History of the Typewriter

—189— Thus, the greater the pressure the greater is the resistance afforded, and vice versa. The device is so simple and so very effective as to command the admiration of all who see it. The ribbon is carried on two spools, fixed to the mam frame of the machine, on which it travels in the usual way; the ribbon movement mechanism, however, is unusually simple, and has so few parts that it is practically impossible for it to get out of order. We now invite the attention of the reader to the front scale-bar of the machine, as shown in the illustration. The indicator, in the centre of the carriage frame, is used, not for the purpose of locating work, for this is all in sight, but for the dual purpose of setting the marginal stops in front and the tabular stops in the rear. The marginal stops are placed on the rod immediately below the front scale, the left stop, regardless of its position on the rod, also ingeniously performing the function of ringing the bell and thus denoting the end of the writing • 1 , < J The marginal stop release key is conveniently placeci above the left shift-key. The paper fingers or guides slide easily on the loci just above the platen. For convenience, when handling heavy carbon work or stencils, these fingers can be folded over on a hinged joint, and the pressure they exert on the work in the platen is just enough to cause it to be held firmly and no more. There is no risk of scratching the stencil sheets or of smudging heavy carbon work. The Underwood is a good stencil cutter. In this respect it pays a tribute to its rivals by admitting their powers, but justly claims to be equal to the best of them in every way. As a manifolder its capabilities are unequalled. Ihe average typewriter, when large numbers of sheets are inserted, produces indifferent alignment, owing to the fact that letters coming from all directions, as from circulai type-baskets, do not find their proper printing point , but on the Underwood the common centre is not changed, because they arrive at the printing point from one direction. Corrections are very easily made, for there is no need to consult scales or perform any mental calculations. Just erase the error, bring the gap left by the erasuie opposite the type-guide or alignment lock, and then print in the desired letter. Like all the rest of the machine, this is simple and clear.