Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-09-16
AUTOMATIC BANK STAFF.
Wonderful Machine Saves Time and
Labor and Is ErrorIess.

There is a savings bank in New York
where a man comes in to deposit mon
ey. the receiving teller slips the pass
book, open at the proper page, into a
machine. He touches the starting key.
pulls a lever and for an instant plays
| on a keyboard four times as large
as that of a typewriter. A sec
ond later he hands the passbook back
to the depostCr. Properly printed
there, with the date and the amount is
| the record of what has been received.
Meantime by the same operation and
simultaneously similar figures have
been registered ON q tape, the record
| including also the number of the pass
book. further mechanical movement
and there also appears in plain view on
the tellers record the total amour.
that has been received that day. and.
if it is wished, the accumulated total
of all that has come into the bank
since it's doors were opened.
All this is done in the fraction of
minute and by one of the most inter
esting machines that has yet been 1e-
vised. By it's use the teller knows at
any given moment the exact amount
he has taken in that day up to the YER,
latest deposit. There are no long ad-
ditions or calculations necessary. Au-
tOmatically and with an eXactneSS
that is perfection such as no merely
human handworll could possibly at
tain, this machine does the work Not
only does it represent a tremendous
saving of time to the clerical force, but
it scientifically eliminates all chance
of errors and also puts out of the oues-
ton any false entry. The record in
the passbook and on the tape must be
precisely the same.
This new and wonderful machine is
in the Union Dime Savings Bank. at
Sixth avenue and Fortieth street 1t is
the only machine of the kind in exis-
tence and has been installed but four
weeks. after having taken six months
to build. 1t cost S1,50o, and is the out
growth of many years experimenting
and practical trial. 1t adds two differ
ent totals simultaneously. and the cost
of running it is much less than that of
the older adding machines that were
it's predecessors.
From what it actually accomplishes
by simple manipulation after the cleo
tricity has been turned on by the mere
pressing of a button this machine
might be called an automaticstaff of
clerks. 1t does precisely what q num-
ber of assistants would do. and with
unerring exactitude. AS soon as the
business of the day is over the teller
Immediately has before him the rec
ords of everything that has been done
These are absolutely correct, and his
case must correspond to them. The
machine has performer half his duties
He has simply TO count his money over
to see that ii agrees in amount
Equipped with this machine a teller
does not have TO enter his cash by
items after the business of the day isl
through. All this has been done for
him.
The idea of mechanism of this SORT
that should replace human calculating
toll and should be far in advance Of
anything thus far devised originated
with Charles z. Sprague. President of
the bank and one of the most expert
mattematicians in business life. Mr..
Sprague is also the professor Of ac-
countancy in the New York University.
He had the general idea. Of what he
wanted to accomplish in his mind. a
r. achine that should make possible
positive mechanical accuracy together
with economy of time, and the first
sttp was taken in 1894 when he called
Leicester Allen into consultation Can
you build such machine?" he asked
Mr.. Allen. The expert thought hard
for moment.
Yes, Mr. Srrague,' he said, II think