Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1880-03-06
GREAT INVENTIONS.
How They Are Made, rs Exemplified by
DIR. BOA the Late Mr.. BigelOw. ia of1 = 7

4ueTe - very PrcsatcHt notlou Thai
an inventor is a tnkering fellow, an un-
easy sort of mechanic who is always ex-
perimenting, cutting ard trying, with q
vague expectation, Of some day hitting
upon something novel and possibly use
/ full. Doubtless there are in almost
every community men who waste their
time and means in brsinless labor Of
that character, would be inventors, who,
having no clean-cut or weh-eOnsidered
purpose in view, are ever busy at moth
ing, making show of invention without
ever inventing any thing. But such men
are no more worthy of the name of in
ventor than the corner loafer who wran-
giles over the affairs of local politics is
worthy of the name of statesman.
The real inventor Is man Of an en-
tirely different typey 3 He knows pre-
cisely what he is driving at, and very
frequently his invention is entirely
thought out before the first stoke is
made to put it upon paper or to shape
it in more material form. "When
You strike difficulty, what do you doP'
was asked of an inventor whose fame is
|, worldwide for his many achievements
in overcoming alleged impossibilities.
al sit down and think" was the suffi-
cient reply.
The capacity to think is the invent
or's first and most essential endowment,
and no amount of tinkering. however
patient and mechanically skiliful, can
ever TAXI its place. A striking exam
pie Of the true inventors abilityto think
creatively is furnished in the inventions
of the late Erastus B. Bigelow. He was
not mechanic, he had no practice in
the use of tools, he could not even ham
die pencil with skill and facility. His
inventions were made in the recesses of
his brain, where the complicated ma
chinery Of each was created, thought
out in detail, before any attempt was
made to give it material embodiment.
To writer in the last issue of the Bul-
iettn of the National Association of Wool
Manufacturers, MIR. Bigel6w said that
his most recent carpet-loom-ons upon
which seyenty-twO yards of Brussels
carpet have been woven by one girl in
ten hours-was completely worked out
in his mind and mapped out in his
brain, not in his study or factory, but in
railroad cars while making his last visit
to Europe. After sating his mind and
eyes with foreign lands and scenery, an
irresistible fit Of inventionca came over him.
!. Retiring within himself, the machine
soon assumed in his mind complete
form in every part and detail. Showing
q rough sketch of the invention, the
only drawing Of it that had been made,
Mr.. Bigelow said: "All have now to
do is to direct draughtsman to wOrkin
the details Subsequently, the narrator
saw the draughtsman in the inventors
study, under his direction, at work up
on the drawings from which the ma
chine was to be constructed. The in
ventor, copying from the plan imprint
ed on his brain, dictated to the draughts-
man (whO acted Us mere photography
every line, circle and curve which was
to be transferred TO the paper, giving
the exact place, length and dimensions.
The result was working drawing,
from which alone the machiHists were
able to construct a perfect machine,
working without experiment or adjust
ment exactly as it was contrived by the
inventor W a. n1Trsli rrr Etc a's4' e
/, The difference between the working
of a mind like Mr.. Bigelow's and that
of an inferior inventor is one of degree,
not Of kind, The same kind of thinking
is done with more or less thoroughness
by every true inventor. And those who
stop short in their creative thinking
and Oegin to materialize their invention
too soon only multiply their chances for
going wrong, increase their labor need
lessly, and demonstrate their incapacity
to reach the higher levels of the art Of
invention. To begin to build when the
object is but vaguely apprehended is to
invite confusion and failure by turning
the mind of from the highway of inven-
ton To the bewilderinO bv-pafhs NJ nm