Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-09-17
AIDS. TO ATTENTION.
MEG t4AhlsMs THAT PREVENT PEOPLE
FROM FORGETTING.

In tine Patent Once . Large Glass Of In
ventions 10 Comprised Under tho Head
OF Abrasive Are Becoming Absent
minded and Need Prompting.
Psychologists assert that civilized hui
man beings are growing more absent.
minded. Tho average man Of intelligence
today is not so alert-not 90 conscious Of
bis immediate environment-as he was a
century ago. He does more thinking than
he did then and q greater part Of his bust.
ness In life e. left to the care Of the purely
mechanical brain functions r% ~"
< The inventors, always q step ahead Of
the requirements of the times, are already
at work devising oontrivanoes to summon
absent attention. One Of the latest Of
these IL bracelet that has an alarm watch
attached to It,. The wearer, having an en-
gagement at certain hour, sets the watch,
and when the time arrives q little needle
point pricks her arm and remin 1s her Of
the duty 70 BE- performed. -. r.
4 At tie patant Office q large class Of in
ventiops is comprised under the head Of
''alarms''-tbese being machines by which
perisons WHO otherwise would not think
are made 10 think. There Is a kind of
bedstead, for example, which holds Its
mattress In frame that Is retained In the
normal position by'a catch. At the proper
hour the eatch, operated by olockwork
mechanism, loses It's grip and the mattress
frame becomes, vertical instead Of hori-
sontal, throwing sleepyhead out upon the
floor.
There is another sort of bed which let's
the head of the sleepy person drop when
getting up time arrives, one end Of the
mattress franc collapsing, but one of the
queerest of the patented methods Of wax
ing people up Involves tho employment of
a tin pan and 0 weight hung by a cord.
When the hands of the clock reach GER
tain point, the weight Is released and falls
upon the pan, making dreadful racket.
Another oddly is frame, from which
are suspended number Of corks. During
the night 1t Is lowered gradually by a
clookwork mechanism, until at the proper
hour and minute the dangling corks begin
to bob against the nose and face Of the
sleeper. OF course he wakes up. The
most obvious advantage of these sleep
alarms Is that they render anxiety on the
part of the sleeper unnecessary, SO far as
rising is CONCERNED. He can snooze undis-
turbed by the necessity of Watching him
self. %, ''.'
At the same time the average household
or loses considerable repose through fear
Of burglars. Against such intruders he
may be guarded by variety of protective
devices. For instance, there is the idea Of
q Milwaukee man, who proposes to equip
residences with regular batteries of fire.
arms To each window and door are to
be attached four revolvers, SO arranged as
to f1re'24 bullets into any robber who is so
imprudent hs to venture an Intrusion.
: More ingenious is the burglar trap for
banks, which Is SO contrived that when
the robber steps on the mat in front of the
vault his weight closes an electric circuit,
igniting a 6ashlight, throwing open the
shutter of camera and taking aphoto-
Rrat5lfO the criinfnhT for subsequent 1se
as evidence in court.
Rural visitors in the city will insist on
blowing out the gas, notwithstanding all
the newspaper jokes on the, subject. To
provide against such accidents, q citizen
Of Ashland, Wis.,, has invented little ap-
paratns that is intended to be attached to
every gas fixture in hotel. The breath
Of q person who attempts to blow out the
gas tilts delicately balanced electrode
and closes q circuit, giving an alarm In
the Office.
Another kind Of alarm, patented by 9
Chicago man, notifies the householder Of
escaping gas. If you are afraid of pick
pockets, you can obtain protection by
wearing, small machine that makes a
big disturbance in case anybody tries to
put bis hand into your ocket.-New York