Article August 8, 1901 Issue

Linotypes and their Work

A Most Wonderful Invention and Piece of Mechanism.

Years of continuous experiment and the expenditure of a million dollars were required for the invention of the Mergenthaler Linotype. The linotype is pronounced by the London Engineering to be "the most remarkable machine of this century." Its invention and introduction are effecting a revolution in the business of printing newspapers and books which is scarcely second in importance to the wonders wrought by electricity.

The linotype marks the first and only successful departure from the long-established forms of type composition. The last great improvement was the production of a machine in which the linotypes were produced instantly and ready for use on the press by the mere fingering of keys like those of a typewriter, the keys serving to assemble temporarily in line metal matrices bearing individual letters, against which the slugs or linotypes were cast in type metal.

This machine, known to-day in every part of the world as the linotype, is now extensively made in factories in the United States, England, and Canada, giving employment to many hundreds of men. The machine is used on more than five hundred of the leading dailies of the world. Over five thousand machines are constantly in use throughout the world, and by numerous book and job printers.

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