[Illustration: STEEL COMPOSING RULE.]
When the work to be taken in hand is a reprint which is to be followed
page for page, a fixed number of pages should be given to each compositor
as he comes in turn for copy; or, if the work be in manuscript, an equal
average amount should be allowed as a take for each compositor. None of
the hands should have access to the copy, but the foreman should deal it
out as wanted with perfect impartiality, fat or lean as it may happen to
run. Otherwise, a compositor who has an acquaintance with the copy may
be tempted to loiter if the next take to be given out be lean, or, if it
be fat, to apply for copy before his work in hand is finished. By this
course, the foreman will prevent all such sorts of sharp practice, and
secure harmony in the companionship. When the foreman gives out copy,
he should plainly mark the name of the compositor at the head of the
first page of the take if the work be a page-for-page reprint; if it be
manuscript, or a reprint in a different measure from that of the copy,
he should write the name at the beginning of the first paragraph of the
take. Most compositors desire to have a large portion of copy, under the
erroneous idea that it will be to their advantage to make up many pages
at once. Small takes insure a more rapid execution of the work and bring
a quicker return of letter, and so tend to the profit of the hands.
If one of the companionship absent himself, the man next in order should
close his copy, whether it be good or bad, unless the larger portion of
it be not set, in which case the person who has the last take must go on
with it.