The Felt Tabulator
Wide paper carriage for tabulating
The next feature in the Art, that has served in the make-up of the up-to-date recorders, was the wide paper-carriage. This feature will probably be recognized by many as a means supplied for the recording of columns of items in series on sheet-paper.
As will be noted, roll-paper in ribbon form had been used in all the previously illustrated and described recorders. While the Ludlum patent shows a carriage, it had no capacity for handling more than a single column of numerical items. The carriage in the Ludlum machine was a feature necessary to the typewriter construction and offered no solution to the feature of tabulating.
Felt Tabulator
The wide paper carriage machine
The first disclosure of the wide carriage feature for tabulating was in a machine made by D. E. Felt in 1889, which he exhibited to the U. S. Census Bureau at Washington, D. C., in 1890. The machine was also exhibited at the World’s Fair in Chicago, in 1893, along with other products in this line of the Felt & Tarrant Mfg. Co. A [photo reproduction] of this machine is shown on opposite page.
The machine was left at the Census Bureau, where it was used for several weeks, and was very much liked. Felt made a contract to furnish ten machines of this type, and the machine was recommended for purchase by G. K. Holmes, Special Agent of the Census Bureau, but like many other government department requisitions, the purchase order was never issued.
Although this feature is now found in all first-class recording-adders, the recording machine Art was too new in 1890 for the new feature to be appreciated, and was not pushed, as there seemed to be no demand for the wide carriage then. On this account Felt delayed applying for a patent on his invention until 1899.