"The MS centering algorithm is shown in the 4 may 72 document. It it centered PERFECTLY, which was virtually impossible to do in 1972."
Actually, no. Centering wasn't so tough, really, although it would be unlikely in the case of a casual memo. It would work with proportional type, as on the IBM Executive, or any other type. It's actually the same process Word's centering algorithm uses.
Here's what you do:
1. Type the lines of the heading you want centered on a separate sheet. Since this is usually going to go at the top of the page, you can do it before beginning to type your document.
2.Measure the width of each line to be centered, and note it.
3. Make a light pencil mark at the center of your paper, then roll the paper through. Center the mark at the "V" in the shield that covers the platen.
4. Move the carriage half the distance of the first line's measurement to the left, and begin typing. Repeat for other centered lines.
Typists did this all the time. I know I did. But...you wouldn't go to the trouble for a casual memo.
Would a guy who doesn't type really go through this procedure of centering when typing a memo to himself?
If that is the case, then why can't I get my husband to put the socks in the hamper instead of next to it?
Sure, I did that too. But the problem is, it's PERFECT! We're talking right down to the fraction of a space. It has to be within .020 or .030 of an inch for the letters to match up as perfectly as they do. No way can somebody be that perfect on three different lines.
And the odds that the entire page perfectly matches MS Word default spacing, word wrap, type face, all the rest. No way.
Killian's son says he didn't know how to type...wrote his few memos out by hand. Do you think he'd go to all this trouble??