Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-06-20
INVENTIONS OF ANTIQUITY.
Lots of Them Are Merely Reproduced 1t the
Patent Once.

Patent Once.
seTNHERE Is NOTHING NEW UNDER THE
Il sum-" said solomon the Wise. The in
ventions of modern times were many Of them
thought of and applied by the ancients ages
ago. Telescopes were used by tho astronomers
of Babylon more than 5000 years back. The
workmanship of many Roman coins proves,
merely by its exceeding deicacy, that the de-
signs were made with powerful magnifying
glasses, if not with the microscope. Gunpowder,
unknown toEurope until the nineteenth century,
had been familiar substance to the Chinese,
and constantly employed by them, since before
Christ You can find at the Smithsonian In
stitution, in the collection of remote antiqui-
ties, many devices which are recorded at the
patent Office in Washington a. new ideas. For
example, there is q fragment Of soldiers
bronze belt, more than 1900 years old, bound
on the edge with leather attached by the Nc
Gill patent paper fastener of today-the in
genious little continuance that is thrust through
two or more layers of o substance and bent
down both ways to hold them together.
BRONZE IMPLEMENTs
The relics exhibited in this collection are
mostly of the bronze age, from 1000 B. G. to
4oO b. O. Among them are razors of bronze
some OF which nearly resemble in form the
razors OF the nineteenth century. while others
are crescent shaped with modern handles
lhey are not In condition now to shave with,
,nou9h hardly less SO than the tools employed
oy the astute barber upon the Gus
toner who never pays q fee. Even more won
oeriul Is the safety pin with which the Roman
women In the time before Christ was born fas-
tened their garments. 1t was precisely like
little coiled spring at one end and
the catch at the other. Fish hooks
In the bronze age were in shape
precisely what they are now. with the same
paros and the same bends, of which the famous
Limerick and Shaughnessy types are merely
copies The ends of their shanks, to hold the
lines. were either fattened or Topped, just as at
present. In short. they were the same articles
exactly. barring the nature Of the metal.
In the Smithsonian collection referred to are
shown hat pins with big roupd heads more
than twenty centuries old, in all repects re-
sembling those of today, though they may
have been employed merely to bind The hair
together. Also there are ordinary hair pins,
equally ancient like those sold at dry
goods shops on street and Pennsyl-
vania avenue, and likewise thimbles of bronze
with the customary indentations. though such
implements are generally supposed to have
been invented in the middle ages under the
name Of 'thumb bells" Tweezers and strain
ers after the modern fashion are included in
the same assemblage of curiosities.
FROM THE SWISS LAKE DWELLINGS.
Others of the same epoch are woven goods
from the Swiss lake dwellings that were built
on piles, bronze beads from Rome actually
plated with gold, bronze buttons made Just
like those of today, bronze chains with the
same mesh precisely as is employed now by
jewelers. for watch guards, bronze mirrors,
bronze avis, bronze bodkins, bronze needles
and bronze sickles for cutting grass or grain,
with wooden handles-the originals of the Nc
Cormick reaper.
One of the funniest things in the collection
is a small vase with hinge at the top for
cover-just like the modern beer mug. 1t
dates from before Christ. There are also stone
moids OF the same epoch for casting bronze
knives, spear heads, hatchets sickles and
other implements precisely in the manner fol-
lowed now An ancient Etruscan vase shows
mendlng with rivets after the same method as
Is employed in this day. Even more extraordi-
nary are poniards, covered in ivory perhaps
hundreds of thousands OF years ago by the
men Of the Clipped stone or palaolithic ages,
with reindeer and mammoths for handles.
THEY CAME VERY NEAR PRINTING
The Romans before the birth Of Christ did
everything with respect to printing except to
print. They made stamps and stamped
words and letters on their pottery before
baking it. These types were movable
ana sometimes single. though not usu-
ally SO. On their lead pipe they cast inscrip-
tions in raised letters. Practically these would
have served for printing if their surfaces had
been mixed and pressed upon the cloth or papy-
rus used for the1. books and letters. 1t has
been said that necessity is the mother OF inven-
ton, yet the necessity for printing existed in
as great degree rs among any people
They had senate, which kept its Jour-
nal; they made speeches and orations:
of the making of books there was
no end Laws and DEGREES were published to
the people; in factat the same time a newspaper
was circulated. All this was done by hand
writing, yet they had all the materials and much
OF the art OF printing II every day use now
But they never caught tho final ides.