Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-18
a MAGAZINE OF IDEAS.
Uncle Sam Prints . Very Interesting Pub
1icatiOu, Profussly Illustrated.

a MAGAZINE OF IDEAS.
Uncle Sam Prints . Very Interesting Pub
fcatiOu. Profussly Illustrated.
THE MOST PROFUsELY ILLUSTRATED
L magazine in the world with more new
ideas in 1t than can be found in any other exist
ing publication, is issued weekly by the gov
eminent at Washington. It is printed on the
finest paper obtainable, in copies Of about $50
pages each, and has guaranteed circulation Of
1000 Uncle Sam tries to make it as beautiful
q thing in its way as can be produced, and the
quarterly or semi-annual volumes may well be
considered decorative additions to any library.
The editors are the authorities of the patent
office, and there are no advertisements. Five
dollars year is the subscription price; no
premiums to agents.
the Official Gazette Of the Patent Office"
is the title Of the publication. 1t includes q
list OF patents granted, with the wording Of
the claims or applications and reproductions
OF drawings Of the inventions, a. we'll as cur
rent decisions Of the commissioner on inter
ferences. priorities and such disputes. In old
times all such matters were covered in annual
reports which were often twelve month or
more behindhand, 80 that patent news was
parture was made and Q weekly publ
cation was inaugurated. This, in 1872,
was entitled the ''Of1icial Gazette" but even
then the ancient practice still prevailed Of
printing all the drawings Of inventions to-
gether on pages by themselves, with numbers
until 1874 that the plan was adopted, which is
sun continued, OF running the pictures in
with the letter press, so that each patent
claim allowed is accompanied in the maya
zine by one or more graphic representations
OF its construction and method Of working.
For convenience the inventions patented fol-
low ono another in numerical sequence, so that
one has only to turn over the leaves Of the
volumes In order to find anything he is looking
for 1t costs $500, 900 year to publish the
magazine. and the subscribers are chiefly patent
attorneys. manufacturers Of patented articles,
who must be on the lookout for rival inven-
lions. and the inventors themselves.
Each member Of Congress is entitled to ono
free subscription for himself and to eight
more besides for as many public libraries such
as he may chose to designate. Thus it is pro-
yided that the information contained in the
Gazette shall be accessible all over the United
States.
HOW IT Is PREPARED.
The getting mp Of this magazine il very
wonderful thing, and 1t is believed that the
method adopted for printing it is original with
the patent Office and never thought of before
by any one.
Each patent claim, having been "allowed,"
is ready for printing in the Gazette as soon
as the final fee of $50 has been paid upon it.
The text Of the application is carefully edited,
and 1t Is then sent to the public printer, from
whose hands it speedily returns in neat and
very big type. At the same time the drawings
which have been required to accompany the
description Of tho invention are turned over to
hnO ,h6r md L.
that makes them just five and a half inches
wide. The letter press from the public printer
is precisely that width also. How important
this is will be presently seen, for here comes in
the surprising part OF the whole process
A skilled operator takes a number of big
cards OF bristol board, each one of them half as
large as this newspaper page. At the top Of
every card is printed in long black letters either
~. s. Patent Office" or Official Gazette"
The operator aforesaid cuts the letter press
into strips and ships it off with his shears into
the parts belonging to each invention. These
he CLUES upon the cards one would paste
as it were, the pictures which be
scissors out Of the paper reproductions sent in
by the photographer. He is ever so careful to
get the printed text in line accurately, because
the whole business, pictures and ALL is to be re-
produced in the magazine by photographs, and
it must look as il it had been turned out from
actual type and electrotype blocks.
oucu ID the way In which what Is called q
dummy page is made up. 1t is not vet quite
ready to be sent out, because a printed number
for the page must be stuck with glue upon the
right-hand corner Of the card, and upon the
left-hand corner a date-say June 26, 1891, :" in
the same manner. Now the page is in condi-
ton to be dispatched to the photographer, who
reduces it by photography to tie regular size of
the Gazette page and prints of from the stone
1000 copies of it for the regular weekly edition.
The same thing precisely is done with every page,
and thus this Interesting and profusely illus
trated government publication is produced
The camera does it all. and not line Of it is
printed from type directly. Thanks to the
reduction i'll size from the big type and pictures,
the result is exceedingly pretty. Only the very
finest paper is used in order that the imprint
may be as clear possible and so that the
pictures and lettering on one side may not show
on the other.
This very surprising government magazine is
published every Tuesday. simultaneously with
the issuing Of the patents. The latter are inva-
riably given out on Tuesdays, whether they hap
pen to be Christmas the Fourth of July or any
other holiday. There are nearly 500 patents
issued each week, and from the beginning of the
government until now more than AGA, 900 have
been granted. Evidence is at hand in the pat
ent office to show that the Yankees are the most
inventive people that ever lived.