The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-08-25

rainy day. Afser all. coal is nothing but the heat of the sun scored in past ages for present use.
 There is no telling of what great value the discovery of the simplest fact may be. When bromine was discovered by Ballard in IS.l. nothing of importance was ex- pected from it. Now |, IS a valuable factor in photography, and a useful remedy for nervous affections.
 Capital Is never wanted to try even the mos; foolish inventions. No; long ago an inventor had an Idea that he could. by the use of naked wire. produce re turn current and avoid electrical disturb ances .n cables. He vas with difficulty dissuated from oolng ;his by practical man. who saved him lots of rnoney by wrapping several miles of cable abou; a barrel and arranging the naked wire as proposed by the inventor. The result was a complete failure. but the cost of the experiment, was comparatively tritiing. This Is an illustration of the large amour, of money ,ha, can De wasted through ignorance. Men will work axay a, an idea w,,h no knowledge of wha, has been done or what can be done. only to dis cover at the end ~ha; they should have known in the beginning.
 \ good deal ot money has been Spen; in the e:.o., to introduce lee machines There Is. however. s:tens competition 10 he encountered. sinee ise may always be had for the gathering. ana ;saaspor;a non IS cheap.
 Fire-escapes are numbered by the thousand. Hardly a day passes that the nre commissioners ale noi compelled 10 ies; some new plan. 4 good deal of room Is taken up n the pa,en, office with the models ot these eor'!ivances.
 A very good example of the eagerness with which capital eaa be secured io pto- mote the mos, ohmerical ideas may be seen IT the story of the keeiy motor. The stockholders have been pretty thor eush,y bied already. but are compelleG :o bleed s,iil more IF the hope of saving wha, they have a.ready expended. The varying fate of capital invested Is seen in the contrasting results of the two steam heating companies Tn New York city. one ei which has proved mos; lamentable failure. while ,he other has had meas gre oi success. l: Is not so certain tha, money invested underground will always return a fair interest. 1: may be neces- sary to incur great expense when an un- deIground cable gives out. as the whole route may have 10 be dug Up 10 ind the break
 Accidental discoveries have supplied some O. the mos: valuable processes of the industrial arts. l. Is said that the roll ing of cold iron was first suggested by the fact tha, workman who was placing a piece of ho, iron Tn the rolls earelessly permitted his ,ongs 10 be drawn Tn. He noticed that they were rolled and no, broken. He called the attention of the superintendent to the occurrence, and this led to investigation and experiment; and the discovery tha, eold.rolled iron IS equal to steel for shAfiing purposes. The process of rolling iron cold was not long afterward patented, and millions of dol lars have been made ou, of the patent.
 There are many similar instances where observing workmen have called attention to valuable processes. 4 signal one was in the early period of the cotton manufacture, when good deal ot trouble was caused by the cotton sticking to the bobbins. All the workmen IT the null were delayed oy the necessity oi stopping work to clean the bobbins. 4: last one workman found way to obyIa,e the trouble. lie. and ne alone m all ,he mill. had clean bobblns For long time he kep, hls secIe; ;a himself He finally reveaied !; or the promise ot a pin, of beer . day for liie. Ills secre, was ;o chalk he bobb.n." Ina, ii,,le scFapins oi chalk on the 5ob5ins saved millions ot dollars yea, and the ob- ser7ng workman se: na; ou.y his peer bg; | competence.
 Each extension of modern enterprise ard skill brings wi;h |, tan of lnsen- tons. The railway. the telegraph. Ike steamboat. the development; of .ror. e,ec- trioi,y and petroleum. have ea | pro- duced a long line of inventors more or less successful. so ;ha, each oi these m dus;ries migh, have eredi,a5le eNhibi- ton by itself.