History of the Typewriter

— 140 — CHAPTER VI. Typewheel Machines. The Hammond. THE marvellous pieces of mechanism which owe their existence to the creative power of James Bartlett Hammond, are the outcome of a protest against the tediousness of longhand writing. The facility as a short- hand writer which he had acquired in the course of his collegiate training had brought about a feeling of repugnance at longhand writing, and this feeling grew day by day, until at last Mr. Hammond found himself designing and sketching out a device which should serve as a substitute for the pen, and permit of a facile operation of mechanical principles which should render easy that which heretofore had been so laborious. As a student, he had acquired some acquaintance with mechanics, but lacked a practical know- ledge of the use of tools, which necessarily added to the difficulties before him. However, the dream of what might be continued ever present, and at last Mr. Hammond found himself engaged in working out a machine, having for its fundamental idea the plan of imprinting letters by the depression of corresponding keys, in the’ same way that a pianoforte, by depressing the requisite keys, gave forth musical sounds. At this time Mr. Hammond had not heard of the labours of Sholes and Gliddon, and the other members of that small band of experimentalists who were labouring, against all odds, to improve the fine art of writing. Within a year or so, however, he became aware of their efforts, but an inspection of their work, and a perusal of the patents issued to them, convinced Mr. Hammond that his own ideas were preferable, and likely to lead to better results. At the time he made his resolve to persevere with his invention he encountered three of the most powerful opponents that could be met with. He fell ill, he suffered