with the numbers _1_ to _31_ printed along the top. A movable metal
"spud," or tip, is used to show the due dates of each invoice, and to
enable the collection clerks to quickly find the desired copies of
charges for the purpose of sending out statements from three to five
days ahead of due dates.
=Styles of Type.= The size and style of type is a very important factor
in all classes of work where legible manifolding results are wanted.
There are several classes of type used in connection with billing
machines. Different companies use different names in describing them.
The four sizes of type used are as follows:
ELITE
PICA
MEDIUM ROMAN
LARGE (or full) ROMAN
_Elite._ This style has come into general use in connection with
correspondence. It gives a dignified style to a letter. It is the
hardest type to keep clean—the most destructive to the rubber roll and
typewriter ribbon of any type made. It also manifolds very poorly where
a number of copies are used, as the type is so small that the sixth or
seventh copy, and many times the third and fourth, are so blurred that
it is impossible to tell an _e_ from an _a_ or an _o_.
This style of type is sometimes used for making up tabulated statements
where it is desired to crowd a large number of figures to the inch.
_Pica._ This is the most generally used type of any. It manifolds quite
well up to six and seven copies. It is possible to write only ten
figures of this size to the inch.
_Medium Roman._ This is the next larger size type than the pica and, on
account of it being larger, it gives better manifolding results. It also
writes ten letters to an inch.
_Large Roman._ This is the size type which is used by railroad and
steamship companies for typewriting their way-bills. It is possible to
write only eight letters to an inch.
[Illustration:
Fig. 21. Forms Showing Properly Designed Stationery
]
_Gothic Type._ The term _Gothic_ indicates the style, and not the size
of the type. If the small points at the top and bottom of the Roman type
were removed (these points are called _serifs_) the effect would be that
of Gothic type. A very pleasing combination on a billing machine is two
different sizes of Gothic type, the larger size to be used for capital
letters, the smaller size for the small (or lower case) letters. Recent
practice has demonstrated the value of using capital Gothic letters of
one size, as it increases the legibility of an order or an invoice.
In manifolding, numerals should always be of the "open" kind, that is,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0, and not _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0_, as the former are
much the more legible.
=Carbon Paper.= There is no article which is so generally misused in the
commercial world and which is so little understood as carbon paper. In
order that the correct usage may be clearly understood a brief
description of its manufacture is given.
The chief ingredients of carbon paper are oil, wax, paper, and color.
Oils and waxes are used to give wearing surface, elasticity, and body to
the color mixture. Tissue paper—generally of imported quality—with a
fine, strong fiber is used. The quality must be first class in order to
insure absence of holes and other imperfections in the sheets. Generally
the sheets are cut 20 x 30 inches. A ream is regarded as containing 500
sheets. Three weights of paper are used, 4lb., 7lb., 10lb.,
respectively, meaning that 500 sheets of the above size of paper will
weigh the number of pounds named, according to the thickness of the
paper.
_Color._ The only really indelible color is black; that is because
carbon is the basis of the color. The colors which are used are powders
which have been ground as fine as possible. They are mixed in proper
proportions with oils and waxes. Formerly the mixture was applied by
hand, but great strides have been made in machinery for automatically
applying the color evenly to the paper. It is important that the color
or pigment be applied evenly to the paper and that it penetrates the
fiber. Unless the paper retains the pigment, the carbon paper will not
wear properly. The longer the color adheres to the paper, the longer it
can be used.
_Finish._ The finish of carbon paper is the factor which is so little
understood by the public. Carbon papers are finished with soft, medium,
and hard finishes. The first will hardly rub off on the hand under
pressure, the next will rub some, and the soft finish will smudge if
pressed against the hand. Each finish is intended for a definite use,
which will be explained later. The manifolding power of carbon paper
depends absolutely on the typewriter itself, the hardness of the rubber
roll, the touch of the operator, and the weight of paper, and lastly,
the finish of coating on the paper. Two operators on the same typewriter
can secure totally different results because one will have light, and
the other heavy, touch. The regular rubber rolls which are furnished
with typewriters are medium hard—in six months or a year they gradually
grow harder, eventually becoming as hard as slate. If a typewriter is to
be used for regular work as well as heavy manifolding, it should have
two different rolls, one for each kind of work. There is no reason for
using a medium hard rubber roll on the machine, getting poor results,
and then blaming the carbon paper. Use a hard rubber roll on the machine
and there will be no difficulty. Some makes of machines have
interchangeable rolls (known as _platens_) which are very useful. It is
the work of a minute only, to remove one and place the other on the
machine.
_Four-Pound Paper._ This class of carbon paper has a heavy, sensitive
coating, and is intended for heavy manifolding—for making from five to
twenty copies. Soft-finish carbon papers are always used where heavy
manifolding is to be done. The finish of the paper which is being
written upon is also a factor. Papers with a hard finish—that is, a
shiny surface—do not allow the color of the carbon paper to take hold,
and yet a paper with the soft finish will allow the color to spread, and
make a poor copy. This class of paper is also used for making a few
copies on very light-stroke machines like the Hammond.
_Seven-Pound Paper._ This weight of paper is adapted for making from one
to five copies. Being heavier than the four-pound, it will wear longer.
If coated heavily it will give more impressions than if lightly coated,
but the impressions will not be as clear and clean.
_Ten-Pound Paper._ This weight of paper is intended for use where one or
two copies are wanted. Its weight enables it to stand the hard usage to
which it is put. On one or two copies, the additional weight or
thickness of the carbon paper does not affect the imprint. This class of
paper is used with billing machines of all kinds.
_Full Carbon Papers._ This is a paper which is coated on both sides for
making a multiplicity of copies on tissue. The pieces of carbon paper
are placed between _every other piece_ of tissue paper and manifold on
the top of one sheet and the bottom of the next. This carbon paper is
used to reduce the bulk of paper in the typewriter—one-half as much
carbon paper being required. It is sometimes called _double_ carbon
paper, and is mostly used by railroads in making up way bills on yellow
(dandelion grade) tissue paper.
_Copy Carbon Papers._ This paper is for use where it is necessary or
desirable to make a carbon copy from which to make a letter-press copy.
Hektograph carbons are for making carbon copies to be used in a
hektograph.
_Pencil Carbons._ This class of carbon paper is made in the heavy grades
of paper from seven-pound to twenty-pound and is made full carbon in the
seven-pound weight.
_Pen Carbon._ This class of carbon paper is made in the seven-pound and
ten-pound weights.
_Troubles and Remedies._ Carbon papers made in summer have different
treatment in the matter of color mixture than those made in winter.
Users should always remember that carbon paper which has lain unused all
year has gradually dried out and depreciated in efficiency. The fresher
a carbon paper the better—therefore it is not economy to buy too large a
supply if it is liable to stand for more than six months. Never store
carbon paper near heat, nor in the direct rays of the sun.
The one great difficulty experienced with carbon paper is the streaked
effect called "treeing." This is caused by the carbon paper being
inserted unevenly between the sheets of paper used with it. Once
wrinkled, it remains so, and gives the streaked result as long as it
lasts. To guard against this trouble, the operator should watch that the
carbon paper is not wrinkled when inserting it between the sheets of
paper, and should press the release lever on the typewriter to release
the paper-feed rolls on the machine, after the paper is inserted in it,
so that the unequal tension of the paper and carbon paper may adjust
itself.
_Durability of Color._ Black paper made of carbon pigment is indelible
and most durable. Blue or purple papers are next in the order of
durability of color, and are made of aniline dyes. Green next, and red
next. The fact is that red and green carbon papers should not be used
for permanent records, as they will fade quickly.
_Wearing Quality of Paper._ Many times a typewriter will have a rubber
roll (platen) which has become pitted and worn from age and the use of
periods, commas, hyphens, and ditto marks. This is very destructive to
carbon paper. New rubber rolls should be placed on the machine. It is
not economy to use the cheap variety which can be purchased for 75 cents
and which is nothing more than rubber hose drawn over a wooden core. The
latter is not cylindrical and will give trouble. The type will print
unevenly and cause bad alignment, for which the machine will be blamed.
=Blinds.= _Blind_ is the name given to a sheet of paper used in
connection with manifold work for preventing all of the information on
the top sheets from being manifolded on certain of the sheets
underneath.
For instance, in describing the scheme for providing the packing
department with a description of the goods to be shipped, but with the
quantity column blank, it will be remembered how a strip of paper of
proper size wide enough to cover the quantity column was placed over the
left side of the invoice from top to bottom. Therefore all quantities,
instead of manifolding onto the packer's sheet, manifolded onto the
strip of paper known as the _blind_.
A blind may be of any given shape, and cut away at the top, side, or
bottom; or, in some cases, irregular-shaped cuts are made in the middle
of the sheet or near the edges. The cuts are made in order to allow
certain information to be manifolded on the next sheet under the blind.
The balance of the information on the top sheet is manifolded onto the
blind, which is thrown away. It is reasoned that it is cheaper to use a
sheet of paper for this purpose than it is to stop and make a separate
sheet with part of the information only, typewritten thereon.
HOW TO HANDLE ORDERS AND BILLS ON BILLING MACHINES
=Loose-Leaf Sheets with Invoices in Blanket Form.= In some lines of
business it is possible to use invoices of equal size. Some firms
therefore have the invoices and sales sheets of equal size. The top
sheet is perforated horizontally at equal distances, which permits the
invoices to be torn apart so that one blanket of form invoices may be
separated into three or four separate invoices. This plan can be used
where the work is done on an ordinary letter-writing machine. In
preparing the papers for billing, a sheet of carbon equal in size to the
sales sheet is used. A heavy-weight carbon (10lb.) with hard finish is
the best kind of carbon to use for this work. If an extra sales sheet is
needed for any purpose, a duplicate sheet of paper, preferably of
another color, can be used with another sheet of carbon interleaved
between the two sales sheets. This method is wasteful of space as far as
the sales sheet is concerned. If each invoice were loose and placed in
the machine in such a manner that the first written line on the invoice
would be two or three spaces only below the last item of the previous
invoice manifolded on the sales sheet, generally _one more_ invoice of
average size could be manifolded onto the sales sheet.
=Loose-Leaf Sales Sheet with Separate Invoices.= This combination is
made possible by the billing machine, the flat-bed and the cylinder
style. Cylinder billing machines are equipped with special carriages
having special feed rolls which hold the sales sheet until it is fed
entirely through the machine. Cylinder machines also have an independent
feed roll which can be released by a special lever. This permits an
invoice to be inserted in the machine, and then clamped into position by
the intermediate feed roll and fed through the machine with the sales
sheet until the invoice is completed. The intermediate feed roll is then
released, and the invoice removed without disturbing the sales sheet.
The next invoice is then placed in position, and the same operation is
repeated. This allows one invoice to be manifolded very nearly under the
previous invoice. Some firms having invoices of one or two items only,
which permits of from seven to nine invoices being manifolded on each
page, have the invoices made up in blanket form; that is, seven or eight
invoices to a strip. After each invoice is manifolded they advance the
next invoice into position and then tear the invoices apart as
previously described.
=Carbon Paper Cut for this Class of Work.= Some operators doing
condensed billing work prefer to use carbon paper the same size as the
invoice, and to remove the carbon paper each time an invoice is
completed. This necessitates a great deal of handling of carbon paper.
It is preferable to use a large sheet of carbon paper the same size as
the sales sheet, feeding it through the billing machine with the sales
sheets. This eliminates the necessity of picking up a piece of carbon
paper each time an invoice is placed in the machine. With the former
method, if one had four invoices to one page of a sales sheet, it
required one to pick up the same piece of carbon paper four times, or
once with each invoice. The latter plan necessitates handling the carbon
paper once only, when the sales sheet is placed in the machine. The
operator positions the second or third invoice on a sales sheet, in
order to avoid writing over the previous invoice, by spacing the
carriage three times after an invoice is completed.
=Using the Sheets Serially.= All sales sheets should be serially
numbered, in order that when placed in a binder the loss of any sheet
may be detected by a missing number. Some firms prefer to use one side
of a sales sheet only. In this case, a sales binder holding 375 sheets
would have 375 pages. Where the sheets are numbered on both sides, the
sales binder would have 750 pages. If the appearance of a page is marred
by an invoice being spoiled, that sheet is not thrown away, and the fact
that it is not is an incentive for the operator to do good work.
=Handling Credit Memoranda.= Some firms prefer to handle their credit
memoranda on different-colored paper (generally pink) for both invoices
and the large sheets which correspond to sales sheets. All of the rules
which govern the making of invoices and loose-leaf sales sheets apply to
the execution of credit memoranda.
=General Remarks Regarding Billing Machines.= The flat-bed billing
machine enlarged somewhat upon the idea of using special characters for
certain abbreviations peculiar to various lines of trade. For instance,
in the shoe business, the following abbreviations are some of those
used:
WOM means Women's
CHI " Child's
BOYS' " Boys'
BAL " Balmorals
BLU " Bluchers
PR " Pair
PRS " Pairs
DOZ " Dozens
The cylinder machines have adopted the same plan. In the cylinder
machines there are two distinct classes—those having two type to a
type-bar, such as the Remington and the Underwood, and those having one
type to a type-bar, with double the number of bars, such as the
Smith-Premier. Both classes of machines can use special characters, but
the machines having one type only to a bar have a preference in that
they have more room in which to place special characters.
There is considerable saving in the use of special characters, as
evidenced by the following example:
_OCT 14 09._
This necessitates nine strokes where each letter is written
separately. Had this been written by three special characters, it
would have necessitated five strokes only. The special characters
would be used as follows: _OCT._-space-_14_-space-_09_.
To the uninitiated, it would seem that a special character of three
letters, such as the abbreviation OCT., would occupy three spaces on the
machine, and consequently would overlap on the word at the right. This
is obviated by placing the type on the type-bar in such a manner that
the letter T of the abbreviation is in the printing point of the paper.
The following illustration will show how the type are placed or aligned
in order to secure the desired results:
_OCT_ _14_ _09_
│ │ │
As the month always precedes the next word, the abbreviation _OCT_ is
aligned so that the two first letters are to the left of the printing
point. In case a machine were equipped with numbers for all the days of
the month, the character _14_ would be aligned to print either side of
the printing point. As the abbreviation _09_ would always follow and
never precede, it would be aligned with the _0_ in the printing point,
with the _9_ printing to the right of it. It is very important to have
special characters properly aligned so that the abbreviations which
always _precede_ are aligned to print on the last letter, and the
abbreviations which _follow_ are aligned to print on the first letter.
It is impossible to print abbreviations in solid matter such as a
letter. They are only to be used in connection with dates of invoices or
orders, in connection with names of firms. For instance, the
abbreviation _Messrs._, at the beginning of a firm name where such a
term is desired, or the abbreviation _Co._ at the end of a firm name or
the abbreviations _Pr._, _Doz._, _Gro._, and similar abbreviations, come
in the body of a bill and, preferably, in the first column after the
quantity.
It should be remembered that when the rubber platen of a billing machine
becomes worn and cut with holes incident to the use of periods, commas,
hyphens, etc., the special character type will sometimes print heavy at
the top and light at the bottom of the letter, or _vice versâ_. This is
remedied to some extent by placing a new rubber roll on a cylinder
billing machine, or a new rubber covering on a flat-bed billing machine.
Special characters are used to a better advantage on the under-stroke
(or blind machine) than on the visible machine. In the latter, the
type-bars are all grouped in less than a half circle, which necessarily
crowds the type-bars a little closer together, and therefore does not
permit of special characters of a large size.
=Tabulators on Billing Machines.= It is absolutely essential that every
billing machine be furnished with either a single-stop (known as a
_column-stop_) tabulator or a decimal tabulator, preferably the latter.
A single-stop tabulator is used as follows:
On the billing machine frame rests a bar on which metal stops or pegs
are placed at predetermined intervals. By pressing the column stop, the
carriage holding the paper is released, and jumps automatically to the
first stop. After the information is written, the stop is again pressed,
and the machine jumps automatically to the next printing point. The
following example shows the use of the column stop:
John Jones Marion, Ind. XXV
A. B. Smith Washington, D. C. XXX
G. Barnes Seattle, Wash. XXX
The following example shows the use of the decimal tabulator:
10.50
.50
150.25
15560.65
With the decimal tabulator, the operator would press the tens key, which
automatically places the carriage in a position to begin writing the
amount _10.50_. If the column stop were used for this purpose, it would
have stopped the machine at the period point, and necessitated the
operator pushing the carriage two points to the right in order to begin
printing two points to the left of the decimal points. Some operators
place the column stop so that the machine always stops at the tens
point, and if an amount of 1.00 or less is to be written, they use the
space key. This is quicker than to always stop at the decimal point and
then position the carriage properly by hand. However, where any
tabulated work involving figures which vary greatly is to be done, it is
decided economy to use a decimal tabulator. Most operators do not see
the advantage of using tabulators, and in many instances will continue
to waste time spacing the machine with the space bar. If they would
avail themselves of the tabulator device they would jump from one part
of the line to the next desired point instantaneously. It should be
remembered that billing work is a constant repetition of certain manual
movements. If one movement in ten can be eliminated, it is equivalent to
saving one hour in ten. To show the great advantage of, and it might be
said, necessity for, time saving and short cuts in large establishments,
a device used by Butler Bros., a large mail-order house with warehouses
in several of the large cities, is an excellent illustration. This
particular scheme is used in Jersey City, N. J. It consists of two rows
of billing machine operators (sixty-five in number) placed in parallel
positions with an endless belt running between them, and two checking
clerks at the end of the row. As fast as the operators transcribe the
orders onto the order forms, the original and typewritten order (with
departmental copies) are placed on the belt and carried automatically to
the checker's desk.
The rubber belt passes over a pulley at the edge of the checker's desk,
which allows the orders to fall from the belt to the desk. The belt
returns to the end of the line, where it revolves around another pulley.
The power is furnished by a small electric motor.
=Arrangement of Billing Machines in Large Business Houses.= In large
businesses in the wholesale dry goods, wholesale notions, and kindred
lines, special arrangement enables a few billing machines to accomplish
a large amount of billing. In these classes of business, it is the
custom to call the lot number, class of goods, and the number of yards
to the bill-clerk, who in turn enters it on the bill and duplicate. The
system used will be described elsewhere. Here it is desired to touch
upon the movable-platform idea only. The operator is seated on an
elevated platform on which is placed the billing machine and the chair.
This platform has rollers, and can be moved in the aisle between two
rows of counters on which the goods to be shipped are placed. As soon as
the callers call off the lot numbers, description, and quantities of one
shipment, the billing machine operator moves the platform to the next
lot of goods, which enables him to hear the caller clearly wherever the
caller may be. If the bill clerk were permanently located in one portion
of the room, he would be liable to make errors through misunderstanding
the caller. A scheme which is largely used in those classes of business
which demand the "call off system" or, as they term it, "billing from
call" is to call off the word _sixty-five_ as if it were _sixity-five_,
and the word _fifty-five_ as if it were _fifity-five_. This prevents
confusion between these amounts which sound so much alike. Some firms
_for sixty-five_ use the term _sticky-five_.
=Use of Computing Machines in Connection with Billing.= Many firms use
computing machines such as the comptometer for proving the extensions on
invoices. With a machine of this character, it is possible to figure all
of the extensions. The machine at the same time automatically adds the
totals, and, if there are discounts to be taken off the bill, this
operation can be performed without clearing the machine. For instance,
in the following example:
12 yards lace 50 $6.00
15 yards ruching 10 1.50
24 doz. hdchfs. 12.00 288.00
------
$295.5
25% 221.63