The Monoline.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 August 1901, Page 871

The Monoline.

The Latest Type-Setting Machine.

J~WcWfi;i}if^ J have just had set up in the WSUk office of The Nkw Zealand w/IWiP) Illustrated Magazine cue of i <^to^l the Canadian Composing Co.'s Monolines. It may interest our readers to hear something of this wonderful labour-saving machine. At the Chicago World Fair of 1893 it received the highest awai'd and medal for this class of

machine, and a special diploma was given to its inventor, Mr. W. S. Scudder, as a recognition of the great improvement he had effected over existing type-setting machines. At the Paris Exhibition also this machine was awarded the Grand Prix. These facts show that in the opinion of «xpert judges the Mouoliue is considerably

abend of any of the other type-setting machines that have yet conic into use. A glance at the illustration will show that it is worked by a keyboard like a Remington Typewriter. The operator sits at this, and as he touches a letter the matrix, on which that letter is, drops into its place in the line from the magazine. A bell ringH when the line is complete, and it is conveyed

automatically to the metal pot, wheru the metal is kept in a melted state by gas. Here the line is cast in a moment, and the casting passes on into its position in a sort of shelf, ready to be removed and put into the " forme " for the press, while the matrices containing the letters are by an ingenious system of elevators

sorted and put back into their exact places in the magazine ready to be used again instantly, the whole performance being done automatically in one act by the aid of one operator. The machine is worked by a gas engine or other power, and only requires a tenth of a horse power to keep it going, and a round belt of one-quarter inch in diameter will drive it. Those who have used the machine for some yeai'S claim that it will easily set an average of from 10,600 to 10,900 ens per hour with a skilful operator; 2,000 ens an hour is considei-ed really good work for a hand setter. To those of our readers who do not understand the term, it will be as well to explain an " en " means the space occupied by half the square of the size of type used. For instance the lines used in this magazine would cast up 37|"ens." The beauty of this machine is its simplicity, and the ease with which the inexperienced can learn to work it. It takes up very little room, and the operator sits on his or her chair instead of standing at a high case and stretching about for the required type. In the event of corrections being requh'ed, a new line has to be set, up, but this is only the work of a moment or two, as each revolution casts a single line.

The inventor had a seiuous task to perform "when he set to work to produce the Monoline, but he proved equal to it. It was imperative that he should steer clear of all patents connected with the Linotype and other composing machines, and also that he Bhoald produce a machine which would be at the same time more economical to work and much less costly. This is specially claimed by the proprietors. As an instance of the simplification, the matrices of the Monoline contain twelve letters each, while those of other machines have only one letter on each matrix, and it distributes the matrices in one act instead of distributing each letter separately as the others do.

The various publishing firms who have used this clever little machine speak in very high terms of its efficacy, and naturally invariably allude to its advantages in economizing not only labour, which of course is the

most important matter, but also space in the composing room. Another very advantageous feature it has in conjunction with other composing machines is that the constantly fresh casting of the type prevents the use of old battered type which is so annoying to readers of papers set by the old methods. It is true that on papers where the operators are careless in removing the type to place it in the forme, lines occasionally get misplaced, or turned upside down. But as they get more accustomed to the use of th^ machines these errors will be less frequent.

It can easily be seen even by the uninitiated that the saving of labour effected by the machine over the old system of hand setting is enormous. It has been likened to the difference between the mowing machine and the scythe. Its advantages are specially obvious when it is remembered that in newspaper offices an immense amount of composing has often to be done in a great hurry late on the days of publication. The Monoline sails quietly along, and thu thing is done without any of the hurry and bustle and overtime required in ordinary hand setting. The Linotype has, of course, been in use for some time in the principal newspaper offices in the colony. It is a much more complicated and also a more expensive machine. We believe we are correct in asserting that as yet there have been only two Mouolines introduced into New Zealand, although they have been used in other places for some years.

We are so much pleased with this machine that we have ordered others, which will shortly arrive, and as soon as these are installed, the whole of the Magazine copy will be set by this wonderful piece of mechanism. In the meantime the machine we have has more than it can do in coping with all the newspaper work of our office.

Those of our readers who are interested in this marvellously clever automatic type setter, and happen to be in Auckland on any Tuesday afternoon, can see it working by applying to Mr. A. Cleave or the Editor of this Magazine for a permit.

■

By "The Sage."

Messrs. Upton and Co. forward me Rider Haggard's new historical romance, Lysbeth, published in Longman's Colonial Library. The author takes the Netherlands for the scene of his story, and to quote from his author's note, " by an example of the trials and adventures and victories of a burgher family of the generation of Philip 11. and William the Silent, he strives to set before his readers of to-day something of the life of those who lived through perhaps the most fearful tyranny that the western world has known. How did they live one wonders; how is it they did not die of very terror, those of them who escaped the scaffold, the famine and the pestilence?" This is certainly one of Rider Haggard's best books. He handles his subject with a masterly hand, and his characters live and move. Lysbeth van Hout, the daughter and heiress of a deceased Leyden shipowner, and her lover, Dirk van Goorl, were at the skating carnival on the frozen moat at Leyden. Each contestant in the principal sleigh race of the day is permitted to select a lady to ride with him. Count Juan de Montalvo, a Spaniard, invitee Lysbeth to ride the race in his sleigh, and through the dilatoriness of her lover, circumstances compel her to accept. With the masterfulness of an oppressing race, and many treacherous machinations, the Spaniard manages to work in such a way that Lysbeth is forced into a false marriage with him, and it afterwards appears he has another wife. Lysbeth bears a son, Adrian. The count

gets into trouble, and is condemned to the galleys, and Lysboth's old lover, Dirk, marries her, and acts a father's part to her son. Thehorroi's of the Spanish Inquisition are at their height. Brant, an old friend of Dirk's, who is also of the new religion, writes commending his daughter and the fortune he has accumulated and left " for the defence of our country, the freedom of religious faith, and the destruction of tho Spaniards," to his care, as he knows ho himself will be a victim to the cruel Spaniards. Dirk's own son, Foy, and Red Martin, a Frisian giant, in Dirk's employ, go to the Hague, and under incredible difficulties carry off the casks containing the treasure, and with the help of Martha tho Mare, the water- wife (whose wrongs have driven her to wreak vengeance on the Spanish tyrants whenever opportunity offered), manage to successfully hide it in the Haarlem Mere. Montalvo again appears in the scene in a different character, and is determined to secure this treasure for himself. For an accountjof how he speeds and the complicated details of his treacherous schemes, which involve his son Adrian, I must refer the reader to the book, wherein will also be read with interest the machinations of his assistant spies, Hague Simon and Black Meg, the doughty deeds done by Red Martin and his great sword, which he tore from the hands of the headman who was about to execute him, and the siege of Leydeu, and the subsequent defeat of the tyrannical Spaniards.

Another Woman's Territory, of which the concluding chapters appear in this issue or The New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, is undoubtedly "Alien's" best work. It has already been published in book form by Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co., and a second edition has been called for, It has received most favourable notices from the critics. A copy of it was presented by the talented authoress to the Queen, and a gracious acknowledgment forwarded in return. It is

not necessary to give a detailed account of the plot, as the readers of this Magazine have had the advantage of perusing it in serial form. It is in the analysis of character, the study of human passion, the insight into every thought, and the clear understanding of the motive of eveiy deed that " Alien " particularly shines. Not one author in a hundred can write about characters, giving almost every detail of their thoughts and actions, without becoming wearisome in the extreme. Bat "Alien" is never wearisome. She holds the attention of her reader from start to finish, and in this book certainly

does not depend upon highly sensational incidents to do so. Her former work, The Devil's Half Acre, I have not yet had an opportunity to peruse, but it has been well received by the public, and favourably criticised. From the reviews it would appear to be much more sensational than Another Woman's Territory. After reading the work of an author who pleases as " Alien" does, one feels a desire to know the writer, or failing that, to see what he or she is like. I am pleased, therefore, to be able to reproduce

in these pages a photo, of the

lady at work, and also a corner of the room wherein much of her best work has been produced. What an extent of ground the authoress' thoughts must have travelled over, and what a variety of scenes have been called up by her active brain in that quiet room before committing them to paper and sending them forth to the world.

Messrs. Upton and Co. have also forwarded me three other volumes of Longman's Colonial Library. The first, is entitled Pastorals of Dorset by M. E. Francis (Mrs. Francis Blundell), My Lady of Orange by H. C. Bayley, and The Vicar of St. Luke's by Sibyl Creed are the other two.

Pastorals of Dorset is a collection of crisply-written stories descriptive of the dwellers hi some of the nook and corner villages of that county. The fact that many of the stories have already received the hall mark by appearing in Cornhill, Longmans Magazine, Temple Bar, Punch, the Times, Weekly, and the Illustrated London News assures the purchasers of this volume good value for their money. M. E. Francis has also made a name for herself by a number of previous works chiefly on bucolic subjects. In several of the Pastorals included in the collection under review, notably Private Griggs, The Only Soldier, The Rout of the Conqueror, and How Orandfer Volunteered, the authoress has introduced the war element, which pleasantly relieves what otherwise might tend to monotony. In the first of these, Private Origgs, the authoress skilfully handles a delicate situation. The wife of ;i labourer finds that her daughter has loved a soldier, not wisely but too well. The " absentminded beggar " has gone off suddenly to the war in South Africa. The mother sees in the paper the name of a Private Griggs, who has been killed in action, gives out to the village busybodies that her daughter is the widow of Private Griggs, and brings her home dressed in widow's weeds, feeling confident that the "absent-minded beggar " will never be heard of more. But here she is wrong ; he returns from the war minus a limb or two, hunts up his love, and eventually marries her. Complications arise with the busybodies, but the girl's mother proves equal to the occasion. The rest of the stories are, speaking generally, equally good. The authoress is quite at home with her subject, and gives very clever and truthful depictions of the quaint, apparently unconscious humour of the Dorsetshire

country folk, and the book will be read with great pleasuae by those who appreciate folk lore. She has carefully avoided that exaggeration in dialect which often makes works of this nature tedious.

My Lady of Orange, by H. C. Buy ley, is an entirely different style of work. It purports to be a history written by a certain John Newstead, of doughty deeds done by him and his free company in Holland "in the days when Alva coiled himself like an iron serpent round the land, and castle and town sank down together amid blood and (ire." He explains his action in a few pithy lines : " I'm English born and bred, and quarrols of Dutchman and Spaniard were no work of mine, yet something a man must do in the world, and this was the work that came to my hand : to fight Alva with his own two weapons — the sword and the lie, and with both I beat him, Cordial ! with both ! . . . I was no saint, and that may be is the reason why first I fought for Alva ere my turn came to meet him fairly in the field. I was true to him save at the last ; I left 'him for William of Nassau. I was ever true to him, and I fought for him as a man may at Mechlin and Zutphen and Haarlem sack."

The story opens where John Nevvsteiid offers himself and his free company of three hundred men to William of Nassau, because they have had no pay from Alva for months, and have sworn not to light for him any more. Against incredible odds, Nevvstead and his company perform marvellous deeds of arms. Everything is fair in love and war is evidently his motto. After a brilliant rush to the relief of the town of Breuthe, to which he is guided by Gabriel le, the daughter of the Governor, whom he previously rescued from a Spanish abductor, and who unfortunately in the melee gets taken a second time by the Spaniards ; he ventures into Alva's camp and agrees to open the gates of Breuthe for the Spaniards for a handsome reward. He finds Gabrielle at the Auction of Women in Alva's camp,.

which follows every fray, and saves her by buying her for ten crowns and taking her back to her father. When a body of the Spaniards arrive they find themselves in a trap, and are all slaughtered. For the rest of the acts of John Newstead and his valiant company I must refer those of my readers who can appreciate this kind of story to the book itself.

The Vicar of St. Luke's, by Sibyl Creed, is the third of the volumes referred to above as having been forwarded me by Messrs Upton and Co. It deals principally with the tendency to advanced ritualism. The hero, if he can claim the title, is the Key. Victorian James Goring, who at the opening of the story has recently received the appointment of Vicar of the Parish of St. Luke's, Upper Holt. He is described as a fair-harred, blue-eyed enthusiast of thirtysix. His senior curate, or assistant priest, as his vicar preferred to call him, is the Rev. Francis Docker, a man who " combined rigid ecclesiasticism with a touch of the dandy." He had entered the church for the purpose of getting into the sort of society to which his birth did not entitle him to. Bannertnan, the new curate, was " ugly ■with wide cheeks, a large mouth and heavy snub nose," but he was a devoted worshipper of his vicar. These three men meet in the first chapter to talk over an attempt some moving spirits in the parish are making to prevent their vicar from introducing lighted altar candles, for the vicar of St. Luke's exceedingly high church. The meeting of the pai'ishoners is described in detail, but the Vicar manages to hold his own, though he makes an inveterate «nemy of one of his parishioners named Bind, and drives others from, the church. Goring holds the opinion that clergymen should not marry, although he does not parade it. His theory in this respect receives a strong shock when he makes the acquaintance later on of Elsie, a charming young lady. Lena Merton, a tailor's daughter, whom her father on his death

bed has committed to the charge of the vicar, happens to be an extremely hysterical young person (who has a habit of falling violently in love with a succession of young men, who do not reciprocate) fastens her affections on the vicar, and in her desire to be in his company, consults him on all conceivable pubjects. When all other means fail she conceives the idea of giviug the world to understand that he has effected her ruin. His enemy Bind hears this, and fires it at the vicar at a parish meeting, and' the consequences are alarming. The Rev. G-oring, who like many enthusiasts is a very weak character, eventually finds the English church has no head, and he 'becomes a Jesuit. There are a number of other characters introduced, and the book is certainly one which will be read.

The New Zealand Department of Agriculture has forwarded me Leaflet No. 56, which contains the report of the Commissioners appointed to examine the machines and processes submitted in competition for the bonus offered for the encouragement of the New Zealand hemp industry. It describes in detail, the processes of nineteen applicants for the bonus and those interested in this industry who have not yet seen it should apply to the Department for the leaflet.

Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs, of Christchurch, have recently published a handy little work entitled Colonial Every Day Cookery. It contains general rules and practical hints as well as a large number of carefully selected and tested recipes and should prove a boon to those inexperienced young wives who believe the old adage about the way to a husbands' heart being through his stomach, and are often at their wits end to satisfy .that rapacious organ in order to gain the desired effect. The price which is one and sixpence (or one shilling in paper) brings it within the reach of all, and cannot but be regarded as reasonable for 278 pages of carefully selected culinary lore.

I HAVE, received from the publisher, Mr T. Fisher Unwin, Another JEnqlishwomiri s Love Letters, by Barry Pain, aud The Letters of Her Mother to Elizabeth, both published uniformly atone shilling. Another Englishwoman's Love Letter is written in Barry Pain's best style, aud is most amusing throughout. It is in fact a humorous criticism of An Englishwoman's Love Letters. The author says in his preface : — " Of course if the book had not had value I should never have dreamed of having a little fun with it; servants break only valuable things. Besides I do not look forward to a seagreeu flood of seutimental literature let loose on the public in consequence of the success of An Englishwoman ] s Love Letters with any equanimity." In his explanation the author assures the reader seriously that " the letters are printed exactly as they were written, with the exception of such alterations, additions and omissions as may happen to have been made. In order to meet the l'equirernents of the Food Adulteration Act, no absolute guarantee of their genuineness can be given, but every effort is made to the contrary." Where all ai-e so good it is difficult to select an extract, but the followiug from Letter I may serve the purpose. The asterisks are mine, as space forbids quoting at length. " Beloved, — This is your first letter from me ; yet it is not the first I have written to you

There are letters to you lying in love's waste-paper basket. This is my coufession I gather from a good novel, recently published, that it is peculiarly characteristic of the Englishwoman to take off her selfrespect as it had been a garment before entering upon an epistolary course of affianced love. I wrote love letters to you long before I had brought you up to the point. I may go further and beat the original Englishwoman on her own ground. I wrote letters to you even before I had ever met you or heard of you. They were to my betrothed, whoever it might be, like the trade circulars which are marked ' Or present occupier.' One has to get ready beforehand. I got in a stock of letters for Vol. lI.— No. 11.— GO.

my engagement just as I shall get my trousseau for ruy — am I brazen ? " This book has value outside its harnour. It will serve as a useful text book on the nrt of writing love letters. It will doubtless introduce an air of originality and pleasing candour into these effusions which will considerably relieve their monotony. ,^h 'Lite Letters of her Mother to Elizabeth is as the author's note affirms " a reply to the question instinctively asked by everybody who has read The Visits of Elizabeth, viz., What sort of a woman was Elizabeth's mother ? " There is no doubt whatever that these letters answer tho question very clearly. Take for instance this extract: " Lord Valmond has fifty thousand a year besides the house in Grosvetior Square. You will hardly meet a more eligible parti; I hear he is very fast ; they say he gavo Botty Milbanke, the snake dancer at tho Palace, all the diamonds she wears Tho girl who gets this Valmond will not only bo lucky but clever ; the way to attract him is to snub him; the fools who have hitherto angled for him havo put cako on their hooks ; but if I were fishing in the water in which my Lord Valmond disported himself I should bait my hook with a common worm. It is something he has never yet seen." Elizabeth's mother does not con fin o herself to advice to her daughter by any moans, her letters are full of breezy society gossip, and expose in an amusing manner all her own weaknesses while writing in no sparing manner of those of others. Her descriptions of the people she meets are inimitable. The American millionaire who is marrying his daughter to the Duke of Claudovil, Lady Beatrice, who is as fat as Lady Theodosia Doran, and plays tennis with the curate, Mr Frame, who beat the Somerset champion, but dare not beat her ; tho Vane-Corduroys, who made their money out of Sparklets or Corduroy's Lung Tonic ; Captain Bennett, who found the writer's lost handkerchief sticking to his coat after he got to his Club, called to return it, and eventually became

too amorous ; and a host of notables whom she met at Lucerne and elsewhere are the subjects of this writer's smart epistolary snapshots.

It. is generally acknowledged that New Zealanders read a great deal when compared with other inhabitants of new countries. This being the case, I have often thought it would be most interesting to ascertain what description of books are most universally popular with the dwellers in this fair land. To do this will not be a very difficult matter if the readers of these pages will agree to assist me in carrying out the following plan. Let each one who reads these lines note down his or her three favourite books, whether history, biography, books of travel, fiction or poetry, together with the author's names, taking care to write the names of both book and author plainly to avoid any mistake ; and also to simplify the work of sorting, state which of the above headings each comes under. Let them then send their lists addressed "The Sage," New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Auckland.

When a considerable number of these lists have been received, I will carefully go through them,, and give the result in the Literary Ohat of an early number. It will not be necessary for those sending lists to give their names, if they have any objection to do so. As The, New Zealand Illustrated Magazine has now a very large circulation, both in town and coup try districts, throughout New Zealand, embracing every class of reader, there could not be a fairer or more aocurate way of arriving at the desired conclusion. I trust my readers will enter heartily into the idea, as the larger bulk of correspondence I get on the subject the more satisfactory will be the result.

I have reoeived from time to time several monthly numbers t of The New Zealand Schoolmaster from the publishers, Messrs. Whitoombe (and Tombs, of Christchurch,

aud note that under the new Editorship this paper has greatly improved. As its title implies, it confines itself to matters of interest to those engaged in teaching, and it certainly attends to their wants in a very comprehensive manner. A specially useful feature is a table calling attention to articles of interest to school teachers in the various Magazines and reviews. In a late number it especially mentioned several articles which appeared in The New Zealand Illustrated Magazine on Educational matters. ■♦ A Reasonable Survey Essay on Love, Law and Religion is the comprehensive title of a little work in blank verse, which has been sent me by the authoress, Evelyn Macdonald, of Pahiatua. It is dedicated to " The Unsatisfied." The author commences her task by stating at considerable length her intention. The following lines will suffice as a sample : — " No pretty verbiage set in sweetest lilt Shall I employ ; no cultured art to please, No Rhaphsody, in whose aim the cumbered brain — That plods and gropes its way in gnawing want, Sees nought to please, and little to enjoy : I seek to engage by effort stern and plain." A statement such as this saves the critic some trouble. It only remains to give a specimen or two of the work. Here are a few lines on Religion : " — Blind Evolution Pantheism Idolatry ; Deities numerous of pagans, men and saints, Mythologies old, endless, and diverse The Red man's Paraclite, Alia, Budda, F6t, With something of Truth and Mystery each imbued, — Howe'er mistook thro' long forgotten years : Each holding millions in belief and fear, All zealous, all sincere— why either best ? — Hence jealousy is born and bitter Hate j And men forgot how free is Love from Creed, That each sad ' human policy ' proclaims."

The pamphlet is nicely printed by Mr. Alex. Ferguson, of Wellington, although a little more care from the proof reader might well have been expended.