Companionships.
Disputes sometimes arise in a printing-office upon trifling as well as important points, which should be settled by a reference to the general custom and usage of the trade. These annoying misunderstandings take place in companionships consisting of several compositors; it is therefore highly desirable that the generally received rules and regulations in this regard should be explicitly laid down for the comfort and government of the compositor.
Taking Copy.
When the work to be taken in hand is a reprint which is to be followed page for page, a fixed number of pages should be given to each compositor as he comes in turn for copy; or, if the work be in manuscript, an equal average amount should be allowed as a take for each compositor. None of the hands should have access to the copy, but the foreman should deal it out as wanted with perfect impartiality, fat or lean as it may happen to run. Otherwise, a compositor who has an acquaintance with the copy may be tempted to loiter if the next take to be given out be lean, or, if it be fat, to apply for copy before his work in hand is finished. By this course, the foreman will prevent all such sorts of sharp practice, and secure harmony in the companionship. When the foreman gives out copy, he should plainly mark the name of the compositor at the head of the first page of the take if the work be a page-for-page reprint; if it be manuscript, or a reprint in a different measure from that of the copy, he should write the name at the beginning of the first paragraph of the take. Most compositors desire to have a large portion of copy, under the erroneous idea that it will be to their advantage to make up many pages at once. Small takes insure a more rapid execution of the work and bring a quicker return of letter, and so tend to the profit of the hands.
If one of the companionship absent himself, the man next in order should close his copy, whether it be good or bad, unless the larger portion of it be not set, in which case the person who has the last take must go on with it.
Making Up.
The compositor who has the first take on the work proceeds without delay to make it up as soon as he has completed it. Having completed as many pages as his matter will make, he passes the overplus, if less than half a page, with the correct head and folio, to the compositor whose matter follows his, at the same time taking an account of the number of lines loaned; if, on the contrary, the overplus makes more than half a page, he borrows a sufficient number of lines to complete his page; each compositor keeping an account of the number of lines borrowed and loaned. The second compositor, following the same course, passes the make-up to the next in succession; each man passing the make-up in like manner without unnecessary delay.
Making Up of Letter.
The number of the companionship, if possible, should be determined on at the commencement of the work, to enable all to proceed upon an equal footing. The letter appropriated for the work should be adequate to keep the persons on it fully employed.
If any part of the matter for distribution, whether in chase or in paper, be desirable on account of the sorts it may contain, it should be divided equally, or the choice of it thrown for.
When a new companion is put on the work after the respective shares of letter are made up, and if there be not a sufficiency to carry on all the companionship without making up more, he must bring on an additional quantity before he can be allowed to partake of any part of that which comes from the press.
Making Up Furniture.
The companions in rotation should make up the furniture in turn, the one who has the last matter in the first sheet leading off. Should an odd sheet be wanted, it will be better to throw for the chance of making it up.
Imposing and Distributing Letter.
The person to whose turn it falls to impose must lay up the form for distribution. To prevent disputes, it will be well to prepare a blank form, as follows, which may be filled up as the work proceeds:—
| SIGNATURES. | THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. | BY WHOM IMPOSED. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEATTY. | GOUDY. | FARROE. | WILSON. | CLARK. | MCGUIGAN. | MAYHEW. | ||
| B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Clark. |
| C | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | McGuigan. |
| D | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Farroe. |
| E | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | Wilson. |
| F | ||||||||
When the form is laid up, the letter should be divided equally, and, if possible, each person should distribute the matter originally composed by him; by this means, the sorts which may have made his case uneven will return to him. If any man absent himself beyond a reasonable time, his undistributed matter should be divided equally among his companions, and when he returns he may have his share of the next division.
Correcting, Etc.
The compositor whose matter is first in the proof should lay up the forms on the imposing-stone and correct it; he then hands the proof to the person who follows next. The compositor who corrects the last part of the sheet locks up the forms.
The compositor who has matter in the first and last part, but not the middle of the sheet, only lays up the forms and corrects his matter; the locking up is left to the person who corrects last in the sheet.
A compositor having the first page only of the sheet is required to lay up one form; also to lock up one form if he has but the last page.
If, from carelessness in locking up the form,—viz. the furniture binding, the quoins badly fitted, &c.—any letters, or even a page, should fall out, the person who locked up the form should repair the damage. But, if the accident occur from bad justification, or from letters riding upon the ends of the leads, the loss should fall upon the person to whom the matter belongs.
It is the business of the locker-up to ascertain whether all the pages are of equal length; and, though a defect in this respect is highly reprehensible in the maker-up, (whose duty it is to rectify it,) yet, if not previously discovered by the locker-up, and an accident happen, he must make good the defect.
The compositor who imposes a sheet must correct the alterations in that sheet. He must also rectify any defect in the register arising from want of accuracy in the furniture.
Forms sometimes remain a considerable length of time before they are put to press. In this case, particularly in summer, the furniture is likely to shrink, and the pages may fall out. It is therefore the business of the locker-up to attend to it in this respect, or he will be subject to make good any accident which his neglect may occasion.
When forms which have been worked off are ordered to be kept standing, they are considered under the care of the foreman. When they are cleared away, it is to be done in equal proportions by the companionship. During the time any forms may have remained under the care of the foreman, should there have been any alteration as to form or substance which were not made by the original compositors, they are not subject to clear away those parts of the form thus altered. To prevent dust from settling in the face of the type, it is well to keep the forms in a chase cabinet.
If the pressman unlock a form on the press, and any part of it fall out from carelessness in the locking up, he is subject to the loss that may happen in consequence.
The compositor who locks up a sheet takes it to the proof-press, and, after he has pulled a proof, hands it, together with the foul proof, to the reader, and deposits the form in a place appointed for that purpose.
Transposition of Pages.
Each person in the companionship must lay down his pages properly on the stone for imposition. The compositor whose turn it is to impose looks them over to see if they are rightly placed. Should they, after this examination, lie improperly, and be thus imposed, it will be his business to transpose them; but, should the folios be wrong, and the mistake arise from this cause, it must be rectified by the person to whom the matter belongs. Pages without folios or head-lines, laid down wrongly for imposition, must be rectified by the person who has been slovenly enough to adopt this plan.