The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-11-22

Inventors and Inventions.
The New York Sun not long ago,
in an article on some of the queer
happenings in the world of discov-
cry, said what is undisputably true,
and that is, the number of success
full inventors is always large, but
the number OF unsuccessful ones is
very much larger. There is always
somebody working at the insoluble
problem of perpetual motion or
making flying machine. 1t not
not infrequently happens that, after
a patent has been refused to an in
ventor, subsequent application is
granted by different examiner.
1t sometimes happens that pat
ent is granted to one man after
somebody else has failed to rec Give
a patent for the same invention.
This is a fruitful source of litiga-
ton. Indeed litigation about pat
ent rights is so common that in the
introduction of any valuable patent
the legal expenses of defending it
are large part of the capital re-
quired. Immense sums were spent
in defending Morse's patents for
telegraphing. and the various pat
ents fer sewing machines, India rub
Der manufacture, and of the inven-
lions that have revolutionized indus
trial processes. But, when rights
are once established by law, the
profits are enormous 1t is shown in
a recent case before the United
States court that for royalties alone
on the manufacture of barbed fence
wire more than $l,00O,o00 year
were paid.
Inventors are now chiefly busy
with electricity, and the patent of
fee is delGged with devices for
making new appliances. Many of
these inventions run in the direc
ton of motors. The opinion has
gained some ground lately that
storage batteries of electricity are
not as successful as was at first ex-
pected. 1t is asserted by some that
no storage battery ever gives out as
much electricity as it receives, and
that every moment decreases the
amount yielded. Edison says the
best storage battery is ton of coal.
which can be used at any time to
drive dynamo machine. Others,
however, still think that the stor-
age battery will produce wonderful
results.
Inventors have always sought to
utilize the forces of nature for the
conservation of power. A good
deal of time and money has been
spent on efforts to utilize the force
of the rise and fall of the tide. Ac-
cording to some plans, the water is
to be stored in a reservoir at high
tide, and used to turn a water
wheel when the tide falls. Anoth
er plan is to get the power from the
rise and fall of float There used
to be tidal mill at Astoria and
another at Charleston, SC. The
large amount of land required to
get the requisite area of water sur
face is considered an insuperable
objection to tidal mills.
A good deal of money has been
expended on solar engines, in the
hope of getting power out of the
suns rays. John Ericsson, the in
ventor of the monitor and a thou
sand other things, has made some
beautiful solar engines, and not
long ago an inventor had model of
a solar engine on the top of the
Cooper Union building, and man
aged to get up steam in a boilor.
The trouble is, however, that the
sun does not always shine, and the
solar engine, to be of any practical
use, must be accompanied with a
storage reservoir of power that can
be kept for rainy day.
There is no telling of what great
value the discovery of the simplest
fact may be- When bromine was
discovered by Ballard in 1924, moth
ing of Importance was expected
from it. Now it is valuable fac
tor in photography, and a useful
remedy for nervous affections.
Capital is never wanted to try
even the most foolish inventions.
Not long ago an inventor had an
idea that he conld, by the use OF
a naked wire, produce a return cur
rent and avoid electrical disturban-
ces in cables. He could have got
the capital to lay a long cable under
ground to try his experiment. He
was with difficulty dissuaded from
doing this by a practical man, who
saved him lots of money by wrap
ping several miles of cable about
a barrel and arranging the naked
wire as proposed by the ventor.
| The result was a complete failure,
but the cost of the experiment was
comparatively trifling. This IS an
illustration OF the very large
amount IF money that can be
wasted through ignorance. Men
will work away at an idea with no
kno ledge of what had been done
or what can be done, only to discov
CT at the end what they should have
known at the beginning.
A good deal of money has been
spent in the effort to introduce ice
machines. There is, however, a
strong competition TO be encoun-
tered, since ice may always be
had for the gathering. and trans
portaii)n is cheap.
Fire escapes are numbered by the
thousand. Hardly a day passes