The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-04-15
CURIOSITIES IN PATENTS,
Small Inventions which have Built Ur
Fortunes.

-AilieIlcduS WHICH are cdlculalcu 10 aston
ish the seeker after knowledge who con-
suits them. OF the great inventions of
the age. such as the telegraph in its vari-
GUS branches, the telephone. the steam
engine, and other grand productions of
inventive energy. the world is well in.
formed. but of the smaller and simpler
articles designed tor the practical benefit
or amusement of mankind little notice is
taken by the general public. The streets
down town are sprink!ed with itinerant
vendors of small articles. so simple in
| themselves that the passer by sees moth
ing in them to excite remark. or which,
to his mind. he is not himself incapable
of originating. and vet these articles, in
significant as they seem, are all covered
by patents. and from many of them large
fortunes have already been made by the
inventor. and are still rolling up to re-
ward him for his originality. A patent
| once granted protects the holder from
all infringement upon his idea for the
he controls the manufacture of his arti-
Gle as absolutely as he does the real
estate which stands in his name. Every
| change made in the original article must
itself be patented in order to secure it
against appropn iation by others. and for
this reason nearly every large invention.
/ SIph tba fala,,bnnn
number of patents each one protecting
some special feature which has been
added since the production of the orgi-
nal article. Nothing is too small. moth
ing is too simple in construction or too
cheap in manufacture to be made the
subject 81. a patent. Indeed the smaller
and simpler the article the more neces
>ity there is FOR the inventor 10 secure
himself in this way, for cheap things can
be infrin2ed by anybody. while large
| articles require capital for their construc-
ton. The only condition required to en-
title an inventor to a patent is that his
| idea shall be absolutely new, and shall
49," '''''''S' hl'i tiiS p'tSiibp WI olutl
inventor. This condition existing. any
article, however simple. can be secured
to its originator By complying with the
provisions of the patent laws. The bust
ness Of securing patents has grown to
such proportions that thousands of law
yers all over the country devote them
selves entirely to it. and the applications
made through these firms to the Patent
Office are so numerous that a large corps
of Government clerks are kept busy all
the time in examining and passing judg-
ment upon them. \ great number are
found to be worthless, and numbers more
are discovered to be infringements on ex-
isting patents, and are rejected on this
ground, but, after eliminating all these,
the patents granted yearly amount to
thousands, and of these many prove to
be mines of wealth to their fortunate
owners.
OF the patent articles which have made
their owners independent, some of the
most valuable are those which any school
boy might presumably have invented,
only no school boy did so, and the man
who did is now rearing the reward
Of his foresight. During the summer
months favorite toy is what is known
as the return ball. 1t consists simply
Of an ordinary rubber ball, to which is
attached long piece of elastic. The
end of the elastic is held in the hand, or
tied around the finger. and when the
ball is thrown it goes far enough to
stretch the elastic to its utmost tension,
and then returus to the hand as the effect
of the recuil. This little device is pat
ented, and sells for the small sum of ten
cents on the street, and at slight ad-
vance III the fashionable stores. 1t is
found in the hands of thousands of boys
and girls throughout the country. and
yields to the holder of the patent an in
come equal to that on capital of $780,
600.
The rubber tip on the end of lead pen
ellis, which is used for erasing false marks
is also secured by patent. and for every
tip used the manufacturers pay royalty
t" the inventor, which gives an independ
ent income. The consumption of these
pencils is very great. aud the idea Of tip
ping them with rubber has placed the
man who originated it beyond the reach
Of need in the future, so long as he clngs
to his patent.
Another very simple but very valuable
invention is the gummed paper wrap
perS, which obviates the necessity of
using mucilase or paste to secure papers
tor the mails. The patent is on the APP
pllcation of the gum to the wrappers.
and a royalty is paid 20 the inventor on
every wrapper thus prepared. AS the
number OF wrappers used daily in the
forwarding of mails amounts to hundreds
of thousands. the income derived by the
Inventor from his royalty will be seen to
be a magnificent one.
The gimlet- pointed screw was patented
in 1916. 1t is familiar to every body, and
millions have been realized from its manu-
tacture, yet so simple is the principle
that the wonder is that it was not thought
out and applied almost as far back as the
age of iron.
One of the most valuable of the small
and simple inventions is that of the pat
ent shoe tip. Every parent who has to
provide shoes Tor his children knows to
his cost that one great popularity of the
youth of the present fast age is a ,enden-
cy to wear off the toes of shoes. In the
case OF the average boy, and of the aver
age girl, too. the toe is the first part of
the shoe to disappear. oprovide against
this, and equalize, as it were, the wear
and tear Of leather on the feet of ,juve-
niles, an ingenious father, who had suf-
feIed much in pocket at the hands of boot
and shoe dealers, invented the shoe tip
and patented the article. 1t consists
simply of small cap of copper or other
metal attached to the toe of the boot or
Sli 'c IL II i'" IA uSS IA oNeis lo"h anu
city of the land which is inhabited by
the small boy. and the value Of the pat,
ent to the holder is fully 81, 900, 600.
Probably the most valuable patent in
the toy line ever taken out i'll this or any
other country, is that which secures he
r'ympton roller skate to its holder. The
choerc old gentle man who gets knocke