The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1859-08-20
The Wonders of Inventions.

s,,,,,s, the thousand marvellous in
~.,,inns which American genius has pro
duced within the last few years, are the
following. compiled in an abstract from
the Patent office Report. Read them
over. and then say if YOU can that there
i. nothing new under the sun.
The report explains the principle OF the
celebrated Hobblock. Its" unpickabiiity
d..pcnd~ upon a secondary or false sett OF
tumflers. which prevent instruments used |
in pickiug from reaching the real ones
Moreover. the lock is powderproof, and !
NAV be loaded through the key-hole and |
fire., off till the burglar is tired of his fruit
lrss work or fears that the explosions
vii bring to view his experiments more
witnesses than he desires
Doors and shutters have been patented
that cannot be broken through WIN ei'H-
or pick or >ledge-hammer The burglar
occupations gone
A harpoon is described which makes
tho whale kill himself The more he pulls
the line. the deeper goes the harpoon
An ice-makinc machine has been pat
erted. which is worked by steam-enSine.
In an experimental trial it froze several
bottles Of sherry. and produced blocks OF
Ice the s'zc of cubic foot when the Their
momrt-r was up to eighty degrees. 1t Is
into the furnace it will make a ton OF ice.
From one examiner report. we gather
acme idea Of the value of patents. A man
who had mape a slight improvement IN
straw cutters took model of his machine
through the Western States and after
tour OF eight months. returned with Sio,-
coo Another man had a machine 10
thrash and clean grain which in 10 months
he sold for S600OU These are ordinary
cases. while such inventions as the tele-
graph. the planning machine, and india
rubber patents, are worth millions each
Another examiners report describes
now electrical inventions Among these
Is an electrical whaling apparatus. by
which the whale is literally shocked to
death" Another is an electromagnetic
alarm. which rings bells and displays sig
mails in case of fire and burglars Anoth-
er is an electric clock. which wakes YOU
up. tells you what time II Is, and lights
lamp for YOU at any hour you please
There is a sound gatherer, a sort OF
huge ear-,rumpet, to be placed in front OF
q locomotive bringing to the engineer :
ears all the noise ahead perfectly distinct,
notwithstanding the noise of the tram
There is an invention that picks up pins
from a confused heap, turns them around
with their heads ur, and sticks thom in
PAL ers III regular rows.
Another goes through the whole process
of cigar making. taking in leaves and
turninns out finished cigars
One machine cuts cheese; another
occurs knives and forks: another rock:
the cradle: and seven or eight take Ii
washing, and ironing.
There Is par!or chair patented thai
can be- TIPPED back on two legs, and q
railway chair that can be tipped back IL
anv position without any legs at all.
T r. l. also a patent hens nest 80 com
cle. ,.Iy arranged that the hen is constant
" heated into the belief that it has {
zeal egg TO sit upon; although the gcnu
Inc depo>i, is carefully slowed away out o
her sight
Another patent is for machine thai
UNITS passengers in an omnibus and take:
their fares W Ell very fat gentleman
gets in, it counts two and charges double
There are a variety of patented gum
that load themselves: a fishing line that
adjusts its own bait, and a rat trap thai
throws away the rat, and then bats itsel
and stands in the corner for another.
Their. Is a mOchine also, by which Il mar
prints. instead OF writes, his thoughts.
i played like 4 piano-torte. And speak
ing Of pianos, it Is estimated that 9, 800 ar
made every year in the United States
givn. constant employment to 1900 pei
SONS, costing over 20UOOOO.