The phonoscope (Nov 1896-Dec 1899)

Vol 1. No. 3 THE PHONOSCOPE 13 Slot flftacbmes Gives a Choice of Seven Articles for a Nickel and Refunds If Out of What You Want A gentleman of Atlanta, Ga,, has invented a slot machine which has been so successful that the Mayor has ordered it to cease operations because it blocks the streets with large crowds. After spending a year and a half and over $1,000 the inventor perfected a machine which differs from all others in that it gives the purchaser a choice of seven articles, which aie delivered through a single door, and in that it refunds the money to the customer in case the machine is empty of the article desired. " I have put all the money 1 have got in that thing." said the inventor as he stood before the machine placed on the sidewalk, "and I don't think it is fair of the city to close me up just because my machine is more successful than the others. The others have places on the sidewalk, but they attract no crowds. If they proposed to take the others in from the streets, it might be fair. But mine is a winner, which seems to be the very cause of the closing up." In addition to the mechanical virtues of the slot machine it is also an advertising medium, and an octagon display board revolves around the machine proper, giving the names of various firms throughout the city. "I have always wanted to go into' this sort of business, so I went to work and devoted my whole time to it. It took me a year and a half to perfect it. What I wanted was a machine with a single slot and a single door which would give a choice of articles. Some months ago I completed it. After working on it an hour one day I found out I could cheat it. I could get an article without a nickel. I started all over again. I had the arrangement all made and a nickel dropped in wTould deliver whatever you wanted, but if the receptacle was empty you couldn't get your money back. One night, about 1 o'clock, I thought of how to do this. I made it that morning and had a model completed out of a cigar box by sunrise. Now, if the machine has not the article you call for, your money will be delivered back to you." Several days ago the inventor put his machine out on the sidewalk, having arranged to pay the city $52.50 taxes. The extreme novelty of the machine, its unfailing accuracy and the kind of goods it sold attracted so much attention that crowds stood closely packed behind and around it. Complaint was made and the Mayor forthwith ordered it to cease until' the next meeting of the council and ordered a curtain put around the machine. The machine is likely to become a huge success, and it may not be long before the inventor will be chinkling his thousands. It delivers cubical boxes of uniform ske, about three and a half inches each way. Pies were sold in them the other day. They will sell peanuts, popcorn, candies, confections, bread, cakes and any food stuff or other articles. You may approach it and get a choice, say of mince, peach and apple pie, popcorn, peanuts, candy and fancy cakes. There is a knob on the machine which vou turn to the number indicated by the menu card. You drop your nickel in a slot, pull a door and there is your pie, your popcorn or your peanuts. If you wanted pie and there was none, the nickel would have tinkled back into a little tray and you would not have lost. Africa to Be Enlightened The natives and Dutch burghers in the sunny districts of the southern part of the dark continent are soon to be introduced to the seductive Yankee device known as the nickel-in-the-slot machine. In order to avoid ■ possibility of having to turn away customers the energetic projectors of the scheme have secured not only one, two or a dozen machines, but a number that weigh in aggregate 6ooo pounds. The good ship Senator, Captain Lewis, which will sail from Tacoma in the near future, will carry three tons of nickel-in-the-slot machines for Delagoa Bay. They are from the wicked city of San Francisco. It is expected the festive Hottentots and Zulus will cast away their hunting spears and abandon their wives and sweethearts in their eagerness to toy with the new American plavthing. Captain Lewis is rumored to be keeping the fact quiet that he is to guide the ship that will carry the strange consignment from this port for fear that some one will ship a copy of the Tacoma nickel-in-the-slot license ordinance among the goods, and disclose to the authorities of that country a scheme that prevails in America for replenishing the public coffers. The Senator will carry, also, 35 tons of wheat, 10 tons of canned goods, 600,000 feet of redwood and 800,000 feet of Washington fir. British ship Manx King, now in port, will load lumber for South Africa. British ship Drumblair, also here, is chartered to load lumber at the Tacoma mill with the option of England or South Africa as the point of destination. Automatic Telephones There are three public telephones in Newark, N. J., that collect the money for the service rendered. They are located in Crawford's shoe store, on Broad street; in Lewis Bros.'s drug store at Market and Mulberry street, and in Murray's cafe on Market street. The collection department of the telephone consists of some very delicate machinery operated by small batteries. The parton drops the necessary coin in the slot, whereupon a "buzzer'' makes a noise in the central office. If a nickel is dropped in the slot ' ' central ' ' hears two ' ' brrs ; ' ' if a dime, one ; if a quarter, three ; a half-dollar, four, and a dollar, five. If other coins are dropped in, the 'phone refuses to work and an inspector must remove the money that caused the trouble. When the operator hears the ' ' brr ' ' she responds and is able to tell by the number of the signals whether the patron has deposited enough money for the service required. The one in Lewis Bros.'s store has been in operation about five months and has given such satisfaction that it is probable the automatic collector will be attached to many other public 'phones. ' Thus far none of the 'phones have collected more than half a dollar at a time. The legislature has abolished the nickel-in-theslot machine and those chaps will mourn who are in the habit of working their lnck for a good smoke. The nickel-in-the-slot device is a gambling affair pure and simple, and the objections to it are not fully met when it is said that the sums wagered are too insignificant to cut a figure. The boy who wins twenty-five cents in a nickel machine is educating himself to lose several times that many dollars when he becomes big enough to play poker or attack faro. The machine is developing the appetite for getting something for nothing and will soon put a young chap where he will get nothing for something. Now, if the legislature will get after the deadly cigarette and pass that bill against swearing, South Dakota wont be such a bad place after all. — Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. Ten citizens of New Haven, Conn., have formed a stock company to manufacture and place on the market an automatic exhibiting machine. The machine consists of a small cabinet in which a nickel can be dropped. The person using the machine then looks through two glasses and a series of views pass for inspection. It is after the general model of nickel-in-the-slot machines placed in saloons throughout the country. The organization just incorporated will have charge of the machines in Ohio. William Reeves is the inventor. The capital stock is $5,000, 100 shares of $50 each. The shareholders are : J. M. Marvin, 10 ; Julius Lederer, 10 ; R. C. Bright, 10 ; S. Z. Poli, 10 ; F. B. Street, 5 ; L. C. Thompson, 5 ; C. B. Bryant, 5 ; William Reeves, 30; H. H. Asher, 10; C. H. Street, 5. Cash paid in, $ 1,000. About 250 owners of slot machines in Kansas City, Mo., have taken out licenses, but since Chief Julian issued an edict against the machines the owners have taken them out of their places of business. They are now besieging the office of the license inspector demanding the return of their license money ; but nothing can be done without a special ordinance of the council. Judge Gifford has not passed upon the question as to what constitutes a gambling device in the shape of a slot machine. The city counselor holds that some of the machines are not gambling devices, while Chief Julian says they are all gambling devices. An effort will be made at an early day to ascertain which of these positions is correct. " There is a good deal of misapprehension as to the ordinance," said License Inspector Farhart yesterday. ' ' The ordinance expressly excepts from its operation machines used for gambling purposes, in this way. It says . ' Nickel or pennyin-the-slot machines, others than those used for gambling purposes — $5 per year.' Now this department has no means of knowing whether a machine is used for gambling purposes or not, and when the owner pays the tax we have nothing to do except issue the license. Judge McDougal has not said, as repored, that all these machines are used for gambling devices, but has said that if use 1 for gambling purposes the license did not protect the owner.