WIDENING THE FIELD
The developments we have been considering cover only one phase of
typewriter progress. The advent of the shift-key typewriter, of the
automatic ribbon reverse, of visible writing, of the touch system, and
finally of the quiet typewriter, have all been important advances in
efficiency, or convenience, or general satisfaction in the performance
of the older and more familiar typing tasks. Those improvements,
however, the aim of which was to extend the actual scope and range
of the writing machine belong, in the main, to a different chain of
typewriter development.
During the first twenty-five years of its history, the time-saving
service of the typewriter was confined almost entirely to straight,
line-by-line writing, with its practical applications, such as letter
writing, manuscript writing, and the like. So long as these fields
remained unconquered there was little incentive or opportunity to
think of anything else. Thus the great fields of form, tabular and
statistical writing remained for many years beyond the reach of the
writing machine. The reason, of course, from the mechanical standpoint,
lay in the lack of any mechanism for the instantaneous setting of
the carriage at any desired writing point. Whenever the nature of the
work required these carriage settings with great frequency, the slow
method of hand setting consumed all the time that could be saved in
the actual typing. However, as time went on, the opportunities for
time saving in these special forms of writing became more and more
evident. "If we have typewritten letters, why not typewritten bills
and statements and vouchers and statistical forms of every kind? Why,
in fact, use the pen at all except for signatures?" These questions
were asked with greater and greater frequency. And in due time the
typewriter builders gave the answer. The first decimal tabulator,
known originally as the Gorin Tabulator, from the name of its inventor,
appeared in 1898 as an attachment of the Remington Typewriter.
There is a special interest in the date of this invention, for it
marks exactly the half-way point in the fifty years of typewriter
history. The second quarter century of this period, which begins with
the advent of the decimal tabulator, has seen the typewriter extend
its range to every form of writing or combined writing and adding
formerly done by the pen.
The Gorin Tabulator was exactly what its name implies--a decimal
tabulator. It wrote columns of figures--anywhere on the page and
as many as the page would hold--with the same speed as ordinary,
line-by-line writing. The decimal tabulator brought the carriage
instantly to the exact point in every column where the next line
of writing began, whether units, tens, hundreds or millions, as
illustrated in the following example:
340721 5 3 721 55
856 29 8 06
7382 767 952 77
94006 9 763 85
73 86 573 95 00
2099 142 345 48 050 66
9282384650 4 356 758 1 396 722 00
5857205 67 954 678 500 800 00
With the appearance of the first tabulator, the typewriter began
to invade new fields which hitherto had been entirely beyond its
reach. In some of the Old World countries the decimal tabulator
actually took the lead in blazing a path for the writing machine. In
these countries there survived for many years a certain prejudice
against the typewritten letter, but this prejudice did not extend to
form and tabular work, and the first machines purchased by countless
business houses in England, France, Italy and elsewhere were tabulating
typewriters. This seems like a reversal of the natural order, but
the final result was the same. The typewriter, once introduced,
soon came into use for every kind of writing.
The decimal tabulator is a notable example of how one idea leads
to another. During the years immediately preceding its appearance
there had been happenings in other branches of the office appliance
field. The idea of clerical labor saving, embodied in the first
typewriter, had given birth to a varied industry, and among other new
inventions, had produced the adding machine. The first adding machines,
however, carried no printing mechanism, and so long as typewriters
were also lacking in a tabulating mechanism, the fields of the two
machines lay entirely apart. In the early nineties, however, the
Burroughs machine, which listed figures in a column as added, began
to find a market. Soon after came the first tabulating typewriter,
and it was soon recognized that each of these machines represented a
partial approach to the field of the other. The question then arose:
"Since the typewriter now writes figures in columns, why not build one
that will add these columns as written? In other words, why not build
an adding typewriter?" In due time the adding typewriter came, to be
followed later by the typewriter-accounting or bookkeeping machine.
Prominent among machines of this type are the Elliott-Fisher, which
has a flat writing bed or platen, the Remington, which introduced
the feature of automatic subtraction, and the Underwood, which is
electrically operated. The earlier adding typewriters added in vertical
columns only, but soon a cross-adding mechanism was added, and the two
acts of vertical and cross computation are performed in one operation.
The accounting machine completed the application of the typewriter
to every form of business writing, including combined writing and
adding. In the latter field the advantages it offers are those of
the typewriter intensified. The combination of two tasks--writing
and adding--in one, eliminates the separate adding and the separate
adding cost. A further advantage is the error-proofing of every task,
the machine furnishing its own checks against possible mistakes by
the operator. To the business man these advantages are decisive. The
typewritten bill is now about as universal as the typewritten letter,
so also is the typewritten statement, and the old-fashioned bound and
pen-written ledgers are fast giving place to the modern card ledger,
kept on the bookkeeping machine. The same applies to every conceivable
kind of combined typing and adding in every line of business. The
pen has not entirely disappeared from these fields as yet, but it is
going, and its final departure is as clearly indicated as anything
in the book of fate.
While the typewriter has been completing its conquest of the entire
field of business writing, there has been another development at
what we may call the opposite end of the scale. The machine is now
demonstrating its time-saving utility not alone for business writing
but for all writing. The use of the machine for every kind of personal
writing was clearly forecast by its original builders, as the first
typewriter catalogue plainly proves. Indeed this was clearer to them
than the general business uses. Many years were to elapse, however,
before the employment of the typewriter became general outside of the
business field, and then it came about through the development of a
new type of machine, especially designed for the owner's personal
use. The portable typewriter, small, light, compact, convenient,
and easy to carry anywhere in its traveling case, proved to be the
type of machine desired by the personal user. The earliest of the
portables was the small Blickensderfer, a type-wheel machine. The
first type-bar portable machine to attract wide notice was the Corona,
which dates from the year 1912. Today there are a number of these
machines, including the portable Remington, Underwood, Hammond,
Gourland and others, two of these, the Remington and Gourland, with
keyboards like those on the big machines. The rapid progress of the
portable in its own field points clearly to the time when the use of
the typewriter for every kind of writing will be nearly universal.
The accounting machine and the portable, different as they are in
nearly every way, have one point in common. Both have contributed to
what we may call the intensive use of the writing machine. One other
development, which concerns its extensive use, will close the list.
We have already spoken of the world-wide use of the writing
machine. This is not a mere figure of speech; it is a literal statement
of fact. There is no article of commerce in the world more universal in
its distribution. Everywhere on earth today, where man is found with
the ability to read and write, there will be found the omnipresent
typewriter.
It is hard for the imagination to visualize this universal fact. A
map of the world does not help much. Perhaps a photograph gallery of
all the types of people of all the nations that follow typing as a
profession would convey a better idea. But fortunately a still better
method of visualization is at our command. Some years ago a linguistic
genius conceived the idea of collecting typewritten translations of the
motto "To save time is to lengthen life," in all the languages of the
world. The collection, which had grown when published to eighty-four
languages, is here presented. Truly a remarkable evidence of the
way in which a writing machine produced in the village of Ilion has
conquered the world.
Some may ask, "what language is Quoc-Ngu?" Quoc-Ngu is a Romanized
version of a Chinese dialect, spoken in Anam, a division of French
Indo-China. If the language is as strange as its name it must be a
"tongue twister," and our typewritten sample shows that it is as
strange--just about. Nevertheless a considerable number of typewriters
are used today for writing Quoc-Ngu.
The purely Celtic languages form an interesting group. They are
represented by five examples, Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, Breton and
Manx. The typewritten sample shows the Romanized writing of the Irish
or Erse language. Typewriters have also been sold to write Erse in the
original character, the type having been specially cut for the purpose.
Six of the Philippine languages are represented, Tagalog, Pampango,
Ilocano, Visayan, Bicol and Pangasinan. Here, indeed, is striking
evidence of the heterogeneous population of these new American
possessions. Equally notable is the South African group in which five
languages are represented, Sizulu, Sesotho, Sixosa, Setshangaan and
Taal. Of these the first four are native Kafir dialects. Hollandsch
or Dutch was in the old days of the Transvaal Republic the official
language. Taal is the every-day language of the South African
Dutchman, and is a conglomeration, principally of Hollandsch, with
some English. English-speaking people who have never been in South
Africa may be curious to know what mixed Dutch and English sounds
like. The typewritten sample, however, can only show how it looks.
"TO SAVE TIME IS TO LENGTHEN LIFE"
Typewritten in 84 Languages
[Transcriber's note: non-Latin scripts have been omitted.]
English-- To save time is to lengthen life.
French-- Gagner du temps, c'est prolonger la vie.
Portuguese-- Economisar tempo é alargar a vida.
Hungarian-- Takarékoskodj az idövel, meghosszabitod az életed.
Polish-- Kto czas oszczodza--przedluza sobie zycie.
Basque-- Demboraren irabaztia, biciaren luçatzia da.
Catalan-- Economizar tèmps es allargar la vida.
Provençal-- Temps gagna fa longo vido.
Breton-- Hastenn ar vuez ho c'honi amzer.
Irish-- Is Ionann Am-Coigilt agus Seagal-buanad.
Gaelic-- Faid saoghail is seadh do re chuir a b-feidhm.
Welsh-- Mae arbed amser yn estyn oes.
Manx-- Dy hauail traa te jannoo bea ny sleurey.
Flemish-- Tijd besparen is leven verlengen.
Frisian-- Tüd besparje is libjen verlenge.
Icelandic-- Að spara tíma er að lengja lifið.
Bohemian-- Úspora casu jest prodlouzenim zivota.
Roumanian-- A economisi timp este a prelungi viata.
Slovenian-- Varcevanje s casom, je daljsanje zivljenja.
Slovak-- Usporuvat cas je prodluhit zivota.
Esthonian-- Jôudsam tôô on elu pidkendus.
Lettish-- Laiku taupot--pagarina dzivibu.
Lithuanian-- Uzcedyjimas laiko ilgina amzo.
Croatian-- Tko vrijeme stedi, taj produzuje zivot.
Spaniolish-- Economia di tiempu, alarga la vida.
German-- Zeit sparen heisst das Leben verlängern.
Italian-- Risparmiando tempo prolungate la vita.
Latin-- Parcere tempori vitara longiorem facit.
Swedish-- Att vinna tid är att förlänga lifvet.
Danish-- At spare Tid er at forlænge Livet.
Norwegian-- At spare tid er at forlænge livet.
Finnish-- Aikaa voittaessa, elämä pidentyy.
Maltese-- Min jahdem fis, itaughal haghtu.
Albanian-- Kur ngi bier mot ron shum.
Romanch-- Spargner temp ais prolunger la vita.
Ido-- Sparar tempo esas longigar la vivo.
Esperanto-- Spari tempon estas plilongigi la vivon.
Sioux-- Wicoran yuptecana kin he wiconi yuhanske.
Winnebago-- Wo shkännä lä kä lä ki ci gi shi, wankshik ho i
nä ni gi sa letch nä nä.
Aztec-- Aquin àmo quixpoloa in cahuitl quihuellaquilia
inemiliz.
Maya-- Ká taquick tiempo cu chokuactal á kimil.
Ilocano-- Ti pinagtiped iti añget paatidduguen ni biag.
Visayan-- Magdaginot sa adlao, kay mao ang hataas ñga
kinabuhi.
Bicol-- Pag-imotan ang panahon pagpa-láwig nin buhay.
Pampango-- Ing pamagarimuhan king panaun makakaba king bie.
Pangasinan-- Say panagteper ed maong sa panahon so macasuldon
ed pan bilay.
Tagalog-- Ang pag-aarimuhán sa panahón ay nakapagpapahaba
ñg buhay.
Sizulu-- Lowo o gcina isikati sake u yena o nesikati eside
ukusandisa emhlabeni.
Sesotho-- Ea sa senyeng linako tsa hae ke eena ea phelang
halelele lefatseng.
Sixosa-- Ongaciti ixesha lake nguyena o nexesha elide
ukulandisa emhlabeni.
Setshangaan-- A lavisaka shikati utomi wa yena u tayengeteleka
muhlabeni.
Spanish-- Economizar tiempo es alargar la vida.
Dutch-- Tyd uitwinnen is zyn leven verlengen.
Taal-- Tijd te spaar maakt gebruik langer.
Quoc-Ngu-- Loi ngày gio, bang song lâu nam.
Hawaiian-- Malama pono anamika manawa, He mea ia e hooloihi
aku ai ike ola.
Maori-- E poto taima e ora roa.
Romanized-Malay-- Me-niampumakan waktu itu me-nambahi panjang umor.
Eskimo-- Uvdlunik aungnertusârinek inûtnertunarpok.
Hova-- Tsy mandany andro foana no manalava ny aina.
The languages of the American Indian are represented by only three
examples, Sioux, Winnebago and Aztec. "To save time is to lengthen
life" takes nineteen words to say in Winnebago. Evidently the moral
of this motto was never applied very seriously by the Winnebago
Indians. If it took them as long as that to say everything, it is
perhaps no wonder that the Winnebagos are nearly all dead.
Many other languages in this extensive list are worth lingering over,
but we must pass on to the most interesting feature of the collection,
namely those languages that are written in non-Roman characters. In
the languages we have thus far considered, the mechanical problem, from
the typewriter standpoint, was an easy one. Where special accents are
required, they are easily supplied by the simple expedient of using
"dead," i.e., non-spacing keys. The adaptation of the typewriter,
however, to write the non-Roman languages was in some instances a
very difficult mechanical problem. There are twenty-four languages
in this list, written in no less than eight different characters,
Russian, Hebrew, Greek, Armenian, Burmese, Hindi, Arabic and Japanese
(Katakana).
The Russian group includes four languages, Russian, Servian, Ruthenian
and Bulgarian. The character in which these languages are written is
known as Cyrilian, an invention of St. Cyril in the ninth century,
and is based on the Greek character, to which its resemblance will
be noted. The languages written today in the Greek and Cyrilian
characters correspond almost exactly to the present limits of the
Orthodox Greek Church.
The use of the Arabic character also corresponds very nearly to
the geographical limits of the Mohammedan religion. Seven languages
written in this character are represented, Arabic, Turkish, Persian,
Sart, Urdu, Malay and Tartar. Of all the languages now written on
the typewriter, the Arabic group presented the gravest mechanical
difficulties. The Arabic character, as written, is not subject to
any of the usual rules. It has in its complete alphabet over one
hundred individual characters; it writes backwards, i.e., from
right to left; the characters are written on the line, above the
line and below the line, and they are of various widths, requiring
full spacing, half spacing and no spacing at all. Here indeed was
a medley of problems well calculated to tax ingenuity to the limit,
and the Arabic typewriter is a crowning triumph of mechanical skill.
The Hindu group shows the ancient Sanscrit and four modern Hindu
vernacular languages written in the same character, which is known as
Devanagari. These vernacular languages are Hindi, Marawari, Magadhi,
and Marathi. The Hindu vernacular machines, especially the Marathi,
are having a considerable sale today among the native princes and
potentates of British India.
The Japanese (Katakana) sample is interesting mainly as a curiosity. It
does not write the complete Japanese language--only the syllabic system
known as Katakana. This is read from right to left in perpendicular
columns. In order to write this character on the horizontal lines
of the typewriter, the type are laid on their faces and, in reading,
the lines are held in perpendicular position.
After reviewing this formidable list of eighty-four languages,
the question naturally arises, "Are there any written languages
that it does not include?" Yes, there are, and this collection of
typewritten samples has steadily grown until it now includes more than
150 languages, while the number of different non-Roman characters now
written on the typewriter has increased from eight to twenty. There
are two important languages, however, which still lie outside the
pale of the writing machine. These are the ideographic languages,
Chinese and Japanese.
The ancient Japanese language was originally phonetic, but the syllabic
signs are now commonly intermixed with ideographic characters of
Chinese origin.
Chinese is a strange language. It has no alphabet or phonetic
signs--only ideographs. These ideographs are literally word pictures,
and there is a separate picture for every word. There are from 40,000
to 50,000 of these ideographs, and to write each one at a single stroke
would require a typewriter with many thousands of keys. Can the problem
ever be solved of writing this language on a practical typewriter? Some
inventors claim they have already solved it. It seems hard to credit,
but the typewriter developments of the past and present warn us not
to call anything impossible that is demanded of the writing machine.
Meanwhile the Chinese and Japanese buy typewriters--thousands of them;
not to write their own languages, of course, but other languages,
usually English. And they are coming to use these machines, not alone
for foreign correspondence, but for business correspondence among
themselves. The time saving service of the typewriter is so great that
they find it "worth another language." And this brings us to what many
will regard as the most interesting of all the achievements of the
typewriter. The steady growth of English as the commercial language
of the Far East is a well known fact, and of all the influences that
have caused this growth, one of the most important is the writing
machine. Thus it may be said for the typewriter that it has not only
facilitated the use of language but it has been no mean influence in
determining the spread of language itself.
What is to be the future of this remarkable mechanism, which in
fifty years has transformed the whole world of business, and has
wrought such fundamental changes in our modern social order? As we
pass the fiftieth milestone of typewriter history, it is natural,
not only to review the past, but to think of all that time may hold
in store. That the future of the typewriter will be wonderful, more
wonderful than anything we have yet known, is certain, but what new
forms it may assume is for no man to say, for the futility of such
speculations has been demonstrated by all human experience.
On the mechanical side such forecasts are obviously impossible. The
most farseeing typewriter man of today knows that the mechanical
progress of the next fifty years is a sealed book to him--even as the
history we have just recorded was a sealed book to the pioneers of
1873. Even on the side of its application to human needs, it is hard to
forecast the future progress of a machine, the use of which is already
so nearly universal. We know, however, that this fact does not impose
any limits on future development. Even if the reign of the typewriter
today were complete and absolute, and the pen had become as obsolete
as the stylus, there would still be new worlds for the writing machine
to conquer. The need which first called the typewriter into being,
the problem of clerical time and labor saving, is always with us; it
changes its form, but never its essence. The enormous time-saving the
machine has already achieved is only the promise of more time-saving,
and when every writing task has been annexed by the typewriter, it
will be more than ever its mission to perform these tasks with ever
increasing efficiency, increasing accuracy, and increasing speed.
Only in one phase do the new developments of the present give a
clear indication of what the future has in store. The rapid growth
in the personal and home use of the typewriter, following the advent
of the portable machines, is revealing to many thousands a quality
of the machine, long known but never before aggressively exploited,
namely, its incomparable value as an educational implement. We do
not mean commercial education, for in this field the typewriter
established its reign many years ago. We mean the education of the
child in reading, writing, spelling, and, as he grows older, in all
the fundamentals of language composition. There are two reasons for
this value. One is the delight of the child in the machine itself,
the use of which provides a vehicle for his creative instinct. The
other is the perfection of form in the typed words and sentences,
which present attainable standards to the child from the very outset
of his efforts. The extraordinary results obtained by the typewriter
in this field are attested by educators and by parents without number,
and the progress of such recent "wonder children" as Winifred Stoner
and Willmore Kendall is directly attributed to their early and
continuous use of the writing machine.
It is interesting to know that, among the founders of the business,
that man of vision, William O. Wyckoff, foresaw these results, and
his letters to Earle, written in the late seventies, to which we have
already referred, urge strongly the sale of machines in the home for
educational use. Wyckoff was fifty years ahead of his time, and it
has remained for the portable machine of our day to spread this great
message. It may be a long time yet before the use of the typewriter
is established in the elementary schools, as an educational implement
as necessary as charts and blackboards, but in the home this service
has already begun and will be extended with every passing year.