FRONT PAGE OF THE CHILLICOTHE GAZETTE DURING SUMMER OF 1963! Picture caption: These three boys pose with the radio-equiped robot they constructed. At left is Paul McFerrin, at whose home the robot was built, while at the right are Paul's pals James Ditto and Ernest Pritchard. The teen-agers have had considerable fun with their robot and have learned something, too. Boys Have Their Fun With Talking Robot
Some youngsters fritter away their summers while others do something constructive with their time. A case in point is what three teen-agers, who pal around together, have done during their spare moments. The boys -- Paul McFerrin, 15, of 35 N. Watt St., James Ditto, 15, of 140 Hirn St., and Ernest Pritchard, 14, of 661 E. Main St. -- built a robot, which houses a transistor radio. The radio can be operated from a distance of about 100 yards. They have had a lot of fun by setting the robot along the sidewalk and then secluding themselves. Via the radio, the robot would speak to passersby and, to the amasement of the boys, people sometimes would speak back. They got the idea for the robot from the "talking mailbox" episodes from a well-known television show. Last holloween they rigged a skeleton, utilizing a tape recording to speak to people. When people talked to it the skeleton would become iluminated. The boys have their workshop in the basement of the McFerrin home. Mr. McFerrin said he thinks it a good idea for the yougsters to become engaged in activities such as this. "Sometimes, they become so absorbed in their work, that it gets a little late I must run them out of the basement," Mr. McFerrin disclosed.

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