The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-11-02
INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.
A Vast Sea OF Distinction Between tho
Two-Notnbfo instances.


A Vast Sea OF Distinction Between tho
Two-Eotabfa Instances.
Two words which glibly enough fall
from tho lips of tho average man In q
careless sort OF indiscrimination as n they
were synonymous. But there Il vast
sen OF distinction between them. Liter
ally, they are not 80 widely separated;
but they have come TO represent two to-
tally different aspects OF human action.
To tho writer's thinking, the terms have
been greatly confused. Columbus hardly
discovered America. he invented it--that
Is, ns 10 It's cogniznble existence. lie
studied, figured, applied the laws rs he
knew them, and determined that there
must be a continent there, and he
plodded on till be proved the fact. and
reduced his invention 10 practice.
Newton discovered the law of gravity,
ono might say, without either mental on
physical effort. Watt invented the steam
engine and Stephenson invented the loco
motive. They felt and knew the goal was
ahead. but how 10 reach II was the ques-
ton which required invention Of the
highest order. Ell Whitney saw the
painful and laborious methods OF clean
ing out cotton and shredding ii, intui-
lively felt IL could be done by machinery,
went 20 work and gave the world one Of
his great inventions, the cotton gin.
Howe's great inspiration 10 place the eye
at the point of needle may be said TO
have been discovery. IL unfolded
picture 30 his mind prophetic Of good 10
almost countless millions, but invention
had 90 be invoked to give the picture life.
and the sewing machine, in all Its beauty,
came slowly forth from the chrysalis Of
Howe's discovery. The irregular lathe
and the modern harvester were inven-
tiUns; their dim, indefinable forms loomed
up In the mists Of their inventors minds,
they felt the impulse Of improvement,
tho value of the goal gained, and they
went 10 work and ut last succeeded, and
the wood ccrver and reaping hook lost
their usefulness TO that extent.
The electric telegraph was never dis
covered; II was consistently invented.
Countless devices and methods were de-
signed, tested thrown away-to be after
wards revivifled, many Of them-new
appliances and systems laboriously
worked out, the midnight oil unspar-
ingly sacrificed, until mt last n perfected
and practical system and apparatus were
given 70 tile world.
was invented or discovered, considering
It's prototype. the magnetic machine. The
probabilities are It was an accidental dis
covery. The arc light was a discovery
pure and simple. Electric incandescence
was n discovery, but the incandescent
lamp i'm its commercial form stands forth
as one OF the most beautiful examples of
mans inventive faculty. The courtless
experiments on material, the bulb, the
seal, the standardizing, the pumps. and
all the appliances that go 20 provide ms
with the beautifully glowing luminary,
all are ineradicable proofs of invention Of
the very highest order. Midnight oil and
MONDAY sun. mornings vigor and even
ing's reposeful runiinations. were all
called into requisition to complete the
work. This Is true invention.
The photograph wns originally dis
covery. happy thought Of Edison'e, but
invention Of high order was necessary
20 produce the beautiful instrument OF
the present day. II was like Howe's
necdlc-the germ was there, but the ma
chine had TO be devised 10 make It prac-
ticable. The undulatory telephone was n
discovery, brilliant one, but still dis
eovery. A happy thought supplied the
missing link In an incomplete chain, and
when the weld of that link was accom-
plished the whole world was enchained
I'm adnirution, tho wonderful utility Of
the device was quickly recognized. and
the discoverer reaped q rich harvest.
The pneumatic process OF Bessemer was
an invention of high grade and far reach
ing Importance, and the Siemens regen-
erative furnace has proved It's equal In
merit rs a methodical and logical inven-
ton beautifully carried out.
The inventor secs his goal. and consis-
| tently strives for it, He knows the object
il there, and he goes energetically after
il, sometimes straight to 1t, but oftener
Ia many times lost in the wilderness OF
| deluded fancy. He secs n light ahead.
sighs relief and darts after 1t, only to
find it will o'-the-wisp. Undaunted.
he starts again, only perhaps to meet
other and worse misfortunes. But he
struggles on hopefully, and at last
reaches the shrine of his alteration and Is
for the time content.
The discoverer walks along calmly
toward some goal, or lies on the roadside
meditating, and happening to cast his
idle eyes downward, sees a gem spark
ling at his feet. and he sometimes picks II
up and adds it to the galaxy of the
worlds diadem, but he as often fails tc
note the scintillations that betoken Its
preciousness, and spurns 1t back into the
deeper dust, TO lie unseen and unknown
| perhaps for ages. Which of these two
| promoters of the worlds welfare meritE
the highest praise, it Is needless to ask
Electrical Review.