The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-06-19


Mind Alert and You May Come Upon
an Idea That VIII Make Your Fortune.
Domestic Articles Sell Best.
There Is vast amount Of nisinfarna-
ton exsaDA with respect to inventions and
patents The general impression in the
public mind is that about ooe out of ten
patents is valuable, or profitable, and that
whenever a patent sells for large sum it
must, necessarily, be a,good one, or if the
patent is not sold 1T is therefore of no valua
practically.
The records of the patent Office show that
fully si1-tenths of the patents issued pass
by assignment. either wholly or IN part, TO
other parJies, aud the inference is therefore
very strong that some pecuniary consider
ations resalt TO the inventors. The facts
are that fully 20 per cent. OF the patents
issued are Profitable 10 the inventors. We
do not mean bythis that they are bonanzas
or that they even furnish handsome com
petsnc4es In theI1ajorfty Of cases, but we
do mean that fully that per cent. afford
fail, IF MOI 6znp4e, compensation.
A large percentage Of inventions cost less
than Szoo In time, labor and means to per
feet and pscent II such an invention
should ind market at 500, for instance,
the public would regard it poor outcome
for the inventor and commiseEate him on
his hard lot, and the better the invention
the more he Is 10 DO pitied. How many en-
tesprises many other line pay the same
percentage2
FALSE HOPES
Il is tobe regretted that so many patent
solicitors put forth delusive statements
with respect to profits on inventions. In
many Of their circulars it is made 80 sp-
pear that all good inventions assure i'm
mense figures Nothing could be further
from the Truth than this. To parade the
largo figures which certain inventors have
obtained Is well enough Is historical
fact, but tits no just criterion of the bust
ness, and any attempt to useit in such a
manner, as many Of them do, is an injus-
tice.
There are certain clements which-are in
dispensable TO the professional inventor
and which may be followed to his profit.
1t has, probably, often occurred to you
after seeing some little invention that the
same idea as-sznggested itself TO you; or it
Is likely that the simplicity OF the inven-
ton has caused you TO excLaim: why
didn't think of that!" Nothing easier in
the world to explain Phe true inventor
looks only at results. Inventions come,
sometimes, like flashes OF inspiration. If
we were 10 anaIyze Prerequisites of an in
ventorHEe should say be required:
L Alertness to distinguish defects
2 Capacity to think
8 knowledge of application.
The man who wonders why he never
thought of 1t" was not alert. The man
who thought Of it BEFORE" or invented
1t long ago." failed in knowledge Of appIi-
cation The man who couldn't invent If
he tried had no capacity to think. But
what shnll be said Of those whose tnven-
tionS come without effort2 Arc they any
the less fuYenAons because they are pro-
duced without any scientific reasoning
prOoesst Are they any the less valuable
On that account Most assuredly not A
novel bending Of a wire, the change Of
form or proportion, the addition of a
wheel, or the combination of two Old Gle
noents, may all be invention aud produce
results not heretofore attained
Invention Vs. a matter Of quality, not guam
tity. SoEne-of the greatest and most profit
able inventions seem almost trifiing ia
their simplicity, and we refer to this to i'm
press On your minds thai true invention
Sims at the destruction Of the complex
illustration of this. The nearer the origi-
nal invention leaps from the brain of the
inventor IA it's simple form the greater is
that product The tendency of most in
ventoEs Is to multiply mechanical forms in
a machine, thereby opening avenues for
the admission Of other inventors.
WHAT TO INVENT.
When we consider that the patent Office
oy,a7. hrae
subjects it would seem to DO hopeless
task to offer any suggestions IN this dtTeo-
tioa- Every individual has his own sphere
and comes ia contact with varying phases
Of business, or is Liable 70 NEST with me-
chanicaI difficulties. The question at the
outset is, "WiH it pay" "If | eau over
come these objections or solve this Difficult
ty, viii ! be compensated for the time and
labor involved" 1t viii be seen at the
start that what TO invent" assumes a
more important phase, as a pecuniary
measure, than the 6ireution in which your
genius is to be exersed However, for
quick selling and widely used inventions,
the line of domestic articles is probably
the most favorable
1t Is said that every CREST invention h
the forerunner of thousands of others,
or, rather, one fundamental or generic in
vention opens the path for thousands of
Others which facilitate the operation OF the
original idea. Thus the telephone awak-
ened the whole electrical world. The cleo
tTlc light gave an impulse which cannot be
measured, and these two hines alone have
opened hundreds upon hundreds Of indie
pendent lines Of invention. So in the
handling add refining of petroleum, in the
disintegratiOn of grain by the roller process /
and hundreds OF other special branches
which vse might enumerate.
The agricultural field Is an important
one; the purely mechanical branch is profit
able, and affords pretty safe returns, and
1t may safely be assumed that the produc-
ton OF toys and novelties viii always COM
mand good figures. If you keep your eyes
open the chance 30 evolve some new con-
Deit" will most assuredly offer itself 90 you
If you proceed on the theory that your
present invention Is the only thing of the
kind possible, or JbSt it represents the ulG-
mate OF perfection, or that it is tbs only
thing you can ever invent, and you must,
therefore, make your everlasting fortune
out of it, We think the chances are you viii /
not find it extraordinarily profitable You
may, but the chances are that your exalted /
idea Will attach such an unreasonable /
figure to your invention that no one will |
care to invest. If, however. you proceed in 1
q fair business way, and ask reasonable 1
price, the market is always open TO you /
with pretty sure chance of success>-New |
York World
A Light Keepers Hard Life.
The keeper in charge OF the hit on the |