The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-06

thus saving much time. She is said to
| have sold it to a typewriter company,
which thought il worth buying, but has
not used it.
Children have taken out number of
| profitable patents The youngest in
| ventor on record is Donald Murray Muir
ply, of St. John, Canada, who at years
| of age obtained from the United States
| exclusive rights in a sounding toy Ma
bel Howard, of Washington, al IL years,
| invented an ingenious game for her inva-
| lid brother and got patent for IT, Ar
thur G.. Smith, of Richwoods, H., at II
years, invented and patented a rowing
apparatus. When only IL years old. Ben
jamin +. Hamilton, of Boston, took out
patents on a number of devices for cleo
trio and elevated railways. A dispute
over a contract, which he desired to es-
cape from on the ground of his minority,
made an interesting case not long ago be-
fore the commissioner of patents. Sam
uel Ker is years old, has patented a self
| feeding pen. Other boys have invented
| useful devices for electric signaling, tel
! ephOning and cigdrette-making George
c. Pyle, of Wilmington, Del, at the age
! of lS patented a machine which turns
| out sixty horse shoes a minute. He sold
it for sum sufficient to lift the mortgage
| off his fathers home. In fact it was this
purpose which inspired him to undertake
the task of invention.
| INVENTING A PROFESSION.
Formerly inventions were nearly al
| ways made haphazard. People hit upon
them accidentally. Now the discovery of
| new ideas in mathematics is profession.
The inventor is a skilled man, employed
\ by a firm of manufacturers with the un-
destanding that all his inventions shall
belong to them. The Westinghouse Com
pany, for example, picks up trained cleo
| tricians all over the world, sets them to
| work, and gives them every convenience
| for producing new industrial applica-
tions of electricity. These salaried inven-
| tors are eXcellently paid. Electricity is
the great field for invention now Twenty
| thousand electrical patents have been
| granted since 1880
The patented devices utilized in shoe
making are more numerous and more val
liable than those employed in any other
| industry or art.
This country turns out 100000 sewing
| machines every year, and these do the
| work of 100000 women. Mr. Platt,
| speaking in the United States Senate in
1888, said that twothirds of the
| wealth Of the United States was
| due to patented inventions. Few known
| fortunes exceed that of Cyrus
| Mccormick, inventor of the machine har-
| vester who died worth $40, 100000 The
| Westinghouse air brake has earned mil
| lions of dollars. Bell, the telephone man,
| is multi-millionaire. Edison, like Bell
| and Mccormick, began life poor. He is
worth at least 81, 100000 to-day, and prob
ably much more.
SIR HENRY BEssEMER's DISCOVERIES
| and many hOnors. He came TO London
poor boy from country village. In two
years he was pursuing a method OF his
| own invention for taking copies of antique
| and modern bas-reliefs III a manner that
| enabled him TO stamp them on cardboad,
thus turning out an infinite number of
| embossed copies of the highest works of
art at small cost. This process, if made
known to the INSCRIPTIONS, would have
opened wide door to fraud; for by it's
| means there was not q government stamp
nor paper seal of a corporate body which
| any common clerk could not forge in a
| few moments to absolute perfection The
| disclosure of it at that time would have
shattered the whole system of the Brit
ish' stamp office. The secret has been
| carefully guarded to this day. At the
| period referred to it was reckoned that
| the British government lost $500 600 an
| nualy by the transfer of old stamps to
new deeds and other legal papers, the
| tax being thus evaded Bessemer in
| vented a new system, which was adopted
| by the government, but he never got even
| thanks for it.
THE PATENT OFFICE.
Not so many cranks besiege the patent
| of1ce now as formerly. The attorneys
| through whom they make their applica-
| tlons try to shut them off. No other in
| VentOrs value their ideas so highly as they
! do. Commonly they are afraid to reveal
| their plans, lest they be stolen. The per-
| petual motion lunatic is always shopping
around the great building at 9th and +
streets, though he is set upon with steady
determination If the words perpetual
notion are mentioned in his papers his
| money is sent back to him and his appeal
is firmly declined To get around this
difficulty he usually calls his machine
motor" The final resort for getting rid
of him is to demand working model as a
condition necessary before his claim can
| de further considered. That stumps him
every time.
The flying machine cranl1s likewise
bloom perennial Some Of them would
navigate the air after the manner of birds
with folding wings and gigantic tail
feathers. Others rely on balloons, with
propellers. Others yet depend on revolv-
ing falls, both to lift them in the air and
TO give an impulse in any desired direc-
ton. A promising device is a kite of
vast area, with a fish tail for steering
and basket suspended beneath. Anoth-
er is an air tricycle., to be padded with
the feet.
Perhaps the meanest of all swindlers
are those who prey on poor inventors.
They look over the Gazette issued by the
patent office every week, and get the
names of those to whom patents have
been newly granted Then they write to
each one, saying: eve see that you have
got good thing. We know certain par
ties who will put it on the market, sup
plying the necessary capital. Send $50 to
cover the cost of negotiations" The in
ventor perhaps borrows the money and
forwards it by.mail Subsequently he IS
informed that Sl5 more will be required,
and in this way he is worked until moth
ing more can be got out Of him. A man
will often write to the patent office in
good faith, saying that he has something
great and asking the government to put
up the cash required for placing il on the
market But Uncle Sam does not do
Business that way