, 1879-10-30
Women as Inventors

~aEsfs. auu.u have r.vUt.y tN~1r"d
fr rhs r..s ~ Iry,utur, Illr rrlroach
Ea. often Dsn hgrhrl 10 wnUrn hy IN"
.t,u-r 80, rhsr msn lad 10 do all the
Intrufiu. fsr thrm. ~r~luI machines,
srIu-r.. va.bul- machine, aud nearly
all fI.r a0uar.,-. I.yIe, UhIrh Lay" s'
.E,.tuaI.y rpl.,svl tlr huu-suI'r ~ la.
tzlr ff r.t % care. wy1r invented hy men
WI, some grave and reverend phIl
0slt.b.rs have answered. l-,au~s woman
B, d-hs.ut iu the constructive faculty.
Eut many a husband Who has stood
a-hast in ths r,r,',snor of Same domestic
problem ha, had % solved lu moment
by hts puck witt,-i ~ifr. A test Ut ia.
ssuulty ADD skill ,s the sewing on oi a
.hirt button Watch a baghelor after
tsenty yeas practice at that business
and be- will be- found A. clumsy as a new
beginner Nov woman can sew on
,h+ most inscrut,ble button in the most
impossible and Inaccessible PLACES with
an exlertness which never fails 10 ex.
cite the admiration and applause Of the
observer. The trouble with women in
this, ~ in many other matters, has been
fear that they were getting out Of
their sphere, or they have never thought
it was possible for them to invent,
Some women, however, have struck out
for themselves and one of these-Mrs.
Isaac Walton, of New York-has con
tributed great discovery or invention
to the world. Mrs. Walton is the lady
whose device has contributed so effectu-
ally toward lessening thenoise of the el-
evated railroads. She has been to Eu-
rope, and this is the story she told New
York Herald reporter l .a lnf .rg
81 did not go to England, Mrs. Wal
ton said, Sin regard TO my device for
stopping the noise on railroads, but to
obtain a patent on something new have
invented for preventing dust, smoke, or
smell from poisoning the air where.
railroads are. running or factories are
emitting foul gases. Passengers need
not shut down the windows in a rail
road car when passing through a tunnel,
nor will there be any smell in the vicin-
ity of gas works, for instance, near the
oil works at Hunters Point the moment
my method is applied. I have succeeded
in inventing something which | am not
going to describe in detailuntii all my pa,
pers are properly filed. oThis l can tell
you, however, thatI had my American
patents before | started for England,
and there Ilearned, after eleven days
were spent in incessant searching, that
nothing hkeit had ever been submitted
to the British authorities, at least since
1882. Then j received my patent with
the congratulations of the British Off
cials.9 A prominent lawyer said to me,
Itis strange, indeed, ~ that a woman
should come all the way from America
to solve problem which we have been
discussing these many years past We
consider it one of the greatest inven-
tions Of the age When | get my final
papers, in very few days, / shall be
glad to make experiments in the pres
ence OF any number OF experts or other
gentlemen. I can assure you Of this,
that with my method III be ak lie to
burn any amount Of garbage in or out
side Of the city, and no smell or dust
will result from it. Itis far more i'm
portant invention than my device to stop
the noise ON the ~ roads, which con
slider very ordinary one, and it will
affect not only this city but the entire
country--ih Pittsburgh, for instance,
where volumes of smoke from the iron
furnaces and mills continually cloud the
sky. Is it wonder that prominent
gentleman of that city has been here in
this house since my return from Eng
land to look into this matterW mr. sod
1A Mrs. Walton, who is an intelligent
looking matron, ''on the shady side OF
fifty" as she herself stated, was here in
terrupted by gentleman who called to
talk on business matters and the reporter
withdrew. l 5di E" .tl+i 10
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