The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-22

l
and blood. and this uncanniness is one
OF the. most subtle Of destinations.
Hence. the silver Of the curious readily
finds IT'S way into the pockets OF men
| ingenious enough 10 invent such mar
| vels. and hence men OF mechanical gem
ius havei n all ages thought it worth
while TO put their toll of Drain and
hands into such contrivances, perhaps
| 10 the neglect of works far more per-
manentiy valuable TO mankind
This passion for the autonaton is GER
| tainly no new thing. One meets il in
almost thee ariiest books, sometimes
veiled in myth. sometimes more direct
| y stated. Vulcan. it will foe remember
ei, made automatic tripods for the gods
! OF Olympus-stools which advanced Of
| their own accord to the banquesing Ia
| bic, and so retired when the feast was
over. Was this all pure imagination on
| the part of Homer. or did lot shadow
| out more actual achievement OF skilled
| mschanicians of Phoenicia? According
to the author OF thel fife of Apollonius
| OF Tyana, similar tripods were known in
India, and. INDEED. in Hindu sacred
books seem to hint al more than one
lost, or only recently recovered. mechan-
ical invention. Among the Greeks later
than Homer, Daedalus is the famous
maker Of scientific marvels-the Houd-
in or Maskelyne OF those dim old days.
Aristotle tells US that the human au-
tomato which Daedafus made were 50
active that ii was necessary to keep
them tetnered, for fear they should run
away. The same philosopher describes
a wooden Venus who walked about, ana
gives also the secret of the phenomenon.
She was filed with quicksilver-a come
what crude device. Later on-in Sne
middle ages-the fame due to the maker
automata was darkly connectsw with
strange irony of fatewsneAsIliT1yaoi
the unlawful magic arts. By a strange
irony OF fate. most OF the stories OF
magic prowess then current were faith
cred upon tn eRoman poet Virgil. the
last man, probably. to have coveted. or
even wished for, posthumous fame as
necromancer. Two Of the legandary Vir-
gils more famous magic automata may
be quoted One was the brazen fly ne
made for Marcellus, the son of Angus
tus. the emperor. Marcellus was ny
ing his hawk at birds-so goes the tale
when Virgil casually asked him whether
he would prefer to nave bird that
could catch all other birds, or fiy tnat
would destroy all other flies. Perhaps
Marcellus was no very keen Sportsman.
for he chose the fly, and 1t is said TO
have proved very useful, especially 10
butchers. The other a was a copper ar
cher, who perpetuaiy pointed sHs ma
gic arrow at Mount Vesuvius to prevent
it from erupting. All is said to have
gone well until mischievous boy crept
behind the archer and let OFF the arrow.
After that. the eruption. These stories.
it should be said. were. OF course. not
known to the Latins. They were invent
ed by the monks, and il Is one john OF
Salisbury who has handed them down
to us.
Similar achievements were attributed
to other less fabulous doctors of strange
arts. Albertus Magnus is credited with
having made a orazen man w.1o talked.
AMI Saint Thomas Aquinas with having
pounded it to pieces with club. sus-
pecting 1t tooe the work OF SaTan- Some
marvellous feats Of mechanism are cred
tied to John Muller, otherwise known
as Regiomontanus, who fiourished in the
fifteenth century, and in dealing with
him we. perhaps, touch firmer ground.
One was an iron fly which flew around
the table: another wooden eagle whicp
went out to meet the Emperor MAXI
milan on his entry OF Nuremberg on
the 18th OF June, 1470, and returned with
him 10 the city gates. an attetion no
doubt appreciated and adequately re-
munerated by the monarch. Indeed, IL
was to the king rather than to the peo-
pie That an old-time inventor had TO
look for the rewards OF his ingenuity.
Mechanicians especially exerted them
selves to please Louis XIV. One-Fa-
r1er Truchet OF the Royal Academy or
Sciences-made him an automatic opera
with moving characters and scenes COM
pIete. The figures did not. OF course
soeak-that is an invention not yet per
fected, though some steps have been
taken toward IL during this century
but acted in dumb pantomime. a. NJ
Canus made him a moving coach with
running horses. and lady who descend
ed from the coach 90 present the king
opened and closed the carriage door for
ner. Toys of this kind. no doubt. de-
lighted kings in days when there was
little 70 read. and time must have often !
hung very heavy. One connects with
ehe sutomata OF King Louis the better
known mechanical tiger which used TO |
delight Mana Sahfo, by tearing me-
chanical Engiis.rnan to pieces. with an |
accompaniment OF growls and yells
Whether due or not to the stimulus
given fly Louis XIV, the seventeenth |
and eighteenth centuries were in France |
times os great automatic activity. In |
Seed. the first named century marks the I
beginning OF the really historical era Of |
automata. In the eighteenth century |
lived NJ. vaucanson, perhaps the most |
wonderful OF all makers OF sutognats'
and t1e creator Of the famous durk'
which first appeared oefore the public in
17n. This duck was Naucanscn's mas
te-p,ece. and completed a reputation al
rsaSv made wide By his mechanical
a,,te-o1aver. and an automatic musician
who not only blew upon the fageo'et,
tut also kept time 70 Il on tamoouT me
-rae birt vas OF Hfe-siZe, and ncH Only
was ii outwar5ly an exact imitation 70
q feather OF a real duck. but its internal
autonomy vas absolutely true % life
So. Indeed. we're It's movements. Tor x
walked. quacked. swan. Owed, ate
drank. and. By an ingenious device. even
seemed 10 SIgest its food. tbs sutona-
ton disappeared after i,s inventors
death. Suf turned up again IN 1s49 an a
--arr~ a ~
a Mr. George Tets. WHO took four Yeas