The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-10-18
4 uA1ws THICKNESS.
A Delicate Machine Ia ths postolics De-
'1f.' EVA pnrtmcn md Its Use. TX

A Delicate Machine Ia ths postoiics De.
Pr Bit pnrtmsnt and Its Use. q u
From the Washington Post, a /. ]. z ~
A curious little machine In the office Of
the Chief Of the Stamp Bureau Of the Post
Office Department Is the cause OF tho can.
collation. OF tho contract Of the New Eng
land firm with the Government for furn-
ishing envelopes to tho postolllcc Depart
mcnt. 1t IL q qucer.looking continuance,
Il cross between u set OF butchers scales
and ordinary grocers scales, or rather II
combination OF the two There Is large
dial, like the face Of clock, with the
little hand that flies around the
face pointing to the figures at tho
side, which arc arranged like the Zig.
ures on the clock face, with little dots be.
tween. "You SEQ three dots?", said the
gentleman in charge, inquiringly. "Well,
The space between these indicates one-six-
teenth-thollsand OF an inch. Getting it
down pretty fine, isn't It? You secihist
movable piece OF iron here which CONES
down with Il. smooth surface upon this
other solid surface? Well, the rising or
lowering Of that moves the pointer which
runs around the dial. 10 test the thick
ness OF n sheet Of paper We simply place It
between this movable piece and the solid
surface below, and when the movable
piece Of iron comes down upon tho paper
the hand registers the true thickness OF
tho paper. Delicate instrument? Well,
I should think SO. Just give me q hair
from your head, will you?"
Then hctook n hair and moved 1t deity
between the movable pieces The hund
on the dial followed the motions OF the
screw until it stopped atthe figure twenty.
"Just 20 lG-l00Oths Of IN inch in diane
ter" he said. snow, lot INC try n hair from
your lnustache. They arc generally much
larger, especially II you have been in the
habit OF shaving" He took up pair OF
scissors and clipped off hair from the
mustache and placed it in position. The
hand stoppedattiity. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
andths Of IN inch thick" he said. "That
shows the effect in shaving. measured
the hair from the hand OF u gentleman u
few minutes ago which was 10 1G-l000ths
thick, but those III his mustache were
precisely the same thickness, the reason
being that he had never shaved. Yes,
that is the machine that proved that the
firm making our envelopes was not fulfill
ing its contract" he said, us he fell back
admiringly. 5s.5e IS
by this dial VIC can see Just the thick.
ness. By this lever, which is very much
like pair of sroccr's scales, we eau tell
just what pressure the paper will stand.
You see We have two other novel pieces
OF iron here, with hole entirely through
both, and a plunger which passes through
that hole. Well, we put the paper be-
tween those pieces, which, when they are
pressed tightly together by this lever,
holds it firmly. The plunger, which
passes through the opening in the two
pieces OF iron, encounters this paper
firmly held. 10 know what the pressure
is we have the plunger attached to a
scale lever with weight attached like
an ordinary pair OF scales, and by moving
his weight out along the lever until the
paper breaks, OF course we can see what
the weight is that makes it break. See
Very simple after you understand it.
Well, that is what the paper-mukers
thought alter they had lost an $50, 600 con-
tract by it. 1t was new thing to them,
but they acknowledged that they we're
beaten when they saw it." .,E,,. g.
This delicate instrument, only recently
invented, is companion piece TO the
scales in the Assayer's Office OF the Treas.
Jury, by which the weight OF hair is &C.
curately tested. ~