The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-04-29
BEFORE THE ELECTRIC BELL.
A CURIOUS PNEUMA7IC Door s,ex,
ONCE USED IN THIS CIR

H. nt..t.
This door-bell work lie one Of tho nuls,no..
OF the business" said an electric litter tb,o.
ing upon his desk a postal card on which ~.
written a request for him TO send a,n.n..
once to renew the batteries for an a,sc,,'.
door hell at - West - street. "usrI,so
day passes without a dozen such orlor. :.
this. and there IL no money in It. IfIsh,rI,
charge what II Is really worth pcoflc wonS
think was swindling them. They DOM con-
slider that n workman has to spend at lcast a.
hour and two car fares in riding up town .rA
back again. and that the materials cost soro.
thing. I am no lover Of electric door bells
They are very we'll" he continual "i,
houses that have q number OF other eIact,i.
bells, for there they are pretty sure TO n.
taken care OF. In such a case the common va,
IL to give an order for a man to be sen, TO "a.
new all the batteries every three months ana
we enter the order in our book. and those ELI.
are never out Of order. lut where the loo,
bell is tho only electric bell in the house IN.
occupant seldom thinks II worth while TO civ.
such a standing order. Tho tell may work ali
right for rear. he thinks. and when IL RiV..
out is time enough to pay any attention to 4.
You can see how that works. This post al cara
was mailed yesterday. very likely after III.
bell had been out OF ordor for q day or two. I
cannot possibly send q man up before to- NOR.
row. and that will make at least three or four
days that the bell will have been useless
There Ia no telling how long the batteries
for an electric door bell may work satistae
torily without reflllinR. Ihave known them to
work Tor n year aud half. but that was very
unusual. They often last six months. but the
safest way is to renew them every three
months. and do II always about the first Of
January. April, July, and October. beeaus.
those dates are easily remembered. It's ven
much like d French clock that runs two vctks
with one winding people soon come to wind.
ing them every week. on Sunday. because u
they don't they cannot remember whether
they wound the clock last week or not.
More convenient No. that's q mistake
The electric door bell is no moro convenient
than the mechanical pull. know people gen.
orally think Is but IL is not and to col, little
further back. 1t is not half as convenient az
the old-faahio on ed knocker. which does It's work
for q lifetime without any repairs Perhaps
you have not given any attention to this
subject Of door sIRnals1 Mop Well. I hava
and concluded long ago that the simplest
thing Is the beat. The evolution OF door sle.
nails is a very interesting subject.
Any middle-aged New Yorker can remem.
Der when almost every good front door In thl,
city bore two bits OF metal-the door plate
with the occupants name and some distance
above It the knocker. The knocker is the
most natural OF all door signals following
directly after the original plan OF knocking
with the knuckles. Knockers arc still in use
to some extent In nearly all the older cit 90 In
this country except New York. and even hero
We have q few left. but only enough to look
odd. There was reason for their disappear
ance from our New York houses. 1t was not
fashion that drove them out, but nvenieure.
At first our dwelling houses were broad Ia
front and shallow. but az land Increased Ia
as they still remain. narrow and deep In our
deep modern houses the kitchen Is sometimes
dSor and the Servant. coSd not hear GSs
knocker. 1t 10 necessary to have O signal that
can he heard in the kitchen.
The long mechanical wire. with q handle
at the front door and big Jingle bell in the
kitchen. was not the only immediate success.
same si9e.a curious pneumatic eontrivan nee
that was used for q short time In some OF the
large New YORK houses. This was an r-tight
Grated small air pump which forced a GU.
ps at he soSn na end The
was attached to the end OF the tube with Z
s,rns and as il fey out i struck a. gong and
showed which bell had been runR. aud before
going to the door the servant replaced the
1T was about as awkward a continuance as
any New Yorker could possibly have invented
time to be the height Of convsnence. Its 81 fame
who was then building Abbotsford., was so
matte tubes laid in ali his walls. instead Of
using wires. He suffered with the thing for
several years. and then. like everybody elsa
The long mechanical wire running from
the pull through the hal floor to the callar.
the kitchen. and up through the Kitchen floor
10 the big Jingle bell Mounted on spring. was
hat is still the most satisfactory door signal
hat has ever been used In this city. Thousands
of these bell are still In use. and many OF them
,hanges again. They can be put In quite rs
'heaply as an electric bell. no matter what dis
hey are good for almost a lifetime without
The modern bells tina. ring on the hack Of
han tho long pull. but they are open to the
ame objection as the knocker that they can.
,ousesI They answer well enough ia small
country houses. though even there they have
II should not be at all surprised II New York
anne back to the old knocker. perhaps with
N electric attachment to repeat the knocking
or Individuality. What American ever went
Q Quebec without being impressed by the
havana they are sIili more Inn srsssiye. T6srs
| Is no uncommon thing to see n knOcEer as
liz as mans head. and so heavy that the
cry walls yibrate when II strikes The door
Knockers illustrate the characteristics OF these
wo cities In curious fashion. Quebec people
re very neat. and the brass knockers are
reQusntly secured: consequently the paint
round the knocker Is soon rubbed of the
ront door, leaving an unsightly scar. But IN
iayana they are not 80 particular. and no
=" Leli-pull is a knob. and you cannot make
nythinR else Of II. and an electric button 10
ATdly visible from the sidewalk: hut .
nocksr is capable OF ali sorts OF artistic et-
ects | Imagine that the coming New York
nocker will have a low. musical tone com:
lined With q very striking appearance. and
hat our best houses Will be distinG uIshAble "
he characteristics knocker. In that case
tshionsble lady's card. Instead OF giving her
trest number. might read. At the great sle-
hant's head, Forty seventh street. between
ifth and sixth avenues
IL Is to my mind q certainty. at Any rate.
hat nine -tenths Of the electric bells will dis.
ppsar from private houses within short
me In hotels and large Institutions where
here iR some one TO take care OF thCm. theT
re great convenience; but In private houses
ley are more frequently an aggFaVatlon. This
ill be no loss TO the electrical business. Tor
lere is no money In putting In or repairing
eetric bells"
Bu-Ihss I. II ,-.asss.