The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-23

This claimant claims palm-leaf fad so tied
to dogs tail that it will operate vertically
| and thus enable him more readily to alter
his course.
| A curious patent has been granted ''to
enable trains to avoid collisions" 1t pro-
vides that one train shall be supplied with
prolonged inclined cow-catcher in front
and rear, SO that the other train, appearing
Unexpectedly, instead of telescoping, will
run right up on top of it and over on the
level track at the other endl The inventor
is now cudgeling his brain to decide which
| train shall be the climber and which the
| clumb. The department did not demand
| the produc lion of working model nor the
| performance of the feat.
| Another curious patent Is stupendous
swing, to be elevated above the railroad de-
pot, containing such passengers as desire to
| take the next express train which does not
| stop. When the train is sighted; the swing
is oscilated, and when it goes laundering
underneath the swing moves gently in the
direction the train is going, and quietly
spills the passengers into the cars. This in
vention has not vet been tried, and the re-
port that Commissioner Hall has applied for
front seat in the swing at the first trial is
entirely unfounded.
PORTABLE FOOT-wARMER.
A new foot-warmer that attracts some
attention in showcase is a forked rubber
tube that runs down over the chest and
down the pantaloons legs and into the
boots. The method of conveying caloric to
the lower extremities is the reverse of COM
plicated. Tho wearer simply blows into the
top of the tube.
DIR. Mary Walker has taken out patent
to teach children to spell by the use of
REFUSES and conundrums.
One of the curious patents of recent years
is wooden cat covered with luminous
paint, to scare away rats Whether real
cats are apt to be phosphorescent at night,
the rats have not yet reported.
An application was recently made for ga
machine to manipulate numbers for the
creation of values" Careful examination
of it showed a new gambling device.
A patent for church collection box was
taken out by Methodist deacon of Connec-
ticut recently. 1t is so constructed that the
surface box instantaneously turns over, de-
posting each coin into a lower box. This
prevents money being taken out of the box,
and it exposes those who pretend to make
an Offering" but do not, for the gesture is
not followed by the jingle.
An odd and valuable invention has re-
Gently been made to Theoretically seal up
live fish for transportation. 1t has long
been known that fish would die in a very
few days if the water was exposed to the
air, but just now, for the first time in the
history OF the world, 1t has been discovered
that they will live in the same water for
weeks and perhaps months if closely sealed
up alright
The slot machines, which 'move if you
drop in a nickel, instead of being new, as
generally thought, were in use 1000 years
ago and doled out holy water at the temples
of Diana.
There is heap Of trouble in Louisiana
between a Baptist parson and one of his
flock. each claiming to be the discoverer of
the efficacy of a chalk mark around a table
leg to prevent ants ascending. II is con-
tended that the ant develops formic acid
and When he encounters the chalk the con-
tact is followed by instant effervescence and
an explOsionl
Harriet Hosmer, the sculptor, applied
here for patent for perpetual motion thir-
ty-five years ago. Occasionally some such
device gets past a sleepy examiner, as, for
instance, the patent for a propeller screw
turned by the water at the bow of a ship
and turning wheel at the stern to move
the ship. These are called in the depart
ment, -past-two-o'clock patents"
l haven't time to go any further in this
direction, but to the inquisitive correspond
emit, the patent office is mine of gold.