Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-06-06
THE INVENTOR.

Fields for Future Work, and require
ments to Be Observed.
A writer in one of the Boston papers
asserts that of all men the successful in-
ventor has the best right to be called
.selfmade man. He must" says the
same write, possess three general
characteristics peculiar to all men who
achieve success in life, but in more full
development than most others, to wit,
ingenuity, enthusiasm and persever-
aEce" Like the true poet, his soul is
in his work; but his is the poetry OF
substantial achievement, which gives
wealth, as well as happiness. to man
kind. If it be desired to harness the
forces of nature for human benefit, the
inventor devises the harness in the
Every comfort which we enjoy in civil
cation bears the sign manual of the in
vontors skill. Our clothing, furniture,
the house We live in, our means of travel,
the carriages and ships we own and EN-
rloy, the books and papers we use, even
the Injuries we can command, are all
largely due--at least their best utility
and excellence are-to the genius of the
inventor.
The first success of the inventor, no
matter how insignificant it may be. is
usually the first step in new life of the
most absorbing interest to himself, and
of satisfaction also; but it is likewise the
first step in the treadmill of unceaSing
effort and thought treadmill that
never stops for him while life remains
Go where he will, he cannot escape its
operation. Every piece of machinery
he sees suggests something to his busy
brain, and IN. fact, everything that lie
observes suggests an improving device
to him. But it is rarely or never plain
sailing with hiL in anything he under
takes. One of the things that troubles
him a great deal is the improvements
he is al the time making of his own
work; aud often, when he has secured
patent on some machine, his mind has
so far advanced in improved devices for
it that what he has secured is practically
value ess to him. One of the main
things for an inventor to learn in the in
yention Of machiGery is to have in every
machine as few parts as possible, to
make hem direct acting, and have the
machine or thing, as whole, easily
operated.
The new fields of invention are most
promi ing for the inventor. One Of
these is electricity. The best inventions
in this field have mostly been made id
the last fifteen years-largely indeed,
inside of the past decade. Here the field
is opening out and widening all the
time, as new applications of the electric
current or electric energy are being con-
stantly discovered. Already the in
ventors in this field can be counted by
the hundred, aud there are, erhaps,
more successful ones among them that
is, the ratio is greater than in any otner
fed Of invention just for moment
look at the prospect here presented. In
the electric current we have an element
of power shat Is more easily controlled
and handled, more easily dilfused over
large areas, more adaptable to greater
variety OF purpose, than any other Of
the forces of nature within our control.
1t will heat our houses, do our cooking,
furnish US with light, and convey power
anywhere that we may desire it to aud
in any proportion we may call for. This
covers wide range of application, but
it by no means exhausts the uses and
purposes to which electricity eau be ap,
piled, and this field, it will be seen, ia
therefore a most promising one to the
young inventor