Chapter D: A. Hall employs H. D. Snyder as traveling salesman for the purpose of (5)

=Duplicate Invoices.= There are many reasons, in various lines, why duplicate invoices are desirable and even necessary. Some customers request invoices rendered in duplicate with one copy complete, the other minus the prices and extensions. To accomplish this, it is either necessary to place a piece of paper between the carbon and duplicate invoice in such a manner that the prices and extensions will not copy, or to use a short invoice cut off at the left of the price column, or to use a short piece of carbon paper between the original and second, or duplicate, invoice.

It is desirable to make extra copies of invoices or duplicates for the use of various departments of a business, for instance, analysis of sales by salesmen. Where a company employs a large number of salesmen, it is very convenient to file in binders a duplicate copy of all invoices sold by each salesman, using a binder for each salesman. This is preferable to having separate columns in the sales book (sales sheets in binders). The latter method permits each salesman to see what every other salesman is doing.

Fig. 13. Sales Sheet for Condensed Billing
]

=Department Records.= A separate binder allows each man to consult his record without inconvenience to any other one. In large companies having a traffic department, it is necessary to provide a duplicate copy of each invoice for the record, showing complete details of every charge.

A distinction should be made between those firms who make their invoices before the goods are shipped, and those who make the invoices after the goods have been shipped. In the cloak business, for instance, the goods are generally billed before the goods are shipped, the invoice being placed in an envelope and packed with the goods.

Ofttimes the goods are manufactured in proper quantities, properly checked from the order to the packers' table, and then packed improperly—some customer receiving too many garments, another, too few. Yet the order will be properly checked. To obviate this difficulty, a scheme was devised whereby the packer received a duplicate typewritten copy of the bill (or invoice) showing everything but the quantities. This makes it necessary for the packer to count all the garments and mark down in pencil on this copy of the bill the quantity of each style and kind to be shipped. Before the goods are shipped, the packer's copy of the invoice, with his quantities marked in lead pencil, is compared with the quantities charged on the sales sheet. This scheme forces the packer to count all garments instead of double checking someone else's figures in an absent-minded, or even neglectful, way.

This is accomplished by placing a narrow strip of paper over the quantity column of the duplicate invoice, but under the carbon paper. The quantity figures manifold onto the strip of paper instead of onto the duplicate invoice. This plan is termed _using a blind_. The narrow strip of paper between the invoice and duplicate is the _blind_ described a little further on.

The next step in short cutting work is the printing of a label in connection with the invoice and sales sheet. In the book business, where it is generally possible to fill orders from stock, and where the invoice can be made before the goods are shipped, it is possible to place a small piece of paper (the label) between a folded invoice in such a manner that when the name is written on the invoice it manifolds onto the label as well as onto the duplicate invoice and sales sheet.

=Analysis of Quantities and Amounts.= In certain lines of business which sell three or four varieties of goods, it is desirable to analyze the weights or quantities in the proper columns, which in turn manifold onto the sales sheets, as shown in Fig. 14.

Fig. 14. Sales Sheet for Analyzing Quantities and Amounts of Goods
]

This saves a great deal of time as compared with making out the same invoice in the following way:

3000 # Brass Rods @20 $60.00
2500 # Brass Bars @21 $52.50
1000 # Zinc Bars @15 $15.00

By following the first plan, all of the weights for the respective classes of goods will be manifolded into the proper columns, and it is therefore an easy matter to total each column, and at the end of the month the classification of sales will be totaled according to weights as well as according to dollars and cents. The invoice is ruled to match the sales sheet.

=Information on Sales Sheet Not on Invoice.= In certain lines of business, such as wire-screen manufacture, it is desirable at times to substitute the next size of wire in order to fill orders promptly. In such cases, it is necessary to have the invoice show the size of wire ordered, but to have the sales sheet show the size really sent. It would seem impossible therefore to write _No. 8 wire_ on the invoice and have _No. 9 wire_ manifold on the sales sheet.

The idea used to accomplish the desired result is to place the invoice in such a position with relation to the sales sheet that a margin is left on the left-hand side of the sales sheet, which would permit the operator typewriting directly on the sales sheet, and placing thereon the actual size of the wire shipped. The size ordered would be written on the invoice in the regular manner, and of course would manifold onto the sales sheet.

There are other cases where it is desirable to use this idea. For instance, wholesale dry goods firms when purchasing dry goods from eastern manufacturers request the latter when billing to use lot numbers furnished by the purchaser. It is also necessary for the manufacturers to bill the goods according to their own lot numbers. Hence it becomes necessary to have both the customer's lot number and their own on the sales sheet. This is accomplished by writing their own lot numbers directly upon the sales sheets at the left of the invoice and then making the invoice out in the regular way. This idea carries out the customer's wishes, and always gives a comparison of lot numbers to the manufacturers on their sales sheets. Flat-bed machines require wider invoice, Fig. 15.

=Goods Purchased Outside.= It is possible to make a short cut in some lines of business where the goods sold are not kept in stock but are purchased from other firms in the same city. When placing the invoice in the billing machine over the sales sheet, requisition blanks in duplicate or triplicate can also be placed in the machine with the invoice, and the items which have to be ordered outside written first on the invoice. When all of these items have been entered on the invoice, the requisition blanks may be removed, and the invoice and sales sheet left in the billing machine, putting the remaining items which are to be shipped and charged on the invoice (sales sheet). This occurs where orders can be shipped complete.

This plan can also be used when writing up the order, where the billing is done after the goods are shipped. It is to be remembered that there is a great distinction to be made in handling the billing work of firms who are able to fill their own orders complete, as contrasted with those firms who have to wait until goods are shipped in order to determine which items to bill. Some firms who always carry a complete stock are able to make up an invoice and order blank, a label for the express package, and a charge on sales sheet, simultaneously, because they know that they can ship every item called for, and consequently do not have to wait to see what items are shipped before billing them.

Fig. 15. Form to Provide on Sales Sheet Information not on Invoice
]

=Unit Billing.= The unit idea in billing has grown considerably in the last few years, notwithstanding that the size of the bills have to be uniform, and as large an invoice has to be used for one item as for a large bill. Many firms prefer the unit idea to the condensed sales sheet idea.

This is due chiefly to the elasticity of the scheme. The duplicate, triplicate, or quadruplicate of the invoice can be sorted in any desirable way. It is especially convenient for bookkeepers to sort duplicates of the invoices alphabetically, and save a great deal of time in posting to loose-leaf ledgers arranged alphabetically, in the same manner. (In mentioning loose-leaf ledgers, card-ledgers are always included, as the same principles are applied to one as to the other, as far as accounting methods are concerned.) It is easier to handle unit billing forms on the typewriters with billing attachments, which is an added reason that many firms prefer to use them. Some of these forms are shown in Fig. 16.

Another idea to be recommended is the color scheme, whereby each copy of the invoice is manifolded onto a different-colored piece of paper. In sorting the various copies for different departments, different colors will greatly facilitate the recognition of various sheets, and the uses or departments for which each is intended.

ORDER WORK OF WHOLESALE GROCERS

There are hardly two firms who handle their order work alike. The first consideration in treating order methods is to distinguish the classes of business in which the orders are made up ready for execution by the salesman, from those which are received from customers and transcribed on typewriters. The first class will be discussed separately from the second.

Wholesale grocers, druggists, and similar lines receive the great majority of their orders from the salesmen in the field. After the orders are opened, the first step is to stamp on each order a number with an automatic numbering machine. After this is done they are copied into an order register as follows:

Fig. 16. Samples of Unit Billing. _Remington Typewriter Co._
]

1012 John Smith & Co., Plainfield, N. J.
1013 A. B. Jones & Bro., Providence, R. I.
1014 U. J. Benedict, Elmira, N. Y.
1015 Grace Barnes & Co., Alliance, Ohio.

After the orders are filled and charged, they are checked on the order register. About once a week all of the unchecked numbers on the order register are compared with the unfilled orders. If an order should become lost, the fact would not remain unknown longer than one week's time.

It should always be remembered that in case an order is not completely filled and is "back ordered," the back order should always show the original order number in order to prevent confusion. A little practical experience will quickly show how wrong it is to use a new number for a back order.

=Back Orders.= In the problem of systematizing any kind of business, the question of back orders and the proper method of handling them is one of the most troublesome. Some firms do not wish an order blank returned to the warerooms after it has once been there, because they do not wish the wareroom or factory to know the prices which are placed on order blanks in the office after they have been received there for pricing, extending, and billing. Many firms therefore make an entirely new order to be returned to the factory or wareroom with the letter A used in connection with the order number, as follows: _1013A_. This of course delays the filling of the order until the back order is typewritten. If it is necessary to make a second back order, the same would read _1013B_. Other firms use the color scheme. This is a very good idea, as it indicates clearly to the order fillers old orders which should receive attention first.

Many important improvements in the order and billing methods have been inaugurated in recent years in the business of wholesale grocers. Formerly it was the custom, after the order had been numbered and recorded in the order register, to pass the orders out into the warehouse with the general understanding that they were to be filled as quickly as possible. The order fillers would generally start at the top floor and pick all of the items which were to be shipped, place them on a truck and take them to the next lower floor, and follow this plan until the order was entirely filled. In stores above a certain size this resulted in considerable delay.

The first improvement was to send the orders to the shipping department, where they were split up by clerks known as _Slippers_, who wrote on slips the items which were to be taken out of stock, each slip representing the goods to be gotten out on a certain order from a certain floor. This idea allowed the order fillers on all floors to work simultaneously, and resulted in considerable saving of time.

Another favorable result obtained through this system is that the shipping clerk retains an original copy of the order (the copy sent in by the salesman) and is enabled therefore to follow up all departments and hurry up any department which may be delinquent in the filling of a certain order. In planning work, it is always advisable to have one department act as a follow-up on some other department. In the grocery business, it is much more satisfactory for the shipping clerk to have a complete record of all the orders to be shipped that day, than to hand the original orders into the warehouse to be sent down to the shipping department after the order has been entirely filled, and then have the shipping clerk rushed _at the last minute_ to plan his loads and do all of the clerical work, such as making up bills of lading, etc.

The next improvement was necessitated by a desire on the part of those wholesale groceries which are located in cities having an efficient interurban electric car service to fill orders at different hours of the day. One western firm transcribed all of its orders on cylinder billing machines, giving the shipping clerk a full copy of the order, and each department a copy of the items which are to be filled from that department only. On the shipping clerk's copy, the notation _11 A.M._, is marked, also on all of the department order slips. This indicates that the order is to be shipped on the 11 o'clock car. Other stationery is printed with the _1 P.M._, _2 P.M._, _3 P.M._, _4 P.M._, _5 P.M._ to indicate the hours at which the orders are to be shipped. Many small retail merchants delay ordering until the last minute, and the wholesale house which can give the promptest service gets the business. The above plan advises the shipping department the time that the goods are to be delivered, and makes it responsible for results. All delays are noted, and a daily report made of the causes, which are promptly investigated and removed.

=Split Orders.= Some wholesale drug houses have their stock arranged on different floors, of which their salesmen are fully advised. If the salesman takes an order for goods which are held in stock on four different floors, he sends in the order on four sheets of paper with the items for each floor written on the respective sheets which indicate the respective floors. Different-colored sheets of paper are used for the various floors. This scheme puts more clerical work on the salesmen, but it enables the office to quickly hand each department its part of the order without the delay of transcribing the department slips on the typewriter at the office. In all order schemes where an order is split up and written on several sheets of paper in order that each department may fill the order without delay, the term _split orders_ is used. In all split-order schemes, the number of sheets in which the order has been divided is written on each sheet. For instance, if there are departmental order sheets for three different floors, the figure 3 is marked on each slip. In this way the biller, by counting the number of sheets attached to the complete order, will know that all of the split-order sheets have been returned to the office. Fig. 17 illustrates this system of orders. The three blank sheets at the top are departmental order sheets, and each contains _only a part_ of the whole order. This is accomplished by removing one departmental sheet at a time from the billing machine, but allowing the three top sheets to remain in the machine until the entire order is written.

Some firms are willing to make four copies of an order, each copy containing _all_ of the items of an order. Other firms do not wish the employes to know what a customer is buying outside of the goods relating to the department in which the employe is working. Further, sometimes two departments in the same factory are equipped to make the same class of goods, and if each department received a complete copy of the order there might be some confusion and duplication in the filling of the order.

Some firms, instead of making split orders, make a summary of the goods to be delivered from each floor, giving each floor several of these summaries in the course of a day. The goods are delivered to the shipping department in large quantities, and are separated by the shipping clerk according to the quantities wanted for each order. Concerns which are using this idea claim that it takes less time for the shipper to separate goods than it does for the order department to make split orders for each individual.

Fig. 17. Forms for Split-Order Schemes
]

In planning the clerical work in order billing and shipping methods, the volume of business being handled must be taken into consideration. A plan which is necessary with a large business would be considered as red tape in a smaller one. The larger a business grows, the more it is possible to "specialize" the work.

In a very small business, one man could fill all the orders and make out all of the bills. In a little larger business it would be necessary to devote one person's entire time to filling orders, another's to making out the bills. In a business twice as large as the one just mentioned, it would be necessary for one person to devote his entire time to filling the orders from one floor only. In an exceptionally large business, it might be necessary for one person to devote his entire time to filling orders for some particular class of goods on one floor. These examples are given to illustrate the meaning of the word _specializing_.

=Simple Order Form.= The majority of firms transcribe their customers' orders onto their own order forms from letters or requisitions. The simplest form of order is one containing an original for use of the warehouse or factory, a duplicate to be mailed to the customer as an acknowledgment of the order, and a third copy which is held in the office as a record of unfilled orders. The requisition form illustrated in Fig. 18 conveys the idea.

The practice of sending an exact copy of the order to the customer eliminates the necessity of acknowledging the order by letter, and gives the customer an opportunity of checking over the order as entered. It is customary to print on acknowledgment of order forms the sentence: _This is an exact copy of the order as entered—if any errors are noted kindly advise us at once._ One firm in Buffalo saved $300.00 the first week they installed this scheme, through the detection of an error by the customer.

A YACHT STORAGE BASIN AT THE SHIPBUILDING PLANT OF THE GAS ENGINE &
POWER CO. AND CHARLES L. SEABURY & CO., CONSOLIDATED.
]

Fig. 18. Simple Requisition Forms for Order Handling. _Remington
Typewriter Co._
]

It is imperative that before a remedy or short-cut methods can be prescribed, it is necessary to thoroughly diagnose all of the conditions incident to the business. It should also be remembered that clerks and even department heads will see all of the imaginary difficulties of a new idea and overlook all of the benefits to be derived therefrom. It should be further remembered that if a new method shortens nine-tenths of any particular class of work and slightly increases one-tenth, the party involved will many times fail to see the net advantages accruing through the introduction of the new idea. If objections are raised to a suggested short-cut method it is always well to ascertain whether the objections apply to a majority of the work or a portion of it only. Most people in clerical positions rather resent new ideas, and seem to take a pleasure in trying to find some reason why a new idea will not succeed. This is one phase of human nature which requires the utmost tact and diplomacy to handle successfully. In advancing or suggesting new methods, it should be assumed as far as possible, that the idea has been suggested by the person to whom one is talking, for the reason that most people are willing to "father" their own ideas.

=Simple Order Form with Copy for Shipping Department.= The second short cut which was instituted in connection with order forms was the addition of a sheet on which was manifolded a copy of the order for the shipping department.

The idea is to give the shipper information in advance, in order that he may prepare his bills of lading and plan his work for his teams, order cars in advance from the railroad, call up express companies, and such other work as might be necessary to the proper shipment and delivery of the goods manufactured and sold, and to file the copy as his permanent record, in some cases.

Some firms desire to prevent the shipper from knowing the prices at which their goods are sold. This is accomplished by using for the shipping department a short sheet of paper which reaches from the left edge of the order-blank to the price column only. Another method is to use a narrow sheet of carbon paper with a full-size sheet of paper. This plan is not as satisfactory as the former one, as the carbon paper sometimes slips to the right and allows the prices to manifold.

=Acknowledgment of Order to Salesman.= In some lines of business, it is desirable to add an additional sheet which is termed _acknowledgment of order to salesman_. This plan enables the salesman to know that the order has been received and properly entered for execution (in manufacturing lines it is necessary to transcribe orders on order forms which contain too many copies for a salesman to manifold by pencil), and gives him the opportunity of checking the order as entered. It should be remembered that in some lines of business there is such an enormous amount of detailed information in connection with an order that neither the customer nor a salesman would check over an exact copy of the order as entered. This should always be taken into consideration when considering the addition of this sheet.

STATIONERY

The various styles of loose-leaf sheets and binders should be fully understood in order to appreciate their importance in order and billing work.

=Loose-Leaf Sheets.= The first loose-leaf sheets were punched with closed holes, as shown in the illustration of Kilby Mfg. Company forms in Fig. 18. The trouble with the closed-hole punching is that, when placed over the metal posts of the binder, it is impossible to remove a sheet in the center of the binder without removing all of the sheets immediately above the one desired.

To obviate this difficulty, the slotted hole was devised. This is illustrated in the forms of the Commercial Sash & Door Company, in Fig. 19. The slot from the edge of the paper to the punched hole permits the paper to be placed over the posts of the binder between any two sheets. Holes are punched in both the closed and slotted styles in various sizes, ranging generally from a ¼ to 5/16 of an inch in diameter. In late years, manufacturers have introduced punched holes of different shapes from that of a circle.

For permanent records where the sheets are filed serially according to page number, order number, etc., the closed-hole loose-leaf sheet is perfectly satisfactory. For records which are to be removed from any given part of the binder and reinserted in another part, the slotted-hole loose-leaf sheet is the most satisfactory style to use.

=Binders.= Binders are generally made of two covers and a set of posts, which ordinarily are attached to one of the covers. The other cover is movable in order to accommodate the increased thickness of the binder as loose-leaf sheets are added. Great strides have been made in the manufacture of improved binders. There are so many styles of posts and other ingenious arrangements, where the two covers are held together and closed or opened by the use of a key, that only reference to catalogs of manufacturers will supply detailed information.

Fig. 19. Two Styles of Punching for Loose-Leaf Sheets. _Remington
Typewriter Co._
]

In buying binders and loose-leaf sheets, it is well to buy both of the same firm. Heretofore, trouble has been experienced where the punched holes of the loose-leaf sheets were probably 1/64 inch further apart or closer together than the metal posts in the binder in which they were to be used. The manufacturer of the binders will always claim that the sheets were punched incorrectly by the printer, and _vice versâ_.

It is pretty generally understood now that all punched holes should be placed with the center of the hole ½ in. from the edge of the paper. This allows enough margin to permit of the paper being held firmly over the posts. In all cases where the holes are punched too near the edge of the paper, the narrow margin between the edge of the paper and the hole becomes torn very quickly.

=Stationery Printed for Typewritten Work.= Very few people recognize the great value of properly designed stationery for typewritten work. The law of usage and custom is so strong that invariably invoices and order forms are printed the same as if they were to be hand-written. The headings are printed with the first letter of each word lined up vertically. This plan causes great waste of time on the part of an operator.

All billing and order work should be done on machines equipped either with a column stop or a decimal tabulator. A column stop is a device on a writing machine which automatically stops the carriage at any one of several predetermined points. A decimal tabulator is a device on a writing machine which automatically stops the carriage at the units, tens, hundreds, etc. place in any predetermined column.

It should also be understood that all typewriters and billing machines are equipped with marginal stops. These stops are adjustable, and can be arranged on either side of the machine in such a manner that the carriage will always stop at any given point at either edge of the paper.

It is vitally important that either a column stop or a decimal tabulator should be used in connection with marginal stops on writing machines, and these three points should be taken into consideration when designing stationery for use with a machine. The following illustrations show poorly designed and correct invoice headings.

J. B. WILLIAMS & BRO.
NASSAU, N. Y.

NAME SALESMAN
SHIPPING ADDRESS ORDER NUMBER
P. O. ADDRESS REQUISITION NUMBER
VIA

This blank form has purposely been shown in order to contrast it with an invoice printed in the same way with the headings properly filled in.

J. B. WILLIAMS & BRO.
NASSAU, N. Y.

NAME, _Geo. Brown & Co._ SALESMAN, _Jenkins_
SHIPPING ADDRESS, _Flat Rock, W. Va._ ORDER NUMBER _2246_
P. O. ADDRESS, _Wenonah, W. Va._ REQUISITION NUMBER _A341_
VIA _N. & W. R. R. Co._ OUR ORDER NUMBER _9422_

Contrast this heading with that of an invoice which has the last letters of each line lined up vertically. This makes it possible for the operator of the billing machine to draw the carriage to the extreme right, as the first letter to be written in every line of the heading starts at the same point.

NAME _Geo. Brown & Co._ SALESMAN _Jenkins_
SHIPPING ADDRESS _Flat Rock, W. Va._ ORDER NUMBER _2246_
P. O. ADDRESS _Wenonah, W. Va._ REQUISITION NUMBER _A341_
VIA _N. & W. R. R. Co._ OUR ORDER NUMBER _9422_

The latter form does not have as good appearance before being typewritten as afterwards. However the change is made for the sake of utility and speed. In the first form it is necessary for the operator to position the carriage at a different starting point for each line, whereas in the last illustration it can be readily seen that all the operator has to do is to draw the carriage to the right to the marginal stop, and write without any loss of time.

At one time a speed contest between pen billers and machine billers was held on one of the large railroads of this country, and permission was given the machine people to change the position of the headings of the freight bills. The salesman in charge of the test studied to eliminate certain wasted movements of the typewriter carriage. He succeeded in arranging the printed matter on the bill in a manner which permitted of three starting points in the heading and body of the bill. By pressing his tabulator stop after writing a name or figure, the machine would immediately jump to the next printing point on the line. This arrangement greatly facilitated the work, and enabled him to prove the superiority of machine over pen work. If he had endeavored to use the old stationery with its irregular headings, he would have made a failure of the test.

=Designing Stationery.= In designing invoices, order forms, and statistical forms, it should be always borne in mind that the ordinary typewriter or billing machine spaces ten letters to the inch, sometimes twelve spaces to the inch with elite type, and sometimes eight spaces to the inch with large Roman type. Therefore, all vertical lines separating various columns of the form should be ruled in multiples of tenths, twelfths, or eighths of inches, according to the spacing (escapement) of the machine to be used. The different styles of type are shown in Fig. 20.

In estimating the distance between lines, it should be borne in mind that all typewriters and billing machines are arranged for spacing one line, two lines, and three lines. By adjusting the spacing device, the paper can be advanced the width of one, two, or three lines. All headings on the invoice should be arranged so that the next writing point below, on the invoice or order, will be one, two, or three spaces, and the beginning of the body of the bill should be arranged for in the same manner. This prevents any waste of time, and eliminates the necessity of throwing off the ratchet spacing device of the machine and turning the carriage by hand.

The first printing point on an order or billing form should be placed in such a manner that the marginal stop of the typewriter carriage, instead of a tabulator stop, will be available for use. The second writing point on the form should be the first column stop (the column finder on the billing machine is the device which automatically stops the carriage at certain given points). The third writing point on the line should be the second column stop, or decimal tabulator stop, according to the one which is on the machine.

In Fig. 21 is shown an illustration showing the top sheets of an order form designed to facilitate the work of the billing machine. In addition to having all of the printed headings aligned vertically on the last letter of each word, each line is either one space or two spaces of the billing machine platen (rubber roll). This eliminates any waste of time in spacing the order form through the machine.

Fig. 20. Styles of Typewriter and Billing Machine Type
]

The last sheet of the form of the McCaskey Register Co. is cardboard, with the numbers _1_ to _31_ printed along the top. A movable metal "spud," or tip, is used to show the due dates of each invoice, and to enable the collection clerks to quickly find the desired copies of charges for the purpose of sending out statements from three to five days ahead of due dates.

=Styles of Type.= The size and style of type is a very important factor in all classes of work where legible manifolding results are wanted. There are several classes of type used in connection with billing machines. Different companies use different names in describing them. The four sizes of type used are as follows:

ELITE
PICA
MEDIUM ROMAN
LARGE (or full) ROMAN

_Elite._ This style has come into general use in connection with correspondence. It gives a dignified style to a letter. It is the hardest type to keep clean—the most destructive to the rubber roll and typewriter ribbon of any type made. It also manifolds very poorly where a number of copies are used, as the type is so small that the sixth or seventh copy, and many times the third and fourth, are so blurred that it is impossible to tell an _e_ from an _a_ or an _o_.

This style of type is sometimes used for making up tabulated statements where it is desired to crowd a large number of figures to the inch.

_Pica._ This is the most generally used type of any. It manifolds quite well up to six and seven copies. It is possible to write only ten figures of this size to the inch.

_Medium Roman._ This is the next larger size type than the pica and, on account of it being larger, it gives better manifolding results. It also writes ten letters to an inch.

_Large Roman._ This is the size type which is used by railroad and steamship companies for typewriting their way-bills. It is possible to write only eight letters to an inch.

Fig. 21. Forms Showing Properly Designed Stationery
]

_Gothic Type._ The term _Gothic_ indicates the style, and not the size of the type. If the small points at the top and bottom of the Roman type were removed (these points are called _serifs_) the effect would be that of Gothic type. A very pleasing combination on a billing machine is two different sizes of Gothic type, the larger size to be used for capital letters, the smaller size for the small (or lower case) letters. Recent practice has demonstrated the value of using capital Gothic letters of one size, as it increases the legibility of an order or an invoice.

In manifolding, numerals should always be of the "open" kind, that is, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0, and not _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0_, as the former are much the more legible.

=Carbon Paper.= There is no article which is so generally misused in the commercial world and which is so little understood as carbon paper. In order that the correct usage may be clearly understood a brief description of its manufacture is given.

The chief ingredients of carbon paper are oil, wax, paper, and color. Oils and waxes are used to give wearing surface, elasticity, and body to the color mixture. Tissue paper—generally of imported quality—with a fine, strong fiber is used. The quality must be first class in order to insure absence of holes and other imperfections in the sheets. Generally the sheets are cut 20 x 30 inches. A ream is regarded as containing 500 sheets. Three weights of paper are used, 4lb., 7lb., 10lb., respectively, meaning that 500 sheets of the above size of paper will weigh the number of pounds named, according to the thickness of the paper.

_Color._ The only really indelible color is black; that is because carbon is the basis of the color. The colors which are used are powders which have been ground as fine as possible. They are mixed in proper proportions with oils and waxes. Formerly the mixture was applied by hand, but great strides have been made in machinery for automatically applying the color evenly to the paper. It is important that the color or pigment be applied evenly to the paper and that it penetrates the fiber. Unless the paper retains the pigment, the carbon paper will not wear properly. The longer the color adheres to the paper, the longer it can be used.

_Finish._ The finish of carbon paper is the factor which is so little understood by the public. Carbon papers are finished with soft, medium, and hard finishes. The first will hardly rub off on the hand under pressure, the next will rub some, and the soft finish will smudge if pressed against the hand. Each finish is intended for a definite use, which will be explained later. The manifolding power of carbon paper depends absolutely on the typewriter itself, the hardness of the rubber roll, the touch of the operator, and the weight of paper, and lastly, the finish of coating on the paper. Two operators on the same typewriter can secure totally different results because one will have light, and the other heavy, touch. The regular rubber rolls which are furnished with typewriters are medium hard—in six months or a year they gradually grow harder, eventually becoming as hard as slate. If a typewriter is to be used for regular work as well as heavy manifolding, it should have two different rolls, one for each kind of work. There is no reason for using a medium hard rubber roll on the machine, getting poor results, and then blaming the carbon paper. Use a hard rubber roll on the machine and there will be no difficulty. Some makes of machines have interchangeable rolls (known as _platens_) which are very useful. It is the work of a minute only, to remove one and place the other on the machine.

_Four-Pound Paper._ This class of carbon paper has a heavy, sensitive coating, and is intended for heavy manifolding—for making from five to twenty copies. Soft-finish carbon papers are always used where heavy manifolding is to be done. The finish of the paper which is being written upon is also a factor. Papers with a hard finish—that is, a shiny surface—do not allow the color of the carbon paper to take hold, and yet a paper with the soft finish will allow the color to spread, and make a poor copy. This class of paper is also used for making a few copies on very light-stroke machines like the Hammond.

_Seven-Pound Paper._ This weight of paper is adapted for making from one to five copies. Being heavier than the four-pound, it will wear longer. If coated heavily it will give more impressions than if lightly coated, but the impressions will not be as clear and clean.

_Ten-Pound Paper._ This weight of paper is intended for use where one or two copies are wanted. Its weight enables it to stand the hard usage to which it is put. On one or two copies, the additional weight or thickness of the carbon paper does not affect the imprint. This class of paper is used with billing machines of all kinds.

_Full Carbon Papers._ This is a paper which is coated on both sides for making a multiplicity of copies on tissue. The pieces of carbon paper are placed between _every other piece_ of tissue paper and manifold on the top of one sheet and the bottom of the next. This carbon paper is used to reduce the bulk of paper in the typewriter—one-half as much carbon paper being required. It is sometimes called _double_ carbon paper, and is mostly used by railroads in making up way bills on yellow (dandelion grade) tissue paper.

_Copy Carbon Papers._ This paper is for use where it is necessary or desirable to make a carbon copy from which to make a letter-press copy. Hektograph carbons are for making carbon copies to be used in a hektograph.

_Pencil Carbons._ This class of carbon paper is made in the heavy grades of paper from seven-pound to twenty-pound and is made full carbon in the seven-pound weight.

_Pen Carbon._ This class of carbon paper is made in the seven-pound and ten-pound weights.

_Troubles and Remedies._ Carbon papers made in summer have different treatment in the matter of color mixture than those made in winter. Users should always remember that carbon paper which has lain unused all year has gradually dried out and depreciated in efficiency. The fresher a carbon paper the better—therefore it is not economy to buy too large a supply if it is liable to stand for more than six months. Never store carbon paper near heat, nor in the direct rays of the sun.

The one great difficulty experienced with carbon paper is the streaked effect called "treeing." This is caused by the carbon paper being inserted unevenly between the sheets of paper used with it. Once wrinkled, it remains so, and gives the streaked result as long as it lasts. To guard against this trouble, the operator should watch that the carbon paper is not wrinkled when inserting it between the sheets of paper, and should press the release lever on the typewriter to release the paper-feed rolls on the machine, after the paper is inserted in it, so that the unequal tension of the paper and carbon paper may adjust itself.

_Durability of Color._ Black paper made of carbon pigment is indelible and most durable. Blue or purple papers are next in the order of durability of color, and are made of aniline dyes. Green next, and red next. The fact is that red and green carbon papers should not be used for permanent records, as they will fade quickly.

_Wearing Quality of Paper._ Many times a typewriter will have a rubber roll (platen) which has become pitted and worn from age and the use of periods, commas, hyphens, and ditto marks. This is very destructive to carbon paper. New rubber rolls should be placed on the machine. It is not economy to use the cheap variety which can be purchased for 75 cents and which is nothing more than rubber hose drawn over a wooden core. The latter is not cylindrical and will give trouble. The type will print unevenly and cause bad alignment, for which the machine will be blamed.

=Blinds.= _Blind_ is the name given to a sheet of paper used in connection with manifold work for preventing all of the information on the top sheets from being manifolded on certain of the sheets underneath.

For instance, in describing the scheme for providing the packing department with a description of the goods to be shipped, but with the quantity column blank, it will be remembered how a strip of paper of proper size wide enough to cover the quantity column was placed over the left side of the invoice from top to bottom. Therefore all quantities, instead of manifolding onto the packer's sheet, manifolded onto the strip of paper known as the _blind_.

A blind may be of any given shape, and cut away at the top, side, or bottom; or, in some cases, irregular-shaped cuts are made in the middle of the sheet or near the edges. The cuts are made in order to allow certain information to be manifolded on the next sheet under the blind. The balance of the information on the top sheet is manifolded onto the blind, which is thrown away. It is reasoned that it is cheaper to use a sheet of paper for this purpose than it is to stop and make a separate sheet with part of the information only, typewritten thereon.

HOW TO HANDLE ORDERS AND BILLS ON BILLING MACHINES

=Loose-Leaf Sheets with Invoices in Blanket Form.= In some lines of business it is possible to use invoices of equal size. Some firms therefore have the invoices and sales sheets of equal size. The top sheet is perforated horizontally at equal distances, which permits the invoices to be torn apart so that one blanket of form invoices may be separated into three or four separate invoices. This plan can be used where the work is done on an ordinary letter-writing machine. In preparing the papers for billing, a sheet of carbon equal in size to the sales sheet is used. A heavy-weight carbon (10lb.) with hard finish is the best kind of carbon to use for this work. If an extra sales sheet is needed for any purpose, a duplicate sheet of paper, preferably of another color, can be used with another sheet of carbon interleaved between the two sales sheets. This method is wasteful of space as far as the sales sheet is concerned. If each invoice were loose and placed in the machine in such a manner that the first written line on the invoice would be two or three spaces only below the last item of the previous invoice manifolded on the sales sheet, generally _one more_ invoice of average size could be manifolded onto the sales sheet.

=Loose-Leaf Sales Sheet with Separate Invoices.= This combination is made possible by the billing machine, the flat-bed and the cylinder style. Cylinder billing machines are equipped with special carriages having special feed rolls which hold the sales sheet until it is fed entirely through the machine. Cylinder machines also have an independent feed roll which can be released by a special lever. This permits an invoice to be inserted in the machine, and then clamped into position by the intermediate feed roll and fed through the machine with the sales sheet until the invoice is completed. The intermediate feed roll is then released, and the invoice removed without disturbing the sales sheet. The next invoice is then placed in position, and the same operation is repeated. This allows one invoice to be manifolded very nearly under the previous invoice. Some firms having invoices of one or two items only, which permits of from seven to nine invoices being manifolded on each page, have the invoices made up in blanket form; that is, seven or eight invoices to a strip. After each invoice is manifolded they advance the next invoice into position and then tear the invoices apart as previously described.

=Carbon Paper Cut for this Class of Work.= Some operators doing condensed billing work prefer to use carbon paper the same size as the invoice, and to remove the carbon paper each time an invoice is completed. This necessitates a great deal of handling of carbon paper. It is preferable to use a large sheet of carbon paper the same size as the sales sheet, feeding it through the billing machine with the sales sheets. This eliminates the necessity of picking up a piece of carbon paper each time an invoice is placed in the machine. With the former method, if one had four invoices to one page of a sales sheet, it required one to pick up the same piece of carbon paper four times, or once with each invoice. The latter plan necessitates handling the carbon paper once only, when the sales sheet is placed in the machine. The operator positions the second or third invoice on a sales sheet, in order to avoid writing over the previous invoice, by spacing the carriage three times after an invoice is completed.

=Using the Sheets Serially.= All sales sheets should be serially numbered, in order that when placed in a binder the loss of any sheet may be detected by a missing number. Some firms prefer to use one side of a sales sheet only. In this case, a sales binder holding 375 sheets would have 375 pages. Where the sheets are numbered on both sides, the sales binder would have 750 pages. If the appearance of a page is marred by an invoice being spoiled, that sheet is not thrown away, and the fact that it is not is an incentive for the operator to do good work.

=Handling Credit Memoranda.= Some firms prefer to handle their credit memoranda on different-colored paper (generally pink) for both invoices and the large sheets which correspond to sales sheets. All of the rules which govern the making of invoices and loose-leaf sales sheets apply to the execution of credit memoranda.

=General Remarks Regarding Billing Machines.= The flat-bed billing machine enlarged somewhat upon the idea of using special characters for certain abbreviations peculiar to various lines of trade. For instance, in the shoe business, the following abbreviations are some of those used:

WOM means Women's
CHI " Child's
BOYS' " Boys'
BAL " Balmorals
BLU " Bluchers
PR " Pair
PRS " Pairs
DOZ " Dozens

The cylinder machines have adopted the same plan. In the cylinder machines there are two distinct classes—those having two type to a type-bar, such as the Remington and the Underwood, and those having one type to a type-bar, with double the number of bars, such as the Smith-Premier. Both classes of machines can use special characters, but the machines having one type only to a bar have a preference in that they have more room in which to place special characters.

There is considerable saving in the use of special characters, as evidenced by the following example:

_OCT 14 09._

This necessitates nine strokes where each letter is written
separately. Had this been written by three special characters, it
would have necessitated five strokes only. The special characters
would be used as follows: _OCT._-space-_14_-space-_09_.

To the uninitiated, it would seem that a special character of three letters, such as the abbreviation OCT., would occupy three spaces on the machine, and consequently would overlap on the word at the right. This is obviated by placing the type on the type-bar in such a manner that the letter T of the abbreviation is in the printing point of the paper. The following illustration will show how the type are placed or aligned in order to secure the desired results:

_OCT_ _14_ _09_
│ │ │

As the month always precedes the next word, the abbreviation _OCT_ is aligned so that the two first letters are to the left of the printing point. In case a machine were equipped with numbers for all the days of the month, the character _14_ would be aligned to print either side of the printing point. As the abbreviation _09_ would always follow and never precede, it would be aligned with the _0_ in the printing point, with the _9_ printing to the right of it. It is very important to have special characters properly aligned so that the abbreviations which always _precede_ are aligned to print on the last letter, and the abbreviations which _follow_ are aligned to print on the first letter.

It is impossible to print abbreviations in solid matter such as a letter. They are only to be used in connection with dates of invoices or orders, in connection with names of firms. For instance, the abbreviation _Messrs._, at the beginning of a firm name where such a term is desired, or the abbreviation _Co._ at the end of a firm name or the abbreviations _Pr._, _Doz._, _Gro._, and similar abbreviations, come in the body of a bill and, preferably, in the first column after the quantity.

It should be remembered that when the rubber platen of a billing machine becomes worn and cut with holes incident to the use of periods, commas, hyphens, etc., the special character type will sometimes print heavy at the top and light at the bottom of the letter, or _vice versâ_. This is remedied to some extent by placing a new rubber roll on a cylinder billing machine, or a new rubber covering on a flat-bed billing machine.

Special characters are used to a better advantage on the under-stroke (or blind machine) than on the visible machine. In the latter, the type-bars are all grouped in less than a half circle, which necessarily crowds the type-bars a little closer together, and therefore does not permit of special characters of a large size.

=Tabulators on Billing Machines.= It is absolutely essential that every billing machine be furnished with either a single-stop (known as a _column-stop_) tabulator or a decimal tabulator, preferably the latter. A single-stop tabulator is used as follows:

On the billing machine frame rests a bar on which metal stops or pegs are placed at predetermined intervals. By pressing the column stop, the carriage holding the paper is released, and jumps automatically to the first stop. After the information is written, the stop is again pressed, and the machine jumps automatically to the next printing point. The following example shows the use of the column stop:

John Jones Marion, Ind. XXV
A. B. Smith Washington, D. C. XXX
G. Barnes Seattle, Wash. XXX

The following example shows the use of the decimal tabulator:

10.50
.50
150.25
15560.65