The Opelousas courier., 1883-06-30
CURIOUS PATENTS.
Products Of Oar Yankee Invention

Products Of Oar Yankee Invention.
Some Investigating person has fur
nished the New York Times with Il brief
list of patents on small things-such as
any man or boy might have thought OF,
but didn't, and which in n!any instances
have proved mines of wealth to the
lucky discoveror.
Among these tritics is the favorite
toy-the return ball'-a wooden ball
with an elastic string attached, selling
for the sum of 10 cents each, but yield
ing to its patentee an income equal to
fair returns on q capital of $500 600.
The rubber tip on the end of led pen
ellis affords the owner Of the royalty an
independent fortune. The inventor OF
the gummed newspaper wrapper is also
a rich man. The gimlet-pointed screw
has evolved more wealth than most sill
yer mines, and the man who first
thought of putting copper tipsto child
ren's shoes is as we'll off as if his father
had left him 100000 in United
States bonds. Although roller-skates
are not so much used in countries
where ice is abundant, in South Ameri-
CO, especially in Brazil, they are very
highly esteemed and have yielded over
100000 to their inventor. But he
had to spend 1926, 600 in England alone
fighting infringements. The dancing
Jim Crow" a toy, provides an annual
income of $4,000 to its inventor, and
the common needle threader is worth
$4,000 a year to the man who thought
of it. The "drive we'll" was an idea OF
Col. Green, whose troops, during the
war, were in want of water. He CON
ceived the notion of driving q two-incE
tube into the ground until water was
reached and then attaching o pump
} This simple continuance was patented
after the wal, and the tens Of thous'
ands of farmers who have adopted il
have been obliged to payhim a royalty
q moderate estimate of which is PLACED
at $4,000, OOO. The spring window
shade yields an income equal to an in
vestment of$1,0 OO, 900; the stylographi'
pen, with which this article is written
, also 81, ZOO, 900; the marking pen fo1
3 shading in different c~olers, 100000
> rubber stamps, the same. A large for
{ tune has been reaped by q western min
er who, ten years since, invented q met
: al rivet OF eyelet at each end of TIL
! mouth of breeches and coat pockets tt
l resist the strain caused by the carriag'
of pieces of ore and heavy tools. For
3 tunes have been made out of the deat
as well as the living. The TORPEDO
grave, which will explode when body
d snatchers NEEDLE with 1t, is hi bon
: ANA; another odd, but probably ne
u ! lucrative one, is IN open tube, runnln.
u from the top of the ground to the eoti
u lid, Just over the face of the corpse. !
d he person is in a trance and has bee
d buried alive, he draws himself u
through the hole and returns to til
surface by ear of a rope-ladder j
the tube. If he prefers, however, t
send for assistance, he pulls a Choir
7 which rings a bell near the top of th
a tube. After lying there long enoug
to assure his friends that he has n
intention of coming back the tube j
pulled up, drawing as it comes a glas
plate over the face of the inmate Of th
coffin.
Every time a woman pricks the she
is of an egg preparatory to boiling it sh
d violates a patent right, this hayin
it been secured by ONE genius who dis
h covered that it would prevent the
d breaking during the boiling. It ha'
g ing been said that chickens Matched b
V artificial heat do not thrive as well 6
II others because they miss the materns
affection expressed in the "cluck, clucB
If of the natural hen, an inventor has tai
en- out a patent which initiates thu
e sound, soothing and charming the ter
n der-hearted but bereaved offsprin
q with it's artificial roo and c~onsolin
the young orphan with it's mechanics
solicitude. This is based evidently III
d on another patent for babies of q ms
70 chine operated by clock-work and pre-
1t duciRg q low and melancholy murmr
% which no child, however wakeful, ca
II successfully resist, but to which it SUI
10 cumbs in profound slumber. There
g also the false-bottomed nest which d,
If ludes the hen into the belief that 81
has not laid an egg, and, combined wit
her own conscientious devotion to dut
o persuades her to continue her work Vi
If til she is exhausted or undeceiVed. .
Is patent hen roost, by the action of Il
10 hens,scloses the doors Of a beehive
night and opens them in the mornin
q protecting the hive against the ravag,
le of the bea-moth. A wire frame strur
ID above a horses head is also patente
Of It is meant to persuade the animal tn
s. it is the top of q fence too high for hi
to everleap. This, of course, presum
j, that the horse is an ass.
le
. Geld Fields OF Lower California.
it
The following interesting notes abo'
the placer mines of Lower Californ
-or @&on 1yv Coporo1 Pronror n,