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On the other hand, it is to be regretted that the compositor working at the finger-board can not himself correct what he has set up. It happens often that the compositor sets up a word of which he is not quite sure, and corrects it on reading the end of his line, being better informed by the subsequent words which he has read since then and which give him the true sense of the phrase. In punctuating, above all things, this way of correcting is the best. Now, to do this, the compositor must have the copy before him. By repeatedly examining it, he will afterward be saved the trouble and vexation of having his proofs disfigured by an endless number of corrections. The compositor arranging the lines in the galley of Delcambre's machine does not see the copy at all. It is in the hands of his companion working at the finger-board, who continues to touch the keys as if the man at the galley need not see the manuscript at all, and as if the second part of the labor was not inseparable from the first. These considerations deprive the type-setting machine of its importance and dispel the enthusiasm with which we contemplate it at first. And yet all this is nothing compared with the great difficulty of distribution, which is not surmounted by the machine.

The distributor attached to the type-setting machine is destined to save it, or at least counteract its imperfections. Instead of doing so, instead of facilitating the process of distribution, it impedes it. I can not explain the details of the distributor, which would take too much space, and will say merely that, as in setting up, the compositor must give his attention to the distribution, and that the work is performed by his will, under his fingers, and while he is reading his copy. He who has seen our compositors engaged in distributing is astonished at the rapidity and skill with which they perform this part of their typographical trade. It seems impossible that the work should be done better and with greater regularity and quickness. In effect, this hand, which is in incessant motion and which seems to have an eye on every finger, will a long time yet successfully defy the mechanical distributor. The advantage of the latter is, that it puts back in the cases entire words, which may be placed again in the type-setting machine without recomposition, which was one of the weak points of the first invention. This advantage, however, has to be dearly purchased. The manner in which it is constructed does not permit the compositor to read directly the lines which he is about to distribute. He is obliged to have recourse to a mirror reflecting them in a precarious and imperfect manner. In distributing, quick and unhesitating reading is of the highest importance. The mirror arrangement is not calculated to facilitate the operation. It is precarious already in broad daylight. You may imagine how it will be at night or when the sky is overcast. I must say, therefore, greatly to my regret, that the distributing machine does not perfect the type-setting machine, and as the latter in itself is of no use, the problem of mechanical type.setting has not yet been solved.

Let us now turn to another machine, that of Mr. Flamm, and constructed by M. Coyen-Carmouche. This machine, I must confess, embarrassed me not a little accustomed to hear our printers talk of a Danish machine which I did not see at the Exposition, and of Delcambre's machine, both of which use ordinary types, we had thought all researches in this direction would follow the same

beaten track. Mr. Flamm did not look at the matter in this light, and, regardless of what had been tried prior to him, bravely entered the lists with a machine entirely suppressing the typographical case and the letters which it contains. An alphabet, with all its accessories, capitals, marks of punctuation, is all he cares for. He does not suppress the compositor, but certainly the material which the compositor uses at present. To tell the truth, Flamm's machine makes mattrices in place of setting type, and the clicheur is here indispensable. The letters which are to compose the words are placed in a reservoir turning on a pivot; these letters imprint themselves at the pleasure of him who works the apparatus in a paste or flan prepared beforehand, and placed under the above mentioned reservoir. To facilitate this operation the inventor has had every letter, or marks engraved on the surface of the reservoir; the compositor presses on it and thus lowers the letter that he needs. The flan, which becomes a matrix, is supported by a small wagon which moves under the reservoir as is required, transversely or longitudinally; the former movement is required for the formation of the lines; the latter to obtain the length of the pages and to divide the lines.

On seeing this very ingenious and well-working machine, an expert will at once ask himself how the justification of the lines is to be brought about by it. With moveable letters, when the words do not terminate the line, and the space of a few letters which cannot be separated from their words remains vacant, the evil is remedied by an enlargement of the intervals between the words of the line; in the Flamm's system this is impossible. But to obtain the same result Mr. Flamm has placed under the reservoir an apparatus with a moveable needle; this needle touches a small bell and indicates at once to the compositor when it is time to think of this sort of work. He proceeds then to enlarge or narrow the intervals between the last words. An experienced hand will find no trouble in surmounting this difficulty.

However, this is not the only difficulty, there is a much greater one. The real difficulty is to be found in the correction. To correct what is set up, fresh paste has to be spread over the imperfect part, and the composition of the word or the line has to be recommenced. The difficulty is much increased in case the corrections to be made augment or diminish the number of lines. This difficulty seems to me so great, that it seems to me Flamm's machine can only be used in reprint, ing printed matter, not necessitating any change or important corrections.

Now, it must be stated that as a labor-saving machine, Flamm's invention is not very remarkable, for it does not work more rapidly than an ordinary compositor. Its whole advantage then would consist in the suppression of the print. ing material; but, to judge from the prices affixed to the machines, it is doubtful whether they do not require a capital equivalent to that of our ordinary offices.

Flamm's machine for lithographers is much more practical, and will do better service than his common printing machine. For the rest, he is not the only inventor who has thought of supplanting type-setting by matrices. An American has exhibited a machine which, though constructed in a different manner, lead to the same results, with the exception of its advantages to lithographers. My censures regarding justiscation and correction are applicable to it as well as to Flamm's machine. For the rest the inventor admits that he has not yet found

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"le dernier mot," (the last word). He is happy at having invented the principle of his machines, and calls upon other inventors to perfect it. This is shown, at least, by the words which he graciously printed in reply to the questions which I put to him: "The inventor of this type setting machine desires to have it understood that he claims by no means to have reached perfection."

HOW MEXICAN SILVER MINES ARE WORKED.

A newly discovered mine belongs to any person who denounces it, provided a shaft of at least ten varas in depth be sunk on the vein within sixty days after it is denounced. A claim consists of 200 varas square. Mines that have been abandoned, or those in which work has been suspended for a space of four consecutive months, may also be denounced. The reducing and crushing work (haciendas de benficio) are considered as having been abandoned, and may become the property of whomsoever denounces them when they no longer serve for their original purpose-when the roots have fallen in, and the machinery has been removed--but the owner has a delay of four months to resume operations if he wishes to preserve his property. A miner or the proprietor of metallurgical works cannot be expropriated by his creditors, who may take possession of a mine and work it for their own benefit until the debt contracted by the owner is extinguished; but they are compelled by law to allow him sufficient means to maintain himself and family. A shepherd or a laboring man accidentally discovers near these crestones, which rise above the surface, quartz containing metal. lic substances. He endeavors to procure some rock at a depth where it has not felt the action of the atmospheric air, builds a fire in which he casts a few pieces of ore at a very high temperature, and if specks of silver are observed the mine is denounced for the purpose of securing possession of it to the discoverer. The law requires a shaft to be sunk in the vein of at least ten varas within 60 days after the denouncement, at the expiration of which if the mine has been ascertained to be new one, or to have ceased to be the property of a former denouncer, a grant is made of 200 varas square. The grantee then procures partners to develope the mine, should he lack capital for that purpose. The value of the mine is divided into twenty-four shares, called barras, the half of which is given over to the capitalists, named aviadors. The regular development of the mine then commences. When a depth has been reached where silver is generally the most abundant, and the quantity of water and expenses of extracting not yet too considerable, the yield is very remunerative; at this stage of development, reducing works are erected (haciendas de beneficio) frequently on a large scale not always based on the future general yield of the veins. At the same time underground work is carried on to facilitate mining operations, as also the extraction of the ore, and the draining of the mine. When mines in the bonaza condition are in the hands of one individual, as in the case of Counts de Valenciana and Reglas, and the Marquis de Rayas, these works are remarkable not only for their magnificence and extent, but for their utility in less prosperous times, when without them the ores becoming poorer could not be extracted

through the older communications. In most cases at the present day the 24 barras, which constitute the shares of a mine, are divided into small fractions, and represent numerous conflicting interests which seem to combine but for one purpose, that of realising from the undertaking as much as possible, disregardful of the evil consequences which may affect the future prosperity of the mine. Their motto appears to be, "Sufficient unto the day is the profit thereof." The consequences of this view of mining operations is that no regular and methodical course is pursued, the richest ore only being extracted at several places at the same time, or where it is most easily obtained, masses of poorer ore being left behind, the working of which is resumed when the bonzana ceases. It is difficult to understand why a small amount of these enormous profits is not devoted to researches which are undertaken, only when the expenses exceed the profits, and the prospects of a profitable investment are doubtful. When the zone of the greatest yield has been worked through, if the depth is such as to render the cost the cost of extraction too considerable, the bonzana ceases. The poorest ore left in upper parts of the mine is then worked, and, as the greatest expense is the draining, the water is allowed to fill the lower works. Eor some time the reserve of ore of medium yield is sufficient to cover expenses; but beyond a certain point, day or contract work for a certain weight of ore extracted is no longer profitable; and in order to guard against the chances of loss, the miners are allowed an interest in the profits, say one-sixth, one-third, and even one-half of what they extract. The owner furnishes tools, light and powder, the draining and hoisting being also at his expense. This is called partido; the miners, who are then called buscones, prefer it to day or task work, and as it is voluntary labor they take it easy, and find a certain charm to be indebted to chance for their salary, which will frequently, in one week, be enormous, after working for a month or more without earning scarcely sufficient for their maintenance. Gradually the resources are exhausted, and the number of men only required by law are kept at work, in order to retain possession of the mine, and new aviadores are found who supply the funds necessary for the expense of draining and continuing the work in the lower part of the mine, running prospecting drifts at points where ore was expected to be found, but which had been neglected when the mine was full of water.--New Orleans Price Current.

CO-OPERATIVE SHIPBUILDING.

Perhaps we should have said co-operative shipowning, but that the two are very closely connected with each other. Our purpose is to illustrate a phase of the co-operative principle which is now, and has been for some years, in successful operation in the maritime provinces. We allude to the system of shipbuilding and owning in shares, a system which is largely practised both in New Bruns. wick and Nova Scotia, and which we believe to be capable of a much wider range of application than it has yet received. The extent to which shipbuilding operations have been carried in the maritime provinces is almost without a parallel, and in proportion to their population they have more shipping than any

other similar population in the world, the co-operative system contributing more than any other cause to this result. In the remarks we are about to make we shall refer more particularly to New Brunswick; but they are equally true in a general sense when applied to the sister province of Nova Scotia. From a reference to official papers, we find that the total amount of shipping on the registry books of the province in the year 1865 (the latest return published) was 1,019 vessels, measuring 349,675 tons, and that the quantity of the new shipping built during that year amounted to 148 vessels-65,474 tons. Twelve of these vessels measuring 11,774 tons, were sent home for sale, and it is pretty good evidence of the superiority of New Brunswick-built shipping when we find that they average from 10s. to 20s. per ton higher in price than Quebec-built vessels. A large number of those remaining are, however, owned and sailed by parties residing in the province, and very many of them were built under this system of co-operation. The comptroller of customs of St. John, in his last report, says :—" The business of shipowning in shares, which has now become general in New Brunswick, has done much to bring about an improved state of affairs, and has tended during the last few years to increase very materially the wealth of the country. The earnings of our vessels abroad, which are constantly coming into the province in the shape of exchange, have assisted greatly to prevent derangement in our monetary affairs. It is not an uncommon thing for a good spruced class vessel of this country to keep herself in good repair and insured, and pay for her first cost in four years, and sometimes even in two or three years." The mode of procedure is something as follows:-A number of individuals join together to build a vessel of a certain size and class, probable expense is easily ascertained, and she is divided into 64 shares; these are taken by as many individuals as there are shares, or are distributed as may be found most convenient; the payments are spread over as long a time as the vessel may take in building, usually three, six, and nine months; the outfit is ordered in England, and very frequently the first freight can be handled in time to pay the cost of outfit. There are some regulations of a peculiar kind with regard to the management. The business of the vessel is usually conducted by one of the shareholders, but if the management should not be considered satisfactory, five-eighths of the shares can take possession of her upon giving bonds to the other owners that she shall be kept in good order, and if the vessel should run in debt those who have taken possession of her are alone responsible. On the other hand, the minority share no portion of the profits which may be made during that time. Each shareholder is allowed to underwrite his own share, and, as it is the practice of all who extensively own in this way to distribute their shares among a great number of vessels, considerable advantage is derived from this source. Under this system we see there are a number of individuals, each of whom is interested in procuring freight, or otherwise forwarding the interest of the vessel. The captain probably owns a share, and the result is that these vessels are sailed cheaper and make more money for their owners than any other. We remember hearing a story that at the time of the war between the Greeks and the Turks it was remarked that the Greek vessels were seldom or ever captured, and the reason assigned was that every soul on board, from the captain

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