Automatic Photos.

Manawatu Herald, 18 April 1899, Page 2

Automatic Photos.

A few years ago an attempt was .*4 made to automatically deliver to t^e *' ~ public, on the " penny-in-the-slot "* > principle, a photograph of any person investing a coin in the usual way..

This particular venture was a praciical failure, the cause thereof being incomplete automation, in that an attendant was necessary to frame and deliver. There is now, however, nearly ready to be placed before the public a machine which is almost perfect and which will shortly be on most railway stations, competing with its sweetmeat, cigarette, &c, delivering rivals. It does not appear that the operation ■ is by «->-•" means complex or a lengthy one. The taughtening of a chain to determine the focal distance, a few seconds fixing of the eyes upon the lens, and the photo, framed and complete, drops from the delivery drawer on to the tabular projection at the right hand of the machine. The sensitised plates are superimposed in the oblong box on the top of the case, immediately beneath which is the camera. The large disc under that, again, which slowly revolves during the operation, is charged with instructions addressed to the one operated upon, and is designed in this fashion in order to rivet the individual's attention. Suffice it to say that there is also a pile of frames, the bottom one of which is seized at the right moment by a' pair of forcep-like arms, clamped round the photo, the completed article being then immediately ejected.