The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-05-05
4 LlsTf O. Nggug5 INVENTIONS
.wAAt wa.D0ns parIag ~. Mlar-II.e

Whit Was Done During the War-I Fire
stns Hna Explosives. New Materials.
a paper devoted to progress in ptacti.
cal mechanics gives a list bf some thirty
inventions that are needed in the liscfnl
Mt! slrgulafly enough, the list n
needed Inventions does not include one
labot-saying machine or any new appli.
nnce for carrying freightpr passengers
I on for transmitting intelligence. Appar.
entity the inventive talent u the country
| Is TO make a 4new departure Labor.
saving machines and appliances have en-.
gagged tho attention Of the inventors Of
this country from the time Of its first sOt.
tlenent There was much work To be
done, and comparatively few people do
/ 1t, The civil war gave agreat impetus
to the invention of lab6rsaying ma.
chimes, especially those that were for
preparing tie land for seeding and sow
ling, cpltiyating tie sail between the
rows Of growing crops, and for harvest
ling them and preparing them for the
market, With al the waste Of war,
with great armies 10 feed, and with
NEARLY 1, ,0O0, 900 Of men Withdrawn from
farms, machines were needed to do tho
work previously performed by the use Of
hand tools. In no time or country were
as many machines for doing farm work
ever brought out as in the United States
during the progress Of the civil war.
Improved methods Of moving freight,
carrying passengers, and transmitting
intelligence lave also received great at.
tention in this country. 1t Is but nat
ural that they should have received
much attention. The population Of the
country. was scattered over a vast extent
of territory, Dlany Of the most fertile
regions did not have the advantage Of
water communication. The productions
OF thesefertilc regions could not be taken
To distant markets with profit by the old
means Of transportation. Railroads,
canals, and steamboats, were necessary
for carrying products to market.
Much attention has been given during
the past few years to deyising meansa,il
forming materials for taking humanlife,
A great variety Of firearms has been in.
vented. Some twenty different explo.
sives, each more powerful than gunpow.
der, have been brought into use. It ap.
pears to be now time for inventors to ii.
rect their attention to methods for saw
ing life. Tho number Of lives annually
lost in mines Is very large. 1t is almost
as dangerous to enter coal mine as to
march on field Of battle. Unless some
method is discovered for detecting tho
presence Of the explosive gas popularly
known rs 4lire-dainp,H or preventing
It's ignition, the working Of coal mines
will become SO extremely hazardous that
most persons will decline to engage in
It, Many Of our industries depend on
the cheap production Of coal, aud the
risk that now attends the occupation Of
mining tends to add to the cost of pro-
ducing. Better methods Of ventilating
mines are also greatly needed. So is
cheap apparatus for determining the
, presence Of parasites in meat and vari-
ous impurities in drinking-wator.
New materials for street pavement,
sidewalks, and common buildings, are
also greatly needed. Lumber can not
be freely used for these purposes much
longer. The supply is not equal to the
great and growing demand. A substi-
tute for wood for building farm fences
has been found in barbed iron or steel
wire, but q substitute fora wooden fence
post is greatly desired. Brick and stone
will probably long continue to constitute
the leading building materials in cities,
but they do not meet the wants or fill the
requirements of people living on prairie
farms. Stone, even in places where it
can be obtained, Is too heavy to be hauled
over country roads, and on the great tree
less plains there Ism wood for burning
brick, Chicago Times.