NOVEL APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 836, 8 January 1883, Page 2

NOVEL APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY.

We learn from a Glasgow paper.*that Mr W. H. Akester, F.S.A., Electrician to the Universal Electric Company, has not only effectually applied electricity to the scaring of burglars, but has ]i}st constructed an instrument which operates by electricity for gathering apples, mowing lawns, reaping cereals, hairing hidesj u'ngeing horses, and shearing sheep. It consists of a telescopic bamboo, which 'can be lengthened to the height of any ordinary tree. There is a calico shoot attached to the l|us electrical aparatus, into which the fhiit operated on falls, and thereby fs tjfe&sipitted into the basket or other yesjel provided for its reception, the latter being placed in any convenient position either at the root of the tree or elsewhere. In fact, the whole apparaths, when denuded of the necessary Annealing wires to the battery, dynamo, or secondary, simply resembles,.-an ordinary walking stick. Besides haying his family sewing machine driven .by a beautiful motor, Mr Akester has lasdy, though not least in ingenuity, constructed an electrical fly-catcher, which, in confectionery and other establishments where “ flies most do congregate,” must be invaluable. It consists of a series of plates one-eighth of an inch apart, the spaces being filled with a composition of glue and treacle, which attracts flies in great numbers. Eyery alternate plate is positive and negative, and thejmoment the fly alights on the plates he receives a shock which causes instantaneous death.- We wonder to what electricity and magnetism will be applied next. ,