FAT
 

AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF
 

motion, but in a lighter form; and Bailey seized his with
the quick, certain grasp of a bird. One of the most cele¬
brated of these men was once asked privately, while
among his friends, what rate he thought would be pos¬
sible for some man to attain, in the same way that the
trotting horse may attain two minutes, although that has
not yet been done. He replied that he believed that some
one would be found sooner or later to set five hundred
ems in eleven minutes. This is at the rate of twenty-
seven hundred ems an hour. In view of this and of the
great number of attested feats varying from seventeen
to twenty-two hundred ems, it would seem that a great
number of our present workmen could learn to increase
their rate from two to four hundred ems an hour. Their
quickness in other things is undoubted, and all that they
need is to avoid bad habits and to work upon system.

The case should be carefully distributed, with spaces
well assorted, and type neither too abundant nor too
low. A good light is essential to rapid performance.
Copy should be read while picking up spaces, but if
more time is required to make certain it should be taken.
So far as possible space out the line while setting. Jus¬
tify quickly, and while this is going on read the line in
metal. This is the appropriate time. The taking into
the stick completes the movement of each type, and
while it is being dropped the eye should pass to the next
box and determine upon the type next to be caught.
When seized, it should be in such a way as to require
very little turning, for if it is to be changed entirely
around the hand will reach the stick before the turning
is complete and time will be lost. The best way is to
take the letter near the head as it lies in the direction of
the greatest length of the case. The nick should either
be up or turned towards the top bar of the case. The
hand should go out in one motion and return in another,
losing no time. There should be no fumbling for the
letter. The stick should follow the hand partly around
the case. It is, of course, needless to repeat what has
been said under other heads about education, or to insist
upon the compositor understanding his copy. No un¬
intelligent workman can succeed as a fast compositor
unless he is like Pace, who found it paid him to exchange
leaded manuscript for solid reprint. He was a workman
of remarkable speed who lived in New York forty years
ago, but who never made good time on manuscript.

Feats recorded in previous publications are those of
John J. Hand of New York, who undertook to set up
32,000 ems in twenty-four hours. He failed by thirty-
two ems only. Robert Bonner, the former proprietor of
the New York Ledger, is said to have set up 25,500 ems in
twenty hours and twenty-eight minutes. George Arens-
burg, commonly known as the Velocipede, set in 1871
against time, in the presence of judges and bets depend¬
ing upon it, 2,064 ems of solid minion in one hour.

In 1885,1886 and 1887 much interest was taken in this
question by the printers in nearly all the leading cities.
On January 11, 1886, a contest took place in Chicago,
lasting a week, each person setting type for an hour and
a half twice daily, or twenty-one hours in all. A com¬
mittee from the Typographical Union supervised the
race.    The result was as follows :
 


 


 

Minutes
 


 

Contestants.
 

Gross.
 

Cor¬
recting.
 

Net.
 

Wm. C. Barnes, New York.   .
 

40,6751^
40,3481^
 

58
 

39,2251^
 

Joseph W. McCann, New York
 

10134
 

37,805^
 

Thomas Levy, Chicago  .   .   .
 

36,540
 

105
 

34,015
 

Joseph M. Hudson, Chicago   .
 

34,844^
 

37M
 

33,913^
33,346H
 

Leo Monheimer, Chicago   .   .
 

35,605
 

72M
 

W. J. Creevy, Chicago   .   .   .
 

34,6231^
 

54
 

33,273U
 

" Kid " De Jarnett, Chicago   .
 

33,956^
 

103M
 

31,362M
 

York in which McCann had set 8,062^ ems and Barnes
7,951 ems in four hours. On March 27, 1886, Alexander
Duguid, of the Cincinnati Enquirer, set in a race in
Philadelphia in an hour and a half 8,416 ems, or at the
rate of 2,2773^ ems an hour. Four minutes were con¬
sumed in correcting, and twenty-five ems were deducted
for each minute so spent. The same day Mr. Duguid
set 3,388 ems in the same time, requiring two and three-
quarters minutes for corrections, making the highest net
record 8,319}^. The type used was nonpareil, seven¬
teen and two-thirds ems to the alphabet, and the meas¬
ure twenty-eight ems. At the same contest William
C. Barnes set 1,821 ems 'an hour with the lower case
reversed or turned around, and afterwards 1,635 ems
an hour with his eyes blindfolded. Three letters were
wrong in the proof on this account; a b for a c, an f for
an s and a p for a y. Barnes's best speed was 3,217 in
an hour and a half, and McCann's was 8,347. It will
be noticed that the type was fat. The score made for
thirty-three hours was as follows :
 


 


 

Minutes
 


 

Contestants.
 

Gross.
 

Cor¬
recting.
 

Net.
 

Alexander Duguid, Cincinnati
 

71,119
 

76M
 

69,200M
 

Joseph W. McCann, New York
 

71,445
 

145p|
 

68,907J^
 

Wm. C.Barnes, New York .   .
 

66,783
 

65,714^
 

Thomas Levy, Chicago  .   .   .
 

64,943
 

61,29914
 

Peter Thienes, Philadelphia   .
 

60,323
 

32
 

59,498
 

J. A. Washington, Philadelphia
 

54,927
 

651^
 

53,2891^
 

James J. Nolan, Philadelphia
 

53,638
 

42M
 

52,575)4
 

W. H. Crane, Philadelphia .   .
 

49,803
 

94%
 

47,43414
 

Fat.—In composition, any work which, without ad¬
ditional exertion, will enable the typesetter to make a
greater bill. Poetry is fat; so is leaded matter. Double-
leaded matter with many break lines is very fat.

Fat-Faced or Fat Letter.—Type which is broader
than usual, or in which the heavy lines are heavier than
common.
 

Fat Form.-

Obsolete.
 

-When the pressman has a single pull.
 

The best hour for McCann was 2,150, and for Barnes
2,093 ems.    A prior contest had taken place in New

186
 

Father of the Chapel.—The presiding officer of a
chapel or organization of workmen in a printing-office.
See Chapel.

Faulkner, George.—The first who carried print¬
ing to a high degree of credit in Ireland. He was in the
employment of Bowyer in London in 1726, and went to
Dublin shortly after. He was the confidential printer
of Dean Swift and
enjoyed the friend¬
ship and patronage
of Lord Chesterfield.
He made a fortune
by his newspaper, the
Journal, and died on
August 28,1775.

Faust.—See un¬
der Fust.

Faux-Titre (Fr.).
—Bastard title.

Favorite Press.
—A small jobbing-
press, made in New
York, and running
very smoothly and
easily. There is a
rotary motion of the

inking-plate, and at-                 favorite press.

tached to it is a foun¬
tain.   The bed is perpendicular and stationary, the tym¬
pan advancing to meet it, the press being operated either
by a treadle or by steam-power.