The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1893-05-25
on Patents.
How to Get TVenty-F Five Hundred
Dollars for Nothing.
The Winner has a Clear Gift of a
Small Fortune, and the Losers .
Have Patents that may
Bring them in Still
More.

would you like to make twenty-five
hundred dOllarsY IL you would, read
carefully what follows aud you may see
Il way to do 1t.
The Press Claims Company devotes
much attention to patents. 1t has ham
died thousands of applications for in
ventions, but 1t would like to handle
thousands more. There is plenty OF
inventive talent at large In this country,
needing nothing but encouragement to
produce practical results. That en-.
courageme.i 1t the Press Claims Company
proposes to give,
NOI 81 HARD AS TT SEEMS.
A patent strikes most people as an ap-
palliDgly formidable thing. The idea is
that the inventor must be q natural
genius, like Edison or Bell; that he
must devote years to delving In compll-
Gated mechanical problems and that he
must spend a fortune on delicate expert
ments before he can get a new device to
u %patentabie degree OF perfection. This
delusiOn the company desires to dispel.
1t desires to get Tito the head of the
public u clear comprehension Of the fact
that 1t is not the great, complex, and
expensive inventions that bring the best
returns to their authors, but the little,
simple and cheap ones-thc things
that seem so absurdly trivial that
the average citizen would feel somewhat
ashamed of bringing them to the atten-
tion OF the Patent Office.
Edison says that the profits he has re-
ceived from the patents on all his mar
velous inventions have not been suffi-
cient tO pay the cost Of experiments.
But the man who conceived the idea of
fastening IA bit of rubber cord to Il child's
ball, SO that IL would come back to the
hand hen thrown, made q fortune
out Of his scheme. The modern sewing
machine is a miracle of ingeuuity--the
product of the toll of hundreds Of busy
brains through Il hundred and fifty
years, but the whole brilliant result rests
upon the simple device of putting the
eye of the needle at the point Instead Of
III the other end.
THE LITTLE THINGS THE MOST vALu-
ABLE.
Comparatively few people regard
themselves as inventors, but almost
| everybody has been struck, ut one time
or another, with ideas that seemed cal
| culated to reduce some Of the little fric-
lions of life. Usually such ideas are
dismissed without further thought.
"Why don't the railroad company make it's
car windows so that they can be slid up and
down without breaking the passengers backsy'
! exclai,ns the traveller. I'll 1 were running
| the road ! would make them such n way"
"what was the man that made this saucepan
thinking OF 2" %grumDles the cook. "He never
had to work over a stove, or he would have
known how 1t ought to have been iNed.'
"Hang such u collar %button," yrowls the
| man who Is late for breakfast. Ill l were in
the business / would make buttons that would
not slip out, or break on, or gouHt out the Dack
OF my neck
And then the various sufferers forget about
their grievances and begin, to think about
something else. Ii they would sit down nj the
next convenient opportunity, put their ideas
about car windows, saucepanb. and collar but.
tons into practical shape, ANA then apply ior
! patents, they might nnu themselves ~ inde.
| pendently wealthy AS the man VINO invented
the iron umbrella ring, or the one who patented
10 fifteen puzzle.
TEMPTING OFFER.
To induce people to keep track OF their bright
ideas and see what there Is IN them, the fress
Claims Company has resolved 10 oner u prize
10 the person who submits 10 II the sIinliest
anu most promising invention, from a CONNER
cial point OI view, the company VIII give
twenty-five hundred dollars IN cash. IN addi-
ton " refunding the ices for securing the
patent. II will also advertise the Invention
Tree OF chagc.
TINS oter IL subject to the following cOndi.
tons: livery competitor must obtain a patent
Tor ms new invention through The company.
tie must first apply Tor Il preliminary search
the cost OF which will be iive dollars. should
TINS search show his Invention TO be inpatient
able, he can Withdraw without any rur:
ther expense, Otherwise he viii be expected
10 complete ms application and take out Il pat
enl IN The regular way. The tOtaI EXPENSE. III
Guiding the government and bureau ices, will
be seventy dollars FOR tins. whether he Sc
cures the prize or not, the inventor Will have Il
patent that ought to be IA valuable property ~
INN. Ihe prize viii be awarded by a Jury con
sisiing Ot three reputable patent attorneys vi
Washington. Intending competitors should MI
I .A.- .l ..-s 80.