Daily Automatic Phonograph

Does anyone have any information on the Daily Automatic Phonograph. This machine has 4 turntables playing 10 inch 78 rpm records only. The turntables raise in turn to play each record and the tonearm rotates to the beginning of each record in preparation for playing.
There is some information available in google patents

Fascinating. I looked over the patents attributed to W.H.Daily -- http://www.google.com/patents?q=%22WH+D ... ch+Patents -- and spotted quite a number. After a little google searching, I also found WH Daily's obituary --

"WILLIAM HENRY DAILY - July 1937
(Contributed from family papers by Jacqueline Owens)

Last rites were held here for W.H. Daily of Tucson, Ariz., who died suddenly of heart trouble at Jamestown, N.Y., June 27, aged 46. He was the son of J.W. Daily and was born near Carthage. He went in 1899 to Tucson to become secretary to his uncle, Judge W.H. Barnes, and to attend the University there. He became interested in copper mining and with his brother John located a good deposit of copper ore and they formed a company known as the Daily Mines, which was now the second largest producer in Tima* county. Will Daily was president of the company. He was also an inventor; having at one time 17 patents, one of which, an automatic phonograph was used in hotels and restaurants, and brought him royalties.

He was in Jamestown to interest a promoting company in a voting machine he had invented, when he died. Surviving wren his widow and son William, his sisters and brothers, Lulu Atkins, Daisy Siegfried, Gertrude Snow, Juanita Perry, Marjory Duncan, Mamie Hughes, Minnie Moesser, John Clyde, Lloyd and Floyd Daily, and William Berger."
FROM: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.anc ... obits.html

As noted above, the automatic phonograph was used in hotels and restaurants, but according to the information provided on the Jukebox History page -- http://juke-box.dk/gert-history14-33.htm very few were sold, so the "royalties" mentioned in the obituary couldn't have amounted to much.

I also noticed that there was no mention of any company founded by Daily in RJ Wakeman's "263 Machines and Their Makers: 1916 - 1923" -- http://www.gracyk.com/makers.shtml but I'm wondering if any references exist in "The Talking Machine World," which was the major US phonograph trade publication. I remember that Mr. Wakeman had access to a number of copies, so you may want to get in touch with him via the "contact" jump that appears on the above site.

If I find anything else, I'll post it in a follow-up.

Joe_DS

Thank you Joe
You had more success than I in finding information about W H Daily
I was interested in the statement that the phongraphs were made for hotels etc. I wondered who would have bought them and why as they appear to me to have limited appeal, given that they only held 4 records, only 10 inch and you couldn't select which of the records you wanted to hear as they simply played in succession. Maybe they supplied background music.
I'm currently restoring one and have it in working condition but am away from home for a couple of weeks at present, but when I return I'll try to post a photograph or two.
Again thank you for your interest Rodney