Post by schlager7 on Jan 20, 2006 13:19:52 GMT -6
The Daily Courier,
June 25, 1896 :
A Hit—A Palpable Hit: An Automatic Electric Recorder.
On Tuesday night, a 10 Warwick Street, Regent Street, the salle d’armes of the veteran fencing-master M. Bertrand, an exhibition was given of an exceedingly clever invention.
Every one who has watched a bout with the foils knows that the task of judging the hits is with a pair of amateurs difficult enough, and with a well-matched pair of maîtres d’escrime well-nigh impossible.
To accomplish his responsible work satisfactorily, it is necessary for the judge to possess the eye of a hawk and the agility of a tiger in order to keep the lightening-like movements of both points well under observation.
The invention is the work of Mr. Little, the well-known amateur swordsman, and is designed to do away with this uncertainty and useless expenditure of energy. It is hardly necessary to say that the inventor has called electricity to his aid.
Briefly, the invention consists of an automatic electric recorder. The instrument is fastened to the wall and connected with the collar of the combatant, from whence the current is conveyed down the sleeve into the handle of the foil. The blade of the foil pressing into the handle completes the connection; the current is conveyed to a bell in the instrument, and thus each hit is recorded.
At the exhibition the invention proved an unalloyed success, and ought to be a boon both to competitors and judges—to the former on account of its certainty, and to the latter because it not only lightens their labours, but also frees them from any suspicion of partiality.
Strangely, through all the talk of the electric scoring system, what I noticed was that the blades must have been stiffer then in order for this system to work: "The blade of the foil pressing into the handle completes the connection."
June 25, 1896 :
A Hit—A Palpable Hit: An Automatic Electric Recorder.
On Tuesday night, a 10 Warwick Street, Regent Street, the salle d’armes of the veteran fencing-master M. Bertrand, an exhibition was given of an exceedingly clever invention.
Every one who has watched a bout with the foils knows that the task of judging the hits is with a pair of amateurs difficult enough, and with a well-matched pair of maîtres d’escrime well-nigh impossible.
To accomplish his responsible work satisfactorily, it is necessary for the judge to possess the eye of a hawk and the agility of a tiger in order to keep the lightening-like movements of both points well under observation.
The invention is the work of Mr. Little, the well-known amateur swordsman, and is designed to do away with this uncertainty and useless expenditure of energy. It is hardly necessary to say that the inventor has called electricity to his aid.
Briefly, the invention consists of an automatic electric recorder. The instrument is fastened to the wall and connected with the collar of the combatant, from whence the current is conveyed down the sleeve into the handle of the foil. The blade of the foil pressing into the handle completes the connection; the current is conveyed to a bell in the instrument, and thus each hit is recorded.
At the exhibition the invention proved an unalloyed success, and ought to be a boon both to competitors and judges—to the former on account of its certainty, and to the latter because it not only lightens their labours, but also frees them from any suspicion of partiality.
Strangely, through all the talk of the electric scoring system, what I noticed was that the blades must have been stiffer then in order for this system to work: "The blade of the foil pressing into the handle completes the connection."