His "String."

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2078, 31 October 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

His "String."

An old " Comp " who has Bet 120,000 miles of Type. Mien urn J* Quinn, of Erie, Pa., is an old printer of over fifty years " standing," and a great deal of " setting." He now holds cases on the Erie Daily Herald, and although almost 70, uses his oyes without tho aid of tho optician or glasses. " Father " Quinns years of toil any wearying labor represents startling features in tho way of figures. For instance, assuming a fair average rate of speed, taken from his bost of 10,000 ems and his rate of 5,000 at the present day, giving 7,500 ems for an average, it will be found that the enormous amount of 110,310,000 ems of matter havo been set up by this compositor during the past two or three yeara more than half a century. It setting this it was necessary to handle over 358,020,000 pieces of metal twice over, including the distribution. It would further interest the reader to know that the type so set would weigh 187,700 pounds, or 91 tons, which this old man has lifted piece by piece in tho specified time. In selting type the average distance the hand truvela is a foot and a naif, or thereabouts. Consequently hia hand has travelled over 510,000,000 feet, or a matter of 97,727 miles, or within a few hundred feet of being four times tho circumference of the earth. Thia docs not include the distribution, which would increase the distance to about five and a half timefl around the globu. " Father " Qainn'a " string " would fill about 16,015 columns of spaoe. If stretched out in a continuous lino it would form a belt over two milea wide by over seven miles in solid read' ing matter. Put these lines in one continuous line and it would extend 123 milei. - Nu9 York Mail,