Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1894-06-14
PRIZES ON PATENTS,
How to Get twenty-five Hun
dred Dollars for Nothing.
The winner has n Clear GILT ora
Small Fortune, and the Losers
Have Patents that may
Bring them in still
More.

Would you like to make twenty-five nun
dred dollars? Ifyou would, read carefully
what follows and you may see way 10 90 u.
The Press Claims Company devotes much
attention to patents. 1t has handled thous-
ands of applications for Inventions out IL
wouId like to handle thousands more. There
ia nlentv of inventive talent in this country,
needing nothing but n c Tag m Ell
to produce practical results That enconr'
agemcnt the Press Claims Company pro-
poses to give.
NOT SO HARD AS IT SEEMS..,
A patent strikes most people as an appall'
ingly formidable thing. The idea Is that an
inventor must he a natural genius, like Edi-
son or Bell that he must put years to deiVing
in complicated mechanical problems ano
that he must spend fortune on delicate ex-
perimen,s before he can get new de L., 70
patentablc degree of perfection. rms de'
ius,on The company desires to dlspel. 1t de-
sjres to get into the head of the public clear
comprehension of the tact that it is not the
great, complex, and expensive Inventions
that bring the best returns to their authors
but tile little, simple and cheap 0nes-tne
things that seem so absurdly trivial that the
citizen would feel somewhat ashamed OF
bringing them to the attention OF the f"ten'
Office.
Edison says that the profits he has received
from the patents on all his marvellous 'hven-
lions have not been sufficient topay the cost
of his experiments. But the man VINO con
ceiyed the idea of fastening bit OF ruopcr
cord to chid's ball. so that it would come
back to his hand when thrown made Tor
tune out of his scheme. The modern sew
iug-machne is a miracle OF 'ngenunyw!:n
product of the toll of Hundreds Of busy brains
through hundred and fifty years, but tue
whole brilliant result rests upon the simple
device Of putting the eye of the needle al the
point instead Of the other end.
THE LITTLE THINGS THE
MOST VALUABLE.
Comparatively few people regard them
selves as inventors, but almost everybody
has been struck, at one time or another,
with ideas that seemed calculated to REFUGE
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 so that they could be Slid up
and down without breaking the passengers
backs?" exclaims the traveller. III were
running the road would make them IN snc'l
way"
What was the man that made this sauce
pan thinking of!' grumbles the COOK. he
have known how it ought to have been hXed.
Hang such a collar button !! growls the
man who is late for breakfast. off were in
the business I'd make buttons that wouldn't
slip OUT or break off, or gouge out the oack
ofmy neck
And then the various sufferers forget about
their grievances and begin to think OF some
thing else. Ifthey would sit down at the
next convenient opportunity, put their IDEAS
about Car windows, sauccpans, and collar
buttons into practical shape, and then apply
for patents, they might find themselves as
independently wealthy as the man who in
vented the iron umbrella 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 is in them,
the Press Claims Company has resolved to
offer prize
TO llle person who submits to
1t the simplest and most prom
Using inventiOn from IL CONNER.
cinl point of view, the company
will give $4,000 in cash, in adj
dition to refunding the fees for
securing the patent.
Ii will also advertise the In
ventiOn free Ofcharge.
This offer is subject to the following con-
ditions:
Every competitor must obtain patent tor
his invention through the company. He
must first apply for a preliminary search,
the cost of which will be five dollars. Should
this search show his invention to be unpat.
entabIe, he can withdraw without further ex
pense. Otherwise he will be expected to
complete his application and take out pat
ent IN the regular way, The total expense,
including Government and Bureau fees, will
be seventy dollars. For this, whether he Sc
cures the prize o. not, the inventor will have
patent that ought to be valuable property
to HIM. The prize will be awarded by a jury
consisting of three reputable patent attorn-
eys of Washington. Intending competitors
should fill out the following blank, and for.
ward it with their application
II submit the within described, invention
in competition for the Twenty-Five Hundred
Dollar Prize offered by the Press Claims
Company
No Blanks in this Competition.
This is competition of rather an unusual
nature 1t Is common to offer prizes for the
best story, or picture, or architectural plan,
all the competitors risklng the loss of their
labor and the successful one merely selling
his for the amount of the prize. But the