History of the Typewriter

—212— of space which the use of the segment instead of a complete typecircle necessitated, The carriage was fixed, the depression of the shift key to imprint capitals raising the basket, which fell of its own weight to lower case position again as soon as pressure was taken off the shift key. The ribbon did not have an automatic return, but required reversing when it had fed across the machine, the makers thus pursuing the policy adopted by them in the earlier non-visible machines. The various other features of the machine—margin stops, and locks, carriage release, feed roll release, etc.— all possessed the highest order of merit, and after a very careful inspection of this machine alongside a number of others of various makes, we could not help admiring its responsiveness, lightness of touch, and extreme simplicity. The Triumph Visible. In the machine now under review, which in some respects looks like a Bar-Lock, we find the visible writing principle carried out in a slightly different manner. The makers draw particularly strong attention to the circum- stance that writing, whether exactly on top of the platen, or whether exactly in front of the platen, can at times hardly be read, and they instance the difficulty of reading against the light a sheet of writing held at the same dis- tance from the eyes as typewriting would be from the operator but perfectly flat, or the same sheet, lower than the eyes, but quite upright, in support of their contention. They have therefore so built their machine that the type strikes the paper at an angle of ninety degrees. They consider this a very simple principle, and although it was difficult to apply it to a typewriter, yet it was finally accomplished, and for this reason they regard the Triumph as the only perfect visible typewriter. The Triumph, although selling at $60 only, is a very complete and likeable instrument. As will be seen, it is fitted with the universal keyboard, operating with a single shift key, the latter being in duplicate. It has not, how- ever, the many elaborations and fancy devices incorporated in other machines selling at a higher figure. In speed, the Triumph leaves little or nothing to be desired. The carriage runs on ball bearings, and the typebars strike and return quickly. The writing being in sight, it is considered that no expensive tabulator is