Washington and one of Lincoln; a large cast of the Winged Victory was
purchased as well, and placed in an empty niche in the assembly hall.
Thus did 1920 leave behind it a memory illustrious and not to be
forgotten.

In the meantime Paul, absorbed in this successful undertaking, was so
busy that he had scarcely leisure to eat. The editing of the paper
demanded more and more time, and as new problems were constantly arising
concerning its publication he did not neglect to glean from every
possible direction all the information he could about printing. The mere
act of preparing copy for the press opened to his alert mind a multitude
of inquiries.

"I read to-day," he announced to his father one evening, "that the
printing press was invented by Lawrence Coster (or Lorenz Koster) of
Haarlem. The book said that he went on a picnic with his family, and
while idly carving his name on the trunk of a beech tree he conceived
the idea that he might in the same way make individual letters of the
alphabet on wooden blocks, ink them over, and thus print words."

Mr. Cameron listened attentively.

"Such is the old legend," he replied. "It is an interesting one and many
persons believe it to this day. History, however, fails to bear out the
tale. Instead, as nearly as we can find out, what Coster is really
conceded to have done was not to invent printing but to be the first to
make movable type, which was one of the greatest factors in the
perfecting of the industry. Holland has done honor, and rightly, to the
inventor by placing a statue of him at Haarlem; but the real inventor of
printing was probably John Gutenburg, a native of Strasbourg, who made a
printing press which, although not so elaborate as that in present use,
was nevertheless a properly constructed one. Simple as it was, the
principle of it is identical with that used to-day."

"That is curious, isn't it?" observed Paul.

"Yes. Think how long ago it was; from 1440 to 1460 he toiled at his
invention. He was a versatile man, being not only skilled in polishing
precious stones but also at making mirrors. The making of mirrors was a
new trade in Germany for outside the borders of Venice, where the
monopoly had long been held by Italian workmen, the industry was almost
unknown. It is possible that Gutenburg may have used the presses and
even the lead employed for molding the mirror frames to work out his
metal type. Doubtless his knowledge of melting and pouring lead wa