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Title of Story
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The Inventions of Mr Potty II. The Mechanical Rooster.
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Critical Introduction
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See the Inventions of Mr Potty I. The Automatic Preacher for an overview of robot influences. For this story about a mechancial rooster, it is lacking in the originality of the first story yet still retains that laconic, chat-in-a-pub, style that amusing stories by Australians are renowned for. Considering that Abraham Needham originally came from South Africa suggests that there may be some similarities between fiction styles at the time.
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Story Summary
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A satirical story about a genius inventor's wooden and springs mechanical rooster that wins a cock fight. A distant sequel to "The Automatic Preacher."
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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 rooster made of wood and springs.
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Science
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Mechanics since at least Leonardo da Vinci's mechanical lion.
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Science Extrapolations
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Robotic pets
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Related Newspaper Fiction
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A Mechanical Preacher
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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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Date Details Added to IA
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October 2024
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Historical Context
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Copied from 'I'. 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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1919-10-31
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Year For Sorting
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1919
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Date Range
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1919-10-31
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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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1400
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Length
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Flash Fiction
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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/149023017
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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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Science Fiction
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Newspaper 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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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. PottyII.-A Mechanical RoosterPotty's ruling passion has again asserted itself. Dropping in a? a place round the corner "to see a man about a dog," I came across him amongst a gr^pp of men in the i>ar. One very excited little person, hy name Riley, was monopolising all the attention of the crowd hv shouting out the praises of his fighting cock."I tell yez he's the foinest cock that iver was; hell bate them all:""Garn," sneered Potty, "1 got a wooden cock as "11 'neat him." Riley glared at Potty, not replying, but continning to bawl the praises of his bird."I teU you, I got a wooden cock as'll beat him." said Potty, again.This time Riley stopped and says. "Whatcher kape talkin' about a wooden cock, for; whatchev mane by it?""T tell you." once more replied Potty, quite coolly, "i got a wooden cock that'll* fight yuur*fowl to smithereens."The crowd laughed, which made Riley madder than ever and he says, quite savage like. "1 don't know what you mane by your wooden cock, hut I'll back my burrd agin anything wid feathers, so come on wid yure cock."•'Yes,'" says Potty, quite businesslike, "put up your money for a. fiver stake," and out he pulled fifty hob -and, as Riley had gone too far to draw back, he promised to have his moneyup to time. . , I So the time and place for the matchwas fixed up then and there." It wasI to be in a shed at the back of the pub' on Sunday morning at ten o'clocw.; Riley was to be there with his won- j derful bird and Potty with his j "•wooden cock." ,,' When we got outside. I said to!Potty, "What the devil does it all j mean, this wooden cock you are put- 'ting your money on?""Ah, now,-' replied he. "this is me masterpiece, the most -wonderful thing you ever see. And it's that ginger-headed Riley that drove me to it, with his everlasting skite about hisbird;- for ever bragging about his ■ cock he is, and if I can take him down I'll die liappy." „"Well," 1 said, mighty impatient, "what have you got, a real rooster or a machine, or what is it?""Come along an" I'll show you," and we tramped out to Potty's place. Arrived there he led me down into a cellar he uses for his workshop and | switched on the light. The room testified to the mechanical bent of Potty's mind. Along one walk was ranged a splendid lathe. I didn't knowof mechanics myself, but it was obvi-| jous to anybody that this wasn't a 1 church or a kitchen. The place wasfull of wheels, springs, Tools and the general appliances and litter of constructive necessity. There was a tiriyanvit and forge, a bench, shelves of ' . heterogeneous articles and materials, j curious mechanical models and whatnot."Mow. jus' you wait a bit and you'llsee the miracle of the century," and; Potty took a key from his pocket, unlocked a cupboard standing againsttbe wall and carefully lifted out a Jfine specimen of a rooster and set ] him oij the floor. I"There y'are, there he is, what do j you think of him," and Potty stoodback and gazed-with pride at the,thing... "He's alive, surely!" I cried, and Twent close to the bird to take a good look at it. Potty laughed, and there was pride in his laugh. "Yds, he's i alive—with springs and things, and he's goin' to be the death oi Riley's cock, anyway."It was a marvellous piece of work. A fine upstanding, white rooster, true to life, made up of wrood and feathers and paint and springs. I complimented Potty."Mow, 1 wanter show you what he can do; wait a minute," and he took the bird and put a key between his legs and wound him awhile, then shifted the key and wound in another place, and then stood *bim up again.While we were staring at bim I saw the rooster stretch his neck to its fullest extent, open his beak, and scream out the most aggressive cocka-doodle-doo as ever you heard."Strike me pink," I ejaculated, "that heats the band; and what else can he do?""Now"' said Potty, "you Jus' takethis n.op and give him a poke 0:1 his chest an' you'll see what'il happen.'" I got hold of the mop and hit the rooster where he told me, and. before I couM draw the mop hack. Potty's contraption was in the air and had struck twice with'his spurs like light-' liiug and down fair on-bis feet again .Well, you could have knocked my head off with a feather. The hirl had ripped pieces out of the mop with Mb spurs, and I thought that if the mop had been" Riley's cock there would have heen some damage, sure."He's a hate of a hirl, ] tell you, and you must come round on Sunday morning and see how Riley 11 look when his cock is weltering in Ma gore." and Potty carefully -placed his invention hack in the cupboard, locked the door and smiled complacently.iOr, Sunday morning I called onPotty, and, carefully placing his bird in a box, we got round to the pub,j purposely late. Of course we had toi get in at a back gate, hut, before entering, we took the cock out of the box and Potty carried him into theshed under his arm quite naturally. |There were abotrt a dozen fellowswaiting about, some seated on liquor ] cases, others standing. The floor ofthe shed had been swept and sprin-1kled with saw dust. Riley was sitting on a gin case holding a large, glossy, black rooster in his hands and delivering its pedigree and - performsthces to an admiring andiehce: "and there was never a burdd that cud stand up to him for foive minutes, he makes mince-meat of 'em all—look at the legs of him and the spurrs of him. he's the gallant bhoy of this all, heis."When Riley's bird sees Potty's cock, be lets out a mighty cock-a-hoop scream and prims up his feathers. 'Tjuk at "im,"' shouted Riley, "he's dyin: for a scrap!" Meanwhile, Potty, having surreptitiously wound up his rooster, set him in the ring, while all the hoys leaned forward to have a good look. No sooner had Riley placed his bird in position than Potty's cock stretched his neck and crowed defiantly. The black ccck took up the challenge immediately, and struck hefore Potty's cock had adjusted himself. It was a fine slashing attack and struck the white r</oster on the neck and howled him over barkwards, to the distpay of Potty and the frantic delight of' Riley."What did I tell yez," there was never a cock that"—here Mooney, the puh-keeper, put his hand- across the mouth Of the excited Riley. "Held your dam noise, will you; you'l have the police in here in two minutes."Meanwhile, Potty had picked up £is cock, and, finding there wasn't much damage done, gave an extra turn to ;the mainspring and then set him on jhis feet again, not looking much the ,worse except that some of the featherB jwere" ripped off and there was a deep scratch in the neck.Riley's cock now made another leap and struck again. Fortunately tor Potty, the blow landed fair on the danger zone of the white birl. Gee whiz! like lightning Potty's "cock struck back with such tremendous effect as to drive a spur through the black effek's eye and into'his brain. It struck there, and, as the white rooster settled hack into position, Riley's cock, skewed to the heel of his antagonist, flattered around in his death agonies.The- crowd stood up amazed at ihe rapid termination of the fight,. hut Riley, enraged beyond measure, bounded into the ring, yelling '"tin foul play, I tell yez; take that you blasted masheen," and lifting his foot he kicked Potjy's cock violently intothe corner.Then there was a hullahalloo." They held Riley down while be straggled to get at Potty, and, an for Potty, he was busy picking up what remained of .his invention, for the kick had split the bird open and disembowelled it of a tangle of wires and eprings.We left the "gesticulating and enraged Riley and the hoys tryiifg to pacify him, and canie away. "It was hard luck," bemoaned Potty, "to win out and then to have me bird smashed."Anyhow, T have pleasure in recording that Mooney paid over the stake*to Potty.-A. Needham.
