Unwrap carefully the page received from the type-founder, and, laying
it on a galley, soak it thoroughly with thin soap-water, to prevent the
types from adhering to one another after they have been used a short
time. Then, with a stout rule or reglet, lift as many lines as will make
about an inch in thickness, and, placing the rule close up on one side of
the bottom of the proper box, slide off the lines gently, taking care not
to rub the face of the letter against the side of the box. Proceed thus
with successive lines till the box is filled.
Careless compositors are prone to huddle new types together, and,
grasping them up by handfuls, plunge them pell-mell into the box, rudely
jostling them about to crowd more in. This is an intolerable practice.
The type left over should be kept standing on galleys, in regular order,
till the cases need replenishment. A fount of five hundred pounds of Pica
may have, say, four cases allotted to it; the same amount of Nonpareil,
from eight to ten cases.