History of the Typewriter

— 47 — CHAPTER IL BEFORE proceeding with the tale of the typewriter, and the various forms which it has taken and the improvements made from time to time therein, it may be desirable to consider two very important questions, namely, what the typewriter does, and how it is done. In order to carry out its objects, the typewriter contains two important sets of mechanism, viz. :—• The means by which the type is brought to the paper. The means whereby the paper is shifted. For the purpose of considering these points, we may assume that we have a machine—any machine having typebars will do—before us. We will go over this in- strument, point by point, and indicate what its chief parts consist of, what they do, and how they differ from other machines. The first and most noticeable feature of any machine is the keyboard. Perhaps the word “ manual ” would be more expressive, but as the former expression has passed into vogue, we will adhere to it in these pages, merely indi- cating our belief that it is not the best term that could have been devised. The first practicable machine on the market having been the Remington, let us examine the keyboard of the instru- ment. According to the latest and most approved form, this is as follows : 432 1 11 123 44 Fig. 31