Evening journal., 1904-09-07
WONDERFUL MACHINES.
some That Seem to Be Pretty Near
the Thinking stnRe.

some That Seem to BE Pretty Near
the Thinking stage.
"From the corn miller's bell that sets
up fussy tinkling the moment the
hopper runs empty up to the calculat-
ing machines that are now to be found
In banks and insurance Offices. clearing
houses and observatories, there are so
many mechanical substitutes for brain
workers that It is difacult at times
TO realize that 1t is. after all, only
mechanism and not intelligence that Is
being evolved said an employee at the
patent office to a Star reporter.
"Some Of the touches OF what, for
convenience. we may call mechanical
intelligence to be met with in various
odd corners of the Industrial and com
mercial world are really quite amusing,
and they have their prototype in that
little, bell Of the old windmill.
There is, for instance, to be seen in
any screw factory a different applica-
tion OF that device, The machinery
takes hold of a rod Of metal. pulls it
rapidly along. gives the end OF it the
general shape OF a screw, cuts the
thread round It and the slot in the head
and then ships Off perfect screw.
IF you watch the thing actually
making the screws the idea strikes
you that it is really a piece of mechan-
ism, but VIXEN the machine comes to
the end Of its material and gives a
sharp, impatient ring Of the bell for
the attendant TO bring more you can.
not help laughing and would scarcely
be surprised II, when the man came
with another rod, the busy screw
maker gave him a sharp reprimand fol-
inattention and dllatoriness. In these
days OF monographs. Of course, Il
would be quite practical 10 make it dc
30.
"The machine by which railway tick
cts are printed gives another amusing
little show Of intelligence or what looks
TO be very like IT, Railway tickets ar'
not. as might be supposed. printed il
large sheets and afterward cut up. Th'
cardboard is cut into tickets first. ant
they are printed one by one afterward
"The little blank cards are put in 9
pile in a kind Of perpendicular spout
and the machine slips a bit OF meta
underneath the bottom Of the spou
and pushes out the lowest ticket II
the pile, to be printed and consecutively
numbered.
1T is Of no use trying to print bad
| ticket. The machine finds out an i'm
perfect blank in an instant. and flatly
refuses to have anything to do with
IL.
These are simple instances Of I
good imitation OF watchfulness and dis
crimination-indeed. the latter looks al
most like conscientious care. They af
ford a droll suggestion Of the traine,
intelligence OF the learned pig OF th'
performing dog. and we may find vari
ous degrees OF the same. At the Unites
States mint they have weighing ma
chimes for coins, to which It is difficul
to deny very acute intelligence. Thl
mint apparatus is more remarkable o
the two.
THE new coins at the mints, how
ever, are sometimes n tri1e owe
weight while sometimes. Of course
they are under, so It is necessary L
sort them out in three categories-lighi
heavy and good. This delicate bust
ness is done with unerring precision
by long row Of wonderfully cleve
little machines.
Into these machines single piles 0
: shining new coins are put and quit
automatically the mechanism take
each coin, puts 1t into the scale aud Il
fraction over two seconds-at the rat
OF twenty-five a minute weighs It,
the coin is light, the machine shoot
II into its proper receptacle; II heavy
into another, and II It is OF correc
weight or with a margin, as they cal
1t. IL is pushed into third receptacle.
Washington Star
Board of Health Meeting
The Roard ~ Heath, ,fa 80 ,.... .