Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-04-22
MILLIONS IN THEIR MINDS
Men Who Lose Time and Money on Useless In
yentiOns- Instances Related
New Yerk Mail and Express

New Yerk Mall and Express
"Inventors!" said well-known moael.
maker to reporter. "Why. il seen,s %
me that every hour brings out n new -.
A week never passes that | anu not cali,
unOn by an inventor to construct NIL,
and each one has tine strangest notiorl
and ideas as to the value of his invar
ton
do the new ideas run to any particr
lar phase of Improvements" asked ~.
reporter.
80, yes. The majority of nv caue..
have invented something which win rsrd
er travel by sea absolutely free fron,
danger, or much faster than ANYTHING w.
known. Since the wreck of the Oresso ~
gentleman called regarding an ipTen'
ton he had planned the night after III
disaster. He came into the Office ana
after peering carefully around to see Il
we were alone, asked me if could NAB
any kind of a model. / told him I conIs
Well said he. i have got wonderful
thing here that | thought out last niobt,
asked him what it was. and before no
plying he went cautiously to the door
looked up and down the corridor. then
returned aud whispered, Are you sure no
one will hear us. because % vet only
have the plan in my head, and it is worth
millions of dollars to me; | would NOT
sell my idea for hundred thousand this
minute He then proceeded to give me
the benefit of his idea, first binding me
to absolute secrecy, finishing his remarks
by saying: i want you to make the mod
ell for me- and to pay you for your trouble
l will sign contract giving you ten
shares of the stock when my company is
formed
II told him / did not want any stock
but would make his model for S25. "Wby
man. said he you don't realize the worth
of this thing; it will render such disasters
as happened to the Oregon absolutely i'm.
possible. Ten shares of that stock would
some day be worth thousands of dollars IN
you;' but | was memorable, and he finally
went away swearing like pirate. What
was his idea! Oh, a scheme making
steamer in four separate sections, so that
even if every section but one should be
sunk, that one would float forever The
shock of a collision would separate the
sections so that it would be impossible To
sink them all at once. Young man, could
sit here all day and tell you strange sto-
ries of inventions of which | have strange
models. Some of them have been sue
cessful, but the majority are failures and
go TO the wall. Very recently a man came
in here with something he thought was
new, and out of which he was going 10
make money enough to pay the national
debt without missing it. l examined it.
and very quickly saw it was precisely the
same thing that cost Peter Cooper 100000
some years ago, and amounted to nothing;
a scheme for placing a wheel amidships,
just over the vessels keelson proved to
be thoroughly impracticable. He cried
like baby when l told him it was no
good. | make hundreds of models every
year that | never hear of them after they
leave my shop; some are deliberate tricks,
meant to entice investors; Others are
honestly intended, but fail in application.
Some | know won't work Others believe
to be good; but | have lost confidence in
them all, and when they offer me stock in
payment for my work, | say; Cash or
nothing"
I'm tell you little experience l had
the other day with an inventor, but as
his scheme may appear in the form Of
company soon, I'll omit names. l was all
n
about 80 years approached me cautiously,
and asked me if | was the proprietor;
then extended long legal document
which found to be in effect a contract in
which swore by all / held sacred never
to reveal the secrets / should learn, and IN
which was to agree to make his model
for five shares of stock. viii you sign
that?' he asked in a whisper / told him
| would sign so much of it as referred to
keeping the thing secret, but that l want
ed money for my labor. He begged and
entreated, and finally he went away, re-
turning again and offering S25 on account
Well | went to work, and he came here
this morning for his model. Ill give you
an idea of it, and for absurdity it beats
anything | ever knew. He intends to
revolutinize the world as far a. machinery
is concerned; in other words he thinks he
has discovered perpetual motion. My
agreement prohibited my putting the
thing together to see if 1t would
work. but [ know it won't IT is a large
wheel. constructed so that seven long
levers provided with weights at the end
project from it. These levers are pro-
vided with an elbow that bends to and fro
as the wheel revolves in such way that
when underneath they close and when at
the top they open, forming wheel by
projecting out beyond the wheels rim
that is meant to make it revolve. The
idea is that five-sevenths are pulling
against two-sevenths continually. Rather
cute idea, but the inventor forgets the
natural fraction that must be overcome
and it will never succeed. l could name
many men who are prominent in business
life here who have had their turn as IN
ventors, and could relate their many curl
GUS incidents to you, but youll have TO
call some day when I'm less busy than
now