A DAY'S RAMBLE THROUGH THE MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE "LADY'S BOOK."

In order to furnish our articles as much as possible from practical observation, we commence on what we think will be an interesting subject to the numerous thousand readers of the "Book"-a description of the labor which is required in furnishing the monthly amount of reading and instruction emanatThere are doubtless many of its ing from its office. readers who are totally unacquainted, from their various positions in society, with the vast amount of capital and labor required in its publication, to whom an insight into its mechanical operations will

be a matter of some interest. They will then have a definite idea of the tact and enterprise which have been so successfully applied for the last twenty-three years by its indefatigable proprietor, who, we are glad to record, has received substantial evidences of the appreciation of his endeavors, by the reading public of the two worlds-for the "Lady's Book" numbers among its readers some thousands in Europe.

TYPE-SETTING DEPARTMENT.

Premising that the manuscript, or "copy," as it is termed by the printer, after having been read and approved by the editors, has preceded us to the printing-office of Messrs. T. K. & P. G. Collins, we

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invite the attention of our readers as we trace its progress through the various departments of their extensive establishment until a copy of a finished number of the "Lady's Book" is placed in their hands. The manuscript, on its arrival at the office, is placed in the care of the foreman of the "Lady's Book" department, who gives it out as it is required by the "compositors," or printers who set the types. The "composing-room," that is, the room in which the workmen who set the types are employed, is one of very large size, in the shape of a letter U, running back 140 feet, and having facilities for the accommodation of fifty-six printers, with their cases. The "cases," a representation of which is given in one of our illustrations, are boxes containing all the letters of the alphabet, punctuation-marks, &c., arranged in various sizes and situations to suit the number and frequency of use of the letters. The "upper case" is divided into ninety-eight partitions, all of equal size; and these partitions contain two sets of capital letters, the one called "capitals," the other "small capitals;" the marks of reference, and figures and dashes. The "lower case" is divided into partitions of four different sizes, some at the top and ends being a little smaller than those of the upper case; others near the centre being equal to two of the small divisions; others equal to four, and one to six. In all there are fifty-three divisions in the lower case. The proportions of the letters, as they apply to the English language, are as follows in a regular "fount" of letters:

In the case, these letters are not arranged in regular rotation; but such as are in most general use are placed together in the centre, where they are the easiest to be picked up, and the others in semialphabetical order around in the outside boxes. The inventor of this system of arrangement was a great benefactor to printers, as it enables them to accomplish a much larger amount of work than could be done were they in rotation. The facility which is displayed by a compositor in picking up types is a matter of much surprise to strangers to the art. The surprise is generally connected with an idea that the compositor would do his work more correctly if the boxes were labelled. So far from that being the case, it is a fact that in two or three days a boy can learn the exact situation of each letter.

But to return to our manuscript: after it is given into the compositor's charge, he places it upon his case, with a "guide," to keep it in its place. Standing before his pair of cases, he holds in his left hand what is called a "composing-stick." This is a little iron frame, one side of which is movable, so that it

may be adjusted to the required width of the page or column which he has to set up. It is made perfectly true and square; for without such accuracy the lines would be of unequal length. This little

instrument is represented in the cut above. The practised compositor takes in a line or two at a glance, always provided the author writes an intelligible hand, which virtue is by no means universal! One by one, then, he puts the letters of each word and sentence into his stick, securing each letter with the thumb of his left hand, which is therefore travelling on from the beginning to the end of each line. His right hand goes mechanically to the box which he requires; but his eye is ready to accompany its movements. In each letter there is a nick, or nicks, which indicate the bottom edge of the letter; and the nick must be placed outwards in his composing-stick. Further, the letter must also be placed with the face upwards, so that two right positions must be combined in the arrangement of the types. If the compositor were to pick up the letter at random, he would most probably have to turn it in his hand; and as it is important to save every unnecessary movement, his eye directs him to some one of the heap which lies in the right position, both as regards the face being upwards and the nick outwards. When he arrives at the end of the line, he has a task to perform in which the carefulness of the workman is greatly exhibited. Each type is of a constant thickness, so far as regards that particular letter, though all the letters are not of the same thickness. The adjustments, therefore, to complete the line with a word, or, at any rate, with a syllable, must be made by varying the thickness of the spaces between each word. A good compositor is distinguished by uniformity of spacing: he will not allow the words to be very close together in some instances, or with a large gap between them in others. When the workman has "filled his stick," as it is calledthat is, set up as many lines as it will conveniently hold-he lifts them out into what is termed a "galley," by grasping them with the fingers of each hand, and thus taking them up as if they were a solid piece of metal. The facility with which some compositors can lift out what is termed a "handful" of movable types without deranging a single letter is very remarkable. This sort of skill can only be obtained by practice; and thus one of the severest mortifications a young printer can experience is to see his labor of an hour knocked to pieces, or into what is called "pie."

After the galleys have been filled with types, the foreman "makes them up" into pages by putting the "head line" with a sufficient blank beneath to

give it uniformity. He then lifts the number of lines required to fill out a column; then, placing a brass column rule (which makes the waved line seen between each column of a page) along-side of them, he lifts a like number of lines, and thus forms a page. The page is then "locked up" by placing it in a "chase," a small wrought-iron frame capable of holding two pages, and wedging it in by "quoins," which are small pieces of wood with a slight bevel on one side, which has the effect of making the pages tight according to the extent to which the quoins are driven up. When the pages are thus locked up, although each page contains about six thousand little pieces of metal or types, they can be handled the same as if they were a solid body of metal. After locking up, the pages are taken to the "proof-press," where impressions are taken upon paper, in order that the mistakes of the compositor can be rectified. The work of the "proof-reader," of which there are five in the Messrs. Collins's office, is one requiring great care and knowledge. The peculiar nature of the printing art is such that it is almost impossible for a compositor to set any amount of types without some errors creeping in. The ordinary process of proof-reading is for a boy to read the copy aloud, whilst the reader follows him on the proof impression. As he proceeds, the errors detected are marked upon the margin of the sheet, which, after it has been read, is given to the compositor for correction. This is called the first reading. After the page is corrected, another proof is taken, called a "revise," which is compared with the first proof to see if the errors are corrected; when, if the copy of the work be manuscript, the sheet is sent to the author for examination. If the errors detected by the author are sufficiently numerous, the sheet is again corrected, and another revise is taken. It is then carefully read once more by the proof-reader. This is designated the second reading; and the object of this reading is not simply to glean such typographical or literal errors as may have escaped notice on the first reading, but to detect errors in grammar and punctuation, and even in style, when the latter are so obvious as to be merely oversights of the author. Yet, in spite of all the pains taken both by author and proof-reader, the most provoking errors are sometimes found in works after they are published. When the sheet is finally corrected for the press, the compositor's work is for the time at an end; but when it is printed off, or when a stereotype cast has been taken, it is his business to return the types to the cases from which they were taken. This operation is called "distribution." It is a most beautiful process in the hands of an expert compositor, and probably no act which is partly mental and partly mechanical offers a more remarkable example of the dexterity to be acquired by long practice. The workman, holding a quantity of type in his left hand as it has been arranged in lines, Keeping the face towards him, takes up one or two

words between the forefinger and thumb of his right hand, and drops the letters, each into its proper place, with almost inconceivable rapidity. His mind has to follow the order of the letters in the words, and to select the box into which each is to be dropped, while his fingers have to separate each letter from the other, taking care that not more than one is dropped at a time. This is a complicated act, and yet a good compositor will distribute three or four times as fast as he composes; that is, he will return to their proper places 50,000 letters in a day. The preceding engraving represents a compositor working at his case, with a "form" of the "Lady's Book" and a "galley" leaning against the left-hand side of it.

STEREOTYPE DEPARTMENT.

The pages having been carefully corrected, they are taken to the stereotype foundry, where we will follow them and explain the process which they have to undergo previous to being returned to the printing-office to be "worked off."

The first operation is that of taking a mould from each page of movable type. The pages are not arranged as they would be combined in a sheet and wedged up together in one iron frame or chase, but each page is put in a separate chase. It is essential that the face of the types should be perfectly clean and dry, that no particle of dirt or other substance should attach to the bottom of the types, so as to prevent them being completely level upon the surface. The page is now placed in the lower part of a moulding-frame. The upper part of the frame is somewhat larger than the page, and the margin of mould thus formed determines the thickness of the plate. The types being previously rubbed over with an oily composition, gypsum (plaster of Paris) is poured evenly over the whole surface. Almost every one knows that this substance, although moulded in a liquid state, sets very quickly, and soon becomes perfectly solid. There is a good deal of nicety required from the workmen, not only in forming the mould, but in removing it from the type: if any

must be gone over again. To prevent this, considerable care is required in the preparation of the gypsum, and much neatness of hand in separating the mould from the page. Having been removed and found perfect, it requires some dressing with a knife on its edges, and several notches are cut in the margin to allow the metal to enter the mould. It is now fit for baking. This process also requires a good deal of accurate knowledge. The oven, in which the moulds are placed upon the ledges, must be kept at a very regular temperature, for, if it be too hot, the moulds will warp. The process of casting begins when the moulds have been baked sufficiently long to be perfectly dry and hard. The casting-pan which contains the mould is represented in the preceding cut.

At the bottom of the pan is a movable plate of cast-iron called a floating-plate, and upon this plate, the face of which is perfectly accurate, the mould is placed with the face downwards. Upon the back of the mould the cover of the casting-pan, the inside face of whose lid is also perfectly true, is laid. The cover is held tightly down by a screw connected with two shackles, as shown in the cut on the preceding page; and also by two nippers belonging to the apparatus for plunging the pan into the metal-pit, as shown in the cut of the stereotype foundry. This apparatus, which is attached to a crane, is so constructed as to swing with a perfectly horizontal motion, and the casting-pan with the mould being thus suspended over the metal-pit, is gradually forced down into the molten mass, and there kept steady

by a lever and weight. The lid of the pan, it will be observed, is cut off at the corners, and it is through these spaces that the metal enters the box and insinuates itself into every hollow. When the box is plunged into the metal, a bubbling noise is heard, which is caused by the expulsion of the air within the box. After having remained immersed for about ten minutes, it is steadily lifted out by the crane and swung to a cooling-trough, in which the under side of the box is exposed to water. Being completely cooled, the caster proceeds to remove the mould from the casting-box. The plaster mould, the plate moulded, and the floating-plate are all solidly fixed up together. The metal, by its specific gravity, has

forced it under the floating-plate, which it has consequently driven tightly up against the ledges of the mould. The mould has in the same way been tightly forced up against the lid of the casting-pan. The notches in the ledge of the mould have at the same time admitted the metal into the minutest impression from the face of the types. The caster Low breaks off the superfluous metal and the ledges of the mould with a wooden mallet, as shown in the wood-cut. The mould is of course destroyed, and if another plate is required, another mould must be taken from the types. After the superfluous metal and the plaster are removed, the stereotype plate comes out bright and well formed; but the plate is