TEN years later another ingenious inventor, named König,* procured a patent for a steam-press, and Mr Walter determined to give his invention a trial at all hazards. The press was secretly set up in another building, and a few men, pledged to secrecy, were hired and put in training to work it.

On the night of the trial the pressmen in “The Times” building were told that the paper would not go to press until very late, as important news was expected from the Continent. At six in the morning John Walter went into the press-room, and announced to the men that the whole edition of “The Times” had been printed by steam during the night, and that thenceforward the steam-press would be regularly used.* He told the men that if they attempted violence there was a force at hand to suppress it, but if they behaved well no man should be a loser by the invention. They should either remain in their situations, or receive full wages until they could procure others. The men accepted his terms with alacrity.