Office Appliance

 

1.	Labor saving machinery in general.   The development of labor-saving machinery has been one of America's distinctive contributions to the world's progress. One reason for this development is the high labor cost and the labor scarcity from which we have always suffered. The many undeveloped resources of America have clamored for men to develop them. Yet men could not be supplied in sufficient quantities. Therefore we were driven to invent machinery to take the place of men or to make the work of man more effective than before.   Instead of a scythe, we gave the laborer a reaper. We took from his hands the flail and gave him a threshing machine. For a hand shovel we gave him the steam shovel with which the Culebra Cut was conquered. We took him from between the handles of a wheelbarrow and set him in the cab of an electric traveling crane. We took labor off the stage coach, which could haul only a ton at a time, and put it at work inside a Mallet locomotive, which pulls four thousand tons of freight in a train across the prairies. For the courier and the messenger we substituted the telegraph, the telephone and the railroad mail service. For the slow one-horse cart we substituted the swift ten-ton motor truck. We did it because we had to.
2.	Labor-saving machinery in the office.   It has not been otherwise with office apphances and office machinery. The United States has led the world in developing them. We have mechanical substitutes or assistants for messenger boys, stenographers, mailing clerks and statisticians. In the modern office there is no individual and there are few operations for which mechanical assistance cannot be provided. It is strange that many a concern which has equipped its factory laborers with every device that could heighten their efficiency, hesitates to adopt labor-saving office machinery. Such concerns feel that office work is entirely brain work and in no degree a set of mechanical operations. They would be surprised, to leam thru a study of psychology that a large amount of brain work is either mechanical or subject to mechanical assistance. Such assistance sets the brain free from drudgery and leaves it available to perform higher types of mental tasks.
3.	When to purchase.   In the purchase of office machinery, as of other machinery, it does not pay to buy a machine unless, after comparing the costs of handling the work without the machine with the estimated cost of the work with it, it is determined that by means of the savings accomplished the machine w^ill pay for itself in the course of a reasonable time. The office that sends out only a few letters a day does not want a dictating machine, nor does it need mailing machines. The purchase of a machine under such circumstances, however, may sometimes be justified by its mechanical perfection, the prevention of mistakes, or by the superior quahty of its work.
4.	Records of efficiency   Before buying an office apphance or a piece of machinery, it is usually wise to test it in your office routine. A careful comparison should be made of all competing types, so that the one best suited for the work may be chosen. A record should be kept showing date of purchase, serial number of the machine, cost of repairs and cost of supplies. A machine may not cost much in the beginning, yet if there are frequent break-downs and repairs it becomes expensive and an annoyance. A record will be of value when the time comes to add to the equipment.
5.	Machine groups typewriters.   Office appliances or machinery may be divided into several groups, the first and most important of which is the writing machine—the typewriter. In selecting a typewriter, standard makes should be preferred. Durability, ease of operation, cheapness of repairs and quality of work are the deciding features. The quality of work depends partly upon the type face chosen. One can obtain for any standard typewriter the choice of several type faces, from the small elegant type suitable for personal or social correspondence, to the large, clear type designed for purely commercial work. Sometimes an executive prefers the more elegant type.   It is desirable that all the machines in an office be of the same make. Operators and machines are thereby interchangeable. A single extra machine, kept for emergency, will then take care of a breakdown anywhere in the office. Repair bills will be lower and the typewriter company's service man may on his regular visit inspect all the machines in the office.
6.	Special type.   There is now an electrically driven typewriter, the chief feature of which is its light touch. Like other writing machines, it is operated by a typist, but her touch merely makes an electrical contact after which electro-magnets move the type bar to the paper. A uniform stroke is thus obtained, producing an evenness of impression that looks like printing   The noiseless typewriter, which has been on the market for some years, is coming into wider use. It is particularly suitable for stenographers who work in the room with executives.   For the typing of cards a special roller may be adjusted to any typewriter, providing a fastener for the end of the card. This makes it possible to type on the card without rolling it.   The flat top machine—better known as the billing machine—makes it possible to type cards or other material of such a size as would not ordinarily fit the roller of a regular typewriter. This machine has no roller, the paper being placed on the flat top and fastened down. The type strikes downward instead of upward, as in the case of the ordinary machine. Where a large quantity of cards is being typed daily, it has been found practical to perforate the cards and arrange them in sheets to fit the plate, making it easy to separate them after they are typed. In this way, ten cards may be typed with one insertion.
7.	Care of typewriters.   Care of the typewriters should rest upon some one person. It should be his duty to see that the printed rules for the care of typewriters are observed; that the machines are covered when not in use, that the type is regularly brushed, that track and bearings are oiled at least once a week. Change of ribbons, for example, where the number of machines warrants it, is made by a man accustomed to that work, who does it very quickly. Large companies frequently employ a mechanic to make regular inspection of the typewriters. Smaller users may arrange with the manufacturer for periodical inspection. A typewriter should not be kept until too old. Much time is frequently wasted upon a defective typewriter when the tabulator does not work well, when the spacing gear is worn or the carriage sticks. Good work cannot be done with worn-out type or wrong alignment. Old machines need not be scrapped; they can, as a rule, be traded in for new ones.
8.	Copy holders.   An important typewriter accessory is the stenographer's copy holder. The papers to be copied are held directly above the typewriter or a little to one side. An adjustable metal bar on the holder is always just below the line of the stenographic notes that are being copied. The key that raises or lowers the bar is next to the keyboard of the typewriter so that it can be struck without any waste of time or effort.
9.	Dictating machines.   Dictating machines replace the skilled stenographer by the mere typist, or if the old stenographer be retained, they make it possible for her to spend her time in typing, with no interruption for taking dictation.   The dictator talks into a tube or horn which carries his voice to a wax cylinder revolving on an electricalty operated spindle. When the dictation is finished, an office boy takes the cylinders to the "reproducing machine" used by the typist.   In the main, this machine is a duplicate of the dictating machine, except that there is a hearing tube with branches that fit into the operator's ears. Her hands are thus free to operate the typewriter. With her foot she presses  a pneumatic release that starts or stops the machine. The cylinders, once transcribed, are put into a shaving machine, which removes a very thin layer of wax, whereupon the cylinder can be used for a new impression.
10.	Their advantages.   The dictating machine saves the time ordinarily spent in taking dictation and in waiting while dictation is being interrupted, as for example by telephone calls. Often one typist can transcribe the dictation of two or more correspondents. The machine repeats the dictation any number of times desired. The dictator may talk as fast as he wishes. The typist may reproduce the dictation as slowly as she chooses. The dictator is not bound to wait for his stenographer to be ready. The dictating machine is always ready. It is possible, therefore, to dictate in off hours or even at home. By "reversing" the needle, a dictator can hear what he has said. By means of a correction pad he can indicate the length of the letters or other dictation, and also make any necessary alterations in his dictation.   The United States Commission on Economy and Efficiency, after making exhaustive tests of the relative cost of letters produced by dictating machines and by stenographers, installed sixteen dictating machines in government offices. The experiment, which lasted ten weeks, showed that the cost per letter by the stenographic method was 4.3 cents; by the phonographic method, only 2.7 cents.
11.	Their limitations.   The greatest savings effected by the dictating machine are seen where a great mass of routine correspondence makes it possible to employ a central bureau of typists to transcribe the dictation.   There are circumstances, however, in which dictating machines do not fit so well. Where the volume of work is heavy it is often impossible to have letters written on the same date as dictated, if the cylinders are transcribed in the order received. The granting of preference to "Rush" cylinders tends to break up the effectiveness o^ the system. Executives usually do not wish to wait for their letters. Their correspondence, too, may be of a private nature, which they do not care to intrust to the typists. Therefore an executive usually has a private secretary who types his letters in addition to keeping his private files, answering his telephone and relieving him of a multitude of routine tasks.
12.	Ignorant prejudice.Nevertheless   the dictating machine still has a great field ahead of it. In many cases it is opposed by men simply because of their ignorance or because of their unwillingness to make the effort necessary to learn to use it. To use the dictating machine most advantageously, the dictator must think clearly and express himself grammatically. It is better if he will also dictate punctuation, tho that is equally true of letters given to a stenographer. He must learn to speak distinctly, pronouncing every syllable. It requires some effort t© learn these things. Older employes are sometimes unwilling to make that effort   Formerly there was strong opposition to the use of dictating machines on the part of stenographers. First, they thought that it would ruin their hearing. That fear proved groundless. Second, they feared that, being in effect reduced to mere typists, their wages would be cut; but such action has not followed the introduction of dictating machines. Frequently the employer has shared with the typist the savings brought about by the new system, so that her wages became higher instead of lower.
13.	The stenotype.   The stenotype is designed not to replace the stenographer but to increase her efficiency. This aims to do for stenography what typewriting has done for longhand. The operator records the dictation direct into the stenotype machine, which has twenty-two keys. By means of these keys letter combinations are printed on a strip of paper and can be deciphered by any one familiar with the code. The stenographer thereupon writes her letters from these stenotyped shps. It is said that even an ordinary operator can take words at the rate of 150 per minute while an experienced operator can take as many as 250 words per minute. This rate of speed obviously exceeds ordinary commercial needs. The present use of the machine is primarily for such purposes as rapidfire conferences, lectures, or the court-room.   The next group of machines is the duplicating machines, designed to reproduce correspondence or other types of material already prepared.
14.	Copy presses.   The old-fashioned copying press has all but disappeared. By that process a letter, typed with an indelible ribbon or written with indelible ink, was copied into a tissue-paper book. It is still used in law offices where it is considered of importance to keep original records of documents, but the method is cumbersome and the time wasted is considerable.   The modern form of this particular duplicating machine is the rotary copy press. The letter to be copied is inserted, face downward, between two rolls As it is run between these rolls, it is pressed against very thin copy paper which has been moistened and which is then wound up on a reel. When the copy dries, it is cut to letter size and filed. It is claimed that its use saves the time necessary to insert carbon paper in a typewriter. The thin copy from the rotary presses is, however, difficult to handle.
15.	Automatic typewriters.   The automatic typewriter is perhaps in the highest class of duplicating machines. It is an actual typewriter, electrically operated. Its keys are connected with pneumatic tubes, controlled by a perforated stencil, which works on the same principle as the music roll of the mechanical piano. The stencil is written on a special machine equipped with a typewriter keyboard. The automatic typewriter is used primarily in writing form letters. The address and any special paragraphs can be filled in on a regular typewriter having the same type face as the automatic. On some machines addresses and special paragraphs can be written from a special stencil roll which is at the proper time switched into operation instead of the master roll that carried the form letter.   The automatic is capable of doing as much work as two good typists. The economy of the automatic typewriter obviously depends upon the number of letters to be sent. If the number is small, it is cheaper to have them typed directly than to cut the stencils and have the high fixed charges of the automatic typewriter distributed over a few letters.
16.	Stencil or gelatine duplicators.The   The average duplicating machine, however, is much cheaper as well as simpler than the automatic typewriter. A stencil is made, usually on the typewriter, and attached to an inked cylinder. From this, any number of copies can be drawn off. This machine can do an immense amount of work by way of getting out sales lists, salesmen's instructions, price lists, folders, report blanks, bulletins, postal cards for circularizing, and even in printing the house organ. Similar to this stencil duplicator is the gelatine duplicator.
17.	Type machines.   For a higher class of duplicating work the type duplicating machine is used. Its type letters the same as those used in the company's typewriters are set on a rotary drum which is pressed on a typewriter ribbon and so imprinted upon paper. "Imitation typewriting" is thus produced. Addresses can be filled in, and a letter is produced which is difficult to distinguish from a real typed letter. This, like other duplicating machines, is vastly more efficient if electrically operated. The machine produces a clearer copy than the duplicating machine the impression dries quicker and the ink is not smudged.
18.	Printing presses   Finally, among the duplicating machines we have the office printing press. The class of work that it turns out is of course superior to that of any of the other duplicating machines mentioned. It is, however, expensive to own and operate and unless a good volume of work can be   provided for it, it is cheaper to have the work done by a printer. The printing press can be used to print  the firm's house organ, perhaps its letter-heads and envelops, and a great volume of circular and other literature for customers. The question of purchasing a printing press resolves itself into the question: have we enough such work and the right kind of supervision to make it pay?
19.	Photographing machines   A special type of duplicating equipment is the photographing machine. For business purposes, there has been developed a special type of camera that does not require expert use. A sheet of paper, a drawing, a page of a book, is photographed, and from the negative any number of prints can be made. The first large-scale use of these machines was by the insurance companies, who used them to produce duplicates of their policy applications. Today the machine is used for a variety of purposes. It reproduces ledger pages, plans and specifications, tracings, signature cards, securities, and man other valuable documents.   This machine offers the simplest method for reproducing a complicated statistical exhibit. The New York Public Library has such a machine which, upon demand, may be engaged to make such reproductions of material in the library, the reproductions being sold at a nominal cost to patrons. President Taft's Commission on Efficiency and Economy reported that the use of these machines in copying wTitten and printed documents, maps, drawings, records, etc., in various

APPLIANCES

departments of the government in Washington would cause a saving of $100,000 a year.

REVIEW

Account for American ingenuity in the invention and use of labor-saving office machinery.

What are the peculiar advantages in installing uniform typewriters

Under what conditions, in your estimation, will it be advantageous to substitute dictating machines for stenographers ? What is a stenotype machine?

Compare the various duplicating machines and indicate when each will be the proper machine for installation