THE PENNEY IN THE SLOT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 125, 28 May 1891, Page 4

THE PENNEY IN THE SLOT.

5 ; j ,. . (Ohrißtoburoh Pr'eut.) As ffme goes on, and the 'ever abtive modern 1 spirit of research throws a strong light on the manners andoustoms of bygone nationi, 4 p4e heeomea more than ever con* viiJow of <tho truth of the eayiag that there is nothing new underthe sun. Modern inventions, whioh cause, wonder or amusement by their ingenuity, come into universal vogue; and' then' we hear from some enterprising toiler in the records of antiquity that' What we are : all wondering , at must have created just as muoh amazement some two or three thousand years ago. The last IfcekweJ? support of thja is recorded by ,^^ericau writer, who states that the " maohlne, an invention I whioh only 6a)ae into general use within I the last few yeftrs, is simply a modern] edition of ainaohine whioh was made rather] more than 2000 yean ago. The inventor, 1 to whom' ia? attributed < tha. discovery! of seTeral other things ia every day uee,j suoh-ia the Byphpn, the. syrjlnge, and* team I ■ [engine and outers was named Oteaiwas, and *Wfis tWinaßter of Hero Of 'Alexandria, who doMribed them all in books' he "wrpte, .aad tythf fpuW l^}! .pftfn gets/* the oredit of the inventioßS. The Ameridau Writer mentioned above says :— ." The' first ooin-in-the-slot machine waaj an automatic salesman of holy water, and was plaoed at the doors of the temples in; Egypt,, ,It gave a measured amount of iW^terj.in return for a coiu of & drachmas'; )iut w a coin of 5 cents works the modemi j-One, -The 'coin (or perhaps several coins! aggregating the required weight) being; 'dropped' into a'alit at the top of a vase, fell! T«pon 'ft little platform carrad by a pivoted lever. The other arm of this lever ib oon ' septed by a cord to a stopper whioh enters a 1 email yewel containing. the holy water, and' arratttfed'fiißide the vake, and fits in the top; of a little pipe -entering that vessel, The ,plpe o^mmnnioates with a fauoet outside of the'vßse^ mien the coin b were dropped in! '.tWy' fell up9n the little platform and tilted' *jhe UjfiT. so lifting the stopper. The! 'water , 'tneii ""fl6wed ' out until the) s cM slid"' 'off the 'platform, and ' then! the stopper entered the tube again and the] f wator'sopply' was stopped^' , The coins were,! of course, retained inthe Japdy.of the vase,"!; ;t ,For some 1 reason i, or other tne invention ;w«s not' persevered w}th, th6 inveptor,> mind evidently stopping short at holy water, though;* slight modification of the maohinu, •^uW apparehtl^ Verve all the purposes oc what the w.rfter palls a "biir tender," even to* the supply^bf' mixed drinks. At any rate •the'iiexb n^pearauce of the machine, we aretoJd/Ras in 18^4, by^ whiph time the firs • pateb.l?had<piobably lapsedj add a new one ' was taken oat by an American, Some yean before . thtaj ho w£V£r, fan 'Englishman ha< made a-oontriyance .wbiohMe deaoribed a • looking like a fury Wheel mixed up with ai ' <Bight*day plook and giving a chew of tobacco . ''for a penny, and we are all familiar wit!) e the Various 1 combinations of a musical bo* I And a doll, whioh either wagged its head , i>clatioed, ' turned a hand ; organ,- or went e through some performance all through th) ''^Ipn of a penny in the slot. It wftfl not *^SStU qplte' recently though that the idei [' wai-'ftun^ to any practical use, and since • tftbeu'taey 1 haye been iinproyed upon until the number of tJfapa for, the, nimble penny ' &fc, very huge. . . The , particular maohine '•' ••B»W '< W4w» ■ ifl the onjs