The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. II., No. 5, April, 1836Various
General
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. II., No. 5, April, 1836
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
{320} At the hour appointed for exhibition, a curtain is withdrawn,
or folding doors are thrown open, and the machine rolled to within
about twelve feet of the nearest of the spectators, between whom and
it (the machine) a rope is stretched. A figure is seen habited as a
Turk, and seated, with its legs crossed, at a large box apparently
of maple wood, which serves it as a table. The exhibiter will, if
requested, roll the machine to any portion of the room, suffer it to
remain altogether on any designated spot, or even shift its location
repeatedly during the progress of a game. The bottom of the box is
elevated considerably above the floor by means of the castors or
brazen rollers on which it moves, a clear view of the surface
immediately beneath the Automaton being thus afforded to the
spectators. The chair on which the figure sits is affixed
permanently to the box. On the top of this latter is a chess-board,
also permanently affixed. The right arm of the Chess-Player is
extended at full length before him, at right angles with his body,
and lying, in an apparently careless position, by the side of the
board. The back of the hand is upwards. The board itself is eighteen
inches square. The left arm of the figure is bent at the elbow, and
in the left hand is a pipe. A green drapery conceals the back of the
Turk, and falls partially over the front of both shoulders. To judge
from the external appearance of the box, it is divided into five
compartments--three cupboards of equal dimensions, and two drawers
occupying that portion of the chest lying beneath the cupboards. The
foregoing observations apply to the appearance of the Automaton upon
its first introduction into the presence of the spectators.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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