Henry Chase Hill

If you were asked to enumerate the different kinds of clerical work performed in the modern business office, you would probably fail to mention the writing of names. Yet the writing and rewriting of names is as essential in most offices as the addition of figures or the dictation of correspondence.

In fact, names represent the backbone of nearly every business or organization. There is the list of names of those people you sell to; the names of those people you want to sell to; the names of those people you buy from; the names of those people who owe you money; the names of those people to whom you owe money and the names of those people who work for you. Then, lodges, clubs, churches and other organizations must maintain lists of names of their members; and so the different kinds of lists go on ad infinitum.

Now, in most offices, these names must be written and rewritten over and over again—often many times each month—on envelopes, price-lists, statements, checks, pay forms, ledger sheets, order forms, tags, labels, etc. And in many offices the writing of names is still a slow, tedious, drudging task—as the workers in those offices will testify.

The Birth of Mechanical Addressing.

But in one office this monotonous task of writing and rewriting the same names over and over again became such a hardship that the man who had to do it, thinking twenty-five years ahead of his time, had a vision of performing such work mechanically. That vision was the forerunner of the Addressograph.

In the early 90’s, Mr. Joseph S. Duncan was manager of a little flour and grist mill in Iowa. The requirements of his business necessitated the daily addressing of 100 quotation cards. Those were the days of pen and ink and the imperfectly developed typewriter. Mr. Duncan’s office was small. He was the sole worker in that office—and as the typewriter was still a curiosity in that section of the country, Mr. Duncan was obliged to depend upon pen and ink in addressing his daily price cards. This routine task wasted a great deal of his valuable time each day. In an effort to finish the work quickly, so that he could devote his attention to more important matters, Mr. Duncan found that he was frequently sacrificing accuracy for speed. Result—his concern often suffered considerable loss of profit because his quotation cards did not reach the people for whom they were intended. Finally, becoming disgusted with inefficient and inaccurate pen and ink addressing methods, Mr. Duncan made a trip to Chicago for the purpose of purchasing a machine for addressing his price cards. But, on visiting the leading stationery and office equipment stores, he was told there was no such machine. He returned to his office resigned to the task of addressing his 100 daily quotation cards by pen and ink. But the drudgery and monotony of this work would not down in his mind. The mistakes and omissions made in addressing these price cards became no less frequent. Finally, because Mr. Duncan could no longer be reconciled to the drudgery, inaccuracy and expense of hand addressing, he determined to build for himself a machine that would lift from his shoulders this monotonous task.

Builds First Addressograph.

Primitive addressograph

The First Addressograph

Mr. Duncan invented and built his first addressing machine in 1892. He called it the “Addressograph”—a coined word meaning “to write addresses.” Although Mr. Duncan appreciated the saving of time and money and increase in accuracy which his little invention would surely create in the writing of names and addresses, he did not at first realize the great place his remarkable invention was destined to take in the commercial world as a “business energizer” and simplifier of routine work.

Like the first steam engine, telephone or automobile, the first addressograph was crudely simple and of course presented an uncouth mechanical appearance. Mr. Duncan experimented by gluing the rubber portion of a number of hand stamps to a wooden drum. This drum was placed on an operating shaft in the addressograph, so that after the printing of one name and address, the drum revolved so that the next name and address came into printing position. The type impressions thus obtained were fairly readable. But Mr. Duncan soon realized that the idea of gluing the type permanently to a wooden drum was unpractical. Only a few addresses could be placed around the drum and the method of gluing them permanently into place made it practically impossible to make corrections when changes in address occurred, or to add new names as occasion demanded.

Greater flexibility was needed. So Mr. Duncan designed and built what is now known as the first chain addressograph. Individual rubber type characters were pushed into metal type holders with a pair of tweezers. These type holders were then ingeniously linked together in the form of an endless chain. These chains were placed over a revolving metal drum, and as each separate name and address came to the printing point of the addressograph, the operator pushed down on a vertical stamper rod which pushed the envelope, or whatever form was to be addressed, against the rubber type which was inked just before reaching the printing point. Here, at last, was a practical addressing machine which enabled the user to accurately print names and addresses—typewriter style—ten times faster than was possible by any other method, and, quite as important, to make changes and additions to the list.

The Beginning of a Great Industry.

By this time, Mr. Duncan had moved his base of operations from Iowa to Chicago. So well was his first practical model of the addressograph received by Chicago business men that he sold the first half-dozen manufactured within a short time. Enthused with his success, Mr. Duncan decided to enter into the manufacture and sale of addressographs on as extensive a basis as the demand for his invention warranted. But to do this it was necessary for him to secure more capital. Consequently, he interested Mr. J.B. Hall—a Chicago business man—in his project, and in January, 1896, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Hall formed a partnership and called it the “Addressograph Company.”

Mr. Hall’s first step was to find out what the leading business men of his time thought of the addressograph. So he made a trip to New York City—taking with him one of the little hand-operated chain addressographs. Here, Mr. Hall called upon Henry Clews, J. Pierpont Morgan and other prominent business men. He also visited the offices of the large public service and insurance companies. In every case, Mr. Hall was courteously received, but after demonstrating the addressograph was told that while it was interesting and a step in the right direction, it was still in too primitive a state to prove of any great value in addressing a large list of names.

Answering Demand for Greater Speed.

Naturally, Mr. Hall’s first thought on his return to Chicago was to induce Mr. Duncan to build a larger model, capable of greater speed and greater output. Acting upon Mr. Hall’s suggestion, Mr. Duncan, in a short time, perfected a larger chain addressograph, operated by foot-lever and embodying several important improvements. As the Addressograph Company was maintaining at that time only a small sales office, a contract was let to the Blackman Machine Company, of Chicago, to build fifteen of these new foot-lever chain addressographs. And it was this new model which caused the addressograph to take its place in the business world as one of the leading office appliances. Many of these new chain addressographs were sold. Having formerly been engaged in the public service field, Mr. Hall was quick to realize the advantages which mechanical addressing offered to gas, electric light, water and telephone companies. As a result, the majority of the first addressograph sales were made to these lines of business.

Rubber Chain Addressograph Operated by Foot Lever and Mounted in Wood Cabinet

With the constantly increasing use of the addressograph, suggestions for improvement and further development were freely offered by addressograph customers and just as liberally entertained by Mr. Duncan. As a result of these suggestions, another important advance took place in addressograph development. A customer, after writing words of praise about his addressograph, suggested that if some means could be arrived at to avoid the necessity of setting and resetting the individual pieces of rubber type, a great saving in time and money could be accomplished in making changes and additions to a list of names.

Invents Embossed Metal Address Plate.

After considerable thought, Mr. Duncan hit upon the plan of embossing, typewriter style, characters upon a metal plate. To do this, it was necessary for him to invent and perfect the Graphotype—a machine which writes names and addresses on metal plates almost as quickly as the same data can be written on paper with the typewriter. The first embossed metal plates were linked together in the form of an endless chain, similar to the rubber type plates. A new addressograph was perfected for printing impressions from these embossed metal plates. It was called the No. 2 Chain Addressograph.

The Addressograph Company now had two models to sell. But, owing to the fact that the rubber chain addressograph permitted users to make changes and additions in their own offices, a greater number of machines of this model were sold than of the metal chain addressograph; because, with the latter model, it was necessary for the customer to send to Chicago to have his new metal links embossed with the graphotype for the changes and additions of his list.

By this time, the Addressograph Company had established itself in its own factory in Chicago. Branch offices had also been opened in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other principal points, and out of these offices was traveling a small but enthusiastic group of salesmen. Many firms, large and small, throughout the country were using and recommending the chain addressograph. And, crude as that model seems now, it was proving a wonderful time and labor saver in the offices in which it was used—and paying back its cost many times each year because of the fact that it accurately printed names and addresses ten times faster than was possible to write such data by pen or typewriter.

A Card Index that Addresses Itself.

As the use of the addressograph increased, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Hall realized the need of a more efficient way of making changes and additions to the list of names. It was important that individual names be located and removed from the list more quickly than was possible with the chain addressograph. Demand for improvement along this line was stimulated by the loose-leaf and card index wave which was just then beginning to sweep the country. And Mr. Duncan, taking the card index idea as a basis, designed what he called the Model “A” or Rubber Card Index Addressograph. Instead of the separate plates being linked together in the form of a chain, they were inserted into a tin holder—called the frame—which closely resembled in appearance a 3 x 5 paper file card. In addition to carrying a printing plate, this frame also carried a paper card bearing a proof of its respective printing plate. In this complete form, these address plates were filed in steel filing drawers like ordinary paper cards. About every fifteenth address plate in a drawer was equipped with a vertical, subdividing tab—numerical, alphabetical or geographical as the case might require. Each filing drawer carried a printed label showing the contents of the drawer—and by means of these complete card index features it proved a simple matter to locate and remove individual names when making revisions to the list; and, in addition, these features afforded all of the advantages of a perfect reference file, as the paper proof card could be provided with a printed form for retaining memoranda.

Of course, a new addressograph was necessary to handle this card index improvement. And in the Model “A” Addressograph, we find the basic principle of the addressograph of today. A drawerful of plates is emptied into the magazine. The empty filing drawer is placed beneath the addressograph so that after addressing the address plates fall back into the original drawer in their original card index order.

Electric Motor Increases Speed.

Not only was it necessary to meet the demand for card index conveniences, but it was also important to equip the Model “A” Addressograph with an electric motor for increasing its speed of operation and insuring a greater output. As was to be expected, the card index and electrically operated features caused thousands of concerns, large and small, to adopt the addressograph. Large mercantile houses, addressing thousands of names—who had formerly held aloof from the addressograph because of its limited advantages for making changes and additions—now placed their orders with instructions to rush delivery. With business houses all over the country rapidly changing from bound books to loose-leaf card index records, the demand for chain addressograph models diminished and more and more orders were received for the rubber card index addressographs. Business men, generally, were now taking a real interest in mechanical addressing and the saving which the addressograph made possible in their offices. This interest was increased materially with the growth of mail-order businesses and the constantly increasing use of direct-by-mail advertising by business concerns, large and small. Firms having mailing lists were increasing them. Those firms which had not previously used direct-by-mail advertising were now coming to realize the many advantages of that modern selling short-cut and were compiling large lists of names. The rubber card index addressograph had by now proved itself a wonderful time and labor saver in addressing and maintaining lists of names of average size. But, with the advent of large lists, the high cost of rubber type presented a serious objection to many firms regarding the installation of the addressograph. Furthermore, large lists of names were subject to many changes and additions—and in this connection, setting up the address plates in rubber type proved quite slow and expensive. So, to bring the addressograph abreast of modern conditions, Mr. Duncan combined the card index filing idea with the embossed metal plate which he had previously worked out for use with the chain addressograph. With the coming of the metal card index addressograph and the modern graphotype for making the metal address plates, the addressing machine business was “revolutionized,” as Mr. Duncan put it. With the graphotype, address plates for changes and additions could be made at almost typewriter speed. The card index address plate required less filing space than was true of the rubber card index address plate, printed cleaner impressions and from every standpoint was superior to the rubber type system. In order that customers could make their changes and additions right in their office, the graphotype was further developed and furnished in two models, one operated by motor, the other by hand.

Attachments Increase Utility of Addressograph.

The first addressographs were intended for printing names and addresses consecutively on envelopes and post cards. And so much time was saved on this one application that customers soon began applying it to other kinds of work in their offices. To do this effectively, it was necessary for Mr. Duncan to work out additional parts called “attachments” which permitted the addressing, listing and imprinting of names and other data on office forms of every nature. To illustrate: the dating attachment enabled users to apply the addressograph to their statement work. With this attachment—which can quickly be thrown in or out of operation—the current date is printed at the head of a statement simultaneously with the printing of the name and address. Further, to use the addressograph effectively for statement work, it was necessary to devise a skipping attachment—manipulated by the operator’s knee—permitting him to skip the printing of impressions from address plates of those customers who had paid their accounts. By working out the listing attachment, Mr. Duncan made it possible for users to list names in one or more vertical columns on pay sheets, drivers’ route sheets, dividend and trial balance sheets. This attachment automatically feeds the paper and spaces the proper distances between the printing of each address. Then came the electric bell signal and automatic selector attachments. Users of classified lists of names were enabled by these attachments to place tabs in sockets at the top and back of the address plates to indicate the different classifications on the list, such as “Buying Seasons,” “Kinds of Products Wanted,” “Territories,” “Expired Dates,” etc., and by means of these attachments, automatically select for addressing certain address plates, skipping the addressing of others.

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As the various uses for the addressograph increased, so the demand for different special attachments increased, until today, the addressograph addresses, lists and imprints names, addresses and other data upon every office form. The history of the addressograph has been one of constant development. With the growth of large lists, the demand for greater speed in addressing was answered by automatic feed addressographs. The Automatic No. 1 Addressograph was designed to automatically feed and address envelopes and cards at the rate of 4,000 to 5,000 an hour. In the Automatic No. 3 Addressograph we find the highest development of the system. This machine automatically feeds and addresses public service bills, insurance premium notices and receipts, cards, envelopes, circulars, etc., at the great speed of 6,000 to 8,000 an hour. The wrapper addressograph answered the demand of publishers for great speed and 100 per cent accuracy. This model of the addressograph automatically feeds wrappers from a roll and in addition to printing the name and address exact typewriter style, also prints the name of the publication and postal permit from electrotypes, indicates mail routes on the back of the wrappers, separates into a separate drawer the address plates of those people whose subscriptions have expired, and cuts the wrapper to the proper size—all at the speed of 7,500 per hour.

Small Users not Overlooked.

But, while Mr. Duncan and his associates have given every attention to the needs of users of large lists of names, he has not overlooked the lodge secretaries and other users of small lists of names. In the hand addressograph, which sells for as low as $27, he has worked out three practical models having an average speed of from 750 to 1,500 names and addresses an hour. Thousands of these little machines are in daily use and, like the larger models of the addressograph, are driving drudgery out of the office—freeing thousands of hands from the monotonous, laborious task of writing names and addresses by pen and ink—in short, elevating the position of the office worker far above that of a mere automaton and making it possible for him to earn more money and enjoy a happier existence by doing brain work instead of manual labor.

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The Addressograph—Its Place in Business.

Twenty-five years’ use of the addressograph in over 300 different lines of business—manufacturers, wholesalers and dealers, insurance companies, public service companies, government departments, associations, clubs, churches, lodges, hotels and schools, laundries, commission merchants, publishers, railroad and steamship companies—in truth, every business, large and small, where a list of names is frequently addressed—have proved the utter folly of slow, tiring hands attempting to compete with swift, untiring wheels. Wherever names are written, there you will usually find the addressograph in use, saving time and money, guaranteeing 100 per cent accuracy and insuring maximum efficiency. There are many different models—some operated by hand or foot-lever, others by electric motor; some are entirely automatic. So, no matter how many names and addresses are written—fifty or a million—the addressograph, like the telephone or typewriter, has come to be recognized as a modern business necessity.

What is “Dry Farming”?

Dry farming is a method which has been recently developed and which is coming into even wider use. The United States Department of Agriculture, through its experiment stations, has made a careful study of the conditions, possibilities and limitations of the practice, and the following is a brief abstract of the results:

In defining the term dry farming it is explained that the practice includes (1) deep plowing before the rainy season sets in, in order to provide in the soil a capacious water storage reservoir and an ample space for root development; (2) light, deep, even seeding or planting in a well-prepared, moist soil; (3) frequent, thorough, level cultivation before as well as after sowing or planting; (4) the use of seed bred and selected for the conditions prevailing; (5) the use of machinery of large capacity; (6) the adoption of methods for the concentration of crops.

Crops must be selected or developed that will fit the environment, and there is ample field for investigation in the improvement and development of crops suitable to dry lands. Wheat stands at the head among cereal crops. The durum or macaroni wheats do especially well; but other varieties are also grown, as are oats, rye, barley and spelt. The millets are among the best paying dry-farming crops. There are few legumes that have shown value on dry lands, but peas, beans and alfalfa are the most promising of development. Vegetables and both shade and fruit trees are being grown in districts where dry farming is practiced.

Fall seeding of cereals, wherever the conditions will permit, is preferable to spring seeding, and it is important to retain the snow upon the land, especially in sections where it forms the chief part of the total precipitation. The snowfall may be retained by leaving the ground rough after the late fall plowing, by throwing up borders across the field at right angles with the prevailing winds, or by planting hedge rows or shrubbery across the field at short intervals. Usually less seed should be planted per acre under dry-farming conditions than is used in humid sections. The less precipitation, the smaller should be the amount of seed planted.

What is a “Drying Machine” Like?

This is a machine used in bleaching, dyeing and laundry establishments, consisting of two concentric drums or cylinders, one within the other, open at the top, and having the inner cylinder perforated at its side with numerous small holes. The goods to be dried are placed within the inner cylinder, and the machine is then made to rotate with great velocity, when, by the action of centrifugal force, the water escapes through the holes in the side.

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How does the New York Stock Exchange Operate?

The New York Stock Exchange is typical of most American stock exchanges, the leading ones of which are located in Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Denver, San Francisco and St. Louis. American stock exchanges differ somewhat in their operation from the foreign stock exchanges, the principal ones of which are those of London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Vienna and Petrograd.

A stock exchange is really an organization of professional brokers, which conducts speculation and investment in securities, the paper representatives of transportation, industrial, mining, commercial and other properties. On the American stock exchanges one broker may specialize in the shares of the Union Pacific Railroad, for instance, another in those of the United States Steel Corporation, and so on. Some brokers deal particularly in “odd lots”—blocks of less than one hundred shares—and some members, called “room traders,” speculate entirely for their own account and do no commission business for customers. The commission charged for buying or selling is twelve and a half cents a share, so that on the usual order of one hundred shares, the broker receives twelve dollars and a half.

The business of buying and selling shares is done in a large room known as the “floor.” Scattered over the floor are a large number of high posts. Each post bears the name of the stock or stocks which may be traded in at that post. This provision is to bring buyers and sellers in any security together as quickly as possible. A broker desiring to buy shares of a certain stock will go to the part allotted to that stock and call out its name with the number of shares wished and the price he will pay. This is his bid. Other brokers may offer the stock to him at a slightly higher price, or his bid may be accepted at once. As soon as a price is agreed on, each broker—the buyer and the seller—makes a memorandum of the transaction, which is reported to the offices at once by telephone. Meanwhile the broker also hands another memorandum of the transaction to an errand boy, who takes the memorandum at once to the telegraph operator, who in turn sends it out onto the little instrument called the “ticker.”

Transactions on the New York Stock Exchange may be made in three different ways: “Cash,” “regular” or on a “limited option” to buyer and seller as to the time of delivery or acceptance. “Cash” means that stock bought in this manner is taken up and paid for the same day; “regular” transactions mean that the stock bought in this way must be taken up and paid for by a quarter past two o’clock of the following afternoon.

Upon the outbreak of the European war, panic ensued among holders of securities, and the stock exchanges of the world were closed to prevent the selling of stocks at prices which would have brought ruin to banks and other financial houses. Practically none of them were opened until December, 1914, and then only under severe restrictions which were held in force until confidence had returned.

How did the Term “Cowboys” Originate?

The term “cowboys” was first used during the American Revolution. It was applied to a band of Tories who infested the neutral ground of Westchester County, New York, stealing cattle from both parties and doing other mischief.

It has been used of recent years to designate the skilled horsemen who have charge of the cattle on the great ranges of the West. Many of them enlisted in the Rough Rider regiment of the Spanish war and proved daring soldiers.