if they communicated to others the secret of the machines, either by drawings or description, or if they told by whom or for whom they were constructed.

This was to avoid the hostility of the pressmen, who, having heard of the new invention, were up in arms against it, as likely to deprive them of their employment.

And yet, as stated by Johnson in his 'Typographia,' the manual labour of the men who worked at the hand press, was so severe and exhausting, "that the stoutest constitutions fell a sacrifice to it in a few years." The number of sheets that could be thrown off was also extremely limited.
With the improved press, perfected by Earl Stanhope, about 250 impressions could be taken, or 125 sheets printed on both sides in an hour.

Although a greater number was produced in newspaper printing offices by excessive labour, yet it was necessary to have duplicate presses, and to set up duplicate forms of type, to carry on such extra work; and still the production of copies was quite inadequate to satisfy the rapidly increasing demand for newspapers.

The time was therefore evidently ripe for the adoption of such a machine as that of Koenig.