The phonoscope (Nov 1896-Dec 1899)

8 THE PHONOSCOPE. December, 1896 AUTOMATIC LUNCH COUNTER, WITHOUT WAITERS. m am 0 Slot /Iftacbines Automatic Lunch Counter, Without Waiters. One of the most elaborate applications of the "nickel-in-the-slot machine" is that which forms the subject of the above illustration, which shows the interior of a cafe in the Potsdamerstrasse, Berlin, equipped with automatic lunch counters. There are several establishments of the same kind in this and other German cities which are controlled by what is known as the Quisisana Company. It will be seen from the illustration that in place of the ordinary counter served by waiters there is a set of ornamental cabinets ranged along one side of the room -which have a shelf projecting at a convenient height, upon which are placed the necessary glasses or cups. Above the drinking vessels are the faucets and a slot to receive the coin. The customer places a glass or cup beneath the faucet bearing the label of the drink which he desires and the money is inserted in the slot. The apparatus will then automatically, without further action of the buyer, deliver the liquid. The establishment in question offers a customer the choice of a large variety of drinks, the various liquors being obtainable at all seasons of the year, and the iced drinks of summer being replaced by a variety of hot drinks in the winter. The liquors, etc., are kept in glass vessels and the hot drinks in nickel tanks surrounded by a hot water bath which is heated by gas. In order to insure perfect cleanliness no rubber is used, the liquids being conducted to the faucets through silver tubing. The measuring out of the drinks is controlled by clockwork located within the casing of the stands. Each stand is provided with an automatic spraying nozzle for cleaning the cups and glasses. It is located in the center of a disk which is provided with a groove to receive the rim of the inverted glass. Upon pressing down, a spray of water rinses out the vessel. The eatables, such as sandwiches, cakes, etc., are contained beneath a large bell glass, as shown in the third stand from the right. The glass contains about one dozen sandwiches, each of which is placed in a paper dish. They are arranged in a circle upon a revolving tray, and whenever the purchase coin is put in the slot the tray revolves far enough to bring a sandwich opposite an opening through which it is automatically presented to the purchaser. Other stands provide hot chicken, beef or other meats, and, indeed, the Quisiana cafe has a bill of fare which would compare favorably in point of variety with a first-class restaurant of the common type. The Slot Machine In House Keeping We are living, we are dwelling, In a mighty handy time; 'Tis an age when there's no telling What we can buy for a dime. It was thus*, or something like it, that Longfellow spoke; if not in precisely those words at least that was about what he meant, and the facts fully justify the assertion. The truth is, there never was such an age in all time as this, nor such times in all the ages as now, with living so easy for poor folks. They can get more for their money in these times— especially since the defeat of the "free silver" heresy— which doesn't, as some seemed to think, mean a free distribution of silver to all comers, than they were able to get in earlier times, and, what is fully as important, it is easier to get the "wherewithal" than it was once upon a time. These remarks are suggested by the story that conies from Paris, by way of "the old country," of the wonderful doings of the "dropa-cent-in-t he-slot" machine, which has actually been developed iuto an apparatus of some utility, instead of being largely a nuisance as it is known in this country, where it is still in its primitive state. The slot machine in Paris has been "evoluted" into a purveyor of hot water, at a cent a gallon, and poor people who found it expensive and uncomfortable to maintain fires in small tenements during the hot summer days, have recourse to the hot water slot machines, and their wants are supplied with little trouble or expense. The way it is done is this: The slot machines are a part of the street lamps, which are large and ornamental columns, with a reservoir for water. The heat of the lamps is utilized to boil this water instead of being allowed to waste itself in the air. The machine stands at the foot of the lamp, and a cent dropped in the slot brings the desired flood at any time of day or night. Each machine is capable of supplying fifteen gallons of hot water per hour, or a gallon every four minutes. It is estimated that §500,000 worth of heat power is wasted in New York annually in street gas lamps, which might be saved and made a convenience and a blassing, by means of this hot water heating attachment. They would be cheaper than fires and more comfortable, as before intimated, to the dwellers in close tenements. The plan has been introduced into England and has become popular. The slot machine has also been utilized there by the gas companies, and a small coin dropped in the slot of a gas machine gives a consumer so many cubic feet of gas. When that is gone, if he wants more light he can repeat the operation. In this way he doesn't have to pay for leaky meters, the company can't overcharge the consumer, and the consumer can't "beat" the company. Again, the slot machine has been utilized to assist railroad passengers who desire to read. A cent in a slot starts a little electric lamp on a side bracket convenient to his head, and there he is. But these blessings are all elsewhere. In time, perhaps, the slot machine in the United States will cease to be merely ornamental and become practical and useful. The American Talking Machine Company, Henry C. Spencer, manager, are rapidly filling orders for the new "Columbia" graphophone.**