Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-05-09

1Utm Dull 4Ot0s
Would you like to make twenty-five
hundred dollars? II you would. read
carefully what follows and you may see
a way to do it.
The Press Claims Company devotts
much attention to patents. 1t has ham
died thousands OF applications for inven-
tons, but it would like to handle thou
sards 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 new device to pat
entable degree Of perfection. This delu-
sion the company desires to dispel. 1t
desires to get into the head of the public
clear comprehension Of the fact that it
Is not the great, complex, and expensive
Inventions that bring the best returns to
their auth.rs, but the little, simple and
cheap ones-the things that seem so ab-
surdly trivial that the average citizen
would feel somewhat ashamed of bring
ing them to the attention of the Patent
Office.
i Edison says that the profits he has re-
ceived from the patents on all his mar
velous inventions have not been suffi-
cicnt to pay the cost of bis experiments.
But the man who conceived the idea of
fastening bit of rubber cord to child
} ball, so that it would return back to the
hand when thrown, made fortune out
Of his scheme. The modern sewing ma
chine Is 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 OF
another, with ideas that seemed calcu.
lated to reduce some of the little fric-
| tons Of life. Usually such ideas are
dismissed without further thought.
"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. eff were running the road
would make them in such way"
"What was the man that made this
. saucepan thinking OFF," grumbles tho
cook. "He never had to work over
stove, or he would have known how ii
ought to have been fixed"
"Hang such collar button! !" growls
the man who is late for breakfast. eli
: We're in the business Id make buttons
that wouldn't slip out, or break off, OF
gOuge out the back of my neck"
And then the various sufferers forget
about their grievances and begin to think
of something else. If they would sit
. down ut the next convenient opportunity,
3 put their ideas about car windows sauce
pans, and collar buttons into practical
shape, and then apply for patents, they
might find themselves rs independently
wealthy as the man who invented the
iron umbrella ring, or the one who
patented the fifteen puzzle.
TEMPTING OFFER.
To induce people to keep track of their
bright ideas and see what there is in
them. the Press Claims Company has
resolved to offer prize.
To the person ,sho submits to ii
the simplest and most promising in.
rention. from a commercial point Of
vie'c, the company aciU give tacenty>
.fve hundred dollars in cash, in al.
dition to retanding the fees for secur.
ing the patent.
1t aoiU also advertise the inren
ton free Of charge.
This offer is subject to the following
conditions:
Every competitor must obtain a patent
for his invention through the company.
He must first apply for a preliminary
search, the cost of which will be five dol
lars. Should this search show his inven-
ton to be unpatentable, he can withdrew
without further expense. Otherwise he
will be expected to complete his applica-
ton and take out a patent in the regular
way. The total expense, including gov
ernment and bureau fees, will be seventy
dollars. For this, whether he secures
the prize or not, the inventor will have
a patent that ought to be valuable
property to him. The prize will be
awarded by a jury consisting of three
reputable patent attorneys of Washing
ton. Intending competitors should fill
out the following blank, and forward 1t
with their application:
"--, -, 1898.
81 submit the within described inven-
ton in competition for the Twenty five
Hundred Dollar Prize offered by the
PreSs Claims COmnanv ,,