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Men of Invention and Industry-Part30_Samuel Smiles(1812-1904)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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simple calico-printing machine, without feeling that the latter

furnishes the true type to which the mechanism for newspaper



printing should as much as possible approximate."

On this principle, so clearly put forward, the Inventors of the



Walter Press proceeded in the contrivance of the new machine. It

is true that William Nicholson, in his patent of 1790, prefigured



the possibility of printing on "paper, linen, cotton, woollen,

and other articles," by means of type fixed on the outer surface



of a revolving cylinder; but no steps were taken to carry his

views into effect. Sir Rowland Hill also, before he became



connected with Post Office reform, revived the contrivance of

Nicholson, and referred to it in his patent of 1835 (No. 6762);



and he also proposed to use continuous rolls of paper, which

Fourdrinier and Donkin had made practicable by their invention of



the paper-making machine about the year 1804; but both

Nicholson's and Hill's patents remained a dead letter.[2]



It may be easy to conceive a printing machine, or even to make a

model of one; but to construct an actualworking printing press,



that must be sure and unfailing in its operations, is a matter

surrounded with difficulties. At every step fresh contrivances



have to be introduced; they have to be tried again and again;

perhaps they are eventually thrown aside to give place to new



arrangements. Thus the head of the inventor is kept in a state

of constantturmoil. Sometimes the whole machine has to be



remodelled from beginning to end. One step is gained by degrees,

then another; and at last, after years of labour, the new



invention comes before the world in the form of a practical

working machine.



In 1862 Mr. Walter began in The Times office, with tools and

machinery of his own, experiments for constructing a perfecting



press which should print the paper from rolls of paper instead of

from sheets. Like his father, Mr. Walter possessed an excellent



discrimination of character, and selected the best men to aid him

in his important undertaking. Numerous difficulties had, of



course, to be surmounted. Plans were varied from time to time;

new methods were tried, altered, and improved, simplification



being aimed at throughout. Six long years passed in this pursuit

of the possible. At length the clear light dawned. In 1868 Mr.



Walter ventured to order the construction" target="_blank" title="n.建设；修建；结构">construction of three machines on

the pattern of the first complete one which had been made. By



the end of 1869 these were finished and placed in a room by

themselves; and a fourth was afterwards added. There the



printing of The Times is now done, in less than half the time it

previously occupied, and with one-fifth the number of hands.



The most remarkable feature in the Walter Press is its wonderful

simplicity of construction" target="_blank" title="n.建设；修建；结构">construction. Simplicity of arrangement is always



the beau ideal of the mechanical engineer. This printing press

is not only simple, but accurate, compact, rapid, and economical.



While each of the ten-feeder Hoe Machines occupies a large and

lofty room, and requires eighteen men to feed and work it, the



new Walter Machine occupies a space of only about l4 feet by 5,

or less than any newspaper machine yet introduced; and it



requires only three lads to take away, with half the attention of

an overseer, who easily superintends two of the machines while at



work. The Hoe Machine turns out 7000 impressions printed on both

sides in the hour, whereas the Walter Machine turns out 12,000



impressions completed in the same time.

The new Walter Press does not in the least resemble any existing



printing machine, unless it be the calendering machine which

furnished its type. At the printing end it looks like a



collection of small cylinders or rollers. The first thing to be

observed is the continuous roll of paper four miles long, tightly



mounted on a reel, which, when the machine is going, flies round

with immenserapidity. The web of paper taken up by the first



roller is led into a series of small hollow cylinders filled with

water and steam, perforated with thousands of minute holes. By



this means the paper is properly damped before the process of

printing is begun. The roll of paper, drawn by nipping rollers,



next flies through to the cylinder on which the stereotype plates




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