Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-09-15
UNLUCKY INVENTORS.
But Few of Them Endowed With the
demonstrating Sense.

But Few of Them Endowed With the
Money-MaISing Sense.
800 inventors generally make money
out of patents?' l asked a gentleman
connected with the Patent Office the
other day.
mo, as rule the money is made by
people who buy or swindle the inventors
out of their rights. Inventors are
nearly always poor men. They work
their brains for their bread and butter.
They are visionary set of fellows, and
have not the money-making sense.
They get in with business men in order
to develop their patents, and these
eucher them out of the profits. The
man who invented the elevated railroad
in New York died poor man, and
while he was alive the people laughed
at his idea. 1t is so with hundreds of
other patents, and if you will look over
the history of the Patent Office you
will find it is the business men who
make the money, while the inventors do
the work. Some patent lawyers make
great deal of money, and there are
number in Washington who have grown
wealthy in the practice. There is
man here named Pollock who has made
a fortune in the patent law. He had
something to do with the Goodyear rub
Der patent, and he has been prospecting
ever since. He owns a fine mansion on
the corner of Seventeenth and I streets,
and tried the experiment one time of
making a stable for his horses in the
basement. All the modern improve
ments, however, in the shape of water
would not do away with the smell, and
he finally gave it up as bad job. Many
patent lawyers, when they see that
man has a good thing, contract with
him to get out his patent for a certain
amount of money and some shares in
the stock of the patent. They get paid
for their work with the money and have
fair chance of making fortune out
of the profits of the patent if it turns
out well. There are hundreds of patent
lawyers in Washington. Many of them
are smart fellows and all OF them are
making money.
"a great many inventors devote
themselves solely to making patents for
kitchen utensils, and others work upon
machines relating entirely to water.
A great many of the railroads and ma
chime shops and factories of various
kinds keep inventors who do nothing
else but work upon the specialties of
the factories in which they are employ
ed. Women make great many pat
ents, but these deal chiefly with house
hold matters or with their own work.
There has been greet deal of electrical
invention during the past few years,
and it is perfectly wonderful how rapid
ly the patents come in after any success
in any particular branch of invention.
A great accident always brings in pat
ents to prevent it's occurrence in the
future; and when big fire occurs at
any of the big hotels with great loss
of life the fire escapes roll in by the
hundreds.
''Have you many patents for perpet-
ual notion"
Eyes, hundreds are applied for. but
they are not granted. remember once
man walked from Kentucky to Wash
ington to patent perpetual motion,
and one of your Ohio newspaper men,
not long ago, telegraphed to the Asso-
ciated Press that the invention of a per-
petual motion had at last been con-
ceived somewhere in Ohio. l should
think that Washington would be good
place for an inventor to work. By go
ing to the Patent Office he could see all
that had already been done in the line
upon which he was working, and he
might see where cog here or a wheel
there would perfect some patent which
would then be worth tens of thousands
of dollars where it is now worth moth
ing. y Carp, IN Cleveland Leader.