Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1904-02-05


ish aud begged his eSceiieney 10 al.
dress him IN fr"mh. The question was
repeated IN that lnnguage. and the
shepherd repli.d Immediately. The
minister WAS frightened. and he. too,
hurried away In consequence az this
seaac the Nenchatcl artist. fearing
that he might he arrested by the III.
QUESTION aud burned as a %sorcerer.
begged the Ring To invite the grand
inlnisitor 10 be present. Jaquct- Droz
took the clock apart In his presence
piece by piece. showing him all the
springs and explaining to him the nc.
ton 81 the train. Probably the in
auisitor understood little or nothing OF
the matter Nevertheless he announc-
ed tl,r fact publicly that he discovered
no magic aud that the mechanism was
moved entirely by natural means.
Ilree OF these automatons. whose
perfection exceeded anything which
had ever been known In this class OF
work, nre the young musician, the
Craftsman and the writer. A young
wonian, snnted IL the harpsiehogd, ex.
ecutrd several pieces of music with
dcxterity WITHOUT i,iiy person touching
the instrument. The craftsman, seat.
ell on 4 stool. made drawings with Il
pencil. sketelnd them correctly and
then shaded them, From time to time
liz raised his hand 10 examine his
work the better, corrected some defect
and blew the dust from tho paper.
Henri Louis. having gone 10 Versailles.
exhibited his antomatons % tint king.
The craftsman, TO the alnazemcnt Of
The whole court, skctchcd tile portrait
of lhe French king with 4 laurel
wreatli on his hcad.
Ialnet.Droz went over 10 England.
He placed the craftsman before the
king, and soon the hands Of the au.
tomaton were actively at work, hut
the surprise OF those present was
bonndlGss Win they bcheld not the
image Of tile King OF France. which
they had expected but that Of the Eng,
lish monarch or course the portraits
were not flushed productions. but pre-,
scented a general resemblance.
The craftsman OF Jaqnet-D roz was
not. however. the most remarkable oil
the works created BY the inexhausti.
Bile genius OF this artist. Let one Judge
from The writer, seated before an lso-
lated desk. without contact with any
person. He would dip bis pen In the
inkstand and write, without dictation.
slowly. II Is true. but distinctly and
correctly.
Each word occupied n suitable place
al the desired distance from the pre-
ccding When d line was finished he
commenced i new one, leaving between
them the necessary space. The move
ments OF the eyes and or the arms and
hands we're admirably initiated. The
writer might even be interrupted. He
stopped In the middle of n word II
asked and wrote another,
The ean used by Jaquet.D roz for
securing this result have remained un.
known. The courtiers, scientists and
the most skillfui mechnniclans have
vainly sought to penetrate the mys-
terry. II IL needless to say that the writ.
er performed only Ia the presence OF
Jaquet.D roz. which involves the Idea
OF some action exercised by this artist
II has been supposed that he made
nse OF a magnet concealed In his shoes
or clothing. This idea was suggested
by his habit OF walking back and forth
aud turning sometimes 10 one aide and
sometimes TO the other while the au.
t0mnion was writing. thus perhaps be
Ing able to attract the hook toward the
wheel with the aid or il magnet and
cause II to return by the same force.
The lords OF the court endca vored by
means OF other magnets Of great power
concealed In their clothing TO disturb
tho working Of the apparatus by their
attitudes and movements. hut IN vain.
The automatoD wrote with the same
accuracy. The writer Ii still In exist.
cncc. IL continues Ia write provided
the hook and the wheel are kept In nc.
ton by the hand The motive force
used by the artist IL q secret which I'M
fortunately has been buried with him
Scientific American.