The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-05-23
HOME Of. PATENTS.
STORY OF THE GREAT PATENT
OFFICE IN WASHINGTON.
The Final Abiding Place Of the Pro-
ducts of American Ingenuity aud
the Outcomes Of the Ec-
-. centricities of Cranks.


tween Seventh and Ninth, and covering
a very large square of ground commonly
called the Patent Office, is really. the
Department of the Interior, presided
over by General William F. Villas. The
building has four fronts, with massive
and imposing Corinthian porticos upon
the south and east. 1t is built about an
open court, in the middle of which there
is fountain. Beneath the roof of this
building are to be found the Patent
Office, presided over by Benton J. Hall;
the General Land Office, the Executive
Department of the Bureau of Indian AZ
fairs, and the offices of the Interior De-
partment. Immense as this building is,
it has long proved too small to accom-
modate the business which flows into it
from all parts of the Union. Indeed,
Mr.. Hall finds that he needs the whole of
it for the work of the Patent Office, if it
is to be conducted with the expedition
and efficiency which is demanded.
In its early days the fatent Office was
simply a bureau of the State Depart
ment, and had no building of its own.
1t once occupied a portion of the old
Postotfice, and with it was destroyed
BY fire in 1856, when large collection
of models and valuable records was lost.
The building now occunied Is 270 feet
square, and when erected was supposed
to be fire e-proof. But fire which oc-
Cured September, 1877, destroyed the
west and north halls of the model room
on the top floor, and from one-third to
one-half of all the models which had
collected since 1886. This was an ire
parable loss, and has been source of
great trouble since. The building was
constructed from the fund of the Patent
Office, which was the result Of an accu-
mutation from fees paid in by the inven-
tors of the country. This fund is now
large surplus, some millions of dollars,
and if the present building cannot be
had for the business of the Patent
Office, new one should be erected at
once. The various divisions, of which
there a:e thirty odd. are now, crowded
into narrow, inconvenieut, and even un-
healthy limits. In the rooms where the
preliminary examinations are htld,
where models have to be Examined, where
documents are filed, drawings, etc.,
made the clerks are crowded together
too thick for comfort, good work OF
health. -..... ~.- E.
The whole number employed by the
Patent Office is not far from 500 men
and women. The records and drawings
which should be assessible are now
stored in dark corridors and byway
places, where classification is impossible
and where access to causes long search
and delay. Besides granting patents
the office publishes the Official Gazette,
which has an edition of $500 copies.
This is a7purely photolithographic pro-
duction and contains drawings of all the
patents issued. . ...,.
The amount of business done in the
Patent Office Is simply enormous.
About 500 applications for patents are
made every week, and from $50 to 485
are issued. And these figures gradually
increase with the growth of the country.
The number Of applications. for patents
received last. year, all of which had to
be examined, was Al, 1853. The number
issued was %, 900. The gross receipts
were 81, 144, 900, and there was q sur
plus above all expenses of $50, 900. So
there is one Government institution at
Washington which more than pays its
expenses.
The model room of the Patent Office is,
of course, the great show room of the in
stitution. and is usually taken in by visi-
tors in Washington as one of the sights
of the city. This is an enormous hall,
having total length of over 800 feet,
with gal cries and cases innumerable
stuffed with not far from $50, 600 models.
The total number of patents issued to
date is not far from 400, 900. This model
hall is, of course, intensely interesting
to all kinds of people. 1t appears to the
on locker in Washington to be favorite
resort for bridal couples, of which large
number is constantly wandering about
the town in a sweetly dazed condition.
They stop before the case filled with cor
sets and bustles or before the good luck
collection of horseshoes; they look at the
first sewing machine made by Howe, the
first electric instrument patented by
Morse, the contrivance patented by Abra.
ham Lincoln for lifting ships over sand
bars, etc. Now and then poor man is
seen gazing with wistful looks at the
case filled with overalls, for even these
arc patented. A big fat man was seen
the other day looking at case full Of
small chairs, while a delegation of In
dians stood amazed before the many bar
rels of Ilotchkiss gun. Boys are ma
turally interested in the case OF toy shops,
and housewives have been seen studying
the evolution of the cooking stove from
the log fire in the open fireplace.
There are many odd things in connec-
tion with the Patent Office. The per-
petual motion crank still lives and
bothcrs the examiners. About 1875 the
employees CT the Office were stricken with
horror upon receiving a real dead baby
IN a box, which had been embalmed BY
some patent process and sent as an illus
tration of it. Where the baby was OBJ.
tanned no one knew. Another dreadful
device was gold trap to be swallowed
with the hope of catching some internal
parasite. There is Just now drive in
the matter of electrical inventions, and
car couplings follow hard on, close
pressed by beehives and churns.-NeU
York Graphic.
Misanthr0pic Wills.