The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-04-04

der and only needing spark to ignite,
They had been placed in fragile cases
made of light pine, and the fire spread
rapidly. 1t started in the morning, ana
the clerks worked with will to save
the building. The fire was confined 10
the upper story of the western ana
northern wings. Many of the models
were burned more destroyed by the
water and number broken by falling
timbers. This loss awakened the au-
thorities to the benefits to be derived
from the use of the new system OF pre-
serving proper record OF the patents
issued.
This system was already ir use to
certain extent, but after the fire 1t be-
came general, and now every patent
issued has been photo-lithographed. and
copies are kept on hand for distribution.
This has grown into an immense bus1-
ness, as nearly $4,000 patents are
granted every year. These photo
Autographs are uniformly XII inches
in size. and. besides the drawings, a
full description of the invention is
given. making a small pamphlet. From
these little books good idea Of the
patent may be obtained, and they are of
wonderful assistance to people unable to
come to the city to examine the various
patents already granted upon devices
in W hich they are interested.
How the application is made, how it
is examined, passed upon and finally
granted or rejected, as the case may be,
and the reasons require some details in
the telling. Just at this time there is a
great deal of complaint from inventors
and attorneys that the bureau is slow in
it's work; but it is understood that Com
missioner Mitchell has given some at
tention to the matter, and proposes to
do all in his power to rectify it.
The application for the issue of letters
patent come in to the commissioner
by the score every day, by mail, by ex
press and through attorneys. First of
all the little bundle upon which so much
thought has been given, so much mid
night oil consumed, passes into the
hands of the financial clerk, whose duty
it is to collect and account for the en-
GTdIlCC ltt VI CID. WulCu iuuSU LII dill
cases accompany the application. Then
he sends the drawing and specifications
to the application clerk, who makes a
record of the name of the applicant his
residence, the title of the invention,
name of attorney day of receipt and the
name of the examiner to whom it is re-
ferred for action. Before the papers are
Gov J,,I bo +lo Il
go to the draugh tsmanS division for in
spectiOn as to the mechanical execution,
for drawing must be clear before it is
accepted. If upon examination it is dis
covered that the drawing is defective
the inventor is notified. On the other
hand, if found all right, it travels back
to the application room, where it is
given serial number and forwarded to
the examiner, in whose division it be-
longs.
There are 80 subjects of invent
divided into SO classes, and assigned for
examination to the 30 examining diyiS-
ions of the office.
After examination, if the device is
found patentable, the examiner forwards
tue papers to the issue division with his
signature attached. After all minor
mistakes have been corrected the papers
then go to the drafting division. where
they are put on the file and returned to
the issue division. The patent is then
allowed and the inventor notified of it's
allowance and issue upon the receipt of
$50, the final fee. If the inventor
decides to take the patent out at
once he so notifies the Office and the
specifications go down to the Govern
ment printing office, where they are put
in type and printed. The drawings go
to the photographer, and after compile
ton the printed specifications and draw
ing are bound together, and may be had
for 10 cents copy. Next the patent is
made out and signed by the Secretary of
the Interior and Commissioner Mitchell
The voyage of an application to the
harbOr of issuance is a long and tedious
one, sometimes requiring years.
The model room is large hall or
series of corridors filled with neat glass
cases. in which are placed over 100, 600
models, including the most important
and the most unimportant kind. Like
the library, it is also rendezvous for
inventors who come to town.
''Many man has been cured by a
look into this hail. said an employee
considers great and original idea, and
drops in here only to discover that he
mas been forestalled by some earlier and
luckier inventor. Then, after he has
looked around awhile he comes to the
conclusion that every thing worth
while has been invented and goes away
completely cured of the inventive fever .
The part played by woman as an in
ventOr is not inconsiderable, and she is
responsible for many things that add
much to the comfort of life.
From the year the Office was estab-
lished up to the present time $500 pat
ents have been granted to females The
/ hrst woman patentee was Mary KEGS,
who obtained letters patent on a ma
| chine for weaving a mixture of silk and
thread. She was followed in 1915 by a
Mary Brush with a corset of an i'm.
proved kind. Miss Montgomery owns
the patent to a war ship, and woman
in Iowa has made an improvement in
machinery for the manufacture of cigars
! The novelist. Blanche Willis Howard.
| has patented bath shoe and music
| rack. and Miss Helen Blanchard gets
a good income from the royalty she re-
;eives on a sewing machine attachment.
Miss Phelps, lady from England is
/ represented by lunch-box which has a
| zinc-lined compartment for ice A mus
tache cup is rather peculiar invention
Tor woman, but patent for such has
been taken out by woman, and there
is also an apparatus for killing mosqui-
toes patented by woman. Miss Maria