The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-05-25
A CENTURY OF INVENTION.
Patents Booming at the Rate OF IS,
900 New Things Year.
From the 81. Louis Globe emocrat.

The first 100 years of American patents
was completed this month. Patent No.
wss issued April 10, 1890. The century
closed with No. 425, 395.
In the first half of the 100 years the
yatent laws were not SO encouraging. In
fifty years only II, 421 patents were issued.
Rut we are now making up lost time. There
we're issued last year q. $50 patents. The
limited States patent office paid expenses
from the fees taken in and laid up a balances
of a clean $685. 900 in the year 1889.
Instead of American ingenuity exhausting
Itself. the exercise of it seems to make it
more prolific. Every year shows a larger
number of inventions han the year which
rreceded il. Here are few or the novel
flies which have been patented since 1890
The approach of fly time has suggested
an idea for a cow-tail holder A clamp like
a clothes pin catches tue bushy end of the
tail, and two cords with snap attachment
fas en- the tail to the cows leg, to a post, or
to the milking stool.
The same day that the Nebraska man got
his patent for a cow-taiie holder, man in
Maine got one also for the same end. The
Maine mans tail-holder is made of single
niece of wire coiled so as to connect the tail
with the cows leg.
"a candle for killing insectsn is mix
ture of insect powder and tallow. or some
thing else that will burn moulded around q
wick.
The estimable wife Of President Andrew
jackson once accounted to the British min
lister for an awful cold in the head by tell
ing him that "the gineral had kicked the
kivvers off" the night before. There is no
longer any excuse for people who "kick the
kivvers off. =" A clamp and a spring are
now patented for attachment to the bed
stead. By this simple device the covers are
fastened down. The spring gives sufficient
play, so that there is no danger of one
getting choked in the act of turning over
Any one might guess that Kentucky
man Is entitled to the credit which attaches
to the invention of combined inkstand
pistol case and burglar alarm" No Ken
lucky editors desk should be without it.
The application may be illustrated: An
editor sits at his desk writing. One of the
Hatfields or one of the McCoys enters to ask
a correction of the report about that row
over on Heil-for-Sartin creek. The editor
reaches forward as if to dip his pen in the
ink. He touches spring IN the top of the
inkstand A shallow drawer flies open
toward him and his hand drops upon the
revolver. At the same time the alarm
goes off like one of those new devices to call
people at a. m. in country hotels. The
mouptaineer jumps back as if he heard the
DIRT VI d Idbbl0ls anu D6lOT0 u6 RECEIVERS
he is covered. The editor is master of the
situation. This inventor lives in Louis
vile. sss
- A handcar which moves along the tracks
and mows weeds fifteen feet away is one of
the innovations in railroad machinery. 1t
will do to go very well with the rotary
snow pillow as an illustration Of automatic
intelligence.
Dress reform is sweeping away the bar
l~fark 1S TIC aHS 10
called upon this month to protect the idea
of bifurcated skirt, and has done it.
There is genius in Cohasset, Mass, who
spends his time getting up startling effects
for the stage. He mas recently taken out
two patents. One of them is for an ar
rangement of slides and springs by which a
man, or rather dummy, goes all to pieces.
At a signal the head flies toward the ceiling,
the legs move to the sides and the arms
drop to the floor. The body remains in the
chair.
A beheadlng apparatus is another of this
inventors CHASTITY devices. The axe drops
into socket in the block and the head
drops
The arrangement of mirrors at the proper
angles in tube so as to enable person to
see what is going on in a room at some dis
lance has been patented within a month.
The mirrors may even be moved so as to
bring into view various portions of the
room. There is a suggestiveness about this
device which is paralyzing. The probable
ties of its improper use strike the magma
ton much quicker than the possibilities of
proper employment.
The uses of electricity extend. An electric
hatiron is one of the new things under the
sun. The iron is hollow and the wire pas es
into the centre and is so arranged that when
the electricity is turned on the fiat face of
the iron is kept at an even degree Of heat
Just sufficient to do good work,
From the edge of prohibition Kansas
comes curiously contrived stopper, which,
placed upon the neck Of a bottle, registers
every drink taken out of it.
There are people who still believe in the
practicability of COW mixers. One of them
has just got patent for a four-tube ar
rangement by which he expects to draw of
the contents of the udder without being
kicked over for his smartness.
The idea of combining various uses in q
single article is a favorite one with in
ventors. 1.-The combined cap, pillow and
life-preservern is to be made of some air,
tight material As a cap it looks like the
double-visored headgear which is olsidered
the thing for steamer wear. The center
pulls out What appears to be ventilatoi
in the top proves to be a mouthpiece. You
blow into it until the interior is about
half filed with air, and you have a very
fair imitation of the air pillow. If you
awake at night and find that the boat is
sinking, you blow in the mouthpiece and
have a lie preserver as big as good sized
bladder. There is even piece of tape at
tached for tying the pressrver to the breast.
One of the first contributions from the
new state of North Dakota is a machine fol
burning prairie grass. The driver mounts
his seat in front, turns on the gasoline
strikes a match and moves across the
prairie, leaving a broad black line. The
grass over which the big sheetiron box i;
drawn is entirely consumed, but no fire
escapes outside of the box.
The magnificent and wonderful frostlne
with whic the caterers art covers the we'd
ding cake is now removable before the cake
is cut, so that it may be used again and
again.
A new garden implement is made by
twisting a single piece of wire rod, but the
person who tries to make one for himself
will find that he is infringing patent
the improvement of collins has long been
favorite field for ingenuity. The latest
idea is TO have the name plate in the form
of scroll. At the top the scroll turns into
hollow cylinder with cap, which can be
unscrewed. This cylinder is intended for
the preservation of any record which may
be enclosed in it at the time of burial.
With view of robbing the grave of its
terrors, somebody has patented lining to
conceal the mother earth. This lining con-
slsts of evergreen attached to cloth or mat
A