Sodamat

In Manhattan, mechanics last week set about installing, in a Broadway booth, ten of the latest models of a four-year-old invention of one F. E. Gray of Philadelphia. Four years ago Mr. Gray devised a new place to drop nickels-- the Sodamat. From the original Soda-mat all a patron got for his nickel was an ice-cream soda or other-soft drink, mixed with mechanical generosity, despatch and cleanliness; automatically spouted into the glass after the plunk of the coin. On the second Sodamat model, there were electric lights. The next carbonated its own soda-water. The models installed last week on Broadway had lights, carbonation, electric refrigeration, neat push buttons. Concoctions: orange, grape, lime, ginger ale, cherry, root beer, fruit punch, oriental cream, raspberry.

Mechanical geniuses congratulated themselves that they and their kind have now provided society with coin-in-the-slot dispensaries of nuts chewing gum candy weighing stamps matches cigarets hair combs soap perfume shoe shines music electric shocks crude cinema horoscopes telephoning cooked food photographs drinking cups handkerchiefs napkins comfort subway rides soft drinks cosmetics name plates Other mechanical geniuses wondered if fortunes might not be made by furnishing society with coin-in-the-slot dispensaries of

shoe strings hose golf balls first safety aids pins disguises literature gasoline