school find

   I dug this in Ohio by a one room school house foundation, there was also more modern junk there so it may have no connection to the school.  The one side is spring loaded at the pin, other side is not.
   I have posted it on other md'ing sites and it has not been identified yet but found that someone else had found one also [ second set of pics] theirs is in better condition . That person said it is nickle plated and has a DRP. no.50863 witch I believe is late 1889 patent date.
 
   Does anyone know what it is?

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Very intersting finds there....DW

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		Quote:			Posted by taz42o
	I dug this in Ohio by a one room school house foundation, there was also more modern junk there so it may have no connection to the school.  The one side is spring loaded at the pin, other side is not.    I have posted it on other md'ing sites and it has not been identified yet but found that someone else had found one also [ second set of pics] theirs is in better condition . That person said it is nickle plated and has a DRP. no.50863 witch I believe is late 1889 patent date.      Does anyone know what it is?

If that is a patent number then it would be part of a

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. Essentially there were a bunch of ropes and pulleys and when there was a fire or someone breaking in the rope would either be burned through or disturbed, dropping a bunch of weights that sounded a bell. This was before there was electricity or phone. So even if it was a one room schoolhouse, the alarm would be there to alert the fire department over in the nearby town. But it seems more logical for a larger building. It might would be interesting to do more research on the schoolhouses that was built at that time. Perhaps the local historical society would have information. Or you could call those guys that do the PBS show

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. Besides the fire alarm, many windows had a spring counterweight/pulley system to help open the windows (and many still do) which seems more logical to me. Even less glamorous is that it could be an inventory number to a part used in a folding table...

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It looks it would be a relative common piece of equipment. D.R.P. numbers in Germany were first issued in

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, and it doesn't really make sense that something made in Germany would be found in Ohio at that time considering the expense it would have taken to travel that distance. I'd like to see a close up inscription of those numbers (but I know the numbers are off from someone elses piece). A 1/4" opening is more than enough for a thin cord imho. if you take a look at the patent link I supplied, it does look like it could be one of those pieces. Also, being near the foundation it could easily have dropped out of a window assembly from an old (and decaying) building.

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Hi technos,  thanks for your help researching this thing.
 I have not been detecting for very long and this is the only thing I have found that I could not easily ID and is something I know can be IDed.
I had got an old whites coinmaster that belonged to my uncle started using it and am now hooked. I am going to order the new coinmaster for spring. So if anyone  has bought one yet I would love to hear what you think of them.

 Yes 1/4" is big enough for a cord but when you open this thing to get into the other end it closes off the hole end so running something through it would be impossible. It is very light weight and has a very delicate clip on one end that reminds me of somthing you would see on a ladies compact or pill case. I am pretty sure it was something made to be used open then closed for storage. I think if you could hold it you would agree.

There were many german immigrants in Pa and ohio during 1880s Im sure they brought many small items with them.
In 1766 a committee of the House of Commons was told that about a third of Pennsylvania's population were German immigrants.
In 1890 there were large numbers of German born immigrants in the states.
Between 1820 and 1920 over 5,500,000 emigrated from Germany to the United States.

Taz

		Quote:			Posted by varmit
	it looks big enough to hold a couple of mini candles and some matches, maybe a portable light before flashlights? is the spring loaded handle that appears to fold into the releaved section of the body square across the end we cant see in the pix, or is it tapered to lay flush, notched, etc? :-

Hi varmit , There is not much room inside when its closed the space would be 1 1/4 long 3/8 wide and only 1/8 deep.
 Yes the part that folds with the spring is sqaure on both ends, the long side that has the little clip is sqaure on one end and rounded on the other to match the curve on the part that has the hole.
 If you can see it , in the fourth pic , there is a bump below the little tube and there is one on the other side also . when you sqeeze it on those bumps it pops open.

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