Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1885-03-21
Ingenious Inventors.

feel them more kcenly than lnVeii
tors. for as Il class they arc certain
" treated very Shabbily. They are
the poets Of mechanics. and like lit
crary poets, are generally rewarded
as crankS. This may account for
the small share of attention they
receive from the general public.
There are but few famous inven-
tors who are entitled to all the cred
it they get, because it is practically
impossible to discover ANYTHING
l. ally new. They get their first
ideas from what some one else mas
devised, or set themselves to work
to accomplish the same thing by
different means. The difference
may be very slight, hut if It is only
sufficient to entille them to pat
emit they are written down among
the inventors.
Ii is now claimed by the desccn-
,lantS of one of the old families OF
Rhcdc Island that Fitch stole the
i,le;l OF The steamboat from one OF
their ancestors. They threaten to
prove that lie had Il Steamboat III
actual operation Oh one of the NV
erSu. I!raf State nearl; twenty years
before Fitch began talking about
such thing. They also profess to
M able 10 show that Fitch saw this
boat and learned how it WAS OPP
pcratcd.
The cotton gin ana Scwing.mh-
chine needle are held up as two in
stances of pure invention. Each
was discovered by men o!no special
note as inventors. Eli Whitney WIS
known only as Il =plain, practical
sort of fellow who had Il habit o.
suggesting improvements on every
thing he saw. Seine of his suggest
ions welenot good. lie waSpertectly
familiar with the process ofcalrl:nS
wool by hand. Ginning cotton, OF
separating the fiber from the seed,
is but IL modification OF hand car
ding wool or .'hackling" tlaN..
The sewing machine needle, with
its eye IN the roint. had its proto-
type in the needle used from time
innemoi'i;.l for crochet work. IN
sTead of an eye it has Il hook at the
point. which serves to carry the
thread much in the same manner
rs the machine needle.
1t is singr 'a"ly true that the most
practical and-proiitable inventions
of the aye are the simplest. The
mechanic who seeks for Il mystery
is liable to die before he finds it.
but the orc who seeks for sinplicl-
ty will probably he rewarded for
his trouble unless he happens to
linda monopoly ofsome kind square
~ across his path.
lnventors,:or at lcast-thoSc WHO
devote themselves to the business
of inventing, often make grave
mistakes when it comes to selling
their patents. They are always
quite sure they have rock bottom
claims. and have them so well
guarded that no one can ever break
through and steal the fortune with
in easy grasp. They refuse fair
offers, get Tie bic head, puff them
selves M and feel rich. Among
the first things they know some
one has patented Il device for the
same purpose without interfering
with them in the least, or mt most
in such Il way as to make it ex-
tremcly difficult to stop it. This
knocks the fortune, lets he wind
out of the bag and the swollen
head rapidly contracts to its nor
NAL size, If not less.
Itis probably safe to say that
one-half of those who secure really
valuable patents never realize any
thing out of them, simply because
they are willing to take a fairpiice
when offered. An inventor cannot
get rich OH Il patent for device
than Il good miner can on:.a patent
for claim. They must both be
worked promptly or they9Sare like
~ to be jumped, or have their. value
destroyed by other means.
a few years ago one of the mai
cl,Eists in Il railroad shop down at
WellSviilc invented a nut lock. y!
that time there WAS a great demand
tor Il device to keep the bolts that
hold fslhars together from getting
loose. uis WAS an excellent device,
aid he saw in it a great fortune
He had no confidence in corpor
athens, and refused to sell his pat
ent to one of the leading compau-
les for S50,0OO Cash. He looked
upon every man who spoke TO him
about it as an enemy and cut the
acquaintance Of all his friends who
had advised him to sell. He has the
patent yet and will cheeriully take
So for it.
He says the reason he didn't take
zone of the many offers for it was
that a feilow-workingman got up a
| breakshoe tllat was such Il marked
..mprovementover anything then in
Use that ittouk at sight. This man
had confidence in every body in gen.
eral, and in the railroad company
in particular. Under fair promise
he sold small undivided interes;
i'll his patent otle company he was
working for, and they began to man
uiacture and sell. When he came
up for a share of the profits he was
informed that the patent was as
mnch theirs as his, and he had no
~ f,l,t m q choro .,f Inir ,,rnfitu l,,t