Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-05-18


hundred dollars? II you would, read
carefully what follows and you may sec
way to do it.
The Press Claims Company devote
much attention to patents. 1t has ham
died thousands of applications for inven-
tions, but 1t would like to handle thou
sands more. There is plenty Of inven-
tive talent at large in this country, need
ing nothing but encouragement to pro-
duce practical results. That encourage
ment the Press Claims Company pro-
poses to give.
NOT so HARD As IT SEEMS.
A patent strikes most people as an
appallingly formidable thing. The idea
is that an inventor must be natural ge-
MUS, like Edison or Bell; that he must
devote years to delving in complicated
mechanical problems and that he must
spend fortune on delicate experiments
before he can get a new device to pat
entable degree Of perfection. This delu-
sion the company desires to dispel. 1t
desires to get into tl.e head of the public
II clear comprehension of the fact that it
is not tho great, complex, and expensive
inventions that bring the best returns to
their authors, but the little, simple and
cheap Ones-the things that seem so alb
surdly trivial that the average citizen
would feel somewhat ashamed of bring
ing them to the attention Of the Patent
Office.
Edison says that the profits he has re-
ceived from the patents on all his mar
isDVyn tpny
cicnt to pay the cost of bis experiments.
But the man who conceived the idea of
fastening a bit of rubber cord to child's
ball, so that it would return back to the
hand when thrown, made a fortune out
of his scheme. The modern sewing ma
chine is a miracle of ingenuity--the pro-
duct of the toll of hundreds of busy
brains through 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 ut the
other end.
THE LITTLE THINGS THE MOST VALUABLE.
Comparatively few people regard them
selves as inventors, but almost every
body has been struck, at one time or
another, with ideas that seemed calcu.
lated to reduce some Of the little fric-
tons Of life. Usually such ideas are
"Why don't the railroad company
make its car windows so that they can
be slid up and down without breaking
the passengers backs?'' cxclaims the
traveller. "If were running the road
! would make them in such way"
; "What was the man that made thit
. saucepan thinking OFF," grumbles thu
cook. "He never had to work over .
stove, or he would have known how il
ought to have been fixed"
'Hang such collar button!" growli
the man who is late for breakfast. 81
{ were in the business I'd make button
that wouldn't slip out, or break off, o.
gouge out the back of my neck"
And then the various sufferers forge
, about their grievances and begin to thinl
. down ut the next convenient opportunity
put their ideas about car windows, sauce
pans, and collar buttons into practica
. shape, and then apply for patents, they
: might find themselves rs independently
r wealthy as the man who invented tn,
, iron umbrella ring, or the one VIII,
patented the fifteen puzzle.
TEMPTING OFFER.
= To induce people to keep track of thei
} bright ideas and see what there is il
, them. the Press Claims Company ha
. resolved to Offer prize.
TO the person sehO submits to i
the simplest and most promising in
ce,ation. from a commercial point O
! vie,c, the company soilI give t,centy,
toe hundred dollars IN cash, in al
!. dition to refanding the fees for secur
. ing the patent.
1t aciN also advertise the inven
: ton free Of charge.
: This offer is subject to the following
> conditions:
Every competitor must obtain paten
for his invention through the company
He must first apply for preliminary
search, the cost Of which will be five dol
lars. Should this search show his inven
7 ton to be unpatentable. he can withdraw
without further expense. Otherwise h,
3 will be expected TO complete his applica
ton and take out patent in the regular
way. The total expense, including gov
eminent and bureau fees, will be sevent,
dollars. For this, whether he secures
} the prize or not, the inventor will hav.
a patent that ought to be a valuabl,
!. property to him. The prize will b,
awarded by jury consisting of thre,
reputable patent attorneys OF Washing
|, ton. Intending competitors should fiji
. out the following blank, and forward l
with their application:
i 49,, -, 1898.
81 submit the within described inven
. ton in competition for the Twenty -fiv
Hundred Dollar Prize offered by tn
3 Press Claims Company"
NO BLANKS IN THIS COMPETITION.
This Is competition of rather an un
D usual nature. 1t is common to offe
] prizes for the best story, or picture, o
? architectural plan, all the competitor
risking the loss of their labor and tn
successful one merely selling his for tn
amount Of the prize. But the Pres
Claims COmpany's offer is somethin,
. entirely different. Each person is aske,
!. merely to help himself, and the one VIII
: helps himself to the best advantage Is L
J be rewarded for doing it. The prize
only stimulus to do something tina
l Ho, 1t. III Il