The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-31

Special Correspondence of the Globe.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28--The con-
test between honest inventive genius
and the inroads of the train robber on
peaceful commerce is reaching a CHI
max. The patent office is to be the
scene of the fiercest phase of the war
Patent office records disclose many odd
and interesting inventions, but none
have reached the sensational ingenu-
ity of the numerous Internal machines
whose object it is to capture, main
for life or kill instantly the man who
has the temerity to seek ill-gotten
gains in the strong box of messenger
car. The device that Is the most
startling of three just patented is guar
anteed to perforate a train robbers
body with bullets, Kidding him through
and through like sieve and leaving
SO little of him untouched by lead as
to make it matter of impossibility to
identify him.
The mechanism is simply fiendish in
it's ingenuity and allows the train rob-
Der no chance of escape. He would be
better off were he to stand in front Of
the business end of gatllng gun and
bid the artilleryman turn the crank.
This train robber trap consists of
battery of revolvers placed inside of
the car, with the barrels pointing
through the door towards the platform
which the robber must climb to seek
an entrance to the car. According to
the drawings on file in the patent Of
fee, the design is to so mask the bat
terry that the robber will see nothing
between him and the supposed treasure
but an innocent looking door of wood.
No sooner, however, will he step onto
the platform of the car and seize the
handle of the door to force an entrance
than there will burst forth a deafening
roar, followed by a cloud Of smoke,
Rnd-the rest will be no earthly con-
Germ of the train robbers, for the bull
lets from half hundred heavy caliber
revolVers will have sped in his direc-
lion, and if he is not blown complete
~ from the platform, his remains will
be so torn and mangled as to hardly
leave enough of him for the coroner to
hold an inquest upon.
A simple contrivance places the ter
rible battery at the instant disposal of
the train hands, or, on the other hand,
prevents the possibility Of 1t being
fired. This latter precaution is a very
necessary one, for, If some sort Of
safety device were not provided, the re-
VolverS would claim more victims from
among the innocent train crews than
from the ranks of the robbers. A
switch mounts or dismounts the bat
terry. The triggers of all the revolvers
are connected by movable steel
frame, which when switched in one di-
rectiOn by the releasing of bolt cocks
the guns and leaves them where the
slightest movement on the door from
the outside will release a catch The
instant this catch is released down
come the triggers and bang goes every
one of the fifty guns in the battery It
Is all done in a fraction of a second
The bolt controlling the battery is
placed beyond the reach Of meddlesome
fingers by being encased in a box with
In the door, the key to which is intend
ed to be in the possession Of the chief
Messenger. When warned that an at
tack on the train is impending, he I'M
locks the box, the action withdrawing
the circular sections of wood that hide
from view the muZzles of the revolVers
leaving them with their barrels ready
to vomit the contents at the critical
moment A turn of the bolt, and the
guns are ready for action. The train
hands need give themselves no further
concern about the robber.y The revol-
Vers will look after him.
Why the inventor should have chosen
10 place such a tremendous battery in
his Internal machine does not appear
Probably he intended that the mere sus-
picion that such a machine existed and
might be used as a means Of defence on
the cars, should act as a lettering force
in the interests of honest men. If that
was his reason for multiplying to such
a startling extent the number of wea-
pons used in the contrivance, he certain
1y argued well, for it must be a robber
who knows not the meaning Of fear and
is brave to the verge Of insanity who
ventures to proceed in the face Of such
a terrible means of defence as that pro-
vided by the newly patented train rob-
Der annihilator.''
The second contrivance consists of a