HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1938.
HOW LITHOGRAPHY WAS INVENTED
ACCIDENT WHICH PROVED A BOON
TO PRINTING BUSINESS
that he had invented lithography a graphle art based on the sim- ple fact that grease and water will
not mix.
IS THERE AN
AMERICAN LANGUAGE?
How a young German musician, Alois Benefelder, discovered, the any kind of stone will not do for Talk Before English
"art"of`Uthography, and the elaborations and improvements made daring the last 150 years, were described by Mr. Benjamin Wyle to members of the Hong Kong Rotary Club at the weekly tiffin held In the Hong Kong Hotel yesterday,
The gathering was presided over by Major R. D. Walker, presi- dent of the Rotary Club. A number of visitors attended, including Rotarians Whi. Vinson Lee (Shanghai), Paul Delts (Shanghai) and E. P. Mathewson (Tucson, Arizona),
I must point out, however, that
lithography. It has to be lime- stone-this porous stone being able to absorb water and also having affinity for..grease.
After describing the many dif- ferent methods and kinds of machinery used by lithographers since the days of Senefelder, and the various stages in the produc- tion of lithographic work. Mr. Wylle continued:
Association
STIMULATING SUBJECT
"Is there an American langu- Before introducing Mr. Wylie, lating the story of the discovery
age?" formed the subject of an interesting lecture delivered by the President read a letter from of lithography by Alois Senefelder
Up to thirty years ago most Mr. HC. Macnamara, well-known the chairman of the Women's In- a little over a century and a half
lithographic printing presses were local barrister, before the session ternational Club Inviting Rotar ago.
Young Senefelder lived lans to visit the Club on Thurs-
in incapable of turning off more than of the Hong Kong Branch of the actor and from 800 to 1200 Impressions per English Association in the Helena day and Friday. February 24. and Munich. He was an
A letter was alse read from composer. In the latter connec-hour. This, however, was felt to May Institute yesterday afternoon. the Shanghai Rotary Club thank- tion. he had difficulty in produc-be too slow, and so engineers and Mr. D. J. Sloss Vice-Chancellor ing the local body for a donationing his sheet music' cheaply. As a lithographers set out to produce of the University, presided. of $250 towards the Rotary Relief consequence, he became an expert- the quicker-moving rotary press.
25.
Fund.
1:
mental etcher and printer. and many were the methods he trie before hitting on the one which finally solved his problem.
ACCIDENT
It
Wis
Does the language
SPEED RESPONSIBLE FOR THEFT ABOARD
ACCIDENTS?
Magistrate And Police In Disagreement
the
LINER
American Sent
To Prison
Pleading guilty to the larceny of a bedspread and two bed-sheets: In-valued at US$7. Hugh Keogh, a messman of the ss. President Taft was sentenced by Mr. K. M. A. Barnett at the Kowloon Magistracy yesterday to 25 days' imprisonment Det.-Sergeant B. V. Hutchinson stated that on February 7 about 6.30 a.m., defendant was given a
A difference of opinion between ACCIDENTS INCREASING the Senior Magistrate, and
Accidents were increasing, Traffic-Inspector as to the degree specter Saunders went on, fatalities to which high speed is responsibis were increasing, and it was all due for traffic accidents. featured the
to increased speed. hearing of a motor-cas summons at Central Magistracy, yesterday.
The case, which was heard by Mr. R. A. D. Forrest. was one in which H. Tolle, of No. 2. Longsight Vilins, was charged with driving at a speed dangerous to the public instraight from the country." Caine Road on January 25. Traffic- Inspector S. C. Saunders prosecut
cd.
་་
that
His Worship: **I can't quite agree with that. There are other the increase of circumstances: vehicles on the road, the influx of refugees. some of whom have come
one.
DISHONEST
quantity of bedding to take to the various passengers cabins. From these he took the articles in ques- Inspector Saunders: "I hope tion and proceeded to the Tai Wo your Worship will take a serious Compradore shop and attempted to view, for, unless you do, our hands exchange them for a bottle of beer. Defendant admitted that he had are tled. There is a general ten-but the alertness of Indian Police The speaker said, in part;—'
exceeded the limit of 20 miles andency to increase speed and this is Reservist No. 223, who had followed Before we congratulate ourselves hour, but pleaded that he had to responsible for most accidents. him to the store in company with The chief obstacle to progress in
Ha Worship: "I can't quite the second steward of the ship, re- this direction was the heaviness on the enormous success of Eng- accelerate to take the hill by the Mr. Wylle said:
Convent. The rond, he agree with that. If a car is going sulted in his arrest. Many people have but the
and rigidity of the lithographic sh as a worldwide. language we Italian
Defendant pleaded that he was stone. It could only, so to speak. must enquire whether the spead claimed, was clear. He had driven at speed and an accident happens.. haziest notion of the art of Utho-
lle fat on its back: it could not or Eriglish has spread our langu- for nearly four years in Hong Kong it will probably be a bad one, but Funder the influence of drink at the graph. The other day, someone
speed alone does not......"
time, and had been drinking rather be bent around a cylinder.
age as we speak it in England, or with a clear record: asked to have several Lithographed
Inspector Saunders said then discovered that some other" language, or partly
Inspector Saunders: "I can't agree I heavily the night before. pictures inserted into a concert It came about in this wise. One
In passing sentence, His Worship. programme. What he meant was day. before leaving home. he zinc and aluminum by their aus-the one, and partly the other. In though defendant at no time ex with that and, I may say so. that he wished to have one or two sought to leave a written message ceptibility to grease, could be sub-other words we are forced to en-ceeded 30-32 miles an hour, the Your Worship, I am the person to remarked that he could not take there 11.03. American road there was narrow and there judge. I have to go out after an defendant's excuse as a reasonable illustrations Fortunately, his wish with his mother. This he did on stituted for the unwelldy German cuire s
were two garages just at the top. accident." was understood and there was no a thin slab of Bavarian limestone limestone. Thin sheets of these language?"
It was dangerous.
A fine of $10 was imposed. which he was using at the time in metals, after being suitably treat-spoken in the United States cor- need for explanation.
connection with his experiments. ed, are now clamped on the cylin-respond in all essentials with the
FORGED NOTES It so happened that in writing he ders of rotary presses, and as a language that we use, or does it consequence the work is produced differ from our language in prò- used a plece of greasy crayon.
Wishing to make an alteration, much more quickly than by the nunciation, grammar and spelling machines. to such an extent as to be virtually a plece of rag slow-moving fat-bed Senefelder with moistened with water, attempted These metal plates, being lighter. another tongue? Are we to consider to erase a portion of his message. also make for considerable eco-the language of America as a de- To his amazement he found he nomy of labour and space.
based, or if you prefer it an impro- the Kowloon Magistracy before Mr. ved form of English, or are we to. M. A. Barnett yesterday in the was unable to do this. The greasy
case in which a young Chinese was consider it as a crayon marks refused to disappear
new language Contemporaneous
charged on twelve counts of house- these based of with
course upon ours but
breaking and theft of various eforts to increase speed of pro-differing from it essentially? duction. photo-lithography also
These are are the questions that came to the ald of the litho-M HL Mencken. well-known grapher. The thin metal plates author of a book on the American were easily handled in the studio largunge, undertakes to answer and much laborious hand-work
no uncertain manner. previously done by the lithogra- That the enquiry is no academic ment for theft and housebreaking phic artist.
more effectively one but a real and pressing en-
and after he had pleaded guilty and accurately done by means of quiry is shown by this considerato five further charges yesterday. a further he was sentenced to twelve months, the sentences to run concurrently.
The pictures you see in news¬. papers are what is known as pro- cess block Illustrations. These form a typographical (or letter- press) printing surface which is ir relief that is to say, there are parts sticking up, over which the
ink rollers run.
A CHANCE DISCOVERY
The lithographic printing sur-to wash away.
face ts, however, not a relief-It
IDEA BORN
is perfectly flat and smooth. How
This gave him an idea. Keer then, you may ask, is it possibicing the stone damp. Senefelder to take clean, sharp prints from a
next passed an ink roller over it surface on which the image is He found that the ink adhered raised?+
only to the greasy writing and not to the otherwise water-moistened surface of the stone.
The seeming Impossiblity of rol lerp being able to run over the
the litho- only ink a thereon,
smooth surface of stone and graphic particular design perhaps, be best explained by re-
on
PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHY
the camera. Rotarian
Was
+
Lawrence Kadoorie
When he laid a plece of paper the stone and pressed it against the writing. he found that proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. the paper plcked up the ink and Wylie
and
tion.
"STANDARD" ENGLISH can.
"I had a great
great day's fishing-
and enjoyed
-and thanks
for the flask of
the walk
home
hot OVALTINE -it's a grand drink!"
In advising a foreigner to learn English can one, in good faith, tell him that the language as spoken in England' by cultivated persons is the language he has to learn or are we obliged to tell him that if he desires to settle in" the United States of America our se called "Standard" English will not only be of little use to him, but will be a positive hindrance to his acquiring the real language writ- ten and spoken in that country? This is the question we have to consider on Its merits, without allowing sentifnental considera- tions to influence our judgment.
As Mr. Mencken points out it is very difficult to get many Eng- ish people to see that their language is not in itself the absolute standard of what the language should be
The number nt persons who speak this so-called "Standard" English must be very small relation to the whole population of the British Isles.
in
After dealing briefly with the subject of "slang." Mr. Magnamara went to say that by the middle of Queen Victoria's reign the in- vasion of American words was at its height. The intrusien of these words excited not linguistic, but moral objections.
TYPICAL WORD
The speaker traced the evolution of a typical American word, a useful one too, the word to de- bunk, and said that originally buncombe was the name of a Congressional district in America,
Mr Macnamara added that it was interesting to note how the present English spelling came into existence. In Shakespeare's time, he said, spelling was in a very fluid state. It became settled about 1850, not, as might be sup- posed as the result of a meeting of eminent writers, but simply, if une is to believe Mr. Menchen, as the result of the work of printers. Knowing what English spelling is. said the speaker, it makes it all the easler to accept this account of the origin of our troubles.
In conclusion Mr. Macnamara
said that the English attitude to spelling was conservative, modized- by certain power of adopting some American spellings, He added that Mr. Mencken's con- clusion was:-"American spelling is plainly better than English spell- ing, and in the long run it seems sure to prevail"
In the discussion which fol lowed, Bir Henry Pollock Dr. M.O Pister. Mr. GF. de Martin: Pros R.K.M. Simpson and Mr. 8.cas spoke, after which the chairman on behalf of those present, pra- posed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Macnamara for his excellent and stimulating lecture and ap- p'aufe was accorded him..
THEFTS FROM KOWLOON RESIDENCES
Further evidence was heard at
articles to the total value of $678 from the homes of Kowloon re- sidents. He was committed to the Criminal Sessions.
Deferidant had previously been sentenced to ten months' imprison-
Property to the value of $351 had been recovered, sald Det.-Bergt. C. Mottram.
OFFICE BOY
Chung Ching. 40, was yesterday Yu Fuk-Gli, aged 40, office boy committed to the Criminal Sessions employed by Keelin und Company, on a charge of possession of 47 of Pedder Building was sentenced
forged Kwangtung dollar notes, by Mr. K. M. A. Barnett at the Kowloon Magistracy yesterday.
Defendant was arrested at the Kowloon-Canton Rallway Station.
Detective-Sergeant, C. "Mottram
prosecuted.
to six weeks' hard labour by Mfr. R. Edwards, at Central Magistracy. when he admitted stealing $69 from. his employers,
N
Sub-Inspector W. Armitt said the money had been left in a drawer when the office was closed on Saturday afternoon "and' was gone on Monday morning. Defendant was suspected and admitted the theft when he was questioned.
CAR DRIVERS IN GAMBLING RAID
Fifty-six persons were arrested by the police during a big gambling raid on Monday. Most of these of $3 each and one, the alleged
were car drivers.
Only six appeared before Mr. R. A. D. Forrest, at the Central Magistracy, yesterday, to answer & charge of gambling, and they were aned $1 each.
Of the other 50, 49 were on ball
was
keeper. on $100. Their bail estreated.
A sum of $43.90 picked up was ordered to be put in the Poor Box. Detective Sub-Inspector W. N. Darkin prosecuted.
The tip of your tongue will tell you
they are COOL
your
throat will say they are
CRAVENA
IN PACKETS OF 10 The easy access inner foil pack, and the moist-proof cellophane quier scrapping maintains perfect FACTORY
FRESHNESS.
PATENT TRULYACE SO TINS *TRU-VAC“ khright ein postaci Graben *A* against uti climatic conditions portið: the weat is broken by pulling the slabber Lak. There he outer-no jajjad idgr
IRGINIA, AGARETTES
MADE SPECIALLY TO PREVENT SORE THROATS MADE IN LONDON BY CARRERAS LTD.