The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-03-12
NEW Gun ALARM
TO SAVE LAMBS
William Fowler Invents Apparatus
to Brighten Coyotes.
SHEEP MEN INTERESTED
IF Successful, IT Will Save Many
Thousands of Dollars.

An automatic coyote alarm has
been invented by William Fowler, an
empIoye of the salt Lake Hardware
company, and the ]. D. Wood Livestock
company and d number of sheep men
Throughout the states of Utah and Idaho
are interested and are backing the
proposition Patents have been applied
for and the machine is expected TO
be finished within a month. This ma
chine is TO do the work of man
around a sheep pen during the lamplhS
season and drive coyotes away. IL mas
every appearance of an Internal ma
chine and is operated by clock. but
not so dangerous. At regular inter-
walls the machine eXplOdes shot gun
shell and serves the purpose OF drlN-
ing away the coyotes that come howl
ing about the pens in search of lambs.
The machine is about ten inches IN
height and is of cylindrical shape me
frame work is composed of twelve par
rels. At the bottom of the machine
the shoulder and breech are located for
the cartridges which are slipped IN
from the top of the barrels The
barrels contain a firing pin and
spring which are easily removed. The
clock is set in the middle of the twelve
barrels which is about six inches IN
diameter. The clock has but one hand
The firing pins are controlled by a
spring and a shoulder which FITS in
groove and a lever which fits in a
SroOve in the pin. When the barrels
are loaded the firing pins are pulled
and the lever set in the groove. The
clock is set in motion and as the hama
moves around il comes in contact with
the levers which project out As the
hand of th6 clock touches the lever
small hair spring which controls the
J, ut of
the firing pin is released. The pin Is
driven into the breech and eXplOdeS
the shell. AS rhe hand continues
around the dial 1t comes in contact
with the levers and sets the cartridges
off They are regulated to explode
every hour. The machinery is simple
and Mr. Fowler. says that il works like
a charm The entire machine is COW
cred with metal sheathing to protect II
from rain or damp weather. The APP
paratus is made to hang from the limb
of a tree or from three forked sticks
so that it can work freely and VIII
not be overturned by the explosion.
Three of the machines can be hung
around the sheep pens and the clocks
can be regulated so that shell can be
fired every twenty minutes.
Experiment Long Under Way.
The first invention of an alarm was
made by A. A. Brown who was a sheep
herder for many years. He afterwards
came to Salt Lake and was engaged
in photography. 1t was while he was
here that he conceived the idea of a
coyote" alarm and had more than
Seventy-fiVe manufactured His ma
chine was similar to FOwler's auto
matte alarm. He had the shoulder for
the cartridges located at the bottom
of the machine. but the breeding was
rot complete His machine was made
to explode blank shells. Instead of fir
ing pins he had plungers which filled
the barrels and were weighted with
lead. His ma ehine was also operated
by dial and spring The plungers
We're held by hair spring and when
the dial came into contact with il the
plunger was released. 1t fell to the
bottom of the barrel. struck a pin and
exploded the cartridge. After the ma
chine had been put in use il was found
to be defective. Tine hair springs failed
TO hold the plungerS and the result was
when the first she'll exploded the other
Dlungers were released and all the
shells went off. The shoulders for the
cartridges did not work right without
a breech. Several of the machines
blew up and endangered the lives of
the sheep herdetS. On one occasion
when one of the machines burst into
pieces from the explosion d dozen
sheep were killed.
Mr.. Browns experience in the sheep
camp had made him acquainted with
the artifice of the coyote and he could
see the usefulness of an alarm The
coyote is frightened away from an at
tempt to mix in with herd of sheep
when there are any unusual noises. and
they fear the explosion of a gun as
they do the barking Of a dog. He
lad been hired in the Landing season
for years to watch the pens. and be-
ing something of a genius he pondered
over the invention of an alarm that
would put fear into the coyote and al
low the herder to sleep.
Several of the sheep men who are
interested in the proposition say that
IL viii mean the saving of thousands
OF dollars to them and be just as eff
fective as hired help if it proves to be
d successful enterprise. During the
Landing season the ewes are divided
into small pens and men are employed
at $50 a month to watch the sheep