The Wonder Book of Knowledge: The Marvels of Modern Industry and Invention, the Interesting Stories of Common Things, the Mysterious Processes of Nature Simply Explained
History
The Wonder Book of Knowledge: The Marvels of Modern Industry and Invention, the Interesting Stories of Common Things, the Mysterious Processes of Nature Simply Explained
Industrial arts -- History
[Illustration: SINGLE SMALL CYLINDER PRESS, 1835-1900]
[Illustration: DOUBLE CYLINDER PRESS, 1835-1900
These presses were built up to 1900 and this picture shows the latest
design brought out about 1882.]
[Illustration: DOUBLE OCTUPLE NEWSPAPER WEB PERFECTING PRESS, 1903]
[Illustration: ELECTRIC-HEATED PNEUMATIC MATRIX-DRYING MACHINE, 1911]
As may well be conjectured, the twentieth century has had its share in
this career of progress, the perfected press of 1916 being credited with
the astounding output of 216,000 eight-page papers in an hour, all
folded, cut and counted in lots. Where part of the pages are printed in
three colors this press has still a running speed of 72,000 per hour.
This machine is composed of 27,100 separate pieces, it being 47 feet
long, 8 feet wide and 13 feet high, while such a mighty complication of
whirling wheels and oscillating parts nowhere else exists.
A word more and we are done. To feed such giant presses the old hand
method of setting and distributing type has grown much too slow. The
linotype machine has added greatly to the rapidity of this centuries-old
process. To this has been added the later monotype, of similar rapidity,
while type distributing has become in large measure obsolete, the types,
once used, going to the melting pot instead of to the fingers of the
distributors.
* * * * *
What do We Mean by the “Flying Dutchman”?
The Flying Dutchman is a phantom ship said to be seen in stormy weather
off the Cape of Good Hope, and thought to forbode ill luck. One form of
the legend has it that the ship is doomed never to enter a port on
account of a horrible murder committed on board; another, that the
captain, a Dutchman, swore a profane oath that he would weather the Cape
though he should beat there till the last day. He was taken at his word,
and there he still beats, but never succeeds in rounding the point. He
sometimes hails vessels and requests them to take letters home from him.
The legend is supposed to have originated in the sight of some ship
reflected from the clouds. It has been made the ground-work of one or
two novels and an opera by Wagner.
Why does a Duck’s Back Shed Water?
Nature has provided the duck with a protection against water just as she
has so wisely protected all animals against such elements as they have
to live in.
The feathers on a duck are very heavy and close together, and at the
bottom of each feather is a little oil gland that supplies a certain
amount of oil to each feather. This oil sheds the water from the back of
a duck as soon as it strikes the feathers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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