The daily tribune., 1908-05-09
the GLORY OF
OUR CIVILIZATION
sy .. I. kIssr.


.er this splendid sky yscraper, 80 that
may show you some of the wonders
hat our architects are able to per-
form"
AS they stepped into the magnificent
| building the stranger noticed near
| the entrance curious device which
| seemed to greatly interest him. 1t
was a circular affair bearing many
numbers upon its face, and hanging
from the middle was what the Mar
tian mistook for a pendulum.
This" he said. is. | presume,
marvellous clock which never has to be
| wound. Yet the numbers upon 1t
seem rather curious WIN you kindly
| explain them to me?"
That is not a clock" the promi-
| nent citizen answered, with smile
at the Martian's ignorance. ut is
| register. BY its aid the proprietor OF
| this establishment is able to keep q
complete record OF the comings and
goings OF his employees. Every time
one of the clerks or bookkeepers
| comes in he Is required to grasp what
you mistook for pendulum, move the
end around to the number which is
his, and press 1t. This records the
time of his arrival. so you see 1t is
| impossible for him to come late to
work without making the fact known.
| II the hundreds Of men and women
| who work in this establishment were
| permitted to come and go as they
pleased their employer would be
ont ~ do nf GnlI In
worth of their time every month. For
| merly It was necessary to have man
who was known as timekeeper sta
| toned at the entrance to check OFF the
| employees as they came to work, but
this clever mechanical device does
| away with all that"
"A most interesting device. The
| civilization that evolves a mechanical
| timekeeper to prevent employees from
cheating their employer is neces-
sarily a most highly developed type.
BY the by, what are those curious ma
chimes back of the counters? ! no.
tice that whenever money is passed
over 1t is put into them and that fig
ures appear upon cute little discs or
plates which APPARENTLY bob out OF no.
where"
Those are cash registers. The
cash register is one Of the most i'm
portant inventions Of our time 1t pre-
vents stealing and cheating You see
the employe who receives money must
deposit 1t In the cash register while
the customer is looking. The exact
| amount paid for whatever has been
| purchased appears upon the little
| plate to which you have referred and
Is registered inside the contrivance,
80 that the proprietor has an absolute
check against his employe. There can
| be no error and there Is no possibility
| of juggling the figures"
ut is wonderful There seem to be
4 great many of these devices in use"
"Yes. You will find them every
| where"
II see. Your civilization excites my
wonder more and more as | become
| acquainted with its workings. VIII
| you bear with me a moment longer? |
| suppose my questions must strike you
as being utterly ridiculous, but can.
| not understand why there are long,
narrow holes beneath the knobs on all
| your doors"
'Ha. ha, You Martians are indeed
4 simple people. Those are keyholes. -
| What is the Significance OF a key.
J hole?"
| why, it's the place in which the
key is put when the door is locked or
| unlocked"
But why should your doors ever be
lockej?"
Good gracious. you surely don't
leave your doors unlocked on Mars, do
you?"
| why should the doors be locked 7"
| ITO keep people from entering rooms
In which they have no business and
taking things which do not belong to
| them"
Would people having the adyan.
tages OF the high state of civilization
to which you have attained think of
doing such things.
Lord, they wouldn't stop to think
OF doing them. They'd Just step in
and take whatever they could lay
their hands on"
DO you have locks on all your
doors?"
Certainly"
But ! don't understand why there
should be locks on your church doors.
| noticed when we passed one OF your
holy edlfices a few minutes ago that
there was one OF the long, narrow
holes under the knob"
"Oh. yes We have to lock the
churches, too. People would go In
and destroy things and steal the com.
munion silver II we didn't take proper
precautions. But. honestly. doesn't
our civilization surprise you? You
didn't expect to find anything like this
on earth. did your"
1T does. | didn't WIN you please
accompany me to the Iumplng.of
place. ! think ! shall be returning to
Mars. but being unaccustomed to q
civilization such as yours. | am 4 III.