The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-03-02
THE WATCHMAN AND .SOUTHRON. MARCH 2, 1898.
QUEER AUTOMATONS.

QUEER AUTOMATONs.
EXAMPLES FROM THE DAYS OF
DEDALUS TO The PRESENT.
Wooden venrs Thct Walked and =
Brazen HAN That Talked-A Wonderful
Mechanical Duck-Thc Greatest OF All
the Fraudulent Automatons.
There are few things more attractive
to the generality Of men or more calcu-
lated to excite their wonder and admira-
tion than dexterously and mysteriously
contrived automaton There is, indeed,
something almost uncanny in the sight
of figure made by mems hands acting
like a creature Of flesh and blood, and
this uncanniness is one of the most sub
tie of destinations. Hence the silver Of
the curious readily finds its way into
the pockets Of men ingenious enough to
invent such naryels.
This passion for the automaton is GER
tainly no new thing. One meets it in
almost the earliest books, sometimes
yelled in myth, sometimes more direct
ly stated. Vulcan, it will be remem-
bered, made automatic tripods for the
gods Of Olympus = stools which ad
vanced of their OWL accord to the ban
quoting table and so retired when the
feast was over.
Aristotle tells us that the human au-
tomata which Dedalus made were so
active that it was necessary to keep
them tethered for fear they would run
away. The same philosopher describes
wooden Venus who walked about and
gives also the secret of the phenomenon.
She was filled with quicksilver-a some
what crude device. Albertus Magnus is
credited with having made q brazen
man who talked and st. Thomas Aqul-
mas with having pounded it to pieces
with club, suspecting it to be work
of satan. Some marvellous feats Of
mechanism are credited to John Muller,
otherwise known as Regiomontanus,
who fourished in the fifteenth century,
and in dealing with him we perhaps
touch frmer ground. One was an iron
fly which flew around a table, another
wooden eagle which went out to meet
Emperor Ma1imi,ian on his entry Of
Nuremberg on June Z, 1910, and re-
turned with him to the city gates.
Whether due or not to the stimulus
given by Louis XIV, the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries were in France
times of great automatic activity. In
deed, the first named century marks the
beginning of the really historical era Of
automata. In the eighteenth century
lived Mr.. Vaucanson, perhaps.the most
wonderful of all makers of automata
and the creator Of the famous duck
which first appeared before the public
in 1741. The duck was Vaucanson's
masterpiece and completed reputation
already made wide by his mechanical
flute player and an automatic musician
which not only blew upon the hageolet,
but also kept time to it On tambourine.
The bird was of life size, and not only
was it outwardly an exact imitation to
feather Of real duck, but its internal
anatomy was absolutely true to life. So,
indeed, were its movements, for it
swan, dived, walked, quacked, ate,
drank and by an ingenious device even
seemed to digest its food
This automaton disappeared after its
inventors death, but turned up again
in 1910 in a garret in Berlin and was
purchased by George Tiets, who took
four years to put it in proper working
order again. At the end Of this time it
was exhibited in room in the Palais
Royal, Paris, where Mr.. Houdin, the
celebrated conjuror, saw it, and, indeed,
afterward, when something happened
to one Of it's wings, took charge of and
repaired it. No doubt it is still in ex-
istence. Of more modern automata this
is scarcely the place to speak, for they
are private secrets. Let US confne our
selves to merely mentioning Mr. Mas
kelyne's Psyche and 'tZoo."
Like most things, automata have not
always been what they seemed. Of
many frauds upon the wonder loving
public perhaps the completest was that
of the famous automatic chess player OF
Mr.. Kempelen, which was exhibited
all over Europe at the end of the last
century and afterward in America. 1t
was the figure of a life sized Turk seat
ed behind large box, the top Of which
was marked in the middle for chess.
Prior to the automaton's meeting an
opponent the front of the box was open
ed and slseptical lockers on were shown
an arrangement Of strings, pulleys and
cylinders. After this they were allowed
L. oz.a...;x,a i,,+orio,- Of tho fiu11ra