Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-08-22
Inventors and Inventions.

tors is always very large, but the
number of unsuccessful ones is
very much larger. Only the other
day 1900 models of rejected inven-
tons were sold for old junk. There
is always somebody working at the
unsaleable problem of perpetual mo-
ton or making flying machine. II
not unfrequently happens that, after
a patent has been refused to an in
ventor, a subsequent application is
granted by a different examiner.
1t sometimes happens that patent
is granted TO one man after somebody
else has failed to receive patent for
the same invention. This is fruit
full source of litigation. Indeed, liti-
cation about patent rights is so COM
mon that in the introduction of any
valuable patent the legal expenses OF
defending it arc a large part of the
capital required. Immense sums were
spent in defending Morse's patents for
telegraphing, and the various patents
for sewing machines, India rubber
manufacture, and of the inventions
that have revolutionized industrial
processes. But, when rights are once
established by law. the profits are
enormous. 1t was shown in recent
case before the United States Court
that for royalties alone on the manu-
facture of barbed fence wire more
than 81 100000 year were paid.
Inventors are now chiefly busy with
electricity, and the Patent Office is
deluged with devices for making new
uses of the modern marvel, or for
using it with new appliances. Many
of these inventions run in the direc-
ton of motors. The opinion has
gained some ground lately that stor.
age batteries of electricity are not as
successful as was at first expected.
1t is asserted by some that no storage
battery ever gives out as much elec-
tricity as it receives, and that every
moment decreases the amount yielded.
Edison says the best storage battery
is a ton of coal, which can be used at
any time to drive a dynamo machine
Others, however, still think that the
storage battery will produce wonder.
full 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. According to
some plans the water is to be stored
in reservoir at high tide, and used
to turn water wheel when the tide
falls. Another plan is to get the
power from the rise and fall of q
float. There used to be tidal mil
at Astoria and another at Charleston
S. c. The large amount of land re-
quired to get the requisite area Of
water surface is considered an insu.
perable 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 inventor of the
Monitor and a thousand other things
has made some beautiful solar engines,
and not long ago an inventor had a
model of solar engine OH the top OF
the Cooper Union building, and man
aged to get up steam in boiler. 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 storage reservoir
of power that can be kept for a rainy
day. After all, coal is nothing
but the heat of the sun stored i'm 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 1924, moth.
ing of Importance was expected from
it. Now it is a valuable factor in
photography, and 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
could, by the use of a naked wire,
produce current and avoid electrical
disturbances in cables. He could
have got the capital to lay long
cable under ground to try his expert
ment. He was with difficulty dis
suaded from so doing this by prac-
teal man, who saved him lots of
money by wrapping several miles of
cable about barrel and arranging
the naked wire as proposed by the in
ventor. The result was a complete
failure, but the cost of the experiment
was comparatively triAing. This is an
illustration of the large amount of
money that can be wasted through
ignorance. Men will work away at
an idea with no knowledge of what
has been done or what can be done,