In taking a sheet off the heap, the pressman places himself almost
straight before the near side of the tympan, but nimbly twists the upper
part of his body a little backward toward the heap, the better to see
that he takes but one sheet off. This he loosens from the rest of the
heap by drawing the back of the nail of his right thumb quickly over the
bottom part of the heap, and, receiving the near end of the sheet with
his left-hand fingers and thumb, catches it by the farther edge with his
right hand, about four inches from the upper corner of the sheet, and
brings it swiftly to the tympan: having the sheet thus in both his hands,
he lays the farther side and two extreme corners of the sheet down even
upon the farther side and extreme farther corners of the tympan-sheet. In
the reiteration, care should be taken to draw the thumb on the margin,
or between the gutters, to avoid smearing the sheet. The sheet being
properly laid on, he supports it in the centre by the fingers of the
left hand, while his right hand, being disengaged, is removed to the
back of the ear of the frisket, to bring it down upon the tympan, laying
at the same moment the tympan on the form. He then, with his left hand,
grasps the rounce, and quickly runs the form under the platen; and, after
pulling, he gives a quick and strong pressure upon the rounce, to run
the carriage out again. Letting go the rounce, he places the fingers of
his left hand toward the bottom of the tympan, to assist the right hand
in lifting it up, and also to be ready to catch the bottom of the sheet
when the frisket rises, which he conveys quickly and gently to the catch:
while it is going up, he slips the thumb of his left hand under the near
lower corner of the sheet, which, with the aid of his two forefingers,
he raises, the right hand at the same time grasping it at the top in
the same manner. Lifting the sheet carefully and expeditiously off the
points, and nimbly twisting about his body toward the paper-bank, he
carries the sheet over the heap of white paper to the bank, and lays it
down upon a waste sheet or wrapper; but, while it is coming over the
white paper heap, though he has the sheet between both his forefingers
and thumbs, yet he holds it so loosely that it may move between them as
on two centres, as his body twists about from the side of the tympan
toward the side of the paper-bank.
When the pressman comes to a token sheet, he undoubles it, and smooths
out the crease with the back of the nails of his right hand, that the
face of the letter may print upon smooth paper; and, being printed off,
he folds it again, as before, for a token-sheet, when he works the
reiteration.
Having worked off the white paper of a form of twelves, he places his
right hand under the heap, and, his left hand supporting the end near
him, turns it over on the horse, with the printed side downward. If the
form be octavo, he places his left hand under the heap, supporting the
outside near end with his right hand, and turns it one end over the
other. All turning of the paper for reiteration is treated in one of
these modes. In performing this operation, he takes from the heap only as
much at once as he can well handle without disordering the evenness of
the sides of the paper.
Having turned the heap, he proceeds to work it off, as before described,
except that with the left hand he guides the point-holes over the points,
moving the sheet with the right hand, more or less, to assist him in so
doing. The token-sheets, as he meets with them, he does not fold down
again.