Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1885-12-15
The Cash Railway.
THE LAWAON CASH RAILwA Y
IN R. L.RU6SELL's LARGE DRY
GOODS STORE.
GENUINE CURIOSITY.

| A GENUINE CURIOSITY.
We have through line railways
lateral railways, city railways and ele.
waited railways, but none Of these ARE
like the Lawson Cash Railway, found
only in thi city in r. L. Russell's dry
goods store, No.3O6 Market street. This
railway is really one of the curiositiet
| of the times, and from the fact that it is
su spended from the ceiling. above the
counters, high enough to be above the
reach of the hat of the ordinary tall
man, 1t might with q considerable de
gree of propriety be called an elevated
or swinging railway. Upon enterin 2
the store one of the first Things that
strikes the eye are four pretty box.
wood balls with numbers on them.
Looking along the counters, the same
number of these balls are found at
every department. III q croquet player
was 10 enter, he would be very apt to
ask the price of those croquet balls, as
in all probability they were just the
kind of balls he had been looking after
watch o minute or two he will find that
they are the liveliest croquet balls he ever
saw, and are used for a very differen {
purpose than to be belched about
/ Through wickets by wooden mallets in
the hands of q brawny-armed croauet
player. Wei, now let us see. Here is
o lady clerk at railway station number
III. The balls are number II and 80 is
the clerk. She is selling a couple of pair
of hose to o customer at 10 cents q pair,
80 cents. The customer hauds her a S5
note from which to take her change.
She takes q piece of paper and pencils
on it 'rNumber IL, pair of hose 80
cents"
She wraps the paper up inside the S5
bill, picks up q number IL ball. gives it
a twist and 1t falls apart into two
Ihemispheres, leaving two-inch augur
the $B bill and little paper check in
to this hole twists tho two hemis.
Ipheres together again, making q cro-
uuet ball or globe of them again, and
Ithen she slips tho ball into little eleva
tor suspended above the station, pulls
la cord, and the globe asoends and rolls
Iout upon . miniature railroad track of
Ibrass rods, with brass rails at each side
to keep 1t from rolling off. The globe
Istarts down an inclined plane, gather
ling velocity as 1t rolls, gracefully turns
the curve In towards the cashier sstand
where it drops down from the track In
Ito network pocket. The cashier loses
Ino time in grabbing for it and untwist.
ing It takes the little package from the
augur hole, looks at the check. sees
IaWay, slips "a. 20 into the augur hole,
Iscrews the hemispheres together again,
Iputs the globe in his elevator, hoists 1t
to the return track, and away it speeds
with the needed change to the place
from which 1t started, nesting down
in the little net pocket convenient for
clerk number IL at station number IL
to take out, untwist and hand the
change over to the customer. By this
time clerk number IL may have two OF
three more balls rolling in upon the
cashier If trade is q little brisk.
"But do the balls not meet each Other
, on the track and smash each other %
we are asked.
, "Oh, no, not q bit of it," we answer
because the balls do not come and go OF
the same track.
You see, here is the way it operates
, There are two tracks over each range oi
, coun ters, one going to and the othel
, looming from the cashiers box, jus
: like q double track railway, one tracf
D forming an inclined plane to thu
cashiers box, and the other track al
inclined plane from the box, so that thu
balls run down hill all the time. Th'
|, track leading to the cashiers box is tn
Z highest ut the farther end and the tract
8 leading from the box the highest at tn
Inearer end.
But, we are asked again, "how d.
q these balls know at which station Z
{ stop, or will they not all run on to tn
end of the track and drop down in tn
Same pocket 2"
a. noI tn nv n q
On the right-hand side of Mr.. Russell
4 store are the stations, which we vii
a number IL the one neare 1.-THE door, ,thel
a 10 and then 8. No two stations on 10
4 isame pair Of tracks have balls To
q same size. Number IL balls are tn
# smallest, number 10 q size larger, an
r number a size larger still. Numbe
IL balls run the whole length OF II
track, going and coming without inte
Eruption. Number 10 balls start
> station number 10, and going the roun
= cannot 60 past its own station becani
= ii Is too large to run on in number IL
= track. Instead of running on 1t touch
!, little spring that number IL was e
o small to touch, and this spring tilts II
= track up and lets number 10 ball dow
~ into its own pocket at number l0 st
tion. Number ball being too large
and drops down into its pocket at nur
ber station.
The reader will readily understan
from this explanation the .princip
,s upon which this intricate but We
exact system works. From
70 cashiers office in Mr.. Russelrs ste
a. four double track cash railways rsf
o. ate. Gentle curves carry the balls
q the opposite side Of the store, wne
they are switched off to their respecti
stations. Number ball turns its ov
~. switch and rolls off to number l static
A' and number 2 to number 2 station q
30 on up to the 11th station. Ea
clerk has four of these globes, IN ele'
o. tor and q pocket. Here are "A ba
,s rolling out In rapid succession, maxi
u. q very lively time for the cashier
oo trade is lively. The orifices in the
es balls which we have jocularly cal
uo augur holes, for that Is what they 10
like, will hold seventeen Bland sill
dollars. 1t Is not often that m
change Is sent in or out at once In sill
dollars.
'c. The system looks intricate, but
e. works like a charm. Balls full Of ci
roll in to the cashier in a continu
procession, and yet there Is no disc
. and no mistakes. Unlikeother railros
rn no signal towers, signal blocks nor &
'ds nal lanterns are needed, and there is
oh switchman to fall asleep and wreck
sss train. There are no unearthly, scree
MT ing whistle signals to turn the swift
r. but each ball Is its own switch tent
gently turns its own switch, and &
about Its business with no noise WI
evar hut a oAntla Ifttla cliCH aa the