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Title of Story
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The Inventions of Mr Potty I. The Automatic Preacher.
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Critical Introduction
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The novum of a robot in a human's position harkens back to A Mechanical Preacher (1891) and The Cast-Iron Canvasser (1891). In The Automatic Preacher, however this story focuses more on the mechanic and his disappointment, rather than the robot itself. While not called as such, as Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (1923 review: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/159036750) was yet to entertain for another year, the late 1910s was a period of increasing interest in mechanical humans, with the word 'robot' being at least in regular use by 1924. (Examples: newspaper articles predicting robots manning warships 1924-12-13 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130617215 ; advocating for racing car driver robots 1926-05-08) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166323511
Comparatively, the previous two stories featured clear prose and dialogue and slang was used sparingly. In The Automatic Preacher, much of the story is written in a larrikin Aussie style, including casual words such as bonza, but also explaining the components of the preacher. "I figured it out very carefully about a phonograph and about springs for his legs and arms, and a clockwork motive power, and all sorts of arrangements I could see would be wanted." In representing the strong accent of Mr Potty we get such corruptions as "At first I didn't know how to make the figger itself, especially the top-piece which would have to be very life-like, and look very 'oly, so to speak, bein' a minister." This juxtaposition between genius mechanic and poor speaking skills is interesting in subtly emphasizing that inventors don't all have cultured accents.
An interesting line, representative of humans being fascinated and even falling in love with robots today, suggests the writer has a deep understanding of human character - Mr Potty again: "You should have seen the elders when they set eyes on their new minister! They takes their hats off quiet respectfully, as if he was a livin' person."
The minister breaking down near the end is similar to A Mechanical Preacher
What is particularly interesting is the recognisable 'Aussie-ness' of this short story. Taking place in a bar, featuring a self-effacing character, relayed in a humorous, laconic style, with Aussie slang, and the convict/squatter response of running away when things get too difficult, suggests this confirms Australia's satirical style we recognise today was already firmly established in fiction by 1919.
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Story Summary
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A satirical story told at Flannigan's pub about the genius inventor's failure of his mechanical minister which preached a sermon from its internal phonograph before its mechanics failed, causing it to leap into the congregation.
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Science Fiction Subgenres
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robotics
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invention opera
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steampunk
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Future Year Set
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NA
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Inventions
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A mechanical minister that gave a sermon using a phonograph. Essentially a cogs and gears robot.
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Science
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Mechanics since at least Leonardo da Vinci's design for a mechanical knight in 1495, although that wasn't autonomous like his lion. Also utilising a phonograph for broadcasting sermons.
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Science Extrapolations
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Robots and androids of which we now have in multiple places around the world, although none have a phonograph they do have LLM driven speech sythesizers.
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Similar Science Fiction
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The Cast-Iron Canvasser by Banjo Patterson (The Bulletin 1891) re-released in 1917 in a collection called Three Elephant Power. Review: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15760927
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How this Story was Identified
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ChatGPT API and the Automated Popular English Fiction Genre Classification Program.
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KeyClouds
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NA
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Date Details Added to IA
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October 2024
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Historical Context
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While fighting continued in various places The Great War had ended a few months previously, no doubt giving some relief from the past few years of stress, and perhaps influencing authors into creating a more relaxed style of fiction writing.
Abraham Needham was the father of Elsie Needham who married John Curtin, who later became Prime Minister of Australia between 1941-1945. Needham had a good relationship with John Curtin and in the late 1910s and early 1920s would write for him when Curtin was sick. Needham died in 1922 but not before securing housing for Curtin and enabling him to take further steps to being prime minister.
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Attributed Author
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A. Needham [Likely Abraham Needham]
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Nationality
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South African-Australian
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Single or Serialised
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Single
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First Published Date of Last Installment
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1919-10-24
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Year For Sorting
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1919
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Date Range
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1919-10-24-1919-10-24
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Number of Installments
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1
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Complete or Supplemented
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Complete
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Estimated Word Count
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1600
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Length
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Short Story
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Book Release Details
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NA
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Links in To Be Continued
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NA
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Links to Trove
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https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/149022918
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Newspaper Publisher Citation
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Westralian Worker, Perth, WA
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Newspaper Name Location Years
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Westralian Worker Perth WA 1900-1951
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Location Town City
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Perth
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Location State Territory
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Western Australia
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Provincial or Metro
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Metropolitan
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First Republished on InfiniteAnthologies.com
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YES
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General Subjects
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fiction
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newspaper fiction
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vintage science fiction
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science fiction
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satirical
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satirical science fiction
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Language
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English
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Copyright
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CC By 4.0 | Australian Copyright Act 1968
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Edition Publisher
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InfiniteAnthologies.com
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Apply for Access to Any Media Held by IA
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To access the associated media with this item, please register / login as a guest researcher via the menu.
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Content Advisory
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These items are historical texts digitised from their original publication, and reflects the social attitudes, cultural values, and language of the time in which they were created. Some content may include depictions or references that are racist, sexist, ableist, colonialist, or otherwise offensive by contemporary standards. This material is presented uncensored for scholarly, archival, and educational purposes. It serves as a record of past cultural attitudes and is preserved here to support critical engagement, historical reflection, and the advancement of inclusive scholarship. Reader discretion is advised.
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OCR from TBC and Trove
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The Inventions of Mr. PottyL-The Automatic PreacherPotty was as near an approach to a mechanical genius as 1 have ever met But he juBt missed that desirable altitude by a hair-breadth. There was always a flaw somewhere, and the flaw was only apparent just at the psychological moment of greatest strain. When the invention was about demonstrating its success, the contraption gave way. tTp to that point everything was perfect.This was most unfortunate—for Potty, and for the world at large. And no one could accuse him of want of mechanical skill or of adaptability of means to ends. As for skill, 1 never knew a more perfect mechanic. Potty could work to a microscopic line in steel. To him, the most elaborate lathe.or other machine was a servant he could command with the greatest ease. His services always secured the highest salary that was going and, bad he stuck to the practical, financial and other success would have been his. But bis mania for inventions kept his pockets empty.One day I met him In Hay-street. "Hullo," I said, "what's the latest?"Potty eyed me with a melancholy look. Says he, "I've just nearly ruined me reputation over a mechanical minister.""What the devil's that?" I wanted to know; "a mechanical minister? D'you mean a parson?""yes, that's it, worse luck: come in here an' I'll tell you.""In here," Mas merely Flauuagan s pub."It was this way," said Potty, wiping his mouth with deliberation; "I got some friends of mine what's religious, and they run a small Bethel place down near ; no, I don't think I'll tell you where it is; 1 want to forget it myself, a ad I don't want anyone else to know too much. It was hard luck " and Potty sighed i deeply and finished his drink."Anyhow, let me tell you how it was. These friends of mine aster run this little church until they couldn't afford to pay a preacher any longer. They'd got pretty low with the funds, and none of them could take the job themselves, so they was at their wits' end and dunno what to do- They was telling me about it, and an idea struck me, and I says, 'Leave it to me, and I think I can get you out of the trouble.' They didn't like the idea much of me interferin' with their 'oly work, because 1 was a worldly person, they says, but I persuaded them. Well, I gois home mid thinks bard. I says to meself what's the matter with a nortomatic parson? Shouldn't toe impossible. Sofigured it all out very carefully about a phonograph and about springs for his legs and arms, and a clockwork motive power, and all sorts of arrangements I could see. would be wanted. At first 1 didn't know how to make the figger itself, especially the top-piece which would have to be very life-like, and look very 'oly, so to speak, bein' a minister. However, it atruck me I could get a draper's wax figger somewhere. I knew a chap at Boan's perhaps courd put me on to one, and so 1 found he did, a pretty good one. But I had to get another friend of mine, a signwriter, pretty smart at painting, and with a bit of care he put a fine, noble, saintly expression on the Agger's dial. At last I got It all fixed up; a real bute of a" parson—you should have seen him; nice iron-grey hair, torpedo iieard, lovely black close and white collar, an' a nevenly look in bis eyes."I had a turrible job to get them ciders of the church to take it on. They said it was blasphemy and sacrilege and deceivin* the people, an' what not, but at last I persuaded tbem to lemme give them a preliminary trial. That settled it. So we arranged to get 'im to the "vestry one night on the quiet. i had 'im in a wooden case, so's nobody conld guess anything, an' I got it carted down to the little church one evening, and the elders was there quite anxious, but half doubtin' whether they was doin' the right thing, but I says, quite religious-like, it was the Lord's work the figger was goin' to do, ahd that sort of satisfied them."However, I unlocks the box, and they helps me lift 'im out an if set 'imon a chair. You should have seen the elders when they set eyes on their new minister! They takes their hats off quiet respectfully, as if he was a livin' person. They didn't speak for a hole minute, until at last one of 'em says: 'What a noble hexpression,' and the other elder, he says, 'A great instrument in the Lord's 'ands forfood.'" 'Now,' I says, T'u show you what'e can do," bo 1 loosed the Test what. covered -his manly bosom, and wound iup the phonograph and several other |arrangements, and then buttoned him < up again. Ton juat watch 'im,'' I says to the elders; 'he's timed to istart off in two minutes.* So there jthey stood, starin* at 'im for ttUthey're worth, until with a click, me J minister was up on 'i6 legs an' givin' j out a nymn as life-like as the genu- j ine article. When the elders see him ■work they was delighted, and nearly (shook me hand off with gratitude. i'"An' it worked, beautiful; the phonograph inside 'im was wound up with a neloquent sermon, and all the other parts of the service was arranged to fit in beautifully. We had a little trouble in the matter ot gettin' "im to stand up an' sit down between times; he seemed so stiff and orkward -about 'is joints, an' I was afraid he might fall out of the pulpit onto the floor amongst the people, bnt I got that pretty right at last"' Here Potty paused and heaved a deep sigh."Yes, 1 said I got that pretty right, but I didn't get it quite right, and that caused all the trouble. Anyhow. Sunday came, and the people come to the church. We had "im all fixed serene in 'is chair in the pulpit before the church opened, an' I 'ad the phonograph and other things in 'is inside all wound up for him to carry through all the parts of the service in regular order. I tell you I was that nervous I couldn't sit still, but kept fid getting about, and as for the elders that was in the know, I didn't dare look acrost at them."At last the time came. JuBt when people weren't thinking ot anything perticular, up bounds the parson -to , his feet with a jump, an' in a majestic voice begins to recite the first lines of the opening hymn.. The congregation stared curiously at i'm, but as 'e spoke all right they seemed satisfied, an' I patted meself on the back for me cleverness."Then he prayed; it was bonzer. JTon could hear people snifflin' and | weepin' on all sides. But that was j nothing to the sermon; bat I'm gettin' on too fast. After the prayer be j had to sit down for five minutes while J the choir performed. I thought I J could hear some of the springB an';things rattlin" in 'is innards, an' I ■ got a bit scared. TheD came a bit! of a shock to us all, A minute or ; so after the choir finished, up me ' minister leaped like a kangaroo, andnearly fell over the pulpit among the : people. Some of the machinery 'adgone wrong; I guessed what it wae; . the brake on the main spring hadn't acted quick enough. Tim people seemed a bit alarmed, -and wondered whether their shepherd 'ad taken a fit. Anyhow, it was all right so far, an' I was prayln' that no thin' elsewould carry away. i"But 'e preached a lovely sermon. | I looked aboutfme and could see the ' up-turned faces and the tearful eyes and noted 'ow they was drinkiii' it all in. I had slipped in some of Bob Ingersoll's best passages inter the sermon where they would fit, and it was O.K. I tell you. Tou should have seen me parson extendta' 'is arms, and 'is fine expression beaming onthe congregation. :"After the sermon, the collection, an* I was beinnin' to congratulate myself, when I could hear once morethat rattling of springs an' wires in I 'is interior, but this time much 1 louder. The congregation also heard |it, and were starin' 'ard at 'im, when, . suddenly—when "is time came fb rise to give the benediction—the works seemed to go all wrong, apd instead of gettin' on his feet in a dignified way, he makes one terrible leap up, clears the pulpit with a bound, and lands 'isself head first on a hard seat amongst the people. By crizi, I nearly fainted. His wax 'ead was bashed in, ttnd there be lay acrost a seat with 'is mouth split from ear to ear, bawlin' patches of hymns and sermons an' prayers. Some of the congregation rushed to pick 'im up, an' other yelled with fright; as fer me, beta' near the door, I got away while the fuss was on.""Well, I'm damned!" was all I could think of saying."Tus," said Potty, "I think I see 'Im now, making that turrible dive over amongst the people; it was "orrible, after all the days and nights I'd been workta' to get "im perfect.""What happened afterwards T" I j enquired.j "Ah!" replied Potty, "I didn't stopi to see. An' I ain't, been near the I neighborhood since." A. NEEDHAM.
