The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-08-06
NEW PENNIES WON'T WORK IN
 SLOT MACHINES
Trial Shows Failure in Ten of Twenty-Five In
 stances.
LARGE DEMAND FOR COINS

All minor objections raised on ac- count Of aesthetic defects in the new Lincoln coin, one cent, were thrust in the shade this morning when it was discovered that the latest product Of the Government mint would not work in slot machines. Considering that there are several million of these ma chimes used in various parts of the country and that a large revenue is derived from the stray pennies that go into them. the failure of the new coins to operate is indeed a serious contin- gency.
 In the city of Bridgeport 25 machines were tested and of these ten refused the coin. In some cases the new pen nies were found to be too thick to en- ter the slot of the machines. In other cases the weight was defective and the intricate mechanism failed to respond after the coin had dropped through the hole. Tests were made on the salted peanut machines of the Cole man Hardware Company of Chicago, besides on other machines of various makes. and in each instance the coins refused to work. On the two machines mentioned the slots were too small. On other machines the coin went through the slot but failed to work the mechanism after it had dropped through.
 Nor is this the only objection that has been made against the new coins. Serious criticism has been aroused on account of the initials of the designer having been allowed to appear on the bottom of the Government coins. Some of the critics place the blame on the designer who they condemn for his aS- surance in placing his name on a Gov ernment coin: others condemn the Treasury Department for putting money in circulation bearing the init ia1c <af. o,-ix ta i,,li
 When the first shipment of the new output arrived at the Connecticut Ma tional Bank yesterday there was a rush to obtain them. All afternoon the banks regular customers and news boys vied with each other in obtain ing large numbers of the pennies. The regular depoSitors wanted their pennies to send away or to keep as mementOeS. The newsboys obtained theirs for the purpose of making capital out of the demand and sold them on the streets for five cents each. So far the Con- necticut National is the only bank in ago the City National ordered s200 worth of the pennies for distribution, but owing to the great demand has not yet been able to obtain them.
 The savings banks have not tried to get any of the coins. being satis- fled to handle the old fashioned Indian head pennies, and they seem to have been doing their customary business without the 1ncOnNenlence or ndVlnS their lines at the teller's window crowded by newsboys and coin collec- tors
 A report put in circulation yesterday that the coins would be called in on account of the designers initials hav- ing been placed thereon, and which was denied later by government offic- ials, increased the demand for the pen nies and coin sharks were out in force last night trying to add to their col 1ections in order that premium might be made later.
 County Commissioner Whitmore S. Mead of Greenwich, was the first man in the State to obtain possession of enc of the new coins. It was not very long after he obtained his, however, that the Connecticut National Bank received a large supply of the new money and was distributing it to big crowds. All day yesterday the win dows at the various banks in this city were crowded by persons eager to get hold of some of the new pennies.