The record-union., 1898-04-02
Electricity in the Household.

"A writer IN eANS W
scribes by means of an imagined inter
view with an inventor few or the
electrical devices for household use,
which have recently been patented IN
England. Arriving at the house OF TINS
imaginary inventor, he says:
His spacious two-storied house, built
somewhat in the American style, had
an exterior of substantial and, wlthal,
stylish appearance On approaching
the nall door l noticed press put-
ton and two glazed recesses In the
door. On the glass OF the LETT hand
recess We're engraved the words AT
| Home and on that of the right hand
recess were the words Not at Home
| pressed the button, when red light
Immediately appeared in the LETT hand
recess, although l heard no approach
ing steps. Suddenly the door was
opened as if by magic. and parrot
appeared, Tapping its beautiful wings
and shouting in four languages, one
after the other, Please come in. |
found out afterward that the door was
opened by a falling weight, released
| by lisconnecting the coils OF an cleo
tro magnet, and that the parrot was
a stuffed bird, and that phonograph
with trumpet or resonator was con-
nected behind the highly artistic mir
ror in the hall.
/ After having taken off my hat and
hung it on a peg. l wanted to see
whether it was dusty or not, but mad
vertently took down the wrong hat,
! Whereupon l was aStoniShed to hear the
| bells Of different notes ringing, app--r-
emily all over the house, and at this
| very moment, to complete my discomfl-
ture and embarrassment, saw Smil-
| ing gentleman, apparently between ou
and 60, approaching me. He was OF
medium hight and we'll built, and after
| he had introduced himself to me as my
host, he hung the unfortunate hat
| again upon the peg and the bell ring
| ing ceased as suddenly as 1t had begun.
| He observed that there was a simple
| but effective burglar alarm and also
safeguard against tramps, who, no
doubt Oh the principle that exchange
is no robbery, like to substitute their
wornout apparel for decent articles OF
| clothes.
MY host remarked that before we
left the hall we might as we'll inspect
the other electrical devices it contain
| ed. He first pointed out the end of
small hook placed inside the keyhole
and held by spring. Any insertion
| of a key into the lock will almost GER
| tainly push against the key, thereby
! completing circuit and ringing tive
| bells distributed in various parts OF
the house and, giving warning that
| some one, who has no right to do so,
! is meddling with the lock, as by Sc
cret contrivance known to himself and
| his wife only, my host is able to get
into his own house without any fear
of getting shot as burglar
Nevertheless, another contact rings
| a bell in the servants room every time
the door is opened. My attention was
also drawn to the fact that when the
hall door was opened at night two cleo
tric, lamps fixed to the ceiling were
| lighted automatically II, however,
| burglar should succeed by some happy
accident in opening the door without
starting off any of these contrivances,
the moment he, touches the mat inside
current is established which raises
a short thin wire to white heat.
This coil will ignite a magnesium
ribbon, and a snapshot camera con-
| cealed in some gaudy- y-colored Chinese
silk fans opposite the door at once pho
tographs the intruder. My host now
switched off the current from the hat
alarms, and requested me TO hold my
hat in one hand against round velvet
covered disc which projected below
small mahogany table fixed to the wall
| close by 1 s,,,,
.'When 1 had compiled with his re-
| quest the disc began to revolVe at a
tremendous speed. and my silk hat was
busted and polished in a few seconds.
This electric hat polishing machine con-
sists Of a wide circular disc fixed di-
rect on to the spindle of motor run
ming at about 800 revolutions minute.
Mr.. Ackroyd then laughingly remark
ed that my boots, too, were little
dusty, and suggested my putting then
| in turn between two round brushes
and pulling a string hanging from the
| ceiling at the same time. AS soon as
l did so, the brushes began to revolve
in opposite directions at high speed by
means of an electric motor, and my
boots were soon cleaned and polished.
My host Their asked me to open the
street door and then shut it again. This
l found / could easily do. But when
l tried again, after he had turned a
knob near the hatrack, l failed COM
| pletely, and even the combined eXef-
tions Of myself and Mr.. Ackroyd, We're
insufficient to produce any impression
on the door, He explained that this
was another catch for burglars, and
| that even supposing, through the 1ail-
| ure of the other appliances, the thler
should have managed to pack up his
! booty and be wishing to leave the
| house, a servant or the master of lse
house, perfectly aware all the time or
| the presence of the nocturnal guest,
but not wishing to alarm him by let
ting him know it, could fasten up the
| door IN this way by simply pressing
button fixed near the bed.
The current established by doing so
| will generate four strong electro mag
nets, which, by their attraction tor
iron bands fixed to the door, will hold
! it fast unless the door was forced by a
| jimmy or some other powerful tool L
| need scarcely say remarked AcEroyd
at this point, that all wires are inside
the brickwork covered with wall paper
Hence it would be impossible for
| burglar to find out which wires he
/ ought to cut. Besides this, these two
insul lted wires you see stretched along
the walls are another trap. Once In
| the lall, Bill Sykes, imagining that he
| knows q thing or two about electricity,
will think to make himself sure by cut
| ting one or two of them. If he does
so, concealed relay or secondary cir
| cult will instantly become closed, and
the five bells will at once announce
| what he has done.
A Fable.