History of the Typewriter

— 176 — Fig. 133 printed transversely across a continuous strip of paper, a word being printed at one stroke in plain English letters. An ordinary typewriter is handicapped in the matter of speed by the fact that only one key can be struck and only one finger used at a time—nine fingers being always idle. By this invention the keyboard is so constructed that all the keys can be operated simultaneously. The machine has only sixteen printing keys, arranged in pairs so that each finger can operate two ; hence, sixteen characters can be printed at each stroke if needed ; and by the use of a pair of shift keys at each side of the keyboard, the capacity of each printing key is increased, just as the use of a shift key on the ordinary typewriter enables the operator to print either a small letter or a capital by using or not using the shift. On the Anderson machine, however, the shift keys and the printing keys are struck together and the hands remain substantially in one position, simply moving up and down, each finger above the pair of keys assigned to it, instead of darting here and there over a large key- board. One downward movement of the hands prints the word, and as soon as they are lifted the machine automati- cally shifts the paper forward ready for the next word. It is claimed that this machine can be operated at the rate of 100 words a minute after six weeks’ practice, and that its possibilities in the way of speed are greater than those of stenography ; “ that it will not only save the 'time now spent in learning shorthand, but will do away with errors and illegible notes, and that in courts and large mercantile establishments, a corps of typewriter copyists can be kept busy transcribing while a single Anderson operator is taking.” But the prophecy has not yet commenced to mature !