Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-09-07
PRIZES ON PATENTS.
How to Get Twenty-Five Hum
dred Dollars for Nothing.
The Winner has u Gle ar Gilt off
Small Fortune, and the
Losers Have Patents that
May Bring Them in
Still More,

dred dollars If you would, read carefulf9
what follows and you may see II way to 10 it.
The Press Claims Company devotes much
attention to patents. 1t has handled thaus.
ands of application for inventions but il
would like to handle thousands moro. Thsrs
lie plenty of inventive talent at large in tkh
country, needing nothing but encouragement
to produce practical results. That sncour-.
agemont the Press Claims Company PROF.
poses TO give.
NOT so HARD AS IT SEIaIS
q patent strikes most people as q L sppa.l-
ingy formidable thing. Tho idoa is that an
inventor must be a natural genius, like Edi-
son or Bell; that he must devote wears to
delving in complicated mechan cal problems
and that he must spend a fortune on delicate
experiments before he can get new devioa
to a patentable degree of perfection This
delusien the company desires to dispsl II
desires to get into the head OF the public q
clenr comprehension of the fact shat it ia
not the great complex and expensive in.
ventions that bring tbs beet returns 20 their
authors, but the little simple, aud cheap
one-the things that seem so absurdly
trivial that the average citizen would feel
somewhat ashamed OF bringing them to the
attention of the Patent Office.
Edison says that the proita he has re-
ceved from the patents on all his mar veious
inventions have not been sufficient to pay
the cost of hs experiments. But the mau
who conceived the idea of fastening a bit Of
rubber cord to child's ball 50 that IL
would come back to the hand when thrown.
made fortune out OF his scheme The
modern sewing machine is "a mirecls of in-
genuity-the product of the toll OF hundreds
OF busy brains through a 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 at tha
other end.
THE LITTLE THINGS THE Lost YAL-
GABLE.
Comparatively few people regard them-
selves as inventors, but almost everybody
has been struck, at time or another.
with ideas that seemed calculated to reduce
some Of the little frictions of life. Usually
such ideas are dismissed without further
thought.
why don't the railroad company make
its car windows 80 that they be slid up
and down without breaking the passengers
backsY" exclaims the traveller. III | wers
running the road | would make them III
such a way
What was the man that mode this sauce,
pan thinking off, grumbes the cookn
He never had to work over stove, or be-
would have known how it ought to have
been fixed.
Hang such collar button ~ groRls the
man who is late for breakfast IF wera
in the business I'd make buttons That's
wouldn't slip out, break off, or Eouge
out the back Of my neck. ."
And then the various sufferers forget
about their grievances and begin to think Of
something elss. II they would sit down a!
the next convenient opportunity, put theis
ideas about car windows, ssucepans, and
collar buttons into practical shape, and
then apply for patents, they might find
themselves as Independently wealthy as the
man who invented the iron umbrella ringt
or ths one who patented the fifteen puzzle.
TEMPTING OFFER.
To induce people to keep track Of theie
bright ideas and sse what there is in them,
the Press Claims Company has resolved to
offer a prize.
To the person tcho submits 10 it tho.
simplest and most promistng isrentions
from commercial point nf 'ieic, the con-.
pany lctH gi1e t,centy.ttve hundred dollars
in cash, Ia addition to reJaadtng tho
fees for securing the patent
II ieiU also adrertise the inrention fref
Of charge.
This offer is subject to the following conc
ditions
Every competitor must obtain a nateps
for his invention through the company. He
must iirst apply for preliminary search.
the cost of which Will be five doIlars
Should this search show his in ven ton to bs
unpatentable, he withdraw witaour
further expense. Otherwise he VIII be az.
pected to complete his application and take,
out patent in regular way. The total ex-
pense including Government aud Bureau
fees, Will be seventy dollars. For this,
whether be secures the prizs or not, the in
ventor will have patent that ought to bs
valuable property to him. The prize will
be awarded by jury consisting Of threes
reputable patent attorneys Of Washington.
Intending competitors should iii out ths
following blank and forward it with their
applications
"-,, 1898.
81 submit the within described invention
In competition for the Twenty five Hun
bred Dollar Prize offered by the Pre,sl
Claims Company