-founts, being intermediate between nonpareil and minion; but is the basis of all the fine borders of continental origin, and of many original ones—thus introducing one of the chief sources of confusion in type bodies. In our own office we have three small emeralds, and six of the « Cicero » or twelve-point Didot—no two of which absolutely agree, and the quads of which have to be kept apart. The following is the order of nineteen measured founts, from the largest to the smallest: 1 Woellmer, Gronau; 2 Klinkhardt, Miller & Richard, Brendler; 3 Stephenson Blake & Co. (a); 4 S. B. & Co. (b), Schelter & Giesecke, MacKellar (a), Conner (a); 5 Berthold (brass rule), S. B. & Co. (c), MacKellar (b), Conner (b), American (founder unknown), 6 Cincinnati, 7 MacKellar (c), 8 Caslon, 9 Figgins. Our comparison was made in a length of 80 ems emerald = 960 points. Only three or four bodies in this list absolutely agree, but we have bracketed together those where the variation in 80 ems (about 43 pica) is infinitesimal. Between 2 and 3, there is about 1 point difference in the 960; from 3 to 6, by almost imperceptible gradations, there is a diminution of 3 points; between 6 and 7 there is a sharp break of 3 points; and altogether, between the largest and the smallest of the bodies in our list, the difference amounts to 7½ points in the 960. It might be thought that these minute variations are of no practical importance; but the reverse is the case. The length we have taken for comparison is just about the width of our own page, or the longer dimension of an ordinary 8vo border. A difference of less than one point, or one-thousandth of the whole, is enough to throw a border off its feet, and entirely spoil the work. Nor can the evil be averted by dealing with one foundry only, when two or three varying bodies are made by one house.
In the absence of a practical national standard, the celebrated rule-manufacturer, H. Berthold, of Berlin, a few years ago, did a very commendable action. At his own expense, he had some sixty scales engraved, with the utmost accuracy and uniformity, to the Didot standard, and presented one to every typefoundry in Germany. As he manufactures rule to work with the types of many of these houses, it is to the interest of all concerned that uniformity should be observed; still, as we have shewn, there is much diversity.
A national standard being accepted, how should it be divided? Without hesitation, we answer, duodecimally. This is the system of Fournier, of Didot, of Hawks, of Wood, and of Caslon. Decimal division —so much in favor with theorists, and so heartily abhorred by practical artizans—is only attempted by one house—the Typefounding Company. Starting with a sound foundation, the English inch, they divide it first by 6, for pica, and then again into 20, their point being 1/120-inch. The scheme has more than one serious disadvantage. It renders necessary 1/10-and ⅕-pica leads, which fall in with no other system, and which cannot possibly be kept from mixing with the ¼ and ⅙ leads in general use at present. A job office using this system would require to close its doors to the productions of any other foundry, except as regards nonpareil and its multiples. Moreover, as shewn by an American contemporary, the gradation of sizes is bad— minion, brevier, and bourgeois differing in body only by 1/20-inch each, the lineal difference being no greater than between the smallest sizes, minikin and brilliant, and the proportional difference being of course much smaller. The system of geometric progression, with its incommeasurable relations, is adopted by one house only, and we have already shown its objectionable points. Some of the houses where no regular system is adopted, exhibit strange anomalies. MacKellar's old two-line english bears only a nominal relation to his english, being cast to a larger standard. Similarly, Stephenson, Blake & Co.'s two-line great primer bears no relation to their great primer, but is really three-line pica. To thus change a single body without altering the name only increases existing confusion—to have changed the great primer, bourgeois, and diamond at the same time would have been a valuable step in the direction of the interchangeable system.
At the present time Caslon is the only founder who adopts the scheme that must ultimately come into general use We notice that Caslon still makes the extraordinary error of asserting that the new American scale is also based on the inch—a statement opposed to the testimony of the founders themselves, and easily disproved by measurement.
We intend to close this series of articles with one of a recapitulatory character, in which we will show that every systematic type standard in the world, and probably every pica, has had its origin in the inch and foot scale.
This is how Mr Schraubstadter's article, quoted in our last issue, strikes the Napier News: —« With respect to the beautiful type that we see prints from in all sorts of publications, an American has let the cat out of the bag. It has been a trade secret, and to those who suggested that it was done in such-and-such a way, the trade's reply was, 'Oh dear, no, you're quite mistaken: that idea has been proved worthless.' It appears, in fact, to have been worth to the typefounders all the difference between machine-work and hand-work in the preparation of originals for several years. The prices of ornamental type will have to come down with a run, now this American has given the string a yank. »
To Separate the Leaves of Charred Books, Deeds, &c., a French official has devised the following means: Cut off the back of the charred book so as to render the leaves absolutely independent of each other, then soak them, and dry them rapidly by a current of hot air. The leaves will then separate, but must, of course, be handled with extreme care.
Gilding Glass and Ivory.—The Glashatte states that to apply decoration upon ivory or glass, the design must be painted over with a fine camel-hair brush, on which is nitro-muriate of gold. The glass or ivory is then held over the mouth of a bottle in which hydrogen gas has been generated by the action of diluted sulphuric acid upon zinc. The hydrogen will reduce the chloride of gold on the painted surfaces into metallic gold, and the thin gold film thus precipitated will, in a short time, assume considerable brightness.—Another Method for the same purpose is specially applicable to glass. Gold-dust is prepared by placing leaf-gold with a little honey or thick india-rubber mucilage in an earthen vessel, and then rubbing the mixture well until the gold has been changed into dust, when the honey is removed by repeated rinsings with warm water. The gold-dust is then mixed with a strong solution of borax, and the pattern is coated with the composition. When dry, the glass is placed in an oven, and considerably heated. By this means the borax and cement are sufficiently vitrified for the gold to adhere firmly to the glass.
Ink for Hand Stamps.—The following recipe is for an ink that will not injure the rubber:—Mix and dissolve two to four drachms aniline color, fifteen ounces alcohol, fifteen ounces glycerine. The solution is poured on the cushion and rubbed in with a brush.
A Crystalline Coating for Paper may, it is said, be obtained by mixing a very concentrated cold solution of salt with dextrine, and laying the thinnest coating of the fluid on the surface to be covered by means of a broad soft brush. After drying, the surface has a beautiful bright mother-of-pearl coating, which, in consequence of the dextrine, adheres closely to paper or wood. The coating may be made adhesive to glass by doing it over with an alcoholic shellac solution. Sulphate of magnesia, acetate of soda, and sulphate of tin, are among the salts which produce the most attractive crystalline coatings. Paper must first be sized, otherwise it will absorb the liquid and prevent the formation of crystals.
Belts and Drums.—Steel is, strength for strength, considerably lighter than wrought iron, and resists torsion better. A curious fact is, that a strap or belt running on a wrought drum has at the least one-third more « bite, » or, in other words, a three-inch strap with a wrought drum is equal to a four-inch belt on cast iron. The cast-iron drum will weigh at least twice as much as the smaller and slighter-made wrought-iron one. Another consideration is, that in case of fire cast drums fly to pieces, whilst steel shafting and wrought drums can be easily repaired and used again. Moreover, as three-fourths only of the width of belt is required to replace them, a saving of fully 25 per cent. is effected. In speaking of belts, it is not generally known that the outside of the leather should run next the pulley—not the fleshy side—the « bite » is better; the strap can be run tighter, and will wear longer.
Every increase in Science—that is, in positive and ascertained knowledge—brings with it an elevation of Religion.… The immense services which Science has thus rendered to the cause of Religion and Humanity has not yet received the recognition which it deserves. Science is still regarded by many excellent, but narrow-minded, persons as hostile to religious truth; while, in fact, she is only opposed to religious error. The time is approaching when it will be generally perceived that, so far from Science being opposed to Religion, true Religion without Science is impossible.—At the regular meeting of the Hawke's Bay branch of the New Zealand Philosophical Institute, on 17th October, 1887, Mr W. Colenso, f.r.s., read a long and very interesting paper on the Jubilee of the Printing Press in New Zealand, taking for his motto a passage from Sir John Lubbock.Origin of Civilization, p. 292.whare to live in.—As illustrative of his subject, he exhibited a number of very interesting sketches, one being a view of the settlement of Paihia, with the house where the first book was printed; and also shewed copies of all the books referred to. We may add that the printing was excellent and the binding neat and substantial, comparing very favorably with most of the New Zealand work of the year of grace 1887. A cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Colenso for his interesting paper was unanimously passed.
Parliament is still in session, and is proceeding with business as fast as the verbosity of members will permit. The colony is so far committed to the « midland » railway scheme that it will probably be undertaken; but the fortunate change in administration will prevent such reckless and ruinous concessions as the late Government were willing to allow. One minor job—the Wanganui « harbor »—has been authorised by a majority of one. The reduction of Ministerial salaries and allowances, and other economies proposed by the Government, have met with general approval. The elections resulted in the return of a good many protectionists—many more, in all probability, than would have been elected had this been the question before the country. For a time they were a disturbing element, and declared their intention to delay the business till a « satisfactory » (prohibitory) tariff should be agreed upon. The Government declined to interfere with the tariff this session; and the protection party, pushing the point to a division, were so thoroughly defeated that they have since kept quiet. There is no prospect of any costly experimental legislation this session; Parliament will probably rise before the Christmas holidays; and the Government will then he able to devote themselves to the necessary but thankless task of administrative reform.
Wellington Truth has « joined the majority. »
Another attempt has been made to establish a local organ at Patea, Mr T. E. Hamerton having brought out the Patea County Press.
At a recent board meeting of the Hawke's Bay branch of the N.Z.T.A., Mr J. Ashton was elected a board member, vice Mr F. Gibbons, resigned.
A Wellington publican, whose wife lately committed suicide, threatens the Evening Post with a libel action, damages £2,000, for comments on the case.
The Wairarapa Daily has put up a Payne's Wharfedale machine and a gas engine. Mr R. G. Marsh, of Wellington, efficiently superintended the fitting-up of the machinery.
Mr Fish, though in anything but good odor in Dunedin, found a constituency to return him at the late general election. He excels in what is known as « Billingsgate, » and in a speech occupying two hours and forty minutes attacked the press of the colony, which he said was « a thing of contempt and ridicule, » the majority of the papers « representing moneyocracy alone. » The real cause of Mr Fish's rancour is that the press has been charging him with certain « fishy » transactions. As the time of Parliament represents a money value of ten shillings a minute, this tirade cost the public something like £80!
The Printers' Universal Book of Reference, by W. F. Crisp. An excellent handbook, containing valuable tables and much practical information. On sale at the office of this paper. Price 3/-; by mail, 3/6.
The libel action against the late proprietors of the Napier News has been settled, the defendants having paid £100, with all expenses incurred, and published an ample apology to their former editor, Mr Hornsby, and his parents, who had been aspersed.
Mr Izett, late editor of the Napier News, has severed his connection with that paper. A souvenir was presented to him by the staff on his departure.—A similar compliment was paid to Mr W. J. Harker, late book-keeper in the same office, who has gone into business on his own account.
The Bay of Plenty Times is now issued twice, instead of three times a week. The Waikato News, Cambridge, has also found it advisable to make a similar change. They have done wisely. There is no greater mistake than to publish a paper daily or thrice-weekly in a district which can only afford support to a weekly or semi-weekly. We have known more than one good paper spoiled by coming out too often.
We acknowledge with thanks the following new exchanges: The Bookmart, Philadelphia (from October, 1877); St. Louis Printers' Journal (from Vol. ii, No. 1).
Our English exchanges should remember that a halfpenny will not pay postage to New Zealand. Three times on one contemporary —not wishing to break our file—we have paid ½d deficient postage, with 4d fine added. This makes a penny paper expensive.
Professor Gustav Robert Kirchoff, inventor of the spectroscope, and distinguished for his discoveries in natural science, died on the 17th October.
Mr Jeremiah Cullingworth, an old Natal colonist, and the father of journalism there, lately died at the age of 80. He started the first printing business in Natal about 1850.
Jenny Lind (Madame Goldschmid), the world-renowned singer, died on the 2nd Nov., aged 66.—Another musical celebrity, George A. Macfarren, the composer, died on the 1st November, at the age of 74.—The death of Alice May (Mrs Allen) a favorite colonial prima donna, is also recorded.
We deeply regret to have to record that Mr E. G. Kerr, proprietor of the Timaru Herald and South Canterbury Times, has lost his son Harry, aged 9, by drowning. The brave lad sacrificed his life in an unsuccessful attempt to save Nellie Filmer, aged 11, who had fallen into a stream.
A London telegram of 4th November records the death, at the age of 76, of Sir Alfred Domett, C.M.G., an old New Zealand colonist, at one time Premier. Mr Domett, who left England a young man, was a friend of Browning, and the « Waring » of his poems. He was associated with the early history of Nelson, and also of Napier. The latter town was laid out by him, and he it was who named the streets after English poets and authors. Mr Domett was the author of the poem Ranolf and Amohia, a philosophical romance, containing passages of great beauty; and of late years has published many minor pieces, some of them challenging comparison with the work of the laureate.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—November, 1887.
Little need be added to what we have already written on this subject, in our article on page 2. We therein laid down the rules for lining, indentation, &c., which are observed by the best bookwork compositors. We have since met with extracts from DeVinne's Office Manual—one of the most concise and practical handbooks ever published—and we find substantially the same directions. In addition, Mr DeVinne has the following:
« In open display-work, a large initial letter may be used entirely out of line with good effect. »
This is an important exception to the strict rules of lining which apply to solid matter. It is not uncommon in open work for the line to start from the centre of the letter.
In the case of a plain two-line letter, in close work, it is quite allowable to line with the foot. The late Mr T. S. Houghton, in his Every-Day Book, expressed his preference for this method of lining, and followed it in every chapter.
Another good rule of Mr DeVinne's is this: « Never put a big letter at the end of a line to balance an initial at the beginning. » A common, but most objectionable practice.
A rule already given on p. 2—that where the pendant descends from the centre an equal space should be left on each side, is not of universal application. In the case of very large initials and close text, it sometimes leaves too large a white space on the page. As a general direction, however, it should always be borne in mind.
Initials are now used so extensively that the ingenuity of designers has been stimulated, and devices are at the disposal of the compositor which a few years ago were not thought of. Home of these we will shew below.
In typographic forms, there is none to excel the « Filigree, » which may be found employed pretty freely in our pages. It is a beautiful and legible style, harmonising equally with roman and old english, and combining admirably with the special ornaments supplied with the fount. A common style is an initial in white, on a solid or dotted ground. Those we shew are by Stephenson, Blake, & Co. The larger style is provided with some of the modern adjuncts already mentioned, in the shape of separate head-and foot-ornaments, and also brass frames of various patterns, giving a massive effect in a large page, and well adapted for color-work. Another pair of ornaments, suited specially to the E of the series, may be seen on page 45. Initials of this class are commonly and appropriately used with old-style headpieces on a dark background. When printed in red, with the text in black, they are very effective.
One of the finest initial alphabets ever engraved is the large classic series of Otto Weisert, used in the present series of articles. The L on this page is a beautiful example of the Egyptian style; and the whole series is marked by that harmony of detail characteristic of German work.
The floral style of initial decoration is well illustrated in the choice examples on pp. 20, 68, and 91; and original designs, with studies of native flowers, on pp. 8 and 43.
Exceedingly beautiful initials, adorned with Amorets or Cupids, are produced by German houses, and by none other. Genzsch & Heyse and Poppelbaum especially have excelled in this direction. Weisert has a series much like those of Genzsch & Heyse, but not of equal merit. German artists, more than any others, can draw the infant figure, nude or draped, in natural and graceful attitudes. In English work, such figures are very commonly stiff and out of drawing, and French work of the kind, though generally in correct drawing, may always be known by the affected stage-attitudes of the figures.
One of the latest devices is that of « initial ornaments, » or designs with an open space mortised to admit a type. The first of the specimens shewn above is by Reed, the other two by Miller & Richard. A sufficient number of designs is provided to avoid monotony, and a suitable letter being chosen, they may be very effectively used. They are in great favor, and the first one shewn above is also furnished with handsome ornaments at head and foot. In a still later style, a large corner-piece is provided with an opening for the initial, and a corresponding corner is provided to balance it on the other side.— And this brings us very near to the next division of our subject: « Vignettes. »
No more extraordinary initial alphabet was ever devised by a type-founder than « Series 42, » brought out by the Johnson Foundry two years ago. At the first casual glance, it appears to be a very pretty set, but upon examination every letter is found to be decorated with grim emblems of human mortality. The expiring taper, the broken column, the cypress wreath, the mourner, the scythe—it is in fact a collection of all the lugubrious devices of the monumental mason. The artist surely « hails » from Tombstone, Arizona. Four or five centuries ago, the « Dance of Death » was considered a profitable theme of meditation and a fitting subject of art; but to introduce the charnel-house element into decoration at the present day is a very retrogressive step. We have not yet seen these letters in practical use.
Certainly, in the matter of initials alone, there is variety enough for the most exacting printer. Some time ago, Weisert issued his « Jubilee » or fiftieth series, and he has brought out a good many since.
The errors to be avoided in the use of initials are; overdoing, misapplying, and misplacing. Generally speaking, there should not be more than one large initial in a page. The head-piece, initial, and tail-piece, should harmonize. The nature of the work should be borne in mind. An initial or other ornament appearing with perfect propriety in Punch, might be very objectionable in a book of science or theology. Mediæval illuminators saw no incongruity in adorning books of devotion with grotesque and sometimes indecent devices; but there is in the present day a better sense of the fitness of things. Beware of placing the initial too low down in the page. Very lately we saw a book with two handsome initials in its advertising pages. This mistake had been made in each instance, and the elaborate display was a complete failure, the balance of the page being destroyed.
A Special Branch Meeting of the Auckland branch of the N.Z.T.A. was held recently to consider the proposal of the Executive to alter the existing rules so as to admit of the adding of a provident branch. The attendance was small, but represented very fully the intelligence of the branch. Circulars, with copies of the proposed alterations and additions to rules, having been distributed several days previously, the matter had been well talked over prior to the meeting, and no time was lost in passing the following resolutions:—(1.) « That whilst expressing sympathy with the objects shadowed forth in the proposed alterations of rules, the branch is of opinion that it is undesirable at present to entertain such proposals. » (2.)« That the Executive be urged to at once take the necessary steps for joining the Australasian Typographical Union. »
This latter resolution was adopted in view of the evident necessity of acquiring greater power to combat with the evils under which the members of the profession in New Zealand are now suffering, and it was considered of paramount importance; as, owing to our present impotence, the master printers are pursuing, unchecked, a policy of unfair competition as decidedly detrimental to their own interests as to those of the men. The chief objects of the Society are practically a dead letter at present, in many places—namely, the keeping up of a fair standard of remuneration for labor, and preventing the employment of an undue or unfair number of apprentices in the various offices—and in consequence the value of the trade as a profession is fast depreciating. It was in the hope of placing the Association in a position to check this downward tendency, and ultimately raise the status of the trade, that our branch passed resolution No. 2, which they believe will, if acted upon, be more likely to revive the hopes of the men, and create confidence in the Society, and augment its numbers, than the late proposals of the Executive.
I was pleased upon reading your able article on the above subject in the last number of Typo, and it certainly seems a pity that employers cannot see the evil of their ways in the light you so clearly put it. I should be glad to see some other journals taking up this subject in the same spirit in which you have done. I might also add that every printer would do well to endeavor to make the merits of Typo as a trade journal more widely known, as it cannot fail to be appreciated by those who read it, on account of its value to printers generally, and especially to jobbing hands, either young or old.
The Hawke's Bay branch of the N.Z.T.A. met on the 3rd inst., to consider Mr D. P. Fisher's suggested change in the constitution of the Association. The proposed alterations, as we stated in our last issue, are of a fundamental character, embracing a sick and funeral fund, old age and accident allowances, &c. One of the members present strongly opposed the change, urging that there were already enough friendly societies to meet all requirements; that most of the provident members were already enrolled in some institution of the kind; and that it was questionable whether in such a limited field enough members could be found to join to make the institution sound from an actuarial point of view. Other members spoke quite as strongly in support of Mr Fisher's proposals, which were approved by the majority of the members present.
On the ground of journalistic civility, the refined and cultured classes of society have a right to demand from the publisher a courtesy and decency in his sheet which he dares not overstep in person. The young and untrained minds who find one-half of their education in the pages of a family journal, and who imbibe their notions of society, morals, etiquette, law, policy, and religion from the columns intended to convey the record of the world's doings; the gentleman who culls the necessary data of affairs from the débris of scandals, divorces, murders, elopements, thieveries, and cruelties forced upon him—all who come under the influence of a periodical, should find the same protection of law and custom respecting their intellectual food that is rigorously observed over the food of the body. We have an inspector of milk; let us have an inspector of reports. For instance, why should the face of a great daily paper present the the features of a murder, day after day, in boldest type and most minute pictorial effects? Why must the boys and girls, the young men and maidens of this country find a picture of the saw, the knife, the trunk, the bloody furniture, the headless body, and all the sickening particulars of a murder in low life made the most prominent portion of a newspaper professedly designed to convey the latest information? Or why should the portrait of an unfortunate or wicked woman, the cell in which she is confined, the gallows on which she is to be executed, and a hundred other details, be either portrayed or « written up » in graphic language? I have looked through the great dailies of London and of England generally, but, to their honor and credit, not one of those in good standing devotes as much as a column, nor gives a single picture to those horrors which must constantly occur there. It is reserved for the press of America to spread in hundreds of thousands of copies the useless, demoralizing; vice-provoking and crime-stimulating stuff which is falsely called news.
I see no legitimate reason why a nation, any more than a family, should wash its dirty linen in public. If evil is an acknowledged factor of civilization, and cannot be wholly eliminated, every effort should be made at least to keep the unnecessary and practically irrelevant circumstances of crime in the background. « Papa, » said a thirteen-year-old boy the other day, as he looked up from a New York daily, in which he had been absorbed for half an hour, « Papa, I'm going to read the paper every day now. I wish I had read it ever so long ago. I didn't know it was like that! » « Like what? » inquired his father, surprised at the flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes of his boy. « Why, like that! » pointing to a woodcut. « It's better than Cousin Dick's detective stories, for it's real. They did do it, you know, papa, and they have to go to prison for it! It's ever so much better than made up stories. That fellow who robbed the store was smart, wasn't he papa? » « Smart »—that was the idea received of a burglary. And that was the first time a Christian father had brought close home to him the bad influence of sensational journalism.
There is one magic way by which the opinions of those may be changed who offer us the news mixed, like an olla podrida of a hundred elements. If the more intellectual among us would persistently ignore the sensational newspaper and as persistently buy the cleanest daily in the market, so that thousands of readers should suddenly drop from the famous circulation, to the immediate detriment of the financial departments of such journals, doubtless a season of virtuous reform would set in, headed and advertised with the same zeal now displayed by those who « must give what the public demand. » For after all, the press is what we make it. We can make or break this great concentrated power if we are fully determined. It behoves each honorable person to act unselfishly so as to further the true good of humanity, and when all the best individual minds and wills are pulling in the same direction against a mass of undisciplined and untaught intelligence, the newspaper must go with the stronger party or be split from end to end.
It is not always safe to despise little newspapers. A theatrical company was about to visit a town where there is perhaps a larger proportion than usual of people who fail to pay their debts, but make it a matter of conscience to patronise every form of amusement to be had. A certain little weekly paper, failing to receive an advertisement of the show, published an article accusing people of spending in theatrical performances money which properly belonged to their creditors, and threatening that in future they would publish a list of all such people who occupied front seats. The consequence was that during the whole week the company stayed the front seats were conspicuously empty, only about half-a-dozen persons—who presumably pay their debts—occupying them.
From Sir Charles Reed & Sons (through their agents, Messrs Baber & Rawlings), we have a specimen of twelve «Artistic Ornaments.» They are well named, as both in design and execution they are among the best we have met. They have supplied a common omission in series of this kind, as centre-pieces for top, bottom, and sides have not been forgotten. We think it a slight oversight that the side brackets, 10 and 11, do not correspond. All the other pieces are in pairs. Compared with other series of the same character, the price is low. The vignette at the beginning of this paragraph is one of the series. A light and graceful ornamental letter, with lower-case, is also shown, under the title of « Arabesque. »
We have to thank Messrs Miller & Richard for the latest edition of their handy 8vo. specimen-book. The book is very complete, shewing their beautiful Greeks, music in staff and sol-fa notation, &c. Last March we noted their new «Lace» border; we now find two more of a similar character, but different designs, on smaller body. There are only two characters to each-the running-piece and the corner. A neat and useful series of word ornaments, from pica up to four-line, is shown, and numerous new electro ornaments. In ornamental styles, we have a full series of «Relievo»—altogether unlike the American designs of that name. The new style represents a slightly ornamented sanserif carved in oak, the lights and shadows and grain of the wood being well brought out. Each fount is supplied with appropriate word ornaments, representing very pretty carvings. «Ornamented No. 23» is a flourished roman with heavy serifs; « Atlantic, » a heavy letter with lower-case, the ends of the lines rounded; « Sanserif No. 3 » is a plain, useful letter, with lower-case, relieved from stiffness by the h, m, n, &c, descending slightly below the line. In plain styles, there are some clean-cut sanserifs, a new series of «Egyptian,» and one of « Egyptian Expanded »—all solid and useful styles.
From Caslon we have No. 44 of the ever-welcome Circular. It contains specimens of the « angle quads »—six different angles—mentioned in our last. With these any office is « set up, » so far as the spacing of oblique lines is concerned. They are all on pica body. Five sizes—from brevier upwards—are shewn of a new style called « Enchorial Expanded. » This letter will become popular, good expanded faces being scarce.—From the same house we have also a large roll of specimens including another admirable expanded face, with lower-case, entitled « Atlas. » This fills a very similar place to S. B. & Co's « Wide Latin, » but is more ornamental, the sides of the letters being concave. « Primitive, » is a rudely-cut letter (of American origin if we mistake not) the lower-case roman and the caps in mediæval style. It will be in demand for old-style work. « Ornamented No. 36, » shewn in three sizes, is the popular « Concave, » with the face opened, shaded and inlaid—producing a light and effective ornamental style. The neat « Ivy » border noted in our July number is shewn as a two-color pattern, and very pretty it looks in green and gold. We have also full specimens of the « Primrose » series,—a border which in England possesses a political significance. The large corner is very pretty, and the pica pieces are simple and neat; but the two-line pica characters, though beautiful in detail, are ill adapted for a running border, producing a clumsy effect. These pieces are shewn for working in three colors. Lastly, we have the animal drawings by Harrison Weir, mentioned, but not shewn, in Circular No. 43. The subjects are five—a group of poultry, a sheep, a hog, a bull, and a cow, each in three sizes, and in Weir's admirable style.—The same house sends us, neatly bound in cloth, a quarto specimen book, containing specimens of about 650 founts of cast brass types for bookbinders, besides borders, ornaments, and crosses. The manufacture of these types has never before been attempted on so complete and systematic a scale, and the binder has now as wide a choice of sizes and styles as the most fastidious typographer.
The Johnson Foundry is not what it used to be under Mr Thomas MacKellar; and the Advertiser has perceptibly deteriorated since he gave up the editorial charge. The new number is printed on a stouter paper than its predecessors, but much less pleasant to the touch. The contents call for scant notice. There are more sizes of the Caxton black (from German punches, we suspect); more sizes of the horrible « Grolier, »; an attenuated series of «Lining Antique,» and another of expanded old-style. The younger foundries are getting all ahead in the race.
From J. John Söhne, Hamburg, we have a parcel of type specimens, including many well-known German and American designs. Besides these, we note half-a-dozen neat mortised vignettes for letterheads; a well-cut series of «Missal,» and a «Grecian» combination of 78 pieces. Many of the characters are familiar enough; but the others (44-49 and 59-78), and a corresponding series (19-37, &c.), form exceedingly neat and tasteful borders, and have the advantage of being cast to correspond with brass rule.
From the Flinsch Foundry, Frankfurt-am-Main, we have a parcel of fine type-specimens. We note some new and pretty scripts, a graceful «Mediæval» script; a neat ornamented roman in four sizes (1523-1526); a fine series of flourished German Text (« Antike Kanzlei »); and three series of «Altgothische» initials, bold and artistic, which would come out with splendid effect in color-work. There are some « antique » borders—a rule, decorated at intervals with a silhouette leaf or flower—a very effective style; a sheet of good corners; two sheets of little tail-pieces—the best we have met —there are about a hundred and forty, and each one is a study; a sheet of larger and equally artistic head-and-tail-pieces; a sheet of electro card borders, and a four electro menu borders. In combinations we have the «Rennaissance» border of 55 characters—something in the style of the « Holbein »; a grand new border for colors, unnamed, containing 98 sorts (1814-1962); another of ten characters (2002-2011); a carved frame border of eleven sorts (2224-2214); and a charming 12-point heraldic border on solid ground, containing nine sorts. We have also several sheets devoted to the display of these combinations, beautifully worked out in color.
Pressure of work has delayed our present issue for some days. The title and index to vol. 1 will be sent with a future issue.
Freie Künste, of Vienna and Leipzig, is a well-edited and very neatly-printed organ of the trade. In the copy to hand, an excellent engraving is issued as a supplement, illustrative of the « Eberle » process.
As an illustration of the prevailing depression, it is stated that in a once busy thoroughfare in Dunedin only two houses remain tenanted —a public-house and a pawnshop. Those interested in the causes of the evil will note the profound significance of this survival of the fittest (?)
We have received the November part (vol. vii, No. 1) of the American Magazine, a 25c. monthly of 128 pages, in the style of the well-known Harper and Century magazines. There are four complete stories, a stirring poem by Henry Abbey, narrating a sea-fight, and some charming minor poems are interspersed with the more solid contents. The text is embellished with beautifully-executed engravings. Dr. Hendrickson writes on « Mount Tacoma, » Maurice Thompson on « Paul Hayne, » and Abby Sage Richardson on «The Christening of America.» There are departments of « Literature, » « Household Art, » « American Pulpit, » « Calendar of Health, » and « The Portfolio » of humorous anecdote—altogether a wonderful shilling's-worth. We quote elsewhere from one of the articles on « The Zest for the Sensational. »
With the present issue, we complete the first volume of Typo. In our introductory article, we set forth the objects and scope of our publication; and we think our readers will agree that the programme there laid down has been adhered to. In the whole of the Australian colonies there is no other periodical occupying a similar field; and the results of our year's work have justified our belief that such an organ was required. In our columns will be found chronicled every important event in connexion with the New Zealand press during the past year; the departments devoted to type specimens and new inventions have given our readers a wider outlook over the world's work in the noblest of all arts; while many an excellent «notch» and valuable «wrinkle» is to be found in our pages. Those who have been careful enough to file our back numbers will find them of much interest and value for reference in years to come. We have had much to encourage and gratify us in the brief period since we took this work in hand. The colonial press has, with one accord, noticed our paper from month to month in the most favorable manner, and our criticisms of contemporaries have been received in good part as they were written. We have a most satisfactory list of English and foreign exchanges, including nearly all the leading trade journals of the world of literature. They reach us from the Mother Country, from all parts of the United States, from the German Empire, from France, Belgium, Spain, and even from the far-away states on the banks of the Danube. They are all welcome, and from all of them we can gather matter of interest to ourselves and value to our readers. One and all, they have referred to our advent in the most kindly terms. Even as we write, the senior English trade paper, the Printers' Register, comes to us, containing a leading article, quoting freely from our columns, referring to Typo as an « admirable and essentially practical » paper. By the same mail, a leading English printer writes to us in very similar terms, indicating the series of articles on « Design in Typography » as «especially valuable.» Other communications, equally gratifying, we have received from men who stand in the front rank of the world's printers, and also from the heads of typefoundries whose names are household words. Not less pleasant are the letters we have had from young men—apprentices and learners—who testify to the helpful nature of the articles in our pages. We have published no «padding»; in fact, each month we have marked for quotation columns of valuable practical matter which we have been obliged to omit. We are somewhat «cabined, cribbed, confined»; our size is as great as the support we at present receive will permit; and we will be glad to increase the number of our pages, and the quantity of useful matter published from month to month, when we are warranted in so doing.
The « pesky book agent » has become quite an institution in the colony during the past few years. For ways that are dark he surpasses Ah Sin himself. Here is a case that would be hard to beat. Some time ago a colonial house was running one of those showy bulky barren volumes which it requires a smart canvasser to work off. A guileless tailor— we will call him Mr Tweedie—was marked for the book-agent's prey. In vain he strove to check the torrent of his visitor's eloquence. Times were bad—the book didn't interest him—did not suppose he would ever read it—two guineas was a big price, &c. « Look here, » said the canvasser: « I'll make you an offer. If you give me your name, I'll have a suit of you. I'll be round delivering the books in a month, and I'll call for them then. » A first-class material was chosen, the measure taken, and the tradesman's name added to the list of subscribers. With the punctuality for which tailors are renowned, the suit was completed by the appointed time—but the customer came not. Month after month passed, and at length appeared an agent with the volume. « Two guineas, if you please! » The tailor turned pale, for a stranger stood before him. « You are not the man who brought the sample book, » he said. « No, » was the reply; « but I have your written order. » « Yes, » said Mr Tweedie; « but there was a condition. That fellow said he'd have an eight-guinea suit if I took the book, and it's been waiting for him these three months. » « That's his affair, you see, » was the reply. « The publisher knows nothing of that, and I'm responsible to him for the money. » There was no help for it. The victim has now for sale, very cheap, a good suit and a new copy of « Forty Years of Leaps and Bounds: being the Eventful History of One of Britain's Jewels; superbly bound and magnificently illustrated. »
The late ministry distinguished themselves in the encouragement of « literature. » The official publication of the eccentric Mr Tregear's Aryan Maori—a work which, as a scientific treatise, deserves to rank with Rowbottom's Zetetic Astronomy or Hine's Identifications—caused much amusement and surprise; and during the late session other instances of similar liberality came to light. In the Wairarapa district a political pamphlet was printed, and found to be unsaleable. The Government came to the rescue, and bought up the whole edition for £18 15s. Not a very great sum; but one which the minister concerned should certainly have been compelled to pay from his own purse. The item was charged to Contingencies—Forest Department (!) A few copies were distributed gratis to newspapers and libraries, and the rest remain in store—waste paper. A more extravagant purchase was that of a large number of copies of The Heroes of New Zealand, a work which some of our readers may have seen in the hands of book-agents. The book is showy and costly; but as a history and a literary work, is a poor production.
The Dunedin Herald, the organ of the protectionists, longs for a big European war, which, according to our contemporary, would «first, produce better prices for our products,» and secondly, «burst up » some of the local financial institutions,—results which it coolly adds «would be extremely satisfactory to every true colonist.»!
A Marlborough paper advises a correspondent not to « spill printers' ink on an uncertain foundation. » Typo's devil knows better than to spill it anywhere about. We do not think it damages the foundations of a building to any extent;—if it does, some offices we know of are rather unsafe—but it does make a great mess on the floors.
«Fourteen years of free trade,» according to a writer in a contemporary, have brought about the present depression! Has the good man been dreaming? For more than fourteen years the colony has borne the incubus of a protective tariff, steadily increasing in pressure—and their proposal to add to this crushing burden was the main cause of the ignominious defeat of the late ministry.
Messrs Innes & Co., Hawera, send us a copy of their Star Almanac and Directory for 1888. This is one of the most carefully-compiled books of its class in the colony. It contains an excellent account of the district in which it circulates, and is full of valuable practical information for settlers. A map of the Taranaki provincial district is enclosed.
In the specimens sent us by Mr. Gustave Mayeur, the Paris typefounder, the following note occurs at the foot of a page of elaborate rule-work: «Composié par Léon Saling, typographe attaché à. la Fonderie.» This is a commendable plan, which we would like to see more widely adopted. The artistic compositor deserves this recognition of his skill.
Mr J. Hardcastle, a Napier journalist, has patented two very handy newspaper files, that should entirely supersede the awkward and destructive lath and string system. The first, for single sheets, consists of gummed guards, firmly bound, and the paper, once attached, is permanently fixed, and opens freely. The other file, or «A1 binder,» is intended for weekly and other papers of many pages. The whole apparatus consists of a box of special wire staples, and a threadingneedle of peculiar form. Each paper, when filed, is bound as well, and on the completion of the volume nothing is required but the covers. The wires being of brass, there is no danger of damage from corrosion. These binders should have a large sale.
By this time we have dealt with all the leading features of this subject, the practical importance of which can scarcely be overrated, and have placed before our readers valuable tables for purposes of comparison. The present article, therefore, will be chiefly recapitulatory.
Our second point will be found to be correct on examination. Fournier and Didot both took the inch and foot as their base, though they adopted different standards. As we have already mentioned, there are twenty-five standard inches in various parts of Europe, representing seventeen slightly varying linear values.
Our seventh point will probably also be challenged. Mr Shanks says «Didot adopted as his prototype or typometer, a definite portion of the meter, and thus brought typefounders under the new French decimal system of measurement.» This affords one instance of the difficulty of obtaining correct data. Mr Shanks is here in direct conflict with Mr DeVinne, who says « Didot selected the royal foot of France. His system is imperfect in its selection of a disused measure as its basis. It is at complete variance with the meter in every part. » And Mr DeVinne's thorough acquaintance with the subject and well-known accuracy induce us to accept his statement as correct.
Nevertheless there are points of contact. We have only to follow any two systems far enough to find a point where they agree, or come within an infinitesimal degree of difference. Every day the job compositor finds accidental and unexpected coincidences between discrepant bodies. So we find in the elaborate table on p. 44 that 133 Cicero is reckoned as=60 centimeters. Messrs Schelter & Giesecke say: « The German system of interchangeable bodies is based upon the imperial German standard, the meter (=39·37 inches). 1 meter =1000 millimeter; 300 millimeter=798 typographical points. » Now both these are professedly to the Didot point= 1/72 of the old French inch. That is a fraction of practical use; but what shall we say of 60/133 and 300/798? And how can a system which can only shew such farfetched relations as these be said to be « based » on the metric system? It is the same with MacKellar's « metrical » fraction of 35/83. According to DeVinne, the oldest «point» of all, Fournier's, has an accidental relationship with the meter quite as striking as any of these. He says: « The accident that 100 parts of Fournier correspond with 35 millimeters leads to no practical result: 35 millimeters cannot be used as a scale or measure for subdivision. » And this brings us to a really remarkable, and apparently quite accidental coincidence:
MacKellar's steel rod of 83 ems pica is 35 centimeters in length. This is exactly 1000 Fournier points. So that the new American scale may really be said to be The equivalents of MacKellar's steel standard are: Fournier points, 1000; American points, 996; American picas, 83; type heights, 15; English points, 992·1+; picas, 82·9—; inches, 13·7795; German points, 853⅔—; Ciceros, 711/6—; meters, ·35. By an accidental coincidence, the number 996 appears twice—as the number of points in the rod, and as the equivalent of 72 points in decimals of an inch. This number is remarkable chiefly as the nearest duodecimal divisor of 193.based on the Fournier point, the oldest system of all, and founded on an obsolete French inch.
DeVinne says there was no systematic scheme of type bodies before the 18th century. Pica in Moxon's time (1683) was much smaller than now=75 lines to the foot. In 1770 (Luckombe) it ran 71½. In 1824 (Hansard) it was 73¼. Seventeen years later, according to Savage, three out of the four foundries cast pica 72 to the foot, and the fourth (Figgins) 72½. Two or three years ago, when Austin Wood measured the various bodies, he found four different picas, varying from 71 to 71⅞.
Thus we find that while the duodecimal fraction of 72 to the foot was in general use fifty years ago, and that all continental bodies were based upon a parallel system, the only «metrical» relationships discoverable are these:
—So that taking any system we choose, we come always to the inch and foot at last. Even in Bruce's geometrical scale, we find the agate, small pica, double small pica, and meridian series run 160, 80, 40, and 20 lines to the foot respectively.
In conclusion we will refer briefly to the reform now in progress— that of the self-spacing type, originated, both as regards arithmetical and geometrical progression, by Messrs Benton, Waldo, & Co. In Typo (p. 51) it is stated that Messrs Benton, Waldo, & Co. were not the first to cast type to systematic width, the « Milwaukee and St. John Foundry » having already brought out a serìes adapted to 13 ems pica. Messrs B., W., & Co. have written us in correction of this statement. They are the proprietors of the establishments at Milwaukee and St. Paul (not St. John)—and to this firm, therefore, belongs the sole credit of the greatest reform in modern typefounding.proportion throughout the different sizes of type—in some cases a point or character would be the same width as one larger or smaller, and in other cases slightly expanded or contracted. Nevertheless, Messrs B. W. & Co. succeeded in producing founts working satisfactorily to 13 ems, by using a unit of 1/156 of that measure. Had the unit been 1/156,=1/12 pica or the typographic point, the type would have spaced to any
Mr O'Donnell has rushed in where Parnell feared to tread, and has sued The Times for libel—damages £50,000. This is just what The Times has wanted, and the public will look with interest for one of the most important press cases of modern days. Messrs Parnell and O'Connor have both been summoned as witnesses.—We are not surprised to read in a late telegram that the «League» is imploring Mr O'Donnell to withdraw his action.—Sir John Pope Hennessey has also taken action against the Thunderer—damages £20,000.
Parliament hurriedly closed, that the representatives might reach their homes before Christmas. A handful of members have succeeded in bringing the whole Parliament into disrepute. By obstructive tactics, pure and simple, they kept back almost all the business till the last few days; and then anxious to get away, allowed the Government measures to pass without any check of wholesome criticism. We are sorry to note that the absurd « military defence » expenditure is to be continued —the plea being that the half-million already sunk will be useless unless certain works are completed. When all is done, the defences will be about as effective as Don Quixote's pasteboard visor; besides requiring a costly department to maintain them. In other branches, the work of retrenchment has been undertaken in earnest. Our chief regret is that the Government is pledged to call Parliament together again in about three months. This will seriously retard the necessary administrative work in the interval; and, if any conclusion may be drawn from recent events, the next session will be chiefly occupied in unprofitable wranglings over petty details.
Bargains in new and second-hand machinery and material are to be found as usual advertised on the last page of this month's issue.
The nineteenth annual Report of the N.Z. Institute (1886-7) has been published. There are eight branches in the colony; total membership 1,156. The nineteenth volume of the Transactions, containing 680 pages and 28 plates, was published in May last. The cost of printing the book was £536. Volumes 2, 3, 4, and 8, are out of print.
Away north a public meeting was held last month to express sympathy with a gentleman who had been « slated » by a local paper. Whether the editor had been specially invited does not appear—at any rate, he did not attend. He seems to have acted prudently under the circumstances; for this is how the chairman spoke of him: « If Mr Q. expected to see Mr I. there, he did not, for he knew the nature of the beast they had to deal with. If he was in Ireland, he would be shot; if in America, he would be lynched; and if he were in old England, he would be horsewhipped, and he deserved it. »
A Hastings paper (England), describing the late solar eclipse, has originated an astronomical conception, the splendour of which is characterized in the English Mechanic as « unsurpassed and unsurpassable. » This is the passage:—« A thick bank of fog blocked the sky-line so effectually that the brilliant orb only struggled successfully above it about thirty seconds past five o'clock, so that only six-and-a-half minutes was available during which the phenomenon was visible. The eclipsed segment within that time, however, was perfectly discernible until the shadow of the earth slowly faded from the golden disk of the sun »!
The following is a copy of the Government Printer's Report on the operations of the Printing and Stationery Department for the year 1886:—
The value of work done during the year represents £27,527 18s 9d, and the salaries and wages paid amount to £18,408 18s 6d. The number of entries in the order-book was 2,514, and the number of copies printed 28,979,915. The latter number includes 16,000,000 telegraph forms, which were printed by this department in the earlier part of last year.
The return of the number of employes during each month of the year shows an average per month of 149; that for the previous year was 137. The highest number employed was 159, and the lowest 143.
Among the works issued from the Government press during the past year may be mentioned the concluding volume of the reprint of the early Parliamentary Debates, edited by the late Mr. Maurice Fitzgerald; the first volume of White's Ancient History of the Maori (of which there are three more now in the press); the Handbook of New Zealand Mines (with maps and illustrations); two works on the Eruption at Tarawera— one by S. Percy Smith, Assistant Surveyor-General, and the other by Professor F. W. Hutton; an account of the Insects Noxious to Agriculture and Plants, by W. M. Maskell; and a work on the Rudiments of New Zealand Sociology, by Mr James H. Pope, entitled « The State. »
During the past year, three of the old printing machines which have been in use for many years have been disposed of, and replaced by new ones. The machinery in the binding branch has also been added to by the introduction of one of Brehmer's thread book-sewing machines and two wire stitching machines.
Under « Working Expenses »in the balancesheet attached to this report it will be noted that the gas consumed amounted to £505 1s 4d, notwithstanding that two of the composingrooms are lighted with electric lamps. This large consumption is partly due to the use of gas for driving and heating purposes, and partly also to the fact that in some portions of the present building gas has to be kept burning all day owing to deficient windowlight. The rent of meters costs £9 4s per annum, or nearly 2 per cent. on cost of gas consumed. The indifferent light obtained from gas compared to that from electricity, to say nothing of the cost, have induced the Government to light the new Printing Office entirely by the latter process, gas only being used for heating-purposes by the electrotyper and bookbinders.
The number of vouchers for printing and advertising examined during the year by the Accountant was 4,373, the deductions made therefrom £216 9s 1d, and the total amount passed for payment £14,736 9s 6d. The printing of the electoral rolls for the recent general election cost somewhat less than in 1884, the tenders in the different electoral districts ranging from 5s 10d to 20s per page. The rolls were set to a pattern furnished by this department, by which a saving in space of at least forty pages was effected.
The number of stereotype plates cast last year was 1,783; of electrotypes, 3,493; and 91lb of leads of various sizes were cast for office use The number of rubber stamps manufactured for Government departments was 2,147. The above figures all shew a considerable advance on those for the previous year.
Among the electrotypes are included six plates of Samoan postage stamps, and four of Tongan, each plate containing 120 stamps; also, two plates of New Zealand postagestamps, each containing 240 stamps, and two plates of post-cards.
The railway-ticket printing executed by this branch during the year shows a steady increase. The numbers were: Railway tickets, 2,805,616; season tickets, 13,202; flag-station tickets, 353,400; luggage tickets, 67,300; parcels tickets, 35,500; weighbridge tickets, 19,800. The printing of the railway tickets required 13,432 separate alterations, being an average of one alteration to every 208 tickets.
The number of requisitions received and complied with duriug the nine months ending the 31st December last was 10,427, or at the rate of 44 per day. The number of separate items in the requisitions was 49,749. The receipts from the sale of official publications amounted to £1,272 6s 7d. The quantity of waste paper shipped was 40 tons, representing in value £100, which is all disposed of to local paper-mills at £2 10s per ton.
Now that supplies can be obtained promptly and expeditiously from England by direct steamers, the stocks of all kinds of printing-papers and stationery have been considerably reduced. Instead of ordering annually as previously, orders are now made up about every alternate month. The reduction in stock lessens the risk in the event of an outbreak of fire on the premises, and, as no insurances are effected on either building or stock, this is an important consideration.
Arrangements have been made with Messrs J. Bayley & Co., of Dunedin, for the supply of parchment required for the Stationery Store. This firm, I am assured, have surmounted the initial difficulties attendant upon the starting of a new industry, and have undertaken to supply all my requirements during the coming year. The number of rolls purchased last year was 178, representing in value £667 10s.
With the exception of a small quantity of special air-dried paper, the whole of the brown paper issued from store has been obtained from the local mills. The quality of this production has greatly improved of late.
An attempt has been made to introduce locally - manufactured writing - ink, but, I regret to say, without much success. The corrosive properties of the ink soon render the pens unserviceable. The quality must be improved before the departments generally can be induced to use it.
Local manufacturers supply all twine required, and the oil used for machinery, &c. Honey, now being obtainable at a reasonable figure, is used extensively for roller-making instead of treacle.
Among the articles manufactured in the establishment may be mentioned brass galleys, brass blocks for electric lights, the brasses for brass-bound books, brass spikefiles, &c.
We acknowledge with thanks the following new exchanges:—Patent Review, Ottawa, Canada (from September); Freie Künste, Vienna (from 15th September); Tipografia Român?, Bucharest (from September.)
The Illustrated London News is about to publish an Australian edition in Melbourne.
Efforts are being made in Dunedin to form a company to take over the daily Herald and the weekly Public Opinion.
The Rev. D. Bruce has resigned the editorship of the Auckland Herald. It is reported that Mr G. M. Reed is to succeed him.
Mr G. M. Reed, the editor of the Auckland Bell, has resigned—and the paper, which by sheer audacity he has made notorious, may now ring its own knell.
Mr Reed, the refined Auckland editor, lately recommended the Wellington journals to get up from crawling on their Bell-ies, and stand erect like men.
A contemporary states that the two leading Canterbury papers have lost £6,000 and £4,000 respectively during the year. This, though unauthenticated, will give some idea of the condition of newspaper property at present.
There is one joint-stock newspaper concern in the colony that is not losing money! A Romanist organ down south has not only been able to declare a dividend, but to present the local bishop with a cheque for £100.
Tauranga, which has never decently supported one newspaper, can now again boast of two, Mr Robert Henry having started the Tauranga Mail. A noticeable feature in the new paper is the old english title. There are three wrong letters in the word « Tauranga. »
For a « new dress » the N.Z. Herald has imported eight tons of type, which it says is the largest quantity ever sent to the colony in execution of a single order. It does not give the name of the foundry supplying the type.
The Printers' Universal Book of Reference, by W. F. Crisp. An excellent handbook, containing valuable tables and much practical information. On sale at the office of this paper. Price 3/-; by mail, 3/6.
An erudite member of the New Zealand Parliament recently informed the House that he did not possess « the voice of a centaur. »
The work executed at the Lyttelton Jail Printing Office during 1886 is valued at £708 7s. The number of separate jobs ordered was 440, of which 1,229,559 copies were printed.
Mr A. Burns, lately part proprietor of the Riverton Star, who has purchased an interest in the Marlborough Times, was, prior to his leaving Riverton, presented with several valuable gifts as tokens of the esteem of the residents. Mr Burns is a prominent member of the Masonic craft.
The Hawera Star invited the public to look into their office on Christmas Eve, and see the decorations. « Our machinist, Mr Ekdahl, » says the Star, « who takes a pride in this matter, would consider Christmas day spoilt if he failed to celebrate the occasion by dressing the printing-machine in true Christmas fashion. » Typo had the pleasure of meeting Mr Ekdahl in Wellington some years ago. That he is a first-rate machinist is evidenced by the uniformly excellent work turned out from the Star office.
The following variation in the National Anthem, appropriate to the Jubilee year, has been suggested:—
God save our gracious Queen, (Born in 1819)— Long may she reign. Sure we were blest by Heaven When (1837) To her the crown was given. God save the Queen!
In the Pahiatua Star promissory-note case, referred to in our October issue, the defendants have applied for a new trial.
Mr Henry Anderson (familiarly known as « Jock »), a well-known Wellington journalist, is reported to be suffering from malignant cancer at the root of the tongue.
In the Supreme Court, Napier, on the 15th December, Valentine Harrison, compositor, pleaded guilty to forging an endorsement on a promissory note for £27 10s, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labor.—The charge of libel against A. A. George (see p. 69) fell through, the Crown Prosecutor not presenting the bill to the grand jury.
The Napier News has had a good share of litigation since its first establishment, and according to the Timaru Mail, there is more in prospect. That paper states that Mr Ivess intends to enter an action against the late proprietors for a refund of purchase money and special damages, consequent upon certain alleged misrepresentations made by the late company when effecting a sale of the property.
Mr George Adams, of the « Hansard » staff, met with an accident on the 27th inst. by which, we regret to say, he lost his life. He was owner of some property at the back of the Wellington Club, and, having obtained the necessary permit, proceeded to burn some gorse on it. Finding that the fire had gained too great a hold, he hastened to put it out, and was in the act of getting through a fence at the top of a high bank to obtain a hose for that purpose, when the fence gave way, and he fell a distance of about fifty feet. The accident was observed from the windows of the Club, and he was taken inside. Professional assistance was speedily obtained; but without avail, his back being broken, and he died on the following day. Mr Adams was for some years a committee reporter of the House of Representatives, and some three years ago was appointed to the « Hansard » staff. While Parliament was not in session, he edited the Poverty Bay Herald. He was a well-known journalist, and was at different times connected with the Dunedin Herald and the Wellington Times.
Napier, New Zealand. Printed and Published by Robert Coupland Harding, at his registered Printing Office, Hastings-street.—December, 1887.