The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1900-09-21
ACURIOUs
THE FAMOUS CHESS AuToMAToN
THAT PUZZLED THE SAvANTs.

4 Game with Napoleon In Which the
Great Emperor Was Badly snub-
bed-How 1t Was Operated and How
the Secret Was Discovered.
On July 8, 1854, fire broke out In the
old National thsater, which soon extend
ed to the Chinese museum, separated
from 1t only by a narrow alley. In the
destruction of the museum was lost the
most famous automaton the world had
noticed In the Philadelphia newspapers
Of that day. The automaton chess play
er, like many of his human antagonists,
had outlived his day and for several
years had occupied a recess in a small
room In a part of the building but little
frsQueated by visitors.
This famous automaton was construct
ed at Vienna in 1859 by Wolfung, baron
Won KeIlpelen, a man of extraordinary
mechanical ability, q good naturalist and
an artist.
The autonston consisted Of q chest,
upon which was seated the figure of a
Turk. The chest was So feet long, 2
feet broad and 21a feet high, placed on
casters, which enabled the exhibitor to
move it from one part of an apartment
to another. The object of this arrange
ment was TO show the spectators that no
trapdoor communicated with the chest
The left arm Of the Turk was hollow,
and through it ran a wire which cominu-
nicated with the interior cf the hest,
where, by means of a lever, tie operator
concealed within it was enabled to give
every desired motion to the Grm. land
and fingers Of the figure.
When the doors of the automaton nad
been closed, the operator began to maize
his arrangements for the game. This he
did by swinging the whole furniture of
the interior of the chest-mock wheels,
machinery, etc.-agulnst the outer doors
and walls III the box, so as to throw all
the subdiyided compartment into one
apartment. By this means he had room
enough to seat himself comfortably be-
fore the chessboard on which he played.
The moves of the adversary of The Turk,
when made on the board before the figure,
were communicated to the occupant of
the chest by means of wires connected
with a number of disks inserted in the
top of the apartment, and as soon as any
one of the pieces ON the Turks board was
touched the fact was communicated by
the corresponding disks being put in mo-
ton. The concealed chess player repro
duced his opponents moves on his own
board. and when he was ready to reply
to them he made use of the left arm of
the figure for that purpose, as already
stated.
The automaton was exhibited in Wen
ma for some months, attracting a crowd
of savants from all parts of the empire.
Finally, the scientific and mechanical pur-
suits Of the baron having made sad in
roads on his patrimony, he set out on a
tour through Europe with the object of
endeavoring to retrieve his impaired for
tunes by giving exhibitions Of his curious
invention in the principal cities on the
continent.
Before starting on his travels Won
Kempelen engaged the services of the
most skillful chess player he could find
to operate the automaton. To secure.
too, the Turk from all hazard Of defeat,
ending of games were only played. under
the pretext that complete games would
occupy too much time. A book contain
ing a series Of end games was always
handed to the opponents of the automa-
ton, and they were allowed their choice
of the white or the black pieces. Neither
in appearance could be fairer than this;
but, as a matter of fact, the positions
were so contrived that whoever took the
first move-which the Turk invariably
claimed-had force won game.
When Baron Won Kempelen died in
1904, his son disposed of the automaton
to one MaelZel, court mechanic at Ber-
lin, who occasionally exhibited it. In
1909 Maelzel was occupying some portion
of the palace of Schonbrun, when Ma
do ;% h;o r.fo fha
battle of Wagram. 1t was there that
the automaton played with the emperor
the now historic game of chess. Ma
poleon, who was a poor player, quickly
lost the game. He then challenged the
automaton to a second encounter. In the
course Of the game he purposely made
q false move. The Turk bowed gravely
and replaced the piece on its proper
square. A few seconds later the en-
peror repeated his maneuver and with a
similar result. But when the thing &C.
CURED for the third time the automaton
swept the whole of the chessmen off the
board. Allgaier, the inventor of the
gambit named after him, is believed to
have been the player who had the temeri-
ty to inflict so merited a rebuke upon
the "victor Of hundred battles"
About two years later Eugene Beau
harnais, then viceroy Of Italy, witnessed
an exhibition of the automaton at Milan.
His curiosity was SO great that he
bought Of Maelzel both the automaton
and the secret of his mechanism for 30
900 francs. The prince, however, sooa
tired of his purchase, and the Turk. rele-
gated to a lumber room, passed the next
four or five years in inglorious seclusion.
In 1877 Maelzel bought back the au-
tomaton at the same price Prince Eu-
gene gave for it. After exhibiting the
Turk for several years in England and on
the continent Maelzel sailed from Havre
for New York in December, 1926. Here
the automaton defeated the most skillful
American amateurs and became the SEN
sation of the day. During the tour of
the Turk through the United States he
drew great crowds, and the pockets Of
his owner became well filed.
But in Baltimore, by a curious acci-
dent, q discovery was made Of the fact
that some one was concealed in the au-
tomaton. The affair happened in this
wise: One day two lads mounted on the
roof Of a shed commanding a view Of
the room to which the Turk retired after
the exhibition was over. On this occa-
sion Maelzel, as soon as the audience
had dispersed, rolled the automaton be-
hind the curtain. Intent only on reliev-
ing his ally from his irksome confine-
ment, Maelzel stepped to the window,
threw the shutters wide open and then
returning to the automaton lifted the
top Of the chest. From this hiding place
there emerged, in full sight of the boys,
a man in his shirt sleeves. And so a
secret that had batfled all Europe for
nearly a century was at last made public
by two American schoolboys.-Philadel-
phia Record.