Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1888-10-25
THE CoMpToMETER.


No one IL ever surprised at any curl
osity which turns up in Chicago. but
the orss that has been lately unearthed
Is well worthy of notice They call II
a comptometcr. or. Ia other words.
calculating machine. The inventor.
Mr. Smelt. l. modest young man
who looks ~ IL he might be a school
teacher or divinity student but, al
though he il only twcnty-six years OF
sgc. he ha- already. in various ways.
shown himself to b. man Of rare
inventive genius. Of which the comp
tometer. or calculator. Is the latest and
most important product
The standard instrument Is ffk
inches long. II inches wide. . inches
high. weighs : pounds and can 10
manipulated without Inconvenience on
any ordinary desk or table II differs
from all former mechanical calcu'stor-
In that, like the typewriter. II Is
worked altogether by keys
Two or three instruments. with y
similar objc.t in view. hal been pre-
viously constructed notably one by a
Kentucky monk-wtieh were capable
Of making computations iu tho rule OF
addition. hut with only one column OF
keys. leaving part Of the work 10 be
performed mentally. whereas Mr.
Felt'- invcrtiou carri - all the columns
In sums OF addition NJ the same time.
and performs all operations even 10
the smallest fractions well n "a the
highest power in billi0n--in the four
fundamental rules Of arithmetic. on
eight columns OF keys.
An expert on this instrument can
work a. rapidly as a typewriter. and
the merest novice can work as rapidly
n the most expert accountant working
on the old mental system Mr. Joseph
Mccoy. acting Government actuary ot
the United States Treasury Depart
nS..rst. Washington, who has tried the
instrrta. states that AN Intelligent
novice rapidly becomes the superior Of
the most skilled expert in the old
method. and he hases his assertion
upon the unfailIng accuracy and speed
of the comptometcr-
strImesnt was tested the other day. took
out his notebook and wrote down :hc
figures 4.1s2. which h. proceeded a.
mu'.ip5y by - rapidly a. he could
Mr.. Felt bFo.rht his instrument into
requisitiOu. and when the gentleman
had commenced To multiply with the
second figure the instrument had
recorded the full answer. I6s. .6:s. The
number i.7s2 was then multiplied by
itself. and when the expert had reach
cd the third figure Of the multiplicr
Mr. Felt sang out the answer. 23.s61.-
52l. The number 423 w1s then multi
piled by i76. and the result divided by
AZ. ~hen the correct quotiert WAS
reached ty The instrument before the
nimble gentleman had commenced Ms
division. The following sum was then
tackled: Suppose you bring fzsi from
England to New York, where the rate
of exchange H. l. 81. what is the Amer
lean value of your money? In n secuud
the very-ready rcckouer had reached
81 1884, 60f. while the slow hut earnest
man was wrestling with the preliminary
fraction. I
In reference to the speed and accu-
racy OF his instrument Mr. Felt said:
when | was in Washington slst year
| was invited by officials OF the Treas
ury Department To exhibit the cUmpto-
meter in the presence Of experts Cen
eral Rosecrans was particularly inter-
ested in the instrument. but was nnable
tn be present at the expert test IhOse
experts are certainly .dandies' at their
craft. They arr mighty smart fellows.
and felt considerable timidity about
tussIe with them However, tho Of
fetal who acted as examiner gave out
five long sums in the four rules. The
experts worked away with their pencils
and with my instrument
In four cases out Of the five | fin
ished frs though am only novice
and my answers were quite correct.
while all the experts. in their despcr-
ate efforts to keep up with me. rot eli
the track and were wrong in every cal-
ctilation- In the fifth case the experts
finished first. but were wrong. while
my answer was correct
The mechanical construction Of the
comPtometer, under the supervision Of
the inventor. i a nearly Perfect a.
human skill can make il. all the opcr-
ating parts being made Of the finest
hardened steel. thereby insuriug the
greatest degree of permanence aud the
least degree of friction. A an instance
of the expense incurred in perfecting
the instrument, It may be stated that
more dies are used in the construction
Of n comptomcter than are % be foGaG
in any typewriter.-C Chicago Letter.