ABSTRACT
Handwriting is gradually being superseded by perhaps one of the cleverest inventions of the present century, namely the Typewriter, and threatens in the near future to become quite an antiquated art. First-class votaries of the quill, pen manufacturers, and others, will doubtless deprecate the rapidity with which this instrument is gaining public favour, but can it be wondered at, when there is taken into consideration, not only the great amount of correspondence which large business establishments and offices have, but the vast amount of the wretched writing of the present day which they have to contend with, some of it being almost illegible? In these days, when the keenest rivalry and competition exists in almost every class of business, it has become obvious that old-fashioned modes of working must be done away with; and few can now aff ord to waste time over the needless worry of writing long letters by hand. As a means of simplifying the methods of writing, shorthand was the first to make its appearance, followed, some 20 years ago, by the Typewriter; and both of these must be regarded as great boons to the community. The use of these two advantages not only saves time, labour, and expense, but to the principal of any business house or company they are invaluable. By the aid of these he can, after reading his letters, dictate his replies to his amanuensis, who can type them at leisure, thereby saving a very considerable amount of valuable time, which he is enabled to devote to other departments of his business. For beauty and legibility the work turned out by these machines is simply surprising, and cannot be surpassed by even the best and plainest of handwriting. Indeed, the superiority of type-written matter over that of the pen is universally acknowledged, but of course much more so on the other side of the Atlantic – for the Americans lead the world in the matter of type-writing – and there the pen-written letter almost seems to be the exception. There cannot possibly be any stronger confirmation of the growing popularity of the Typewriter than the great number of different kinds of machines which are at present on the market. The first thought of a person about to purchase a Typewriter is naturally enough, ‘Which is the best?’ This is certainly a difficult problem to solve, and the more one goes into the mechanical construction of the 46various machines, the greater do those difficulties become. Nearly every machine possesses its own particular advantages, and it may be disadvantages, so that the work of selecting a machine is really no easy matter. Of course it goes without saying, that were one to believe all the special advantages which representatives advocate for their particular machines, there would be no doubt on this matter, but it is only when one begins to use them that their weak points become / apparent. Since the inauguration of the Typewriter, many heads have been set athinking, with the result that there are to day machines in use which are simply marvels of mechanical ingenuity. Perhaps the most notable of type-writing inventors is Mr G. W. N. Yost, who in 1873 brought out the ever-popular “Remington,” followed in 1880 by the “Caligraph,” and, to crown all, produced in 1888 the wonderful machine called after himself, which, to use an American expression, has decidedly “caught on.” The leading machines are for the most part type-bar machines – the Remington, Caligraph, Barlock, Yost, Williams, and Fitch being all of this description. The mechanism is most ingenious, and consists of a keyboard with keys attached to strong steel bars or wires having each at its extremity one or more types. Where there are two types on the same bar, a shift-key is required to bring the second one, which prints capitals, into position. Where there are three types on the same bar, two shift-keys are required, one for capitals, and the other for figures and other characters. There is keen controversy as to whether it is the better plan to limit the number of keys by having one or two shift-keys, or to have a separate key for each character. The Caligraph, Yost, and Barlock maintain that the latter is the better; while Mr M’Gurrin, who is said to be the fastest typewriter in the world, maintains that the strain required in keeping control of a large keyboard with 80 or 90 keys is much greater than that required in the case of the Remington, with only 42 keys and one shift-key. Mr M’Gurrin has expressed the view that the Remington could be improved, by introducing a second shift-key (as has been done in the Hammond machine), thereby reducing the present size of the keyboard.
