Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-11-03
PRIZES ON PATENTS
How % G~< Twenty-Five Hundred
Doil.ss for Noshing.
Ths winssr hAs . Clear Gin ef . Small
feraas. and tns Lessrs Have
psssnn that msy Bring
them IN SIN Moro

Would you Ike 10 make twenty i've
hundred doilarsf II you would, read
carefully what follows and you may 80
Z way % do Il.
The Press Claims Company dovotes
much attention 70 paientk II has hand
led fhousznds of applications Tor In
ventions bat Il would like b handle
thousands more. There 10 plsnty Of In
yentiss talent st large in this country,
meeting nothing but encouragement to
produce practical resuit& The en-
couragsment the Press claims Company
proposes 10 give.
Not % Hard - IL seems.
A patent strikes most people 80 an ap-
palling formidable thing. The idea 10
that az inventor must DO natural
genius, like Edison OF Bell; that he
must devote years 70 deivipg In complica-
ted mechanical problems and that he
must spend . fortune on delicate expert
ments before he can get new device to
. pstentabls degree OF perfection. This
dciusion the company desires to dispel
Ii desires to get into the head OF the
public clear comprehension, Of the fact
that il Is not the great. complex. and
expensive inventions that bring the best
returns 10 their authors. but the little.
simple. and cheap ones-the things that
seem 90 sbsurdly trivial that the aver
age citizen would feel somewhat ashamed
OF bringing them to the attention OF the
Patent Once.
Edison says that the profits he has re-
ccievsd from the patents on all his mar
velous inventions have not been sui
ficient to pay the cost Of his expert
ments- But the man who conceived the
idea Of fastening bit OF rubber cord to q
child's ball % that il would come back
To the hand when thrown. made for
tune out Of his scheme. The modern
sewing machine In miracleof ingenuity
tho product Of the toll Of hundreds OF
busy brains through q hundred and fifty
years, but the whole brilliant result rests
upon the simple device OF putting the
needle at the point instead OF 1t the
other end.
The Little Things the Most valu-
able.
Comparatively few people regard them
selves as inventors, but almost rybody
has been struck. at one time or another.
with ideas that seemed calculated to re-
duce some OF the little frictions OF life.
Usually such ideas are dismissed with
out further thought.
"Why don't the railroad company
make its car windows % that they can
be slid up and down without breaking
the passengers backsf" exclaims the
traveller. If / were running the road
i would make them in such q way"
"What was tho man that made this
ssusepan thinking off" grumblss the
cook. HE never had 10 work over Q
stove. or he would have known how it
ought TO have been fixed"
"Hang such collar button - growls
the man who 10 late for breakfast. IF
were in the business I'd make buttons
that wouldn't slip out or break OF, or
gouge out the back OF my neck
And then theyarious sufferers forget
about their grievances and begin to
think Of something else. IL they would
sit down at the next convenient oppor-
tunity, put their ideas about car win
ldows. saucepans. and collar buttons into
practical shape, and then apply for pat
ents, they might find themselves as in
dependently wealthy as the man who in
vented the iron umberella ring, or the
one who patented the fifteen puzzle.
A Tempting Offer.
To induce people to keep track of
their bright ideas and see what, there ID
in them. the Press Claims Company has
resolved to offer prize.
To the person who submits to il the
simplest and most promising invention,
from a commercial point OF view. the
company will give twenty-five hundred
dollars in cash, in addition to refunding
the fees for securing tho patent.
Ii will ALEC advertise the invention free
OF charge.
This offer is subject to the following
conditionss
Every competitor must obtain a patent
for his invention through the company.
He must first apply for n preliminary
search. the cost OK which will be five dol
lars. Should this search show his In
vention TO be unpatentable. he can with
draw without further expense Other
wise he will be expected 10 compleate
his application and take out patent In
the regular way. The total expense. In.
Guiding Government aud Bureau fees,
will be seventy dollars. For this,
whether no secures the prize or not. the
inventor viii have a patent that ought
10 be valuable property to him. The
prize will be awarded by jury consist
ing Of three reputable attorneys Of
Washington. Intending competitors
should I'LL out the following blank. and
forward IL with their application:
- 1eq3
Il submit the within described inven.
ton in competition Tor the Twenty 1--WE
hundred Dollar Prize offered by the
Press Claims Company.