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In addition to the alarm gongs, the
Gamewell street alarm system included a punch register in
every fire station. As the alarm gong tapped out the number
of the street alarm box, the punch register also was activated.
The register would punch holes in a paper strip to indicate
the identifying number of the activated alarm box. For example,
if someone pulled the handle on Box 321, the punch registers
in every fire station would come to life and the paper strip
would start moving through the machine. As the paper emerged
from the machine, there would be three punched holes followed
by a space, two punched holes followed by a space, and then
one punched hole. The process would continue through several
cycles. This device gave firefighters a second means of identifying
the box number – in addition to the sounds of the gong.
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