ThenewWalterPressdoesnotintheleastresembleanyexistingprintingmachine，unlessitbethecalenderingmachinewhichfurnisheditstype。Attheprintingenditlookslikeacollectionofsmallcylindersorrollers。Thefirstthingtobeobservedisthecontinuousrollofpaperfourmileslong，tightlymountedonareel，which，whenthemachineisgoing，fliesroundwithimmenserapidity。Thewebofpapertakenupbythefirstrollerisledintoaseriesofsmallhollowcylindersfilledwithwaterandsteam，perforatedwiththousandsofminuteholes。Bythismeansthepaperisproperlydampedbeforetheprocessofprintingisbegun。Therollofpaper，drawnbynippingrollers，nextfliesthroughtothecylinderonwhichthestereotypeplatesarefixed，soastoformthefourpagesoftheordinarysheetofTheTimes；thereitislightlypressedagainstthetypeandprinted；thenitpassesdownwardsroundanothercylindercoveredwithcloth，andreversed；nexttothesecondtype-coveredroller，whereittakestheimpressionexactlyontheothersideoftheremainingfourpages。Itnextreachesoneofthemostingeniouscontrivancesoftheinvention——thecuttingmachinery，bymeansofwhichthepaperisdividedbyaquickknifeintothe5500sheetsofwhichtheentirewebconsists。Thetapeshurrythenowcompletelyprintednewspaperupaninclinedplane，fromwhichthedividedsheetsareshowereddowninacontinuousstreambyanoscillatingframe，wheretheyaremetbytwoboys，whoadjustthesheetsastheyfall。Thereeloffourmileslongisprintedanddividedintonewspaperscompleteinabouttwenty-fiveminutes。
Themachineisalmostentirelyself-acting，fromthepumping-upoftheinkintotheink-boxoutofthecisternbelowstairs，totheregisteringofthenumbersastheyareprintedinthemanager’sroomabove。Itisalwaysdifficulttodescribeamachineinwords。Nothingbutaseriesofsectionsanddiagramscouldgivethereaderanideaoftheconstructionofthisunrivalledinstrument。Thetimetoseeitandwonderatitiswhenthepressisinfullwork。Andeventhenyoucanseebutlittleofitsconstruction，forthecylindersarewheelingroundwithimmensevelocity。Therapiditywithwhichthemachineworksmaybeinferredfromthefactthattheprintingcylindersroundwhichthestereotypedplatesarefixed，whilemakingtheirimpressionsonthepaper，travelatthesurprisingspeedof200
revolutionsaminute，orattherateofaboutninemilesanhour！
Contrastthisspeedwiththeformerslowness。Gobacktothebeginningofthecentury。Beforetheyear1814theturn-outofnewspaperswasonlyabout300singleimpressionsinanhour——thatis，impressionsprintedononlyonesideofthepaper。Koenigbyhisinventionincreasedtheissueto1100impressions。ApplegathandCowperbytheirfour-cylindermachineincreasedtheissueto4000，andbytheeight-cylindermachineto10，000anhour。Butthesewereonlyimpressionsprintedononesideofthepaper。
Thefirstperfectingpress——thatis，printingsimultaneouslythepaperonbothsides——wastheWalter，thespeedofwhichhasbeenraisedto12，000，though，ifnecessary，itcanproduceexcellentworkattherateof17，000completecopiesofaneight-pagepaperperhour。Then，withthenewmethodofstereotyping——bymeansofwhichtheplatescanbeinfinitelymultipliedandbytheaidofadditionalmachines，thesupplyofadditionalimpressionsisabsolutelyunlimited。