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'POPULZIRITY""OF' THE ' ‘TYPEWRITER. ;; .
~'~»— —~seonss on MACHINES"IN‘ ‘THE 'M'ARKET; HWY . ‘
THOUSAND PERSONS DER’I‘VE A Lrvsnmocn,‘
.- rnon rrs USE IN NEW-font}: "ci'rYg
No modern labor-saving 'device' for. the office
1,188 met With a greater degree of success or
popularity than the typewriter”. Its invention and
introduction in commercial life are among the
triumphs of the nineteenth century. 'It can be
said to have revolutionized the office. methods
of almost the entire country. The typewriter
has completely altered the trade of the sta-
flonet'and‘ has been the Cause‘of‘neW' styles of
furnitufe'for "commercial purposes. it has en-
tered the realm formerly controlled by pencil,
Den andlzink, and given these time-honored and
necessary articles a hot fight for first place.
Since. the typewriter came 'into general use the
manufacturer of office supplies has-been Obliged
to rack hisvbrain‘svto keep pace._with the changed.
conditions. —.'The ink manufacturer has. turned
his. attention- to‘ making {ribbons for the: ma-
chines. Paper dealers have found a large and
. growingdemandfor a'paper.'of,light weight to.
replace .7 thez'old style of thickr“Congress;” In.
almost less time than it' takes to-Itellitheo’whole'
_' industry .has‘becor’ne most important and far-, -
reaching.
‘Likem’lt‘h'lé 'seyvihg-‘maémne, the inventive greniiis
was turnedloose in, all "parts of "the coun;
try, and the Patent/Tonice .ataWashington has
had its hands .‘fullurx. FrOm. the‘first- ~ma§chine
which-was .put On the. market many‘iye‘ars ago
to ._the numerous .k’inds'. which are now: found.
scattered..in- offices in :every State of the-Union;
lthere'has been-ea constaht‘straining of skill and
‘ genius‘to create the most .perfectha'chihe to
meet all requirements.‘ There are now "fifty or
more manufacturers each-with a machine which
it is claimed is sup'erioi to all others. There
are visible and invisible writing, double-key
banks, and single-key banks, heavy and light
machines. There are machines with quick and
slow- action, machines designed for letter-writ-
ing and those for manifolding and other heavy
work. machines for bookkeeping, for legal. par.-
. poses and so on. The name of a man’s type-
writer has'grown to be almost as much a topic
for dispute as the nameplate of a bicycle.
Among the many different styles there is one
which has won a distinct success on account of
its lightness-and small size. This little machine
appears to be able to do all the heavy work -_
oftthe more ponderous and unwieldy machines,-
and yet it takes up but little room and can be
. carried around like a small grip... It has become
popular with newspaper men and others who
find'themselves doing a great deal of writing
in different places where it would be impossiblee
to have any of the heavy machines carried to.
It is almost impossible 'to estimate correctly
the number of typewriters in use in New-York
'.City.- It would the safe to place the number
around thirty thousand. 0f the fifty or more
different ‘types that are on and off the market
.tromwone year's end to the other there are“
. . . aboutslx whichareconsidered-standard, and of
this number two! have been leaders for some
time. .But there has been a general shifting
around in -‘the relative merits of the different
.makes, {and ‘ such. are the numerous additions
and perfections that are being constantly made
that any day a‘ new king may be proclaimed.
It is said that in New-York City there .is an.
army of 'fifty'thousand persons who derive their
living through the use lot-the.- typewriter. - '
SVUPEIRIORITY 0F PRINTER’S INK.
The product of, the printing-ink factories of
, New—York-City has a worldwide reputation. .Like »
the American news paper it finds a market in
' 'London, On the one hand, and Japan, in the Far
East. South America, the West Indies and
other countries have found that the American
article is superior to all other makes. There is
invested in the industry in New—York City
$1,000,000, while the annual output foots up to
$2,000,000. The annual quantity manufactured
has been computed at twenty—five million
pounds. _-For the present year these figures2may
be exceeded, for the warextras of last summer
caused an unusual consumption on the part of
newspapers all over the United States.
The processes involved in producing the mod-
ern article are of a strictly scientific character,
and those in charge of the different plants are
professional men who have a thorough knowl-
edge of the chemical requirements of the busi-
ness. Germany and Great Britain once enjoyed
a large and profitable business with the printers
of this country, and, as a matter of fact, even
at the present time there is imported quite a
large bulk of special inks which are used in the
finest grade of the printer's and bookmaker’s
arts. One of the most modern improvements
made in printer's ink has been the quick—dry-
ing property so necessary in the daily news-
paper'offices of to-day.
The earliest mention of this article places its
invention at about the fourteenth century. For
many years printers were in the habit of mak—
ing their own ink, and those who have investi-
gated the history of the industry concur in the
opinion that the invention of type and ink were
simultaneous. The first American printer’s ink
factory was started in 1800. Front, the original
New-York manufacturer, began business in
1805.-In 1816 he was followed by Mather &
Donnington, who (were pressmen ,by trade.
Booth was the original New-York‘ maker of
colored printing inks, but he made them for his
personal use only. Colored inks were, however,
up to the year 18-10 of but one hue—red. Wade
began their manufacture here in.1852. ' At pres-
‘ent all firms engaged in the trade make colored
7 inks. " The current-prices font-he ink used» by
" daily neWspafiperS' is variously“- quoted at‘ from‘ .
- ’3 'ce‘ntsfto {6‘ center. a mound: that-ffor- weeklies
' 'at from 12 cents- to 18.:cents,';while' bookwork
‘ requires an ink. costing front-25 cents ' to-450-
- centsa pound. The price for: the finest quality—
'used to": the‘ finest'kind of work—j-isaas” high as-
. 'from 60 cents to‘$].- There was practically-no:
first—class quality produced earlier than the be-'
ginning’ of-t'he‘ present century. In '1808 the
‘ 'most expensive ink: was quoted at about $2, and
- the cheapest at about"? cents. .. - , . «
‘ break of the
coveringvabo'ut fiveihundred..acres: In addition;
.the- (inn employs;~ thirty _men. in . the. city :to .set.
up-its-work, and a’large number of travelling.
It‘expor‘ts large.— .
'tories-have-beeu 'runn'mg'hight- and day‘ right
“H . . ' “a
The Viele familyiwvasamong. the early Col
GENERAL EGBERT L. VIELE.
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onial Settlers of Manhattan Island. It. is: de-'
scended. from an ancient European family of that name, who owned the historic feudal castle
of Rhaziins, the foundations of which were laid before the birth of "Christ.
Egbert Ludo-
'vickons Viele, the son of Judge John L. Vie'le, was born at Waterford, N. Y., June 17, 1825.? He
was graduated from the United States Military Academy, at West, Point, in 1847, and was
assigned to service in .Mexico under General Scott asa second lieutenant. He afterward served ’
'under General Zachary Taylor. His duties subSequen't to the MexiCan fWar were performed
on the lower Rio Grande, at Ringgold Barracks, andFort-McIntosh,’ Laredo, Texas, where.
he commanded the garrison. He conducted successful campaigns. against the Indians, and his
reports were published ’with the President's Méssage of that year. .
In October, 1850, he received his commissionVas first lieutenant. [but resigned in 1853, and.
began the pi‘actice of civil engineering in~this city“, 'FrOm 1854 to .1856he held the place of
State Engineer of New-Jersey. His design for‘the improvement of Central Park was unani?
mously adopted by the Board of Park Commissioners, of which Washington Irving was
president and George Bancroft and William C
was made chief engineer, and in this capacity was instrumental in giving to the people one--
of the most beautiful urban parks in the world.
Mr. Viele instituted in this city a strong
initiative the
Civil War he again went to the
the Potomac
of volunteers
forces of the
gagedin the.
due to him.
on August .17, 1861, In 1862’he
After the Capitulation of Norfol
.r'Bryant were members. -_In consequence, he
/"
movement toward sanitary reform, and to‘ his
modern system of official supervision of sanitation is largely" due. At the out-
front, and was the first .to open the passage of
to the defence of the National capital. He wascommissioned hrigadier-genera-l
was assigned as'lsecond in command of the land
South Atlantic expedition that ‘Secured’his 'great- viét‘c‘er-pf Port Royal and: en-_
capture of Hilton Headrs. C. The planning and capturerof‘ Fort Pulaski was:
k, Va; he held the. place of Military Governor”
for a year and a half. He retired from the service on Octbbcr 20" 1863. ,
In 1885 the was elected a member of the
Congress District. He seemed the action of t
the Harlem Ship‘ Canal. L'I-Ie" has planned'and
East ' Harbor. -
graphical Society, a trustee of the Holland'Soc
DESKS AND OFFICE FIXTURES.
The Eastern firms which manufacture and sell
this line have taken within the last few years
a. prominent place in the trade, and have cut
considerably into the business, of Western firms.
This is particularly noticeable'in the case of
fine desks and high—grade office, furnishings.
where artistic effect is an Object sought.
Office and' bank fixture work as a specialty
is a business of comparatively recent origin, but
its development has been rapid and successful.
Previous to about 1883 a large proportion of
suchwork was done by local cablnetmakers and
carpenters, along with the other branches "of,
their work. With the introduction of hard,
wood into business ofiices and stores came the
desire for‘fiktures in keeping with the general
elaborateness and style of the buildings, and
firms who were engaged in desk building began
to take a hand ill the industry. .
Ten .years ago a large proportion of the fine
fixture work came from Chicago and the “lest,
but there are at present manufacturers in this
State who do work of this character, not only in
the large cities of America, but in Europe as
well. '
Contracts are taken for tne fittings for entire
buildings, and the“. partitions, rails, screens, etc.,
are often made up and ”kept in stock until re-
quired. A local firm that makes a specialty of
fine desks and. fixtures sold during three dull»
months of the present year four hundred desks;
i'anging‘in price from 3:50 to $300 each.. The
firm in. question has one bank contract on hand
for $20,000 worth of. interior fixtures. ,
, At its. factory it' employs? 1'25 'men‘." who. live
in tenements built-on thevcompany'sground;v
salesmen and, representatives.
ly-tou-Genna-ny and ‘vEngland. wvherer American
desks‘have ’a- large 'and' steady .~sale_.- ‘ -, - - .
This industry. is' one ' which was apparently
not-affected by hardtime‘s. as somebf ‘theifac—
He is a member of many leadin‘
XLIXth Congress- from the XIIIth New-York
he Government that led to the construction of.
is -now 'superintending the improvements of the
g clubs, vice-president of "the American Geo-
iety and president 'of the Aztec Society.
OFFICE SPECIALTIES.
NEW-YORK HAS THE LARGEST FACTORY IN THE
UNITED STATES FOR THESE GOODS.
A purely American. industry, and one whose
growth has been due 'to the development of
business in general, is that devoted to supply-
ing office specialties. The growth of our large
commercial institutions has necessitated many
improvements in the methods of conducting
business to insure a system at. once convenient
and safe. . .
The largest factory in America for the produc-
tion cf labor-saving office devicesis located in
NewsYork State, with its principal office in this
city. It haslarge branches also in Chicago, San
Francisco, Boston, Toronto, England and Ger-
many. The capital of the concern is estimated
in Dun’s at from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. At its
factory it employs about fifteen hundred men.
Tliearticles sold by office-supply houses are
many and varied, but in general their useful—
-ness may be summed up in the word “system"
or in the expression “a place for everything and
everything in its place."
Many of the devices are patented and con-
trolled by the New-York firms. _Among the ar-
ticlewgld by the office—supply house one of the
first to suggest itself is the filing cabinet, which
is a necessity in every well—regulated business
office. The 'document‘file is another useful in-
vention of the manufacturers. and provides a
safe receptacle for legal, documents. mortgages
and folded papers of all kinds.‘ ‘Pigeonholes.
which have been so generally us’ed for the care‘
of such papers; are dust-.accumu‘ators: papers
must be. placed in them loosely withoutvarrange-
iment; 'and‘when. any-par'ticu'larr'papen is desired
itii's~-n-ecessary-" to: take then; out«.and‘=‘go-through [
the entire-lot in-crd': r.1o-find-it.. in" ~7:c-d0cumen t~
tile papers .-are pressed compactly . together lntu-l‘ha-ve: :everw aspired*- to;
half the 'space whey; lwould... otherwise occupy, wardrmjmerous.thcaires andhundreds of mu-icala ,
while accessto. any-wd'esired'. paper capabethad» organizations. ~t-he-,metro.polisr is certainly the-
“instantly and without'3distuvrhing the “others: :' Mecca”
The papers being. filed in: an: upright. position, it“ rooms.
. >
51mm“,
.t.
1 ~ , iislmade easily:.anflt;qifickly;fandcthis';.facilftysbt‘
, ‘. _»; .- kreference»is:timersame':whetherthief-list. contains.
' haw-Iona. I
. ZZROAD-g TO.“ A- RECOVERY - FROM:
: :- THE.;SLUMP.-0F: 1393., -
" were also of an unusually-high order.
nets arernow made, arranged with part. letter
and part document file drawers. Another ’spe-
claltycf the manufacturers -of;these goods are
legal blankcabinets used,-;by attorneys public
’r.
officials. real estate, dealer‘s:- .insurance offices,
e... Whose business requires the-use of quanti-
ties of legal for-ms, which must be always con-.
veniently at hand. Such a cabinet can also be
used for the‘ filing of price lists, catalogues,
- railroad tariff sheets, etc.‘ '
The card index system has long ceased to be
the exclusive property (if libraries, for whose use
itwas originally devised, and has become a very
important factor of mercantile life. .— Many up-
_. to—date business-men have-recognized its ad-
vantages and discarded their old book indexes
* for—the" card-systemlwhich iisl's'i-mple _.-an_d'con- ..
venient.. Reference to any.dcsired='name or ifact
‘, 'ahundriéd'pra million-names, The .subdivjsiOR'fi v. »- .
or indexi’cards‘act as guides'in the search, jands. . ' '
. . r
‘ with [thorium referenceiis7alin‘ost'ihs'tantasneuum: -'
Cabinets; cards and everything required for use .
inthe ,cardindex are manufactured and sold by _
the office-specialty houses. . ‘ " ‘ -
' ’ "‘THE‘fI'A’N'O' [TRADES
-. » 7Durin'g'th'e lastly-so years ‘thé manufacturers? *
‘or 3pia‘nos‘"have teen "giving ‘ close" attention to.
action—Si "'Whiileitlie'; é‘xceptionable"- years of 1889.
" and 1890 "have by‘no‘ means'fully returned with”
the prosperity {ushered in by the election of'
McKinley and hisso’u‘nd“ money and protection-
* poliCy; yet the piano men have every reason to
congratulate themselves upon the trend of busi-
ness as it is being conducted~at the'lp‘resent
time. -In no section of the country has there
been such a renewed activityas in the West.
' The farmers, ‘who for several years had been
hanging 'on by the ragged,edge,,..wi_tnessed un-
precedented' crop returns and good prices. Wheat
' sold way above the dollar mark, and trade in
the West immediately began to blossom like the
flowers after a rain. The. luxuries which the
Westerners had so long denied themselves were
once more within their reach. After paying off
the mortgages and interest on their farms, they
'took some of their large additional surplus and
investedit in— fitting up their homes. Pianos
found .a ready sale. In the hard times many
had been obliged to let their pianos go in order
to provide for the necessaries of life. When
good times returned the first thing sought for
Was'a new‘ piano to replace the one which had
b,ee.n..s,o.1d.- While. .91. 90w? the Western trade
does not call for the' best grades, the business
as a Whole is of'a good character, and the mak-
ers of medium-grade goods received many swell
orders. The manufacturers of- recognized lead-
ing makes came in for their share, and all told
it‘has- given a-st-i'mulus to the industry which
was much needed. . ., ‘
Butte return to the good times. from 1889 to
1892.
‘urcrs of the present time look' back upon with
fond remembrance. Not only .were‘ there more
pianos, organs and musical instruments made
during that period than for any corresponding
time,7but the Quality and graderof the outpué'
, Goo
prices. were easily obtainedandcollections were
easy. It was in 1893 that the” decline began
which was‘fdllowed by two ortlireef years of
depressing. trade; in Which- busine'ssgrew harder
and more particularly iu'- the quality-and finis'i
of 'the product'It is_ safe t'o‘s't-afe that from
1893 to 1897 there was more fattentiOn given
to the..manufacture of cheap‘pian'o's than at any
known that ’.-here .is no class Of ’manufactured
products for which New—York is a centre in
which competition clashes on closer lines than
in the sale of pianos. Even after haying turned
out an article of low price. it was not’th‘e easiest
thing in the world to sell the goods in view of
the hard times which prevailed. The system of
instalment payments was worked as itinever
had been before. Instances were known where
pianos were sold without a cash payment down
and for a monthly instalment of only $3, The
early eighties, and had been the means of devel-
oping business as no other scheme before d‘evised
had accomplished. But over such a low basis
of payments the more conservative manufact-
urers shook their heads. On the other hand, it
was argued that if sales were to be made at all
big concessions were necessary. ~
While these conditions have not yet been fully
eliminated from the present situation, there is
more strength and stability to the market. The
manufacturers of the better grades have felt the
impulse of awakened activity. From last sum—
mer, when the war with Spain was concluded,
there have been indisputable signs of a real
boom in all branches of commerce. The elec-
tions in November tended to restrict operations
in a limited manner cn account of the d ead
lest the free silver forces Should be victorious.
But with the results in support of the Adminis-
tration of the present Government. things he-
gan to hum and the piano dealersare looking
ahead to prosperous and profitable times.
One of the leading manufacturersof this city
in discussing the situation said that when there
was a falling off in the demand for pianos and
other musical instruments. and sheet music and
general musical merchandise. it was reflection
of the financial condition of the great middle
class of the country from which came the chief
support for the piano market. He said that the
middle class was the one which spent its income
freely, and to which music had almost become
a necessity. More musical instruments per
every one hundred of the population were sold
in this country than in any other in the world.
New-York-has within its limits several of the
most important piano factories in the country,
and the trade involves millions of capital, with
an enormousnannua-l output.-- » _- > ‘
‘With ‘ thegrand. opera;-
for musicians. The: retail piano sales-
along lower Fifth—ave. arers'pwious and
is but the work of a mr‘mert to glance over the' handsome, and they are the peer of those of
titles and-select any paper which -may be needed;
. gFor. ~the convenience of those who..desi-rerto file
along.
both letters and-legal papers,'combination cabl‘
s
any..0ther.city. The business of,selling pianos
right in. Greater,‘New-onrk,‘foots‘up'ihto the
hundreds of." thousands-each year." . -
s. mandarin: campfire—Tush
«unnusrrnr IS NOW. ON -T‘HE..-.RABID'.- . .. .
"the Ldev‘elopmentpf trade; and ras-a‘re's'ult‘ there .
' has‘biee‘n a' marked}. increase :iu‘ "the annual trans,- ‘
Those were'years which the 'manufact-'
rand—harder..- This sluiin'resulted in a notice- ‘
able falling. off'in the number of" instruments, _'
other time in-‘the 'history‘of "the trade} “It is well
instalment plan—lad been introducedalong .in' the .
'5Greater- New-,Yoaik has been educated‘to a love “=
for music‘euch‘aswew cities in the. New World‘-
Norwalk Chronicler