Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1915 — OKLAHOMA BOY RIVAL TO EDISON [ARTICLE]

OKLAHOMA BOY RIVAL TO EDISON

Youtb V»ri«liiM ■ Making and Hyiat Kites by *e Um of Cables. lISES A CAT MAKING EXPERIMENTS - < Possesses Electric Train, Wireless Apparatus and “Wireless _ Light.’’ f Checotah, Okla.—Paul Parrott, a Checotah, Okla., boy has broken the record in this part of the country so far as kites are concerned, having recently constructed one fourteen feet long and nine feet wide, which requires a cable to hold it when flying. While flying the kite pulls so vigorously that it cannot be held by hand, but must be wound and unwound by means of a windlass which is anchored to a telephone pole. After experimenting with the Mite, the owner conceived the idea of a parachute attachment, and made one corresponding to the kite in size. He figured that a small copper wire fastened to a pulley on the rope and attached to the parachute would hold till the parachute reached the kite, when It would give way and the parachute would float gently to the ground. When tested the experiment proved that his conjectrues were right, but the desired end had not yet been reached, he wanted a passenger to test its carrying ability. Accordingly he began to cast about for the coveted object A cat seemed to be the most available thing, which was fastened securely to a net to the parachute and sent up to meet the kite. Though the cat’s protests, expressed by continuous howls could be heard from any part of the town during its flight, it made a successful trip and reached the ground in safety. On the cat’s second trip it remained perfectly quiet until the parachute landed, and when picked up to be released was purring softly. Paul’s name de plume is “Polly,” which is painted in giant black letters on the face of the kite and is clearly legible from the kite’s greatest flight of 500 or 600 feet, or the extreme length of the rope.

He has other interesting experiments, among which Is an electric train with a block signal, which causes the train to automatically stop at the gate for two minutes, when the switch opens and permits the train to make another revolution of the circuit. ’ All this is accomplished by means of storage batteries and works as perfectly as if done by hand and will operate day and night without being touched as long as it is connected with the current. Included in this display Is what he calls his wireless light, a small bulb showing no connection with either battery or current, seeming to burn independently of everything else. It Is likely that he will be called to the east in the near future to install this display at Chautauqua headquarters. Paul, when a small boy, came to Checotah with his parents from his Ohio home, and has since lived here. He is a sign painter by trade, but Is. easily anything else that is necessary.. His chosen profession being very elastic, It is applied to different kinds of painting, such as stage curtains, interior decorations, window lettering, cards, caricature drawing and various; other things. He is quite a favorite in Checotah. He is always ready to lend a helping hand to anything bene flcial and is a treasure in local talent entertainment He plays the cornet In the church choir, the orchestra and the town band.