Printing and bookbinding for schools

by Samuel Jesse Vaughn

Fig. 5.

The right side of the job case contains only thirty-five boxes for capitals instead of forty-nine, as in the capital side of the upper news case.

It will be observed that the capital letters are in regular order in the case with the exception of J and U. It is interesting to note that these two letters were the last to be added to the alphabet, and hence were simply placed at the last of the alphabet in the case.

In the lower case there is but little regularity of arrangement, except that the most commonly used letters occupy the most convenient and conspicuous places. The printer knows the locations of the various boxes, so that the picking out of a certain letter becomes almost purely automatic.

TYPE SETTING

In beginning to set type, the first tool the printer needs is the job stick, Fig. 6.

Fig. 6.

This is the receptacle into which the compositor places the type as he sets up the form, letter by letter. Sticks are made in great variety, and almost any length from six inches up. There are the simple, ungraduated stick, adjusted by the thumb screw; the marked and perforated stick for nonpareil adjustment by means of a lever, Fig. 6, and the non-adjustable stick for news or book composition.

The printer sets the stick the length of the desired line. This is done by placing into it a lead or slug, the desired length, and moving the clamp up against it tightly enough that the type will not easily fall forward, and yet loosely enough to allow the lines to be lifted from the stick without binding.