Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes:

Underscores “” before and after a word or phrase indicate italics_ in the original text. Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals. Illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs. Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.

Origin of Modern Calculating Machines

A chronicle of the evolution of the principles that form the generic make-up of the Modern Calculating Machine

BY J. A. V. TURCK Member of The Western Society of Engineers

CHICAGO, 1921 Published under the auspices of The Western Society of Engineers

Copyright, 1921, by J. A. V. Turck

Foreword

There is nothing romantic in figures, and the average man takes little interest in any subject pertaining to them. As a result of this antipathy, there is plenty of historic evidence of man’s endeavor to minimize the hated drudgery of calculation.

While history shows that, from prehistoric man down to the present age, human ingenuity has turned to mechanical means to overcome the brain fatigue of arithmetical figuring, it is within quite recent years that he has really succeeded in devising means more rapid than the human brain.

Of this modern product little has been written, except in disconnected articles that have in no case offered a complete understanding as to who were the great benefactors of mankind that gave to the world the first concrete production of these modern principles of mechanical calculation.

The writer, believing that there are many who would be interested to know the true facts relative to this subject, has given to the public, in that which follows, a chronicle of the evolution of the principles disclosed in these modern machines, along with the proofs that form the foundation for the story in a way that all may understand.

Although the subject has been handled in a way that makes it unnecessary for the reader to be carried through a jangle of tiresome mechanical construction, the writer believes that there are many interested in the detail workings of these machines, and has for that reason provided an interesting and simple description of the working of each illustrated machine, which may be read by those who wish, or skipped over, if the reader desires, without the danger of losing knowledge of the relation of each of these machines to the Art.

Chapters

PAGE Foreword 1 Types of Ancient and Modern Machines 5 The Early Key-Driven Art 17 The Key-Driven Calculator 50 Early Efforts in the Recording Machine Art 79 First Practical Recorders 111 Introduction of the Modern Accounting Machine 144 The High-Speed Calculator 149 The Improved Recorder 163 The Bookkeeping and Billing Machine 174 A Closing Word 190

Illustrations

PAGE Frontispiece, “Stone Age Calculating” One of the Pascal Machines 10 Photo of Blaise Pascal 11 Parmelee Patent Drawings 16 Hill Patent Drawings 23 Chapin Patent Drawings 28 From the Stark Patent Drawings 32 From the Robjohn Patent Drawings 36 From Drawings of Bouchet Patent 314,561 40 Drawings of Spalding Patent No. 293,809 46 “Macaroni Box” Model 53 Photo of Dorr E. Felt 55 The First “Comptometer” 57 From Drawings of Felt Patent No. 371,496 58 Bill for First Manufacturing Tools of the Comptometer 68 Early Comptometer 69 Letter from Geo. W. Martin 71 Testimonial 72 Testimonial 73 Letters from Elliott and Rosecrans 74 From Drawings of Barbour Patent No. 133,188 78 From Drawings of Baldwin Patent No. 159,244 83 Baldwin Machine 83 From Drawings of Pottin Patent No. 312,014 88 From Drawings of Burroughs Patent No. 388,118 94 Photo of Wm. S. Burroughs 95 Drawings of Ludlum Patent No. 384,373 104 From Drawings of Felt Patent No. 405,024 112 Testimonial 117 Felt Recording and Listing Machine 118 From Drawings of Felt Patent No. 465,255 121 Felt Tabulator 126 One of the Early “Comptographs” 130 Photo of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz 132 Leibnitz Calculator 133 From Drawings of Burroughs’ Patents Nos. 504,963 and 505,078 136 Burroughs’ Recorder 137 From the February 1908 Issue of Office Appliances Magazine 142 The High-Speed Calculator 148 Two Pages from Wales Adding Machine Co. Booklet 165 Moon-Hopkins Billing and Bookkeeping Machine 176 Napier’s Bones 179 From Drawings of Barbour Patent No. 130,404 180 Photo of John Napier 181 From Drawings of Bollee Patent No. 556,720 186

The Modern Accounting Machine

The term “adding machine” or “calculating machine” to most of us represents the machine we have seen in the bank. The average person is not familiar with the different types of accounting machines, to say nothing of the many uses to which they are put; but he has a vague idea that to hold any value they should produce a printed record, he doesn’t know why and he hasn’t stopped to reason why; but those he has seen in the bank do print, and any machine the bank uses, to his mind, must be all right.

There are, of course, people who do know the different types of accounting machines, and are familiar with their special uses, but there are very few who are familiar with the true history of the modern accounting machine.

Articles written by those not familiar with the true facts relative to the art of accounting machines have wrought confusion. Their errors have been copied and new errors added, thus increasing the confusion. Again, claims made in trade advertisements and booklets are misleading, with the result that the truth is but little known.

These facts, and the psychological effect of seeing a certain type of machine in the bank would lead the average man to believe that the recording-adding machine was the only practical machine; and also (as someone stated in the December, 1915, issue of the Geographic Magazine) that Burroughs was the inventor of the recording-adding machine.

Although the history of accounting machines dates way back into the tenth century, the modern accounting machines are of quite recent origin, and are especially distinguished by the presence of depressable keys. The keys in these machines act as a means of gauging the actuation which determines the value in calculation, whether the machine is key-driven or key-set with a crank or motor drive.

These modern machines, which come within the classification of key-driven and key-set, have their respective special uses.

The key-driven machine, which was the first produced of these two types of modern machines, does not print, and is used for all forms of calculation, but is generally behind the scenes in the accounting rooms of all lines of business, and for that reason is not so well known as the key-set crank-operated or motor-driven machine, which is designed to print and is always in full view in the bank where it is used to print your statement of account from the vouchers you have issued.

When we stop to analyze the qualities of these two types of machines, we find that each has its place and that neither may truly serve to displace the other. The organization of each is designed with reference to the special work it was intended to do.

The calculating machine, having only to perform the work of revolving the numeral wheels in calculating addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in its many forms and combinations, may be key-driven (on account of the slight mechanical resistance met with in action), and thus, as a one-motion machine, requiring only the depression of the keys, may also be much more rapid of manipulation than the two-motion recording-adding machine which, after depressing the keys for each item, requires the secondary operation of pulling a crank forward or operating a push bar that connects the motor.

The recording-adding machine being designed to print the items and answers of addition, requires power for the printing which cannot be supplied by key depression. Thus an extra means for supplying that power must be provided in the form of a crank lever, or in the latest machines by a motor. The keys in such machines serve only as digital control to gauge the setting of mechanism which prints the items and adds them together. The secondary motion operates the mechanism to print and add and finally to clear the machine for the setting up of the next item. The recording of added columns of figures requires that the answer must always be printed. This demands special operation of devices provided for that purpose, which also adds to the time spent in the operation of such machines as compared with the key-driven calculator.