Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-03-05
NOVELTIES IN cloT
There Seems To Ia y" E:id to iic iase
nuify Of Inventors In That Einr.

'Thc slo, ard nickel business il yet
in its infancy, y wm#rscdalgrseymau
who is engaged in manufacturing au-
tomato machinery of the most per-
suasivc kind to coax people to part
with their uickcls. This country is
the greatest field in the world for this
branch Of industry for two reasons.
The main one is that Americans are
pprovidout aud never stop tn think
that twenty uickels make adOllar. The
other one is that the nickel is the only
coin in Ills world which IS built in
the right way To encourage genius IN
this direction. No other country has
n standard coin adapted TO the devices,
and one which is 80 popular. 50 uni
form, and 80 slightly valued. The
live cent piece of this country was
made for automatic machinery, and
not the machines tu suit the money.
This may sound queer. but lmcan that
the changes ia Inc size and weight of
the coin have been 81 slight since il
was first put in circulation that it en-
couragcd inventors io make slots and
other devices 10 put ii IN.
The first slot machine | remember
seeing was a race course in a southern
hotel. \ nickel started the horses. l
think l u.sl SAN ine machine in 1913,
and | believe 1t 10 he one Of the first
devices uI The kind in this country, but
| have mo doubt that historians can
rake up testimony In show that Attic
drachmas were dropped into slots by
ancient Greeks, who sought 10 learn
their weight or test their grip, and
that in Caesars time the Romans drop.
ped small COINS into slots and thus pro
cured their confectionery.
1T is only within a few years that
the slot machines have assumed any
prominence. People are beginning 10
think now that the field Of ingenuity
is about exhausted, but they are mis-
taken. II has really just begun 10
open. There will he something new
every feIr months. for / know half a
dozen like myself who are pulling
their brains over new devices. ] am
SO thoroughly identified with the bust
ness now that people stop me and ask
what | am going TO get out next, and
try 10 engage machines in advance
without knowing what they are going
TO be.
Il recently had u queer call from a
MAJ who wants 10 be a monopolist.
He asked me if ] could devise an au-
tomato machine To sell hot Frank
furter sauslges, and | told him that |
though, | could. lie wanted a ma
chine actuated by nickels which would
deliver "A hot sausage incascd in a
split roll, just as the peddlers do it on
the streets. | said that il could be
done, and when he wanted to talk
terms | said $50, 900 down to be put in
preliminaries and $50, 900 To come
when the machine was a success. He
couldn't figure enough out of il TO
talk business. ] have an application
from a man who wants a machine TO
deliver, consecutiyely, numbered and
dated cards, which, in addition, will
show the exact hour at which the card
is taken from the box. am working
on a model. | think he wants TO use
the machines for accident policy
tickets. | saw a machine a few weeks
ago which for n nickel sold "A cheap
edition of novels. Pens, lead PEN
ellis, chewing gum, matches, electric
shocks, ETC., are 81 commonly dis
pensed by automatic machines that
they cease 10 be remarked.
wow | am getting up a decided
nOvelty-an automatic doctor Tiled
with pure drugs i'll capsules, which
will drop out as the pennies are drop
ped in. Zach machine will have from
a dozen to twenty compartments
marked with the name Of the drug,
the quantity b. take for Al dose and the
ills that the remedy is supposed 10 al
leviatc, or poisonous drugs
cannot 60 in il, but others can. ana /
believe Il will be a success. just think
what an accommodation il would be
10 be able % 60 up 10 a machine and
get yuur lose Of quininc. a headache
cure, "a remedy for the grippe or Il dose
Of salts without having 10 disturb the
repOse Of a drug clerk. Then | am
thinking Y a fountain which will
deliver a good glass Of lemonade, or,
in fact, -oda water, with assorted sir
ups. There is really no end TO the APP
plications that can be made Of auto
matte machines and no limit TO the
field Of operation. They 90 every
where, from the church fairdown, and
all sorts of people drop their pennies
and nickels into them.
"Iknow of weighing machines which
take in from SIS TO $50 "A week. Now,
there is AN impression abroad that au-
tomato machines are receptacles for
bad coins, brass checks and other
things which will operate the levers.
In fact, the percentage of bad money
is not one-tenth Of l per cent. The
machines are not complicated, but
safeguards lie inside of the slot 10 pre-
vent the introduction of wires. Small
er coins thanGvc cent pieces fall aside
after entering the slots and are caught
in a separate receptacle. The good
coin falls "A certain distance and strikes
a lever just hard enough 10 release the
machinery. a lead nickel" will do
this, but even so the loss is nothing in
the majority Of machines. None of
the machines are sold. They are usu.
ally put out ON shares running from
10 TO 20 per cent, and this satisfies
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