The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-01-27
QUEER AUTOMATONS.
EXAMPLES FROM THE DAYS OF
pEDALUS TO THE PRESENT.

DEDALUS TO THE PRESENT.
4 Wooden Venus That Walked and o
nRasen Man That Talked-A Wonderful
Mechanical Duck-The Greatest Of All
she Fraudulent Automatons.
There are few things more attractive
b the generality Of men OF more calcu-
hted to excite their wonder and admira.
tion than dexterously and mysteriously
onntrived automaton. There is, indeed,
something almost uncanny in the sight
Il figure made by mems hands acting
Ike creature of flesh and blood, and
this unoanniness is one of the most SUBJ
To Of destinations. Hence the silver Of
the curious readily finds its way into
the pockets Of men ingenious enough to
invent such marvels.
This passion for the automaton is GER
tainly no new thing. One meets it in
almost the earliest books, sometimes
vsiled in myth, sometimes more direct
b stated. Vulcan, 1t will be remem-
barred, made automatic tripods for the
gods of Olympus - stools which ad-
vanoed of their own accord to the ban
queting table and 80 retired when the
mast was over.
Aristotle tells us that the human au-
tnmata which Dedalus made were so
sctive that it was necessary to keep
them tethered for fear they would run
away. The same philosopher describes
swooden Venus who walked about and
gives also the secret Of the phenomenon.
She was filled with quioksilver-a some
what crude device. Albertus Magnus is
credited with having made a brazen
man who talked and st. Thomas Aqui-
mas with having pounded 1t to pieces
with club, suspecting it to be work
al satan. Some marvellous feats of
mechanism are credited 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
~ which few around table, another
. wooden eagle which went out to meet
Emperor Maximilian on his entry of
Nuremberg on June 2, 1470, and re-
tmned 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
hsginning Of the really historical era of
sutomata- In the eighteenth century
lived Mr.. Vaucanson, perhaps the most
wonderful Of all makers of automata
snd the creator of the famous duck
which first appeared before the public
In 1741. The duck was vaucanson's
masterpiece and completed a reputation
already made wide by his mechanical
lante player and an automatic musician
which not only blew upon the flageolet,
hut also kept time to it on tambourine.
The bird was of life size, and not only
Was 1t 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
swami, dived, walked, quacked, ate,
drank and by an ingenious device even
scanned to digest its food.
This automaton disappeared after its
Inventors death, but turned up again
In 1910 in a lgarret in Berlin and was
purchased by George Tiets, who took
fur years to put it in proper working
order again. At the end of this time it
was exhibited in a room in the Palais
Royal. Paris, where Mr.. Houdin. the
uelebrated conjuror. saw 1t, and, indeed,
afterward, when something happened
b one of its wings, took charge of and
Impaired it. No doubt it is still in ex-
OF more modern autemata this
Is scarcely the place to speak, for they
are private secrets. Let us confine our
aalves to merely mentioning Mr.. Mas
kelyne's Psyche" and 100"
Like most things, automata have not
Always been what they seemed. OF
many frauds upon the wonder loving
public perhaps the completest was that
IT the famous automatic chess player of
zfr. Kempelen, which was exhibited
III over Europe at the end Of the last
ssntury and afterward in America. 1t
WA the figure of q life sized Turk seat
ID behind large box, the top of which
rs marked in the middle for chess.
krior to the automaton's meeting an
opponent the front of the box was OPEN
ID and skeptioal lockers ON were shown
m arrangement of strings, pulleys and
syNnders. After thas they were allowed
b examine the interior of the figure,
whioh was hollow. Then Mr.. Kempe-
len wound up his Turk with key, and
Is was ready to play, which it did by
moving the pieces with its left hand
md giving three mods for check to king
md two for check to queen. All the
mated chess players Of Europe succumb-
ID to the figures superior strategy, and
Ils skill SO impressed the Empress Cath
kline II of Russia that she wished to
huy 1t and was with difficulty persuad-
d BY Mr.. Kempelen to give up the idea.
g. was not for years that the secret was
discovered; but, like most secrets, It
lealed ont at last. The real chess play
r wss Mr.. Wronsky, a Polish ex-cap-
Ain. both Of whose legs had been am
ok tho -, oa-zxz.u n