Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-09-04
SLOT MACHINES
TIL, Immense Profit That ..
Their Oper.t,on aoe On

ma n,,.
e'r Operations OF
Two young men entered tho
cite cafe recently and orderad 5LaIay'
says the Philadelphia Press WIT ui'flnl5s, |
barkeeper was preparing them :" n n the
the young men turned to slot ote Of
chine which advertised that i Il oo m;
tell anyones age. He dropped ~ n eoal
in the slot. followed the instr r. o,ckel
printed, and soon obtained ao ac.lons
which were the figures, go you aau on
months, IS days." 'eafs'
by George, that is nv aca -
day!" he exclaimed. W The
The bartender looked up aud so;a,
rs that 500 Are you really % 1" w.
old?" ~ Years
"Yes," replied the guileless youth
Il am very sorry" continued tho al H..
tender. "but if that is so can't sell sell o ra
any drinks; you are minor" you
An elderly gentleman with ox.
beard stood by with an amused s slay
while that was going on, ard told IN tn
bartender that he was right. The o Il'e
erly man proved to be J. w. Brool,s Wv
New York, who is heavily intereste1' "
the slot machines, and in sneal;na ~
them he said to Press reporter:
"Thereis an immense amount Of c,n
ital invested in these little affairs. Fra'
tus Wiman, of New York, was tho f;sa.
to bring them to this country, belieyo
and about 1886 he placed in the lare,
American cities weighing machines
These make great deal ofmonev an1
then H. X. Thurber started in with 4 tIa
slot machine which sold CANDY on5
chocolate. Mr.. Wiman thought ha Sa Sa
patent for the United States. md
costly lawsuit followed. During th;s
the records of the patent Office at WASH.
ington were examined, and they found
that 100 years ago man in England
who kept tavern, made use Of tho
slot machine. This was tin box con:
tanning tabacco. The frequenters Of
his tavern dropped q half-penny in tho
slot and it struck lever which opened
the box. Then the purchasers took
out pinch of tobacco and put it in ono
of the pipes lying around on the tabe
in the bar room. This is the first slot
machine of which any record is known
Nowadays they sell everything in them,
especially in England, where they are
used for postage stamps. In Washing.
ton the other day saw slot machine
into which you drop two nickles, and
from which you obtain glass of rock.
and-rye. do not think that any Of
the machines cost over $50. And if
only one cent profit is made every dav,
it means 10 per cent. interest on the
investment. The first month our com.
pany placed machine in the Hoffman
House in New York city it took in SAG.
A certain dry goods firm recently put
out lot of slot machines which sell
lead pencils. You put o penny in the
slot and out comes pencil nicely
sharpened and covered with the ad.
vertisement of the firm. The latter es.
Inmates that the advertisement pays all
expenses, and so the pennies taken ID
are clear profit"
Lamp Rock of Central Asia.
Capt. Younghusband, an EngGsh
traveller, writes home from Celna
Asia an account of o rock which has
been mystery to the natives and 10
travellers. 1t is situated on the shore:
of lake near one of the branches Of
the upper Oxus, and is known as the
Lamp Rock. The account of it is pub.
lished in the Geographical Magazine
This rock received its strange name
because from supposed cave in its side
aperpetual light shines out. Mr.. Elias
who passed the spot in 1885, thought
the light might be phosphorescent
one, but he did not have time to exam.
inc it properly.
Younghusband says the rock stands
by itself about 200 feet high, and pro.
jects from the mountain side. High up
the steep cliff the cave was pointed out
to him, and sure enough there was a
pale light visible. The natives have a
superstitious dread of the rock, and say
the light comes from diamond in the
forehead of demon, who guards his
vast treasures stored in the cave.
With great difficulty Mr.. Younghus-
band assembled to the cave. A false
step, in some places, would have meant
certain death. He entered the cave and
saw the light, which he found to be
merely the unauthorized light OF
heaven, coming from the other side oil
tne cave. In 1act, IL IS no cave, DuS
tunnel right through the rock. From
below. the fact cannot be Determines
that the hole is not q cave, and the light
striking up against the roof is all that
can he seen.
A Large Order.
| Artists sometimes find that persons
who are abundantly able to buy pictures
are so well able to appreciate the pos
sibilities and the aims of art.
The artist Hoppner related that s
wealthy stockbroker, with his wife and
five sons and seven daughters, once
called npon him. The gentleman said
well, Mr.. Painter, here we are,
bakers dozen. How much will you
demand for painting the whole lot OF u.s.
prompt payment for discount?"
why, that will depend" replied the
artist, upon the dimensions, style, com
position, aud"
"Oh, that's all settled" replied thr
person. who evidently followed the es
cellent plan of knowing exactly VIVA
he wanted when he went shopping, "e
are all to be touched off in one piece, s.
large as life, all seated upon our lawl
! at Chaplain. and all singing, GOD SAVE