The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1893-06-22
AMERICAN INVENTOR.
What He Has Done to Help HUI
manity.
His invention Eventually Becomes = Gift
to the Masses, and the Producing
Power Of the World Is In
-. creased by HIS Genius.

. creased ey " Genius; y.
OF all the countries in the world,
none is so prolific in inventions as
America. There are several reasons
patents, and their cheapness, holds
out to every man the chance of Great
ing for himself piece of property by
the exercise of his brains The high
rate of wages insures the inventor of q
labor-saving appliance a patient hear
ing from capitalists, while the inde-
pendence of thought and feeling which
pervades all classes leads to original
views and to bold attacks on difficult
subjects. Hence every one is .
potential inventor, especially If he
have an acquaintance with science or
manufacture. Whatever a mans oc-
cupation, he must daily find himself
called upon to do or to suffer many
things from which he would gladly
emancipate himself. The proverb
says: There is remedy for every i'll
but death" and, seeing how many ills
there are, the opportunities for devils
ing remedies are not only numberless,
but they are present to all. The un-
enterprising bear with patience the
inconvenience that surround them,
but those of active mind busy them
selves in devising expedients to
tighten the burden of life, and look
for their reward under the provisions
of the patent law. The inventor is
the greatest benefactor of the human
race, and especially of that part of ii
which is INDECENT; he is the real friend
of the poor man, and indeed almost
his only friend.
It is, according to London Engineer
ing, when we compare the condition
of the poor to-day with that of pre-
vious ages that we see how much tho
inventor has done for humanity. To
know how hard life mus have been
before the advent of machinery, we
have only to imagine a family set down
on an island, and called upon to pro-
vide all their food and clothing with
out the aid of modern mechanical ap-
pliances-to plow and reap; to thrash,
winnow, and grind; to raise cattle, kill
and dress them; to shear, card, spin,
and weave their wool; to make and
mend their clothes; to provide soap,
candles, tools, cutlery, earthenware,
paper, pencils, nails, medicines, leather,
boots, ropes, and the thousand and one
things that are needed in home.
Evidently it could not be done, even if
labor were continued from dawn to
eve, and then extended far into the
night. And this under the favorable
conditions of yoeman's family with
out rent to pay. How much worse
must it have been under the exactions
of a feudal landlord! Two-thirds of
what we consider necessaries must
have been omitted from the list of that
day, and to sore toll must have been
added scanty fare and insufficient
clothing.
During the term Of his patent the in
ventor, or his assignee, may make
money out of it, but when it expires it
practically becomes gift to the
masses. The producing power of the
world has been increased manifold,
without any corresponding increase in
the consuming power of the upper
classes. The wealthy do not eat more
oASou ddu hCdo Go-ddy Cildu Illey ulQ
years ago. Yet the output of these
commodities has been vastly aug
mented, and they are consumed in
large quantities by section of the
population which once seldom got flesh
food and often went short of bread.
And so Of nearly every other industry;
the working classes take the bulk of
what is produced, for the very good
reason Tat they are able, by the aid
of machinery, to turn out several
times as much work in day as could
their forefathers. At the same time
that their production has increased,
their actual labor has diminished. A
man with heavy job in foot lathe
not only worked slowly, but painfully.
When his long day was ended every
faculty was exhausted, and he tramped
home to rest, expended both in body
and mind. Now he looks on while the
lathe does the work, and in the even
ing discusses the provisions of the en-
ployers' liability act. His hours, too,
are shorter than they were, while the
of gold which has taken
place has enormously increased his
wages by augmenting their purchasing
power.