The sun., 1906-12-05
TEE KINoPoExOMETER.

There are several remarkable inventions
Of recent date which, like the Ohio nying
machine, are still shrouded m punncity'
A slight addition to the mass OF gossip sur
rounding than will perhaps be regarded az
Justiflable since common prudence foroids US
to overlook even the smallest step leading up
10 such achievements.
The nopoemometer. as IL has been nameu'
with more attention perhaps TO SOUND or
looks than to literal sense, resulted from q
rare combination Of logical induction Win
mocha nical ingenuity. Some years ago Hs
inventor. who was then struggling auIhoI
with a family OF six, had financial as wen as
Int ell ectual reasons for inquiring earnestly
into the causes Of literary success. ms STUDY
of history had convinced him that sucoessful
writer's usually embodied in their WORK. or
rather made their work revolve upon' Che
most decisive characteristic OF contemporary
ife Walking the streets OF New YORK WIN
this thought in his mind. and little In ms
stomach to distract him from IL. ne traced
hopeful analogies between the skyscrapers
and the tall fancies Of one writer in thevogue'
between the restaurant habit and the mix
ture OF genres" prevailing in another; De-
tween apartment homes and the styptlo
style OF a third. But 1t did not take hiIn long
TO perceive that these were only secondary
traits. Something much more inslstens
was flashed before his eyes and dinned into
his ears. There could be no doubt that the
most decisive charact teristic of this age was
rapid transit in all its branches-oI oooies'
of sound, OF light. Most decisive also. then'
In art
This inference was Immediately confirmed
by an indirect experience OF his own. he
had noticed. In fact, that the faster he wrote.
the better his work succeeded. 1t was easy
to suppose that his rate Of composition I'M
parted itself to his plots. A novel which
he had shaved over for twelve months ne
could not sell at all one written IN seven
weeks had fetched $3.50: another banged on ona
typewriter In Ave days had sold for nearly twice
that sum. A glance at contemporary masters
left him without any doubt as to the correct
ness OF this theory. Rapid transit was the
essential OF success In modern hteratureI
Where could you find more OF 1t. Tor IN
stance than In Rudyard Kipling? II was IN
deed quite obvious that every genuinely
contemporary master fairly vibrated with
yertiginous pace Some well circulated
novels might seem perhaps to come short
In the genuine article. but on further ex-
animation 1t appeared that they had managed,
by Introducing an omnipresent automobile,
to create spurious impression OF II Which
passed muster with the uncritioal. OF
course, art like life had always contained
motion. IL was a question of degree. Nova
days, speed was the dominant factor in both
This point decided, our ultimately great
man purchased q phonograph and gabbled
bis art into It furiously, The extra expense
of having his masterpieces taken down and
written out afterward was lin proportionl
far more than compensated by their extraor-
binary sales. His stories now had such
move on" that he leaped almost instanta-
neousy into the front rank. Yet his mind,
made more restless perhaps, by this kind OF
authorship. abandoned literature soon after
ward for another field. Rejecting one day
on the costly mistakes often committed by
publishers readers about the manuscripts
submitted to them. approving non-sellers
and disapproving those pregnant with gain,
1t occurred to him that IL that essential
quality. the pace of a story. could be meas
ured beforehand with strict mechanical
accuracy, such blunders would no longer be
possible He had heard OF the electrical
machines used by experimental psychologists
to Calc culate the duration OF a thought or the
passage OF a sensation. and in q fash OF inspi-
ration he hit upon the idea of the kinopoemom-
eter. or measure OF momentum in works Of
imagination.
Into the fundamental details of this delicate
engine l am precluded from entering. since
they are still the secrets OF himself and OF the
eminent publisher with whom he is now
in partnership, and whose firm is expected
to control the fiction market very shortly.
1t In known. however. that apparatus re-
sembllng electrodes are applied to the respira-
tory organs OF the reader. and connected by
wires with a revolving drum. The faster
the respiratory vibrations. the higher mounts
the curve described on the drum. When
breathlessness ensues, q gap appears in the
line on the parchment. certain stage In
yawn is also represented by q gap. but then
the curve is always on the down grade. so
that no confusion is possible. BY ingenious
secondary attachments othcr qualities of
the work are gauged simultaneously. Altera-
tions in the form OF the readers mouth, for
instance. are registered by means of ap-
pliances fixed TO its corners. These are of
great utility in estimating love story. For
q tale OF adventure the contractions OF the
right fist are generally measured. Such are
some OF the surprises OF sciencel However.
the criterion OF pace always comes frst. and
where that Is distinctly favorable. no adverse
consideration is allowed any weight.
Since the personal equations OF the reader
are invariably established beforehand. IL
makes little difference whether he is a pro-
NOTED typewriter. or one who has not yet
been promoted
Having devoted so much space to the
kinopOemometer, l must hold over for an
other occasion the eutelephone and the mag
netic system OF ocean traction. w. A. G..