| J. B. WILLIAMS & BRO. | |
| NASSAU, N. Y. | |
| NAME, Geo. Brown & Co. | SALESMAN, Jenkins |
| SHIPPING ADDRESS, Flat Rock, W. Va. | ORDER NUMBER 2246 |
| P. O. ADDRESS, Wenonah, W. Va. | REQUISITION NUMBER A341 |
| VIA N. & W. R. R. Co. | OUR ORDER NUMBER 9422 |
Contrast this heading with that of an invoice which has the last letters of each line lined up vertically. This makes it possible for the operator of the billing machine to draw the carriage to the extreme right, as the first letter to be written in every line of the heading starts at the same point.
| NAME Geo. Brown & Co. | SALESMAN Jenkins |
| SHIPPING ADDRESS Flat Rock, W. Va. | ORDER NUMBER 2246 |
| P. O. ADDRESS Wenonah, W. Va. | REQUISITION NUMBER A341 |
| VIA N. & W. R. R. Co. | OUR ORDER NUMBER 9422 |
The latter form does not have as good appearance before being typewritten as afterwards. However the change is made for the sake of utility and speed. In the first form it is necessary for the operator to position the carriage at a different starting point for each line, whereas in the last illustration it can be readily seen that all the operator has to do is to draw the carriage to the right to the marginal stop, and write without any loss of time.
At one time a speed contest between pen billers and machine billers was held on one of the large railroads of this country, and permission was given the machine people to change the position of the headings of the freight bills. The salesman in charge of the test studied to eliminate certain wasted movements of the typewriter carriage. He succeeded in arranging the printed matter on the bill in a manner which permitted of three starting points in the heading and body of the bill. By pressing his tabulator stop after writing a name or figure, the machine would immediately jump to the next printing point on the line. This arrangement greatly facilitated the work, and enabled him to prove the superiority of machine over pen work. If he had endeavored to use the old stationery with its irregular headings, he would have made a failure of the test.
Designing Stationery. In designing invoices, order forms, and statistical forms, it should be always borne in mind that the ordinary typewriter or billing machine spaces ten letters to the inch, sometimes twelve spaces to the inch with elite type, and sometimes eight spaces to the inch with large Roman type. Therefore, all vertical lines separating various columns of the form should be ruled in multiples of tenths, twelfths, or eighths of inches, according to the spacing (escapement) of the machine to be used. The different styles of type are shown in Fig. 20.
In estimating the distance between lines, it should be borne in mind that all typewriters and billing machines are arranged for spacing one line, two lines, and three lines. By adjusting the spacing device, the paper can be advanced the width of one, two, or three lines. All headings on the invoice should be arranged so that the next writing point below, on the invoice or order, will be one, two, or three spaces, and the beginning of the body of the bill should be arranged for in the same manner. This prevents any waste of time, and eliminates the necessity of throwing off the ratchet spacing device of the machine and turning the carriage by hand.
The first printing point on an order or billing form should be placed in such a manner that the marginal stop of the typewriter carriage, instead of a tabulator stop, will be available for use. The second writing point on the form should be the first column stop (the column finder on the billing machine is the device which automatically stops the carriage at certain given points). The third writing point on the line should be the second column stop, or decimal tabulator stop, according to the one which is on the machine.
In Fig. 21 is shown an illustration showing the top sheets of an order form designed to facilitate the work of the billing machine. In addition to having all of the printed headings aligned vertically on the last letter of each word, each line is either one space or two spaces of the billing machine platen (rubber roll). This eliminates any waste of time in spacing the order form through the machine.
