Afterthis，Mr。CowperdesignedthefourcylindermachineforTheTimes，——bymeansofwhichfrom4000to5000sheetscouldbeprintedfromoneformeinthehour。In1823，Mr。Applegathinventedanimprovementintheinkingapparatus，byplacingthedistributingrollersatanangleacrossthedistributingtable，insteadofforcingthemendwaysbyothermeans。
Mr。Waltercontinuedtodevotethesameunremittingattentiontohisbusinessasbefore。Helookedintoallthedetails，wasfamiliarwitheverydepartment，and，onanemergency，waswillingtolendahandinanyworkrequiringmorethanordinarydespatch。
Thus，itisrelatedofhimthat，inthespringof1833，shortlyafterhisreturntoParliamentasMemberforBerkshire，hewasatTheTimesofficeoneday，whenanexpressarrivedfromParis，bringingthespeechoftheKingoftheFrenchontheopeningoftheChambers。Theexpressarrivedat10A。M。，aftertheday’simpressionofthepaperhadbeenpublished，andtheeditorsandcompositorshadlefttheoffice。Itwasimportantthatthespeechshouldbepublishedatonce；andMr。Walterimmediatelysettoworkuponit。Hefirsttranslatedthedocument；then，assistedbyonecompositor，hetookhisplaceatthetype-case，andsetitup。Totheamazementofoneofthestaff，whodroppedinaboutnoon，he“foundMr。Walter，M。P。forBerks，workinginhisshirt-sleeves！“Thespeechwassetandprinted，andthesecondeditionwasintheCitybyoneo’clock。Hadhenot“turnedto“ashedid，thewholeexpenseoftheexpressservicewouldhavebeenlost。Anditisprobablethattherewasnotanothermaninthewholeestablishmentwhocouldhaveperformedthedoublework——intellectualandphysical——whichhethatdayexecutedwithhisownheadandhands。
Suchanincidentcuriouslyillustrateshiseminentsuccessinlife。Itwassimplytheresultofperseveringdiligence，whichshrankfromnoeffortandneglectednodetail；aswellasofprudencealliedtoboldness，butcertainlynot“ofchance；“and，aboveall，ofhighmindedintegrityandunimpeachablehonesty。ItisperhapsunnecessarytoaddmoreastothemeritsofMr。Walterasamanofenterpriseinbusiness，orasapublicmanandaMemberofParliament。Thegreatworkofhislifewasthedevelopmentofhisjournal，thehistoryofwhichformsthebestmonumenttohismeritsandhispowers。
TheprogressiveimprovementofsteamprintingmachinerywasnotaffectedbyMr。Walter’sdeath，whichoccurredin1847。Hehadgivenitanimpulsewhichitneverlost。In1846Mr。Applegathpatentedcertainimportantimprovementsinthesteampress。Thegeneraldispositionofhisnewmachinewasthatofaverticalcylinder200inchesincircumference，holdingonitthetypeanddistributingsurfaces，andsurroundedalternatelybyinkingrollersandpressingcylinders。Mr。Applegathestimatedinhisspecificationthatinhisnewverticalsystemthemachine，witheightcylinders，wouldprintabout10，000sheetsperhour。Thenewprintingpresscameintousein1848，andcompletelyjustifiedtheanticipationsofitsprojector。
Applegath’smachine，thoughsuccessfullyemployedatTheTimesoffice，didnotcomeintogeneraluse。Itwas，toalargeextent，supersededbytheinventionofRichardM。Hoe，ofNewYork。Hoe’sprocessconsistedinplacingthetypesuponahorizontalcylinder，againstwhichthesheetswerepressedbyexteriorandsmallercylinders。Thetypeswerearrangedinsegmentsofacircle，eachsegmentformingaframethatcouldbefixedonthecylinder。Theseprintingmachinesweremadewithfromtwototensubsidiarycylinders。ThefirstpressessentbyMessrs。Hoe&Co。tothiscountrywereforLloyd’sWeeklyNewspaper，andwereofthesix-cylindersize。Thesewerefollowedbytwoten-cylindermachines，orderedbythepresentMr。
Walter，forTheTimes。OtherEnglishnewspaperproprietors——bothinLondonandtheprovinces——weresuppliedwiththemachines，asmanyasthirty-fivehavingbeenimportedfromAmericabetween1856and1862。Itmaybementionedthatthetwoten-cylinderHoesmadeforTheTimesweredrivenattherateofthirty-tworevolutionsperminute，whichgivesaprintingrateof19，200perhour，orabout16，000includingstoppages。
MuchoftheingenuityexercisedbothintheApplegathandHoeMachineswasdirectedtothe“chase，“whichhadtoholdsecurelyuponitscurvedfacethemassofmovabletyperequiredtoformapage。AndnowtheenterpriseoftheproprietorofTheTimesagaincametothefront。Thechangeeffectedintheartofnewspaper-printing，bytheprocessofstereotypes，isscarcelyinferiortothatbywhichthelateMr。Walterappliedsteam-powertotheprintingpress，andcertainlyequaltothatbywhichtherotarypresssupersededthereciprocatoryactionoftheflatmachine。
Stereotypinghasacurioushistory。Manyattemptsweremadetoobtainsolidprinting-surfacesbytransferfromsimilarsurfaces，composed，inthefirstplace，ofmovabletypes。ThefirstwhoreallysucceededwasoneGed，anEdinburghgoldsmith，who，afteraseriesofdifficultexperiments，arrivedataknowledgeoftheartofstereotyping。Thefirstmethodemployedwastopourliquidstucco，oftheconsistencyofcream，overthetypes；andthis，whensolid，gaveaperfectmould。Intothisthemoltenmetalwaspoured，andaplatewasproduced，accuratelyresemblingthepageoftype。Aslongagoas1730，GedobtainedaprivilegefromtheUniversityofCambridgeforprintingBiblesandPrayer-booksafterthismethod。Buttheworkmenweredeadagainstit，astheythoughtitwoulddestroytheirtrade。Thecompositorsandthepressmenpurposelybatteredthelettersintheabsenceoftheiremployers。InconsequenceofthisinterferenceGedwasruined，anddiedinpoverty。
Thearthad，however，beenborn，andcouldnotbekeptdown。ItwasrevivedinFrance，inGermany，andinAmerica。FiftyyearsafterthediscoveryofGed，TillochandFoulis，ofGlasgow，patentedasimilarinvention，withoutknowinganythingofwhatGedhaddone；andaftergreatlabourandmanyexperiments，theyproducedplates，theimpressionsfromwhichcouldnotbedistinguishedfromthosetakenfromthetypesfromwhichtheywerecast。Someyearsafterwards，LordStanhope，towhomtheartofprintingismuchindebted，greatlyimprovedtheartofstereotyping，thoughitwasstillquiteinapplicabletonewspaperprinting。ThemeritofthislatterinventionisduetotheenterpriseofthepresentproprietorofTheTimes。
Mr。Walterbeganhisexperiments，aidedbyaningeniousItalianfoundernamedDellagana，earlyin1856。Itwasascertainedthatwhenpapier-machematriceswererapidlydriedandplacedinamould，separatecolumnsmightbecastinthemwithstereotypemetal，typehigh，planedflat，andfinishedwithsufficientspeedtogetuptheduplicateofaformeoffourpagesfittedforprinting。Stepsweretakentoadaptthesetype-highcolumnstotheApplegathPresses，thenworkedwithpolygonalchases。WhentheHoemachineswereintroduced，insteadofdealingwiththeseparatecolumns，thepapier-machematrixwastakenfromthewholepageatoneoperation，byroller-pressesconstructedforthepurpose。Theimpressiontakenoffinthismannerisasperfectasifithadbeenmadeinthefinestwax。Thematrixisrapidlydriedonheatingsurfaces，andthenaccuratelyadjustedinacastingmachinecurvedtotheexactcircumferenceofthemaindrumoftheprintingpress，andfittedwithaterra-cottatoptosecureacastingofuniformthickness。Onpouringstereotypemetalintothismould，acurvedplatewasobtained，which，afterundergoingacertainamountoftrimmingattwomachines，couldbetakentopressandsettoworkwithintwenty-fiveminutesfromthetimeatwhichtheprocessbegan。
Besidesthegreatadvantagesobtainedfromuniformsetsoftheplates，whichmightbeprintedondifferentmachinesattherateof50，000impressionsanhour，orsuchadditionalnumberasmightberequired，thereisthisothergreatadvantage，thatthereisnowearandtearoftypeinthecurvedchasesbyobstructivefriction；andthatthefount，insteadofwearingoutintwoyears，mightlastfortwenty；fortheplates，afterdoingtheirworkforoneday，aremelteddownintoanewimpressionforthenextday’sprinting。Atthesametime，theoriginaltype-page，safefrominjury，canbemadetoyieldanynumberofcopiesthatmayberequiredbytheexigenciesofthecirculation。Itwillbesufficientlyobviousthatbythemultiplicationofstereotypeplatesandprintingmachines，thereispracticallynolimittothenumberofcopiesofanewspaperthatmaybeprintedwithinthetimewhichtheprocessnowusuallyoccupies。
ThisnewmethodofnewspaperstereotypingwasoriginallyemployedonthecylindersoftheApplegathandHoePresses。ButitisequallyapplicabletothoseoftheWalterPress，abriefdescriptionofwhichwenowsubjoin。AstheconstructionofthefirststeamnewspapermachinewasduetotheenterpriseofthelateMr。Walter，sotheconstructionofthislastandmostimprovedmachineisdueinlikemannertotheenterpriseofhisson。ThenewWalterPressisnot，likeApplegathandCowper’s，andHoe’s，theimprovementofanexistingarrangement，butanalmostentirelyoriginalinvention。
IntheReportsoftheJurorsonthe“Plate，Letterpress，andothermodesofPrinting，“attheInternationalExhibitionof1862，thefollowingpassageoccurs:——“Itisincumbentonthereporterstopointoutthat，excellentandsurprisingasaretheresultsachievedbytheHoeandApplegathMachines，theycannotbeconsideredsatisfactorywhilethosemachinesthemselvesaresoliabletostoppagesinworking。NotruemechaniccancontrasttheimmenseAmericanten-cylinderpressesofTheTimeswiththesimplecalico-printingmachine，withoutfeelingthatthelatterfurnishesthetruetypetowhichthemechanismfornewspaperprintingshouldasmuchaspossibleapproximate。“
Onthisprinciple，soclearlyputforward，theInventorsoftheWalterPressproceededinthecontrivanceofthenewmachine。ItistruethatWilliamNicholson，inhispatentof1790，prefiguredthepossibilityofprintingon“paper，linen，cotton，woollen，andotherarticles，“bymeansoftypefixedontheoutersurfaceofarevolvingcylinder；butnostepsweretakentocarryhisviewsintoeffect。SirRowlandHillalso，beforehebecameconnectedwithPostOfficereform，revivedthecontrivanceofNicholson，andreferredtoitinhispatentof1835No。6762；
andhealsoproposedtousecontinuousrollsofpaper，whichFourdrinierandDonkinhadmadepracticablebytheirinventionofthepaper-makingmachineabouttheyear1804；butbothNicholson’sandHill’spatentsremainedadeadletter。[2]
Itmaybeeasytoconceiveaprintingmachine，oreventomakeamodelofone；buttoconstructanactualworkingprintingpress，thatmustbesureandunfailinginitsoperations，isamattersurroundedwithdifficulties。Ateverystepfreshcontrivanceshavetobeintroduced；theyhavetobetriedagainandagain；
perhapstheyareeventuallythrownasidetogiveplacetonewarrangements。Thustheheadoftheinventoriskeptinastateofconstantturmoil。Sometimesthewholemachinehastoberemodelledfrombeginningtoend。Onestepisgainedbydegrees，thenanother；andatlast，afteryearsoflabour，thenewinventioncomesbeforetheworldintheformofapracticalworkingmachine。
In1862Mr。WalterbeganinTheTimesoffice，withtoolsandmachineryofhisown，experimentsforconstructingaperfectingpresswhichshouldprintthepaperfromrollsofpaperinsteadoffromsheets。Likehisfather，Mr。Walterpossessedanexcellentdiscriminationofcharacter，andselectedthebestmentoaidhiminhisimportantundertaking。Numerousdifficultieshad，ofcourse，tobesurmounted。Planswerevariedfromtimetotime；
newmethodsweretried，altered，andimproved，simplificationbeingaimedatthroughout。Sixlongyearspassedinthispursuitofthepossible。Atlengththeclearlightdawned。In1868Mr。
Walterventuredtoordertheconstructionofthreemachinesonthepatternofthefirstcompleteonewhichhadbeenmade。Bytheendof1869thesewerefinishedandplacedinaroombythemselves；andafourthwasafterwardsadded。TheretheprintingofTheTimesisnowdone，inlessthanhalfthetimeitpreviouslyoccupied，andwithone-fifththenumberofhands。
ThemostremarkablefeatureintheWalterPressisitswonderfulsimplicityofconstruction。Simplicityofarrangementisalwaysthebeauidealofthemechanicalengineer。Thisprintingpressisnotonlysimple，butaccurate，compact，rapid，andeconomical。
Whileeachoftheten-feederHoeMachinesoccupiesalargeandloftyroom，andrequireseighteenmentofeedandworkit，thenewWalterMachineoccupiesaspaceofonlyaboutl4feetby5，orlessthananynewspapermachineyetintroduced；anditrequiresonlythreeladstotakeaway，withhalftheattentionofanoverseer，whoeasilysuperintendstwoofthemachineswhileatwork。TheHoeMachineturnsout7000impressionsprintedonbothsidesinthehour，whereastheWalterMachineturnsout12，000
impressionscompletedinthesametime。