A WELLINGTON PATENT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 226, 17 June 1908, Page 9

A WELLINGTON PATENT.

OICKIE-BROWN MECHANICAL STtilP- • VENDORS. . • A couple or years ago Messrs. Dickie and iirown, two Wellington young men, brought a mechanical stamp-selling machine before the Postal authorities in Wellington,, and alter a tnal it was announced that' the machmes did all that was asked of them. Air. Dickie took the perfected machino to America and England, and wherever it has been exhibited it has roused much interest • and has never failed to do all tho patentees claimed for it.' It has since beeil brou"ht to such a Pitch of, perfection that it will' discard all but the right coin. Foreign coins close _to the English poany in weight and size have been tried on the machine, but it instantly ejects them. - In London, where it was adjusted to sell twopenny tube tickets an experiment was made by nuttinr in a good penny first, followed by a coin plosely resembling a penny, but tho machine was not to bo deceived in that way—it returned both coins in a silently contemptuous way, as ir° Sa -X: ,"- You to know mo bettor!" Mr. Dickie, who has onco more - settled down to work in the Post Office mail-room* has . received a copy of the New York World of April 30, which has an article on his machine, which is " being worked in tho United States by a conwany, in which Messrs. Dickie and Brown, "of Wellington, interest. The article quotes Mr. iiidward M. Morgan, Postmaster, as saying: .

"These machines have apparently donp all that can bo claimed for iliem, and my report 'will show that tho public has taken kindly to them. Specific commendation or endorsement by tho Government Department is, of courso, not necessary for their continued use, but they have demonstrated their practicability, and they may bo recommended tor suburban and congested post offices." Tho article further states:—"Machines for automatic vending of all sorts of things, from gum to accident insurance policies, have been in uso.for'years, but until this present invention, perfected under the Dickie patents by tho-United States Automatic Vendino Co., no device was found that would sef! postage-stamps successfully. '.Their action is entirely automatic, a stamp appearing instantly when the proper coins arc dropped with no plungers to push or snriivs or weights to wind. . . . While delicate and positivCj tho mechanism of those over-ready and attentive salesmen is most siuiole. • Tho machine is simply a small metal box mounted on a heavy four-legged pedgstal. In tho ono cent style insertion of a copper, in an upper slot releases a weight, a stamp-wound roe] revolves as tiny tcoth engage in the perforations bfitween tho stamps, and the, little green slip is. pushed out. In tho two-cent machine, the first copper releases the weight, while the second allows the drum to The live-cent stamp is secured by drooping in a nickel."