Two men were needed, one for inking and another for the paper; sometimes a "fly boy" was used to carry away the printed sheets and hang them on lines to dry. One man is inking the form (n) with ink balls; this was called "beating" and demanded great skill. The other man has put a sheet of damp paper on the padded "tympan" (o) and is about to swing down the "frisket" (p) to mask the paper, hold it in place and prevent smudging. When the form is inked he will fold the whole paper apparatus down on the type, turn the crank on the side of the press to move the assembly half-way under the platen, grasp the curved bar (k) with his left hand and pull it towards him until he can reach the end of the bar with his right hand, when he will pull the bar sharply as far as it will go. This causes the screw (g) to rotate in the cap (c) and force the spindle down onto the centre of the platen. The platen is kept from pivoting by the hose (h). The man will then throw the bar back to its catch, run the bed the rest of the way under the platen, and repeat the pull to finish printing the sheet on one side. A good press crew was expected to print 250 sheets an hour.
