Chapter XII: Part 12

In the year 1822 a very ambitious project was conceived by Charles Babbage. He commenced to construct an automatic calculating machine, which he called a “difference engine.” The work was continued during the following twenty years, the English government contributing about $85,000 to defray its cost. Babbage himself spent a further sum of about $30,000. At the end of that time the construction of the engine, though nearly finished, was unfortunately abandoned, owing to some misunderstanding with the government. A portion of this engine is exhibited in South Kensington Museum, London, along with other examples of Babbage’s work. If the engine had been finished it would have contained seven columns of wheels, twenty wheels in each column, and also a contrivance for stereotyping the tables calculated by it. It was intended to perform the most extended calculations required in astronomy and navigation, and to stamp a record of its work into plates of copper or other material.

_Courtesy of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company._]

Babbage began to design his “analytical engine” in 1833 and he put together a small portion of it shortly before his death in 1871. This engine was to be capable of evaluating any algebraic formula. The formula it is desired to evaluate would be communicated to the engine by two sets of perforated cards similar to those used in the Jacquard loom. These cards would cause the engine automatically to operate on the numerical data placed in it, in such a way as to produce the correct result. Notwithstanding its simple action, its structure is complicated by a large amount of adding mechanism. A complete set of adding wheels with carrying gear being required for the tabular number, and every order of difference except the highest order.

After Babbage, there was much experimenting done by inventors to produce a real adding and listing machine. Also inspired by Babbage’s work Scheutz of Stockholm made a “difference engine,” which was exhibited in England in 1864, and subsequently acquired for Dudley Observatory, Albany, N. Y. Scheutz’s engine had mechanism for calculating with four orders of differences of sixteen figures each.

As far as we know the first patent in this country issued by the patent office for a calculating machine was to O. L. Castle of Alton, Illinois, in 1850. It was for a ten-key adding machine which did not print and only added in one column.

Work on Some of the Present-Day Models.

Frank S. Baldwin, a construction engineer, living in the United States, began to work on calculating machines in 1870. In 1874 he received a patent for a small hand adding machine. In 1875 a patent was granted him on a calculating machine. This machine was along entirely original lines. Mr. Baldwin did not even know of the existence of the Thomas machine at that time. The machine had a number of important advantages over the Thomas system. Scientists were very much interested in the invention at the time, and the John Scott medal for meritorious inventions was conferred upon Mr. Baldwin by the Franklin Institute. The only other invention being honored in that year (1875) was the George Westinghouse air brake.

_Courtesy of the Monroe Calculating Machine Company._]

This calculating machine, however, seemed to be too much in advance of the times, and Mr. Baldwin was unable to interest capital in it. He was very successful in his business as construction engineer and continued to spend all his spare time and money in experimental work. He brought out a number of models at later dates with important improvements.

In the early eighties one of Mr. Baldwin’s 1875 models found its way to Europe into the hands of one Ohdner, a Swede. He took out patents in all European countries on a machine that did not vary in any important particular from Mr. Baldwin’s machine, and several large manufacturing companies in Europe took it up. It is now appearing under ten to fifteen different names in Europe, the most important being “Brunsviga” and Triumphator in Germany. There is no essential difference between the machines they are turning out today and Mr. Baldwin’s original machine. More than 50,000 machines of this type have been sold throughout the world.

_Courtesy of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company._]

In 1883 a young man who started to work in a bank in Auburn, N. Y., discovered that nine-tenths of his work was mechanical addition. He also found that the human brain is but an imperfect tool, incapable of sustained effort without accident. His health gave way under the strain, and he quit the bank to begin work in a machine shop in St. Louis.

This was William S. Burroughs. He was of mechanical turn of mind, with an intense hobby for painful accuracy. By lamplight at home he worked out pencil outlines of a machine which would write figures and at the same time add them. It required the most painstaking work for him to make a machine to do what he had in mind. His early associates say of Burroughs that no ordinary materials were good enough for his creation. His drawings were on metal plates that would not stretch nor shrink by the fraction of a hair. He worked with hardened tools ground to a point, and when he struck a center or drew a line, he did it under a microscope.

In 1884 Burroughs took his plans to a St. Louis dry goods merchant, who thought so well of the idea that he raised $700 toward forming a company. The young man took up his work in the machine shop conducted by Joseph Boyer.

It was in January, 1885, that he applied for his patent, which was not issued until 1887.

His mechanism throughout operated on the pivotal principle. This means a minimum of friction, therefore the least wear on the machine and the least exertion on the part of the operator. The principle elements in the machine remain practically unchanged today, a fact which testifies to the excellence of the inventor’s work.

Experimenting on the machine swallowed a great deal of capital, and the stockholders of the company he had formed became impatient. Burroughs objected strenuously, for he did not wish to market the machine until he was convinced that it was perfect, but he finally agreed to manufacture fifty machines.

_Courtesy of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company._]

In his public demonstrations, he could do wonders with the machine. The public was skeptical, however, and some averred that he was a “lightning calculator” who did sums in his head and printed them on the machine. The first machines worked all right for the inventor, but inexperienced operators obtained surprising results through punching the keys and jerking the crank.

To meet this trouble and make the machines “fool proof,” he invented the “automatic control” in 1890. This was a governor, called the “dash pot”--a small cylinder partially filled with oil, and in which was a plunger. This, in connection with an ingenious management of springs, absorbed the shocks and governed the machine so that no matter what was done to it, it would operate only at a certain speed. It is this same shock-absorbing device which is used to catch the recoil on the immense siege guns used in modern warfare.

Other improvements were made, and in 1891 the first hundred machines that were really marketable were manufactured. While still flushed with his success, Burroughs thought of the first fifty machines which had proved such a disappointment. These machines still remained in a dusty storeroom to mock him. Determined to get them out of his sight and memory, he seized them and threw them one by one from a window to the pavement below.

He wished nothing to remain to remind him of this early failure.

_Courtesy of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company._]

When he had disposed of the last one, he called Mr. Boyer to see the ruin. “There,” he exclaimed, “I have ended the last of my troubles.”

The first machines were called “Registering Accountants,” and “Arithmometers.” Burroughs lived to see the fulfilment of his dreams and the machine a commercial success. He died September 14, 1898, at his country home in Citronelle, Alabama, a victim of tuberculosis.

There were at that time 8,000 banks in the country, and it was Burroughs’ idea that as soon as these were supplied the market for adding machines would be exhausted. Today, there are more than 200,000 adding machines of that one make in use.

The need for an all-around office assistant that could multiply, divide, subtract as easily as it could add, was an idea nourished in the mind and thought of a young student of the University of Michigan.

After graduation, Jay R. Monroe turned his attention to clerical and commercial lines. He became acquainted with all the different types of adding and so-called calculating machines. He saw their limitations and restrictions. He saw the need for versatility--for more simplicity in operation--for getting away from arbitrary rules--for release from the sapping mental tax.

_Courtesy of the Monroe Calculating Machine Company._]

So in 1911 Monroe met Mr. Baldwin. Mr. Monroe realized the possibilities of Mr. Baldwin’s idea. Together they set about designing the machine to make it as nearly perfect as possible in adaptation to the needs of modern business.

They produced a machine in which the best of the European features are said to be combined with the operating ease and simplicity of American-made machines. Provision is made for the correction of errors, and operation is in two directions, forward for addition and multiplication, and backward for subtraction and division. The latest model is a desk machine, occupying less than one square foot of space and weighing about twenty-six pounds.

One of the latest developments of the adding machine is a type that will post ledgers and statements. This machine is said to be the final step in relieving bookkeeping of its drudgery.

To appreciate this prodigious figure, imagine that a marvelous high-speed flying machine were invented that would go to the sun and back in a day. If you made this 186,000,000-mile trip every day, it would take you just 14,729,700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years to travel a duodecillion miles.

_Courtesy of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company._]

How Big is the Largest Adding Machine in the World?

The largest adding machine ever made was produced in 1915 and has a capacity of forty columns, or within one unit of ten duodecillions. This is a number too prodigious for the mind of man to grasp. This machine was exhibited at the Panama Expositions in 1915.

To get an idea of the capacity of this machine, suppose that your income is $1,000,000 a second. At this rate for twenty-four hours a day, with no stops for eating or sleeping, it would take you 352,331,022,041,828,731,333,333,333 years to accumulate a duodecillion dollars. All the hairs on the heads of all human beings, which are supposed to be numberless, are only a small fraction of a duodecillion.

This machine has a practical use in adding several sums simultaneously, and takes the place of from ten to a dozen smaller machines.

Adding machines are made that figure in English pence, shillings and pounds; in Japanese yen, and in the monetary system of most civilized countries. They will change inches into feet, pounds into bushels, and do other “stunts” that would make the average schoolboy envious when it comes to arithmetic.

The most complicated problems of multiplication, division and fractions may be handled with ease on these machines. They have taken a great part in the day’s work of modern business, and it would be hard to imagine how the world’s finance and industry could be handled without them. Adding and calculating machines have become almost as necessary in modern business as the telephone and the typewriter.

How are Adding Machines Used?

Adding machines may be found at work in all kinds of business places from corner groceries to department stores and manufacturing plants. In the various offices and plants of the Western Electric Company, which are scattered through the country, more than 1,600 machines are in use. Other big users are railroads, banks, mail-order houses, and city, state and government offices.

The Bank of France, the Bank of England, and other of the world’s largest financial institutions do the burden of their figure work on adding machines made in the United States. The German post-office uses more than 1,200 machines. There are individual American banks, like the Corn Exchange National Bank of New York, that employ as many as 150 adding machines in their work.

_Courtesy of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company._]

Some surprising uses are found for adding machines. One is used in a Japanese boarding house in California; another is used by a retired Dayton millionaire to count the coupons he clips; the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission uses a machine in fighting the hook-worm; the United States government uses thousands in making census tabulations and in other ways. Others are used by newsboys, egg farmers, housewives, undertakers, dentists, judges in automobile races, and by persons in a thousand different lines of business. Without adding machines the public would be obliged to wait for days for the results of most elections.

In this way, the idea of a tired bank clerk came to change the figuring methods of the world.

* * * * *

The words “Almighty Dollar” have been generally adopted since Irving first used them in his “Creole Village,” and the use of “lynching” to represent mob law and the action of mobs has become common since a Virginia farmer by that name instituted the first vigilance committee in America.

Where does Ermine Come From?

The ermine fur, with which we are all familiar, is furnished by the stoat, a small animal of the weasel tribe. It is found over both temperate Europe and North America, but is common only in the north.

Because of that change which occurs in the color of its fur at different seasons--by far most marked in the Arctic regions--it is not generally known that the ermine and stoat are the same. In winter, in cold countries or severe seasons, the fur changes from a reddish-brown to a yellowish-white, or almost pure white, under which shade the animal is recognized as the ermine. In both states the tip of the tail is black.

Like many other species of this genus, the ermine has the faculty of ejecting a fluid of a musky odor.

Its fur is short, soft and silky; the best skins being brought from Russia, Sweden and Norway and Hudson Bay territories. Its fur was formerly one of the insignia of royalty, and is still used by judges. When used as linings of cloaks the black tuft from the tail is sewed to the skin at irregular distances.

What is the Principle of “Foreign Exchange”?

Exchange, in commerce, is a transaction by which the debts of people residing at a distance are canceled by a draft or bill of exchange, without transfer of any actual money.

A merchant in New York who owes $1,000 worth of goods in London, gives a bill or order for that amount which can be negotiated through banking agencies or otherwise against similar debts owing by other parties in London who have payments to make in New York. This obviates the expense and risk of transmitting money.

The process of liquidating obligations between different nations is carried on in the same way by an exchange of foreign bills. When all the accounts of one country correspond in value with those of another, the exchange between the countries will be at par, that is, the sum for which the bill is drawn in the one country will be the exact value of it in the other.

Exchange is said to be at par when, for instance, a bill drawn in New York for the payment of $1,000 in London can be purchased there for $1,000. If it can be purchased for less, exchange is under par and is against London. If the purchaser is obliged to give more, exchange is above par and in favor of London.

Although the thousand circumstances which incessantly affect the state of debt and credit prevent the ordinary course of exchange from being almost ever precisely at par, its fluctuations are confined within narrow limits, and if direct exchange is unfavorable between two countries this can often be obviated by the interposition of bills drawn on other countries where an opposite state of matters prevails.

What do We Mean by “The Old Moon in the New Moon’s Arms”?

“Earth-shine,” in astronomy, is the name given to the faint light visible on the part of the moon not illuminated by the sun, due to the illumination of that portion by the light which the earth reflects on her. It is most conspicuous when the illuminated part of the disc is at its smallest, as soon after new moon. This phenomenon is popularly described as “the old moon in the new moon’s arms.”

The Story in a Bowling Alley[27]

From the “stone age” onward the probabilities are that man has always had some kind of bowling game.

Bowling, as we know today, is an indoor adaptation of, and an improvement upon, the old Dutch game of “nine-pins.” This game was brought from Holland by those colonists who settled Manhattan Island in 1623.

Washington Irving, in his story, “Rip Van Winkle,” refers to the old Dutch fairy tale, that the rolling thunder on the mountain tops of the Catskill was the noise made by the rolling balls as the elfs and gnomes engaged in their favorite pastimes of bowling.

That little section of New York City known as Bowling Green is the original spot which, in 1732, Peter Bayard, Peter Jay and John Chambers leased for eleven years and enclosed for a bowling green.

With the influx of German immigrants, who brought with them a game similar to the Dutch game, additional popularity was given to the sport.

The game was originally played on the bare ground. The Germans used a board about a foot wide on which to roll the ball, and then improved on this by using cohesive mineral substances solidly packed together. At an early date, the Dutch had covered the alley with a roof, and later enclosed it in a rough shed, to protect it and make play possible in any kind of weather. But, great as these improvements were over the crudeness of previous centuries, they are not worthy of comparison with a modern bowling academy.

In the best hard-wood section of the United States, one of the large bowling equipment manufacturers owns about thirty thousand acres of maple. From this raw material is gathered the chief stock that goes into bowling alleys and the pins.

The company has its own logging crews that cut the timber and pile it on flat cars, whence it is transported over a private railroad until it arrives at the company sawmills. Here the raw material enters upon the manufacturing process.

The rough stock-strips for the alley “bed,” “leveling strips,” “return chute,” “post” and “kick-backs” are sawed out of certain of the logs. They are then shipped to a factory where they are seasoned, being kiln dried. The stock is next cut to the required sizes.

The bed stock is cut into strips, planed on all sides, and tongued and grooved on the widest sides. When finished, the strips measure 3 x 1 inch. Part of the bed stock, however, is hard pine, shipped from the Southern states in the rough boards. This is finished similar to the maple strips.

The “kick-backs” are the two partitions, shaped somewhat like a ship’s rudder, which form the two pit sides. Each consists of two facings of the best maple with a core of hard but resilient wood in the middle. They are built in this way to make the pins that fly side-wise spring back on the bed and knock down other standing pins, and also to withstand the exceedingly rough usage to which they are subject by the flying pins and rolling balls.

The cushion forms the rear end of the pit. The frame is stoutly constructed, and the face thickly upholstered with scrap leather and a heavy but pliable covering. It swings on hinges which suspend it from the cross bar, running from each of the kick-backs across the pit end at the top. The cushion diminishes the force of the rolling balls and flying pins, permitting them to fall gently into the pit.

The “gutters” are the concave boards that extend the complete length of the alley, from the foul line to the pit, on both sides of the bed. The purpose is to take care of the misdirected balls that roll off the bed before reaching the pit.

The “return chute,” or “loop-the-loop return,” is the railway along which the balls travel in their return from the pit to the bowler. It is usually placed on the right-hand side of the alley, or between a pair of alleys.

At the pit end, the chute is solidly constructed with a concave flanged surface placed on the top of the kick-back. It conforms to the downward curve of the latter, but the rail work begins at the top of the incline and extends back to the newel post at the bowler’s end of the alley. The flanges easily accommodate the balls when placed on the chute by the pin boy.

The newel post is not made of a solid block, but is built up, being veneered on the inside, as well as on the outside, to make it impervious to atmospheric changes. The top contains a sponge cup to moisten the fingers of the bowler.

The rails form a semicircle at the post, with the ends of the arc pointing down the alley. A tightly stretched leather strap extends horizontally from the upper end of the arc back to the post, where it is fastened with a swivel screw. Half way up, from the points of the arc, a second rail, _i. e._, the “receiver,” is built, with sufficient space between it and the strap to allow the passage of the largest size ball. With the momentum gained by rolling down the incline of the kick-back, the ball rolls back on the inside of the curve until it strikes the strap, where its course is stopped, and it drops on the receiver, ready again for use by the bowler.

In beginning the construction of an alley, the mechanic lays the leveling strips on which the bed is to rest. These are set at right angles to the direction in which the bed is to lie, and must be spirit-leveled for accuracy, and firmly fastened to the foundation. A strip of cork carpet is then laid the full width of the alley and extending the entire length of the bed. This is to reduce to a minimum the sound of the balls dropping on and rolling down the bed.

On the leveling strips at the extreme side of where the bed is to lie, a 3 x 1-inch maple strip is laid, widest side downward, with its finished one-inch edge nearest to the gutter. One end of this strip marks the extreme end of the approach. The other end of the strip is continued by adding other strips the full length of the bed. When these have been carefully squared to the exact direction the alley is to run, they are fastened to the leveling strips.

The next strip, also of maple, is tongued into the lower one, but its continuous length extends only about five feet beyond the foul line, or about eighteen feet from the approach end.

A bowling bed cannot be laid as an ordinary floor. It is built upon its side and when finished resembles a wooden wall about seventy-five feet long four inches high and three inches wide.

The approach end of the bed, approximately eighteen feet long, is constructed of maple, with each alternate strip of the 3 x 1-inch bed stock about eighteen inches shorter. The pit end of the bed is similarly constructed for a distance of about six feet. The space between is filled in with the pine strips of the same dimensions, and the alternate long and short strips at the inner ends of the approach and pit ends form mortices into which the pine dovetails.

The wear on the bed occurs where the bowler walks and drops the ball and where the ball strikes the pins; hence the hard maple. The interior is filled with pine, which is softer, because it retains a higher polish and prevents the rolling ball from bumping; thus throwing it from its proper course.

The bed is thus built up for its continuous length, strip by strip, the tongue of one strip fitting into the groove of the other, and both nailed firmly together, until the proper width (while being built, the height) is attained. When the bed is finished, the strips are clamped with steel clamps, the turned-up ends of which firmly grip the sides of the bed, thus preventing warping or spreading. While the bed is still in this upright position, a one-inch slot is cut across where the foul line is to rest, and holes are bored through the bed. A black composition strip, _i. e._, the “foul-line,” is inserted in the slot and bolted through the holes to the bottom of the bed.

At the pit end, circular slots are cut and holes bored for the purpose of countersinking and fastening the “pin spots.” The latter are of the same substance as the foul-line and all are sunk flush with the surface of the bed.

This--clamping and fastening--explains the necessity for building the bed on its side.

It is now ready to be placed into position. It is merely toppled over, face side upward, clamped side underneath. So exact has it been built, according to specifications and alignment, and the mass is so heavy, that the dead weight makes it lie where it falls and only the slightest adjustment is necessary.

The height of the leveling strips, plus the height of the bed, lift its surface about six inches from the foundation floor. At the pins end of the bed, this forms one of the sides and the bottom of the pit. The bottom is floored with maple and covered with a specially prepared pit mat, durable, yet soft, so as not to damage the balls and pins falling upon it. The back and sides of the pit are formed by the kick-backs, braces and cushion.

After the kick-backs are placed in position, the gutters are laid, and then the return chute railway is laid, between and slightly above them. At the approach end of the bed the newel post is firmly fastened to the foundation, and the floor that is laid above the latter and flush with the surface of the bed serves to brace the post, making it immovable. The curved end of the chute and the receiver are then added.

The bed is then planed its entire length, sandpapered, shellaced and polished. The remainder of the woodwork is finished in its natural color except the gutters, which are stained mahogany and shellaced. They are thus stained, not only for artistic effect, but to clearly define the outer edges of the bed--a matter of great importance to the bowler when trying to knock down the two outer pins in the third row.

In making the pins, the best selected logs are sawed into blocks about 2 x 1 feet. These are placed in a lathe and gouged out, forming the pin in the rough. They are next turned down to size and selected for quality and weight, after which they are kiln dried and receive a final turning to perfect their formation, then smoothed and finished.

The Backus pin-setter is almost human in its operation. The old way was to hire boys to set up the pins on the spots and return the ball via the return chute. The pin-setter relieves the boy of the major and most time-consuming part of this work. A frame holding the machine is set up over the spots. It is placed so high that it does not interfere with either the flying pins or the rolling balls.

As the pins are knocked off into the gutters, or the pit, the pin boy picks them up and lays them flat on their sides into the pockets at the top of the machine. When a “frame” is rolled those pins standing on the alley remain there and the machine is lowered by a balance weight controlled by a lever. As it descends the pins are automatically set on end, and when they rest on the spots on the alley the machine releases them and springs up to its original position.

Wooden balls for bowling were never satisfactory. They wore out too easily and never retained perfect rotundity. Fortunes were spent in experimenting with other materials until at last the famous “mineralite” ball was perfected.

Its composition is a trade secret, but its chief ingredient is rubber.

First the composition is rolled into sheets. These are then molded and later vulcanized, being subject to terrific pressure. The balls are then smoothed and polished.

As it is impossible to make a perfectly round ball and have the weight equally distributed, the ball can not roll true; an ingenious device overcomes the difficulty. The ball is set in a basin of mercury, where it floats. Naturally, the heavier side of the ball swings to the bottom. On the top, diametrically opposite to the center of weight, a chalk mark is placed on the ball and it is then lifted out of the mercury.

Diametrically opposite to the chalk mark a small hole is punched into the ball to indicate the weightiest point. Directly beneath this is stamped the trademark of the firm.

Having ascertained the proper distance apart the finger holes are to be bored, the ball is weighed to determine the excess of its proposed weight when finished.

The holes are then machine bored at the respective points, sufficiently deep to reduce the weight to exact specifications.

* * * * *

How are Artificial Precious Stones Made?

The art of manufacturing gems synthetically, that is, by the combination of chemical elements present in the real stone, has reached a high degree of success.

The diamond, which is an allotropic form of carbon, has hitherto resisted attempts to reproduce it of sufficient size to have a commercial value. By dissolving carbon in molten iron and suddenly cooling the molten mass by a stream of water, whereupon the outer part contracts with great force and compresses the interior so that the carbon separates out, Moissan, the French chemist, succeeded in isolating small crystals, none, however, as large as one-twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter.

Experiments in the manufacture of the ruby have met with such success that the synthetic ruby is produced of a size and of a perfection that would place a prohibitive value on the natural stone. The ruby, chemically considered, is crystallized alumina, or oxide of aluminum, with a small percentage of oxide of chromium.

Sapphire is of the same material, differing from the ruby only in color. The ruby owes its fine red color to the presence of oxide of chromium; the sapphire its deep blue to either a lower oxide of chromium or to an oxide of titanium.

Crystallized alumina in the different colors receives different trade names, as Oriental emerald for the green; Oriental topaz for the yellow; Oriental amethyst for the purple; while the water-clear, colorless crystal is known as white sapphire.

The process of manufacture of rubies is carried on with the oxyhydrogen blow-pipe, to whose intense heat the powdered alumina with its coloring oxides is subjected. Rubies have been thus produced weighing twelve to fifteen carats when cut. The average weight of the native Burmese ruby is about one-eighth of a carat. The sapphire and the so-called Oriental stones are prepared in the same manner, with the addition of proper coloring matter.

The emerald and opal have not emerged from the experimental stage, although Becquerel, a French chemist, is reported to have produced opals from solutions of silicates with high-tension electric currents.

To be distinguished from synthetic gems are reconstructed stones, which (as yet only done with the ruby) are pieces of the natural stone fused together. They are very brittle.

The pearl is not produced synthetically, but many imitations exist. The Japanese produce them by fastening a piece of mother-of-pearl in the shells of the pearl-oyster and allowing it to remain there for a number of years.

The turquoise, a phosphate of aluminum colored with copper, is not synthetically produced, although various experiments with its manufacture have been made.

MAZZANTINI BULL-FIGHT

The last act in a bull fight, City of Mexico. The bull, tired out by the attacks of the _picadores_ or pikemen, and _banderilleros_ or dart men, whose _banderillas_ or darts are seen planted in the bull’s shoulders, faces the _matador_, armed with the _estoque_ or sword, and carrying the _muleta_ or red flag in his left hand, and about to deliver the death stroke.]

What is a Mexican Bull-Fight Like?

Bull-fights are among the favorite diversions of the Spaniards. They are usually held in an amphitheater having circular seats rising one above another, and are attended by vast crowds who eagerly pay for admission.

The combatants, who make bull-fighting their profession, march into the arena in procession. They are of various kinds--the _picadores_, combatants on horseback, in the old Spanish knightly garb; the _chulos_ and _banderilleros_, combatants on foot, in gay dresses, with colored cloaks or banners; and finally, the _matador_ (the killer).

As soon as the signal is given the bull is let into the arena. The _picadores_, who have stationed themselves near him, commence the attack with their lances, and the bull is thus goaded to fury. Sometimes a horse is wounded or killed (only old, worthless animals are thus employed), and the rider is obliged to run for his life. The _chulos_ assist the horsemen by drawing the attention of the bull with their cloaks; and in case of danger they save themselves by leaping over the wooden fence which surrounds the arena. The _banderilleros_ then come into play. They try to fasten on the bull their _banderillas_--barbed darts ornamented with colored paper, and often having squibs or crackers attached. If they succeed, the squibs are discharged and the bull races madly about the arena.

The _matador_ or _espada_ now comes in gravely with a naked sword and a red flag to decoy the bull with, and aims a fatal blow at the animal. The slaughtered bull is dragged away, and another is let out from the stall. Several bulls are so disposed of in a single day.

What is the Difference between “Alternating” and “Direct” Current?

Strong currents of electricity are generated in the electric central stations and supplied to our homes, street lamps and so forth, in one of the two forms, either “alternating” or “direct.” While many of us know which kind is furnished to our homes, everyone does not always understand the difference between the two.

The central station contains a number of powerful dynamo machines, driven usually by steam power. The positive and negative terminals of the dynamo are put in connection with the positive and negative main conductors which are to supply the district, and from these mains smaller conductors branch off to the houses or lamps. All these conductors are of copper, that metal when pure having seven times the conductivity of iron.

Different methods are in use for keeping the supply of electricity steady in spite of the varying demands made upon it. In some systems of distribution, instead of the two main conductors being one positive and the other negative, each is positive and negative alternately, the reversals taking place some hundreds of times per second. The currents are then said to be “alternating.” When such reversals do not take place, the currents are said to be “direct.”

What was the “Court of Love”?

The “Court of Love” existed in what we call the chivalric period of the middle ages.

It was composed of knights, poets and ladies, who discussed and gave decisions on subtle questions of love and gallantry. The first of these courts was probably established in Provence about the twelfth century. They reached their highest splendor in France, under Charles VI, through the influence of his consort, Isabella of Bavaria, whose court was established in 1380. An attempted revival was made under Louis XIV by Cardinal Richelieu.

The Story of the Addressograph[28]

If you were asked to enumerate the different kinds of clerical work performed in the modern business office, you would probably fail to mention the writing of names. Yet the writing and rewriting of names is as essential in most offices as the addition of figures or the dictation of correspondence.

In fact, names represent the backbone of nearly every business or organization. There is the list of names of those people you sell to; the names of those people you want to sell to; the names of those people you buy from; the names of those people who owe you money; the names of those people to whom you owe money and the names of those people who work for you. Then, lodges, clubs, churches and other organizations must maintain lists of names of their members; and so the different kinds of lists go on _ad infinitum_.

Now, in most offices, these names must be written and rewritten over and over again--often many times each month--on envelopes, price-lists, statements, checks, pay forms, ledger sheets, order forms, tags, labels, etc. And in many offices the writing of names is still a slow, tedious, drudging task--as the workers in those offices will testify.

The Birth of Mechanical Addressing.

But in one office this monotonous task of writing and rewriting the same names over and over again became such a hardship that the man who had to do it, thinking twenty-five years ahead of his time, had a vision of performing such work mechanically. That vision was the forerunner of the Addressograph.

In the early 90’s, Mr. Joseph S. Duncan was manager of a little flour and grist mill in Iowa. The requirements of his business necessitated the daily addressing of 100 quotation cards. Those were the days of pen and ink and the imperfectly developed typewriter. Mr. Duncan’s office was small. He was the sole worker in that office--and as the typewriter was still a curiosity in that section of the country, Mr. Duncan was obliged to depend upon pen and ink in addressing his daily price cards. This routine task wasted a great deal of his valuable time each day. In an effort to finish the work quickly, so that he could devote his attention to more important matters, Mr. Duncan found that he was frequently sacrificing accuracy for speed. Result--his concern often suffered considerable loss of profit because his quotation cards did not reach the people for whom they were intended. Finally, becoming disgusted with inefficient and inaccurate pen and ink addressing methods, Mr. Duncan made a trip to Chicago for the purpose of purchasing a machine for addressing his price cards. But, on visiting the leading stationery and office equipment stores, he was told there was no such machine. He returned to his office resigned to the task of addressing his 100 daily quotation cards by pen and ink. But the drudgery and monotony of this work would not down in his mind. The mistakes and omissions made in addressing these price cards became no less frequent. Finally, because Mr. Duncan could no longer be reconciled to the drudgery, inaccuracy and expense of hand addressing, he determined to build for himself a machine that would lift from his shoulders this monotonous task.

Builds First Addressograph.

Mr. Duncan invented and built his first addressing machine in 1892. He called it the “Addressograph”--a coined word meaning “to write addresses.” Although Mr. Duncan appreciated the saving of time and money and increase in accuracy which his little invention would surely create in the writing of names and addresses, he did not at first realize the great place his remarkable invention was destined to take in the commercial world as a “business energizer” and simplifier of routine work.

Like the first steam engine, telephone or automobile, the first addressograph was crudely simple and of course presented an uncouth mechanical appearance. Mr. Duncan experimented by gluing the rubber portion of a number of hand stamps to a wooden drum. This drum was placed on an operating shaft in the addressograph, so that after the printing of one name and address, the drum revolved so that the next name and address came into printing position. The type impressions thus obtained were fairly readable. But Mr. Duncan soon realized that the idea of gluing the type permanently to a wooden drum was unpractical. Only a few addresses could be placed around the drum and the method of gluing them permanently into place made it practically impossible to make corrections when changes in address occurred, or to add new names as occasion demanded.

Greater flexibility was needed. So Mr. Duncan designed and built what is now known as the first chain addressograph. Individual rubber type characters were pushed into metal type holders with a pair of tweezers. These type holders were then ingeniously linked together in the form of an endless chain. These chains were placed over a revolving metal drum, and as each separate name and address came to the printing point of the addressograph, the operator pushed down on a vertical stamper rod which pushed the envelope, or whatever form was to be addressed, against the rubber type which was inked just before reaching the printing point. Here, at last, was a practical addressing machine which enabled the user to accurately print names and addresses--typewriter style--ten times faster than was possible by any other method, and, quite as important, to make changes and additions to the list.

The Beginning of a Great Industry.

By this time, Mr. Duncan had moved his base of operations from Iowa to Chicago. So well was his first practical model of the addressograph received by Chicago business men that he sold the first half-dozen manufactured within a short time. Enthused with his success, Mr. Duncan decided to enter into the manufacture and sale of addressographs on as extensive a basis as the demand for his invention warranted. But to do this it was necessary for him to secure more capital. Consequently, he interested Mr. J. B. Hall--a Chicago business man--in his project, and in January, 1896, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Hall formed a partnership and called it the “Addressograph Company.”

Mr. Hall’s first step was to find out what the leading business men of his time thought of the addressograph. So he made a trip to New York City--taking with him one of the little hand-operated chain addressographs. Here, Mr. Hall called upon Henry Clews, J. Pierpont Morgan and other prominent business men. He also visited the offices of the large public service and insurance companies. In every case, Mr. Hall was courteously received, but after demonstrating the addressograph was told that while it was interesting and a step in the right direction, it was still in too primitive a state to prove of any great value in addressing a large list of names.

Answering Demand for Greater Speed.

Naturally, Mr. Hall’s first thought on his return to Chicago was to induce Mr. Duncan to build a larger model, capable of greater speed and greater output. Acting upon Mr. Hall’s suggestion, Mr. Duncan, in a short time, perfected a larger chain addressograph, operated by foot-lever and embodying several important improvements. As the Addressograph Company was maintaining at that time only a small sales office, a contract was let to the Blackman Machine Company, of Chicago, to build fifteen of these new foot-lever chain addressographs. And it was this new model which caused the addressograph to take its place in the business world as one of the leading office appliances. Many of these new chain addressographs were sold. Having formerly been engaged in the public service field, Mr. Hall was quick to realize the advantages which mechanical addressing offered to gas, electric light, water and telephone companies. As a result, the majority of the first addressograph sales were made to these lines of business.

With the constantly increasing use of the addressograph, suggestions for improvement and further development were freely offered by addressograph customers and just as liberally entertained by Mr. Duncan. As a result of these suggestions, another important advance took place in addressograph development. A customer, after writing words of praise about his addressograph, suggested that if some means could be arrived at to avoid the necessity of setting and resetting the individual pieces of rubber type, a great saving in time and money could be accomplished in making changes and additions to a list of names.

Invents Embossed Metal Address Plate.

After considerable thought, Mr. Duncan hit upon the plan of embossing, typewriter style, characters upon a metal plate. To do this, it was necessary for him to invent and perfect the Graphotype--a machine which writes names and addresses on metal plates almost as quickly as the same data can be written on paper with the typewriter. The first embossed metal plates were linked together in the form of an endless chain, similar to the rubber type plates. A new addressograph was perfected for printing impressions from these embossed metal plates. It was called the No. 2 Chain Addressograph.

The Addressograph Company now had two models to sell. But, owing to the fact that the rubber chain addressograph permitted users to make changes and additions in their own offices, a greater number of machines of this model were sold than of the metal chain addressograph; because, with the latter model, it was necessary for the customer to send to Chicago to have his new metal links embossed with the graphotype for the changes and additions of his list.

By this time, the Addressograph Company had established itself in its own factory in Chicago. Branch offices had also been opened in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other principal points, and out of these offices was traveling a small but enthusiastic group of salesmen. Many firms, large and small, throughout the country were using and recommending the chain addressograph. And, crude as that model seems now, it was proving a wonderful time and labor saver in the offices in which it was used--and paying back its cost many times each year because of the fact that it accurately printed names and addresses ten times faster than was possible to write such data by pen or typewriter.

A Card Index that Addresses Itself.

As the use of the addressograph increased, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Hall realized the need of a more efficient way of making changes and additions to the list of names. It was important that individual names be located and removed from the list more quickly than was possible with the chain addressograph. Demand for improvement along this line was stimulated by the loose-leaf and card index wave which was just then beginning to sweep the country. And Mr. Duncan, taking the card index idea as a basis, designed what he called the Model “A” or Rubber Card Index Addressograph. Instead of the separate plates being linked together in the form of a chain, they were inserted into a tin holder--called the frame--which closely resembled in appearance a 3 x 5 paper file card. In addition to carrying a printing plate, this frame also carried a paper card bearing a proof of its respective printing plate. In this complete form, these address plates were filed in steel filing drawers like ordinary paper cards. About every fifteenth address plate in a drawer was equipped with a vertical, subdividing tab--numerical, alphabetical or geographical as the case might require. Each filing drawer carried a printed label showing the contents of the drawer--and by means of these complete card index features it proved a simple matter to locate and remove individual names when making revisions to the list; and, in addition, these features afforded all of the advantages of a perfect reference file, as the paper proof card could be provided with a printed form for retaining memoranda.

Of course, a new addressograph was necessary to handle this card index improvement. And in the Model “A” Addressograph, we find the basic principle of the addressograph of today. A drawerful of plates is emptied into the magazine. The empty filing drawer is placed beneath the addressograph so that after addressing the address plates fall back into the original drawer in their original card index order.

Electric Motor Increases Speed.

Not only was it necessary to meet the demand for card index conveniences, but it was also important to equip the Model “A” Addressograph with an electric motor for increasing its speed of operation and insuring a greater output. As was to be expected, the card index and electrically operated features caused thousands of concerns, large and small, to adopt the addressograph. Large mercantile houses, addressing thousands of names--who had formerly held aloof from the addressograph because of its limited advantages for making changes and additions--now placed their orders with instructions to rush delivery. With business houses all over the country rapidly changing from bound books to loose-leaf card index records, the demand for chain addressograph models diminished and more and more orders were received for the rubber card index addressographs. Business men, generally, were now taking a real interest in mechanical addressing and the saving which the addressograph made possible in their offices. This interest was increased materially with the growth of mail-order businesses and the constantly increasing use of direct-by-mail advertising by business concerns, large and small. Firms having mailing lists were increasing them. Those firms which had not previously used direct-by-mail advertising were now coming to realize the many advantages of that modern selling short-cut and were compiling large lists of names. The rubber card index addressograph had by now proved itself a wonderful time and labor saver in addressing and maintaining lists of names of average size. But, with the advent of large lists, the high cost of rubber type presented a serious objection to many firms regarding the installation of the addressograph. Furthermore, large lists of names were subject to many changes and additions--and in this connection, setting up the address plates in rubber type proved quite slow and expensive. So, to bring the addressograph abreast of modern conditions, Mr. Duncan combined the card index filing idea with the embossed metal plate which he had previously worked out for use with the chain addressograph. With the coming of the metal card index addressograph and the modern graphotype for making the metal address plates, the addressing machine business was “revolutionized,” as Mr. Duncan put it. With the graphotype, address plates for changes and additions could be made at almost typewriter speed. The card index address plate required less filing space than was true of the rubber card index address plate, printed cleaner impressions and from every standpoint was superior to the rubber type system. In order that customers could make their changes and additions right in their office, the graphotype was further developed and furnished in two models, one operated by motor, the other by hand.

Attachments Increase Utility of Addressograph.

The first addressographs were intended for printing names and addresses consecutively on envelopes and post cards. And so much time was saved on this one application that customers soon began applying it to other kinds of work in their offices. To do this effectively, it was necessary for Mr. Duncan to work out additional parts called “attachments” which permitted the addressing, listing and imprinting of names and other data on office forms of every nature. To illustrate: the dating attachment enabled users to apply the addressograph to their statement work. With this attachment--which can quickly be thrown in or out of operation--the current date is printed at the head of a statement simultaneously with the printing of the name and address. Further, to use the addressograph effectively for statement work, it was necessary to devise a skipping attachment--manipulated by the operator’s knee--permitting him to skip the printing of impressions from address plates of those customers who had paid their accounts. By working out the listing attachment, Mr. Duncan made it possible for users to list names in one or more vertical columns on pay sheets, drivers’ route sheets, dividend and trial balance sheets. This attachment automatically feeds the paper and spaces the proper distances between the printing of each address. Then came the electric bell signal and automatic selector attachments. Users of classified lists of names were enabled by these attachments to place tabs in sockets at the top and back of the address plates to indicate the different classifications on the list, such as “Buying Seasons,” “Kinds of Products Wanted,” “Territories,” “Expired Dates,” etc., and by means of these attachments, automatically select for addressing certain address plates, skipping the addressing of others.