press room, who are journeymen, form the chapel in each department,
(for they seldom unite,) in which one of the number is elected,
during pleasure, as president, or _The Father_, as he is styled.
In their assembled body they enjoin regulations, and enforce their
due observance; they also take cognizance of any disputes, and any
grievance that may be complained of, that arise within the chapel,
when called upon for that purpose; and there is no appeal from their
decision.
The chapel is in general sanctioned by the master printer, on
account of some of the rules tending to the preservation of his
property;--such as the infliction of a fine on any one connected with
the house leaving the premises without putting out his candle or
leaving it in charge, or for throwing types, quadrats, or furniture,
at another; and for the regular despatch of business, so far as
regards the forwarding of work in general--but in addition the
workmen make particular regulations for themselves, with regard to
their own mode of working in companionship, &c. The chapel will also,
if appealed to, enforce these bye laws, if I may so term them.
The fine for leaving a candle burning, is, I believe, never remitted;
it is generally sixpence for a workman, double for the overseer, and
half a crown for the master of the house.
The person who first sees the candle extinguishes it and delivers
the candlestick to the Father, who keeps it till the fine is either
paid, or promised to be paid; for Monday is the regular pay day in a
printing office.
There are frequently a number of devices resorted to to induce a
workman to go out after the candles are lighted, for the sake of the
fine--the open air being the boundary--such as saying, a person is
below who wants to speak to Mr. ----; this is usually avoided by the
party giving his candle in charge; that is, saying to some one, _Mr.
----, take charge of my candle_. This person then becomes responsible
for the charge as well as for his own candle, and has to pay for both
should he leave the house without putting them out, or giving them in
charge to some other person.
I have previously said that the office of Father is during pleasure,
although I am aware that Mr. Hansard, in his Typographia, has stated
it to be otherwise; but I have known instances of the Father being
deposed, after having held the office for many years, and a successor
appointed and deposed within a fortnight, merely for the sake of the
initiatory fine, which is usually a gallon of porter. These instances
have occurred when a flush of business caused an additional number
of men to be employed in a printing office; some of whom being of a
thoughtless disposition, and thinking they could outvote the sedate
and the sober part of the workmen, call a chapel for the most trivial
purposes, which thus becomes a hinderance to business, as it takes
the whole of the men from their work.
But this evil produces its own remedy, when it is carried to too
great an extent. Workmen get tired of being called from their
employment, and losing time continually, on trifling objects in which
they feel no interest: and they check the evil by fining those who
call the chapel, when it is evident that liquor is the motive for
calling it.
I remember an instance when calling chapels had become a grievance
from their frequency, in which the party was so completely checked,
that he never ventured to call another. It occurred during a flush
of work, when there were temporary hands employed, some of whom were
partial to liquor, and eager to fine any one in order to obtain it.
After deposing the Father two or three times, and calling chapels
many times unnecessarily, a person left his candle burning one
evening, and another passing his frame observed, _Here’s a candle
left; whose is it?_ The reply was, Mr.----’s.--_If I had known that,
I would have put it out._ This was sufficient to bring the individual
before the chapel, as it was held to be an attempt to defraud it of
its due, of which the chapel is very jealous. Well, a chapel was
called to take cognizance of the charge, without a doubt that they
should levy a good fine for what they looked on as a great offence:
but the established workmen of the house, and some of the additional
men, had got tired of these repeated calls from their employment; and
it being proved in the defence, that a party in the house had been
for some time expressing a desire to fine this individual, who was of
a warm temper, and had brought a charge against him for a thoughtless
expression that was not acted on, the chapel decided that it was a
conspiracy against him, acquitted him, and laid a heavy fine upon the
accuser.
No person but the Father can call a chapel, which is generally held
at the imposing stone: and when any one wishes to appeal to it, he
notifies the same to the Father, stating the objects generally, and
accompanying the notification with a penny. The Father will sometimes
decline to call the chapel, where the object appears trivial; but if
the notification be accompanied with the value of a gallon of porter,
it is imperative on him to call it, under the penalty of being
deposed.
The chapel never assembles without the fee of a gallon of porter, in
addition to the fine it may impose; and this fee is always paid, even
when it assembles to settle any disputed matter between workmen, when
no fine is levied.
If any workman refuses to attend when a chapel is summoned, after
being called on by the Father for that purpose, the first business is
to proceed to judgment on him for contumacy, which is always punished
by a fine;--the chapel then proceeds to the business for which it
was called, and when the members cannot agree in their decision,
or when the matter becomes personal, they decide by chalking. For
this purpose, a large galley is placed on a frame, in that part of
the room which is most private and cannot be overlooked, and a line
drawn down the middle of it, and at the top over each column is
written _for_ and _against_, or _yes_ and _no_; one of the members
then makes a mark, usually on the lenient side, which saves him from
ill will, as it must be known on which side he gives his decision;
the second generally marks the contrary side, so that the following
persons cannot discover how any have voted. The Father, when all have
chalked, examines the number on each side, and declares the judgment
of the chapel.
It is an invariable rule that the chapel can do no wrong; and it is
a crime to find fault with its decisions, which it would certainly
punish with a fine if called on for that purpose, and the case was
proved. All wagers of half a gallon of porter, or more, go to the
chapel, so that they are never evaded, as the liquor is sent for by
the chapel, which adjudges who shall pay for it: the consequence is,
that when the object is to obtain drink, and perhaps a young man
from the country to act on, who is ignorant of the London customs,
the cases are often of the most preposterous kind; for instance,
an experienced hand has been known to assert in such a case that a
mallet was a planer, and to call it by that name, and then offer
a wager, in support of his assertion, to the young man, who has
accepted it. The chapel decided that it was a planer, and the
stranger had to pay for summoning the chapel, and also the amount of
the wager, by way of initiation.
The chapel also decides all disputes that may arise in the house, as
well private, if it be appealed to, as those which may arise when
two or more are employed on the same piece of work, and frequently
fixes the price which shall be paid for it; for in doubtful cases a
workman will prefer taking the collective opinion of his fellows, to
acting on his own judgment, as it may affect them all. In this case
the person who is on the work must not take less than the chapel
fixes, without permission; and if the employer will not pay it, he,
of course, must quit his situation. If, after the chapel has fixed
a price for a piece of work, a man should venture to do it for a
reduced price, he becomes a “Rat.”
In a press room there is sometimes a fine for men throwing water at
each other, which dirties and spoils the paper;--and in hot summer
weather, when a man has been desirous of a draught of porter, an
instance has been known of his falling down in a pretended fit, and
when another in kindness has procured some cold water and sprinkled
his face with it, the other has jumped up and accused him of throwing
water at him, on which he has had to pay the fine.
If any member of the chapel should be hardy enough to oppose its
decisions, there are a number of ways practised to bring him, and
even the most obstinate, to submission. Every chapel is haunted by an
imaginary spirit, named Ralph; and when any person refuses to obey
its mandates, this spirit begins to _walk_, as it is termed. The
first act is, in general, to hide the offender’s composing stick;
if this does not answer, his galleys are secreted; then the page
cords, which secure his work, are cut, and his labour rendered more
than useless, because he has to distribute his pie as well as to
recompose his matter; if he still remains contumacious, the whole
of the types in his cases are transposed, so that he cannot proceed
in his business; and if he should still set the chapel at defiance,
he is smoked, all the members of the chapel surrounding his frame,
each with a lighted match of brimstone, and singing a doleful ditty;
after this he is sent to Coventry, and every man becomes amenable to
the chapel, if he assists him, gives him any information, or speaks
to him; so that he must either submit to the penalties inflicted, or
leave the house. When he submits, his apparatus is restored, and the
types properly arranged again in his cases.
Apprentices never belong to the chapel; neither is the master of the
house, nor the overseer, ever allowed to be present when one is held.
Many master printers are decidedly against chapels, as tending to
encourage drinking, and the neglect of business; where this has been
the case within my knowledge, the grievance has remedied itself,
for the sober and industrious prevent the evil going to an extreme;
and where there are a number of men employed, the majority will be
found opposed to being called from their work repeatedly to decide on
fractious or quibbling questions, in which they feel no interest;
and by fining a busy meddling person, they put a stop to the frequent
calling of chapels, which, as I have said before, are, generally
speaking, promoted by temporary workmen, who seldom stop long in
a house, and on whose departure the business is carried on in the
regular manner, while, if one or two continue to work in the house,
they soon fall into the old customs of the permanent men; for among
the established workmen of a house chapels are seldom called.
It has also been objected to them that they tend to excite an
opposition to the employer on the question of wages. This may have
happened; but wherever I have seen a question respecting prices
brought before a chapel, I have always seen it discussed in a fair
manner, and the value estimated impartially,--the scale being kept
in view for any thing nearly similar;--for among a number of workmen
there will always be found men of principle, who would not sanction
an unreasonable demand for the temporary advantage of a few shillings
a week; and these men have always great influence in the decision.
Upon the whole, when I take into account the decreased risk from
fire, owing to the fine for candles--the prevention of waste of
materials, by throwing them about--the appeal for wrongs done in
companionships, or for neglect, or throwing impediments in the way
of business, and remedying them--I am of opinion that the advantages
attending chapels outweigh their disadvantages, and that the business
is carried on with more regularity and promptitude with them than
without them, particularly when it is taken into account that the
rules and regulations laid down by the employer for the governing of
his house, are adopted by the workmen and become chapel laws.
As many of the customs of chapels are passing away, I have been
rather more diffuse in this article than the mere definition of the
term might seem to require; but as I am not aware that any preceding
writer has explained a chapel, I have been led to do so, that the
knowledge of old customs might not be entirely lost. _See_ RULES.
CHAPEL LAWS.
The regulations adopted by the men in chapel assembled, for
preserving good order in the office, are called chapel laws.
CHARGE,
{ paper with great pages.
is to fill { a page with long and many lines.
{ a line with many letters.--_M._
This term is not in general use: we are more in the custom of saying
a full sheet, a full page, a full line.
CHARITABLE DONATIONS. _See_ DONATIONS.
CHASE.
An iron frame to fasten types in to print with.--_M._
A great revolution has taken place with respect to chases. They were
formerly made thin and narrow, but are now made thicker, which gives
more safety to a form in quoining; and they are made much broader,
both in the rim and the crosses, which adds to their strength and
durability.
It is customary to dovetail the crosses into the rim of wrought iron
chases, and to have mortises for duodecimos and eighteens, so as to
move the crosses according to the size of the work for which the
chase is wanted. This plan is convenient in many instances, but it is
in many others inconvenient and wasteful.
It is necessary to have chases in an office with the crosses loose,
to a limited extent, as they could not well be dispensed with on many
occasions; but I would have as few as possible; for the mortises
in the rim cut the quoins to pieces, and the loose crosses are
frequently used for pokers, and for tightening quoins in forms when
they get slack. By these means they are bent and destroyed, and
the chases to which they belong are rendered nearly useless. The
loose crosses have also another disadvantage: they frequently get
mislaid or lost when taken out for folios, or broadsides, and when
the chase is wanted for any other size, the cross cannot be found,
and the compositor, or person who has the care of the furniture, is
obliged to take such a cross as he can meet with, and which he can
drive into the mortises with a mallet; this cross is sometimes of a
different thickness from the right one, and affects the register of
the pages in working, particularly if the furniture and the chase be
transposed, as too frequently occurs through carelessness.
There is less waste and destruction when the crosses are rivetted
into the rim; for the chases are then always ready for use--the
crosses can never be mislaid nor destroyed--and the whole implement
is much more durable than when the parts are separate.
Cast iron chases are now coming greatly into use, and answer the
purpose very well. The crosses are fast, the whole chase being cast
in one piece, so that there must be chases for each size, viz.
folios, quartos, and duodecimos; the crosses fixed for these sizes
will answer every other, except broadsides. They are cast from a card
chase to the largest size; and stand locking up and the usual wear,
without breaking. These chases are much cheaper than those made of
wrought iron.
There are some chases now made with the inside of the rim bevelled
off from the cross to the angle, to answer the purpose of sidesticks
and footsticks; a piece of broad, or narrow, being used at the sides
and feet of the pages. This plan appears to be economical with regard
to furniture.
The usual practice in cutting chases for 18mo. is to place the long
cross about one third of the width from one of the sides of the
chase, and two thirds from the other, for the purpose of making it
fall in one of the backs; by this mode one of the quarters in the
offcut has only two pages in it, so as hardly to admit of quoin room,
the other has four; and the remainder of the form is also divided
unequally, one side of the long cross having four pages, and the
other eight pages. This method of imposing an 18mo. is inconvenient,
and the large quarter is in danger of falling out. The plan appears
to have been adopted merely to cause the long cross to fall in one
of the backs, which is of no consequence whatever. I have always
imposed eighteens in chases cut for 12mo. which I prefer; for the
quarters being more equal, make the locking up more secure, and the
only difference in the imposition is, that the long cross falls in a
gutter, instead of a back.
Mr. T. C. Hansard took out a patent for “Improvements on, and
Additions to, Printing Presses, and various Processes relative to
Printing.” Among the different articles are chases, which Mr. Hansard
thus describes:--“The Demi- (or half-) Chases are made so as to
contain the pages imposed within a less measure of square than usual.
One side of the rim is made particularly straight, and rather less
in breadth than the other three sides: this narrow side forms the
part to lie in the middle of the Table of the Press: by turning a
pair of chases so made on contrary faces, the two narrow sides will
join and form as one chase. The pages are not in these chases, as in
others for all sizes above Folios, locked-up by having side sticks
and quoins on all four sides, but only on one side, and at each end.
The inner Forme being locked up on the right side only, and at each
end, and the outer Forme on the left side only, and at each end; and
the margin being made when the two demi-chases are laid together on
the Imposing Stone, as if the same were one large chase of double
dimensions, the pages will require no more margin in the centre of
the double sheet, than a fair equal proportion for the division of
margin. The chases must be made in proportion to the size of the work
intended to be executed.”
CHEEKS.
The upright sides of a printing press.--_M._
CHEEK THE BAR.
Pulling the bar of the press till it touches the near cheek. In good
work I would always have the pull so justified that when the bar
was pulled home, or cheeked, it should occasion the proper degree
of pressure of the platen upon the form; this would in some degree
assist in procuring equal impressions through all the copies printed;
but in heavy or large forms it would be too great an exertion for
the pressman to continue doing without some assistance, as such work
requires to rest on the pull. I adopted a catch for the bar when
cheeked, in some presses, which completely answered the purpose, and
enabled the pressman to rest on his pull as long as was necessary,
without overstraining his arms. _See_ CATCH OF THE BAR.
CHEMISTRY. _See_ ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES. FORMULÆ, CHEMICAL.
CHOKE.
If a form be not washed in due time, the ink will get into the
hollows of the face of the letter: and that getting in of the ink is
called Choking of the Letter, or Choking of the Form--_M._ It is also
said, the letter is choked with ink, or the form is choked with ink,
when too much is used.
CIMBRIC. _See_ RUNIC.
CIRCUMFLEX. _See_ ACCENTED LETTERS. CARET.
CITIES AND TOWNS, ANCIENT NAMES OF. _See_ NAMES.
CLAW
of a sheep’s foot. The end to draw the ball nails out of the ball
stocks.--_M._
CLAWS, for Stereotype Risers. _See_ RISERS.
CLEAN PROOF.
When a proof has but few faults in it, it is called a _Clean
Proof_.--_M._ It is also called a clean proof when it is printed
after being corrected, to be sent out, or to be read for press--that
is, the pressmen take more care in printing it, and keep the margins
clean.
CLEAN SHEETS.
Authors and publishers have generally one copy of each sheet of a
work sent to them as it is printed, for the purpose of reference,
and to see the progress of the work; these copies are called _clean
sheets_. _See_ TOPS.
CLEARING AWAY.
When a work is completed, clearing away is the distributing of
headlines, chapters, lines of small capitals, and other useful sorts,
taking the lines of quadrats away, and tying up the remainder of the
matter in moderate sized pieces with old page cord, so as to be ready
to be papered up; and tying the furniture, reglets, and leads up, and
delivering them to the proper person, who takes charge of them.
The compositor, after laying up the form to be cleared away and
washing it well--and matter ought never to be cleared away without
undergoing this process--takes a page into a galley--an old one
generally--and picks out the leads, if it be leaded matter; he will
then push the matter up from the foot and put another page on his
galley, and take the leads out of it also; he will then take the
headlines away, and put them on another galley; then take the lines
of quadrats and reglets out, and put them on a paper under his frame,
then the chapters, contents of chapters, any lines with words of
Greek, or other useful sorts, and, after pushing the matter close
up together, he will tie it firmly up, in pieces rather longer than
a full sized octavo page, and if a short line happens to fall at
the bottom, put it in some other situation, so that the top and the
bottom shall be full lines. He will thus proceed, till his sheet or
other quantity be all tied up, taking care to make his pieces of
equal lengths, for the convenience of piling them up in the letter
closet.
If the work should be in very small pages, so that two in width would
not be wider than a large octavo page, he will put two together, side
by side, to prevent papering the matter up in long narrow slips.
Having tied all the matter up for papering, he will either place it
on a board in a rack, or put it in some other place where cleared
away matter is usually deposited till papered up; he will then
distribute his headlines, chapters, contents, and other useful sorts
into their proper places; and if there be not room in the cases for
the quadrats, he will put them into the proper drawers in which the
surplus quadrats are kept.
If the work be in folio or quarto, he will tie it up in
proportionally sized pieces.
He will then tie up his leads; and if there be any of different
thicknesses, he will, of course, assort them, and tie them up
separately: he takes a moderate quantity, if they be octavo leads,
rather more than the length of a page of matter, and places a piece
of reglet at each end of it, to guard the outside leads from injury
by the tightening of the cord, and making a slip knot at one end of a
piece of old page cord, he places the leads in the noose, and draws
it as tight as the cord will bear, then turns the leads over upon the
spare cord and draws it tight; he thus proceeds turning the leads
over upon the spare cord, and drawing it tight, till he has got turns
sufficient round the leads to secure them, and tucks in the end of
the cord under the turns two or three times, drawing it tight; he
knocks up the ends of the leads upon the imposing stone, gently, not
to injure them, and when he has thus tied them all up, he puts them
along with his matter.
He ties his reglets up in the same manner, and puts them with the
leads.
He puts the quoins into the quoin drawer.
He inquires of the proper person whether the furniture is to be tied
up, or put into the drawers; if the latter, he assorts it--side and
foot sticks, gutters, broads, narrows, reglets, and scaleboards, and
puts each into its separate drawer; if it be to be tied up, he puts
the scaleboard into its proper drawer, and arranges the others neatly
and ties them firmly together with old page cord, and delivers them
and the chases to the proper person, who may be either the overseer,
or some person appointed to take care of the materials.
CLEARING PIE.
To separate from each other in the confused mass, and assort the
different kinds and sizes of types, and to distribute them into their
respective cases; if there be a large quantity of any particular
fount, or founts, it is usual to compose them into pages, and, if the
letter be not wanted, to paper it up; when that fount is brought into
use, a proportionate quantity of pie is given to each compositor to
distribute.
This is generally the work of the apprentices during any slackness of
business. A quantity of pie is placed on the imposing stone, or, if
that cannot be spared for the purpose, on a letter board upon a bulk,
and each fount is separated from the other; they are then composed
into lines, and either distributed or papered up: although it may
appear a roundabout way to compose it, it in reality saves time, as
the composed matter is distributed with greater facility. In large
establishments the reading boys assort pie at their leisure time.
CLEARING STONE.