The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-02
THE NEW "ToOTOMETER."
A Novel Invention Which Registers
the Whistles of q Locomotive.
From the Ne,o York World.

from me RelU ~ ORR " Oftl
BRIDGEPORT, July IS Frank B. Taylor,
the inventor of the ''socophone," for trans
uniting messages or holding conversation
with engineers while under full speed on
their locomotives, has just patented de-
vice which he calls tootometer. In re-
atty it is species of monograph. ar
Taylor was led to believe that some me-
chanical device could be employed
to settle the oft-disputed question in
regard to whistling at grade cross
ings. There are large number of grade
crossings in this state upon which annually
many lives are lost. The relatives of those
killed almost invariably claim that the loco
motive whistle was not sounded in time to
warn the victims. The railroad companies,
to protect themselves against damages, dis
pute the point so often taken. Mr.. Taylor
now comes to the front with a tell-tale
whistling register, which takes the sound
from the whistle every time it is blown and
records it.
In order to explain its workings, the run
of any engine on the New York and New
Haven road may be used for illustration.
Say engine No 100 draws the z O'Clock
morning train from New Haven to Now
York. The engine is backed up in front of
the depot and attached to the train. The
engineer, George Corbett, steps into the
dispatcher s Office to get the time, or set his
watch exactly with the standard time. The
dispatcher hands the engineer a 'tOotom-
eter," which is already set for Engineer
Corbett'slnn. 1t is numbered to correspond
with the engines number, and is dated and
officially locked, so that it is impossible for
any one to alter It's register of the whistle
soundings. The ''tootometer" is placed
i'll a pocket bracket on the front of
the cab, Just beneath the whistle. In
side the 'tootoneter' is a long roll of tinfoil,
upon which are stamped CROSSINGS repre-
senting every grade crossing on the road.
Tho roll is upwound from one axle to an
other by means of a small clock attach
ment, so that each line representing cross
ing will be brought TO the ''sounder open
ing precisely at the Same moment that the
locomotive speeds over the grade crossing.
At the proper distance before reaching the
the grade crossing the engineer blows the
standard signal, two long and two short
blasts, - -, or T-o-ot
t-O--Ot, too, too.
These sounds are registered by the foot
ometer" Sould the engineer fai, to sound
his whistle the ''tootomer" would show an
empty blank
And so the run is made to New York, the
"tootometer," rolling Off it's strip of tinfoil
in time and unison with tho movement of
the engine. All trains are run on exact
time on this road, SO there is very little
chance OF the "tOOtOmeter" disaGreelng
with the time grade when crossings are
reached. If extra whistIing is done to drive
cows off the rack or blown for other pur-
poses than grade crossings the sounds are all
registered and an exact record taken of the
whistles blasts, and the exact location of
tho engine on the rails at the time of
the blast is denoted from one end of the
road to the other. At the completion of the
trip the 'tOotometern is handed by the en-
gineer to the proper official, who removes
the roll of sounds and prepares and adjusts
the 'tootOmeter" for the roturn trip. The
strips of tinfoil are carefully indexed and
preserved, for future reference, and the en-
gineer credited or charged with omissions
Of whistles
In the event of a person being killed on a
grade crossing the tootometer will truth
fully indicate the whistle blasts and denote
the distance at which they were blown
before the crossing was reached. The tin
foil strips can be produced at an inquest or
i'll court of justice in evidence and diss-
| pate tho necessity of an immense amount of
swearing as to the fact of the whistle hav-
| ing sounded or not. BY running the strips
| through photograph the exact volume of
| sound and the key of the whistle can be re-
produced. This can be done at any future
and convenient time. Mr.. TAYLOR, the in
ventor, has assurances that his invention
will go into very general use.