Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-08-06
List of Wonders.

Among the thousands OF marvellous inveh,
which American genius has produced
thin the last few years, are the following,
led in An abstract from the Patent Ofhce
Report: of Tho
,ahrs,.d Hobb lock. Its 'unpickabllity
IansnJ, upon a secondary or false set Of tum-
,Iar, which prevent instruments used IN
hing from touching the real ones. More
,sr the lock is powder-proof, and may be
,,.dsd through the key-hole and fired Oh
III the burglar is tired OF his fruitless work,
fears that the explosion will bring to
view his experiments more witnesses than he
desires
4 harpoon is described which makes the
whale kill himself The more he pulls the
I'm, the deeper goes the harpoon.
An ice making machine has been patented,
which is worked by a steam engine. In an
..x,r.rimentnl trial, 1t troze several bottles OF
sherry. and produced blocks Of ice the size oil
,,bic foot. when the thermometer was up t"
lightly degrees. 1t is calculated that for eve
~ ton of coal put into the furnace, 1t will
make ton Of ice.
From Dr. Dale's examiners report We
,,,tb.r some idea Of the value Of patents. A
man who had made slight improvement in
straw CATERS, took a model Of his machine
,hrouph the Western States, and after tour
ofeipht months, returned with forty thousand
dollars. Another man had machine to
thrash and clean grain, which In hfteen
months he sold for sixty thousand dollars
These ure ordinary csses-while such i'll
h., t.l.rranh rho nlanlnD a.
,hlny, ana India rubber patents, are worth
millions each.
Examiner Lanes report describes new
electrical inventions. Among these Is an
electrical whaling apparatus, by which the
whale is literally shocked to death. -
Another is an electro magnetic alarm, which
rings bells and displays signals in case OF
hre and burglars Another is an electric
clock. which wakes you up. tells you what
time it il, and lights lamp for you ut any
hour you please.
There is Sound gatherer." sort of huge
eartrumpet, to be placed in front OF locomo-
tive bringing to the engineers ears all the
noise ahead, perfectly distinct, nOtwithstand-
ing the noise ofthe train.
There is an invention that picks up pins
from a confused heap. turns them around
with their heads up. and sticks them in pa
pers in regular rows.
Another goes through the whole process Of
cigar making, taking in leaves and turning
out finished cigars.
One machine cuts cheese; another scours
knives and forks; another rocks the cradle;
and seven or eight take in washing and IRON
ing
There is II parlor chair patented that can
not be tipped back on two legs. and rail-
way chair that cannot be tipped back IN any
position without any legs at all.
Another patent for machine that counts
passengers in All omnibus and takes their
fares. When II very fat gentleman gets H. 1t
counts two and charges double.
There are variety of guns patented that
load themselves; fishing line that adjusts
its own bait, and rat trap that throws away
the rat, and then bats itself, aud stands IN
the corner for another.
There is IA machine also, by which man
prints, instead of writes, his thoughts. II
is played like "A piano-forte. And inspeakine!
of pianos, it is estimated that nine thousand
are made every year in the United States,
giving constant employment to 900 persons
and costing over S2.0O0,000.