The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-09-07
THE INVENTORS LIFE.
r Is Not an Existence Of Unal-
loyed Joy and PROFIT.
Tho Great Majority End Their Days In
Povcrty-Some Notable Exceptions
Fo-tanes in Little ThIngs-An
Examiners Advice.
Especial Washington letter.

Especial Washington letter.
Experienced examiners in the pat
ent Office say that there is more woe
than joy in the life of an inventor.
Very few of the men of ideas who have
enriched the world with their discov-
cries have benefited themselves fnan-
cially. Nevertheless, the well-known
fact that some inventors have become
millionaires stimulates other delivers in
the field of invention.
One of the examiners in the patent
office who was in a reminiscent mood
recently recalled the names of some
of the successful discoveries Of this
country. The man who invented
wooden pegs for shoes was b. f. Stur-
tevant. The idea brought him millions
of dollars. He lived near Boston, and
went crazy later on. The barb wire
fence was worth more than s., ZOO, OOC
in royalties to its originator. Former
iy many eggs got broken on their way
to market by rail. A countryman con-
ceived the plan of packing them in
trays of pasteboard, with a separate
III W HUH
stand upright. The happy thought
was worth fortune, and such trays are
now universally used. The student of
patents knows these facts. He permits
his imagination to picture his future as
that of a Monte Cristo, and dreams his
life away in the building of air castles.
1t is no wonder that for years and
years the patent Office has been in
tested with cranks. The story of Sir
Henry Bessemer alone is an incentive
to the poor and ambitious young men
who believe that they possess inventive
genius. He came to London a poor
boy from country village. In two
years he was persuing a method of his
own invention for taking copies of an
tique and modern bas-reliefs in 4 man
ner that enabled him to stamp them on
cardboard, thus turning out an inf
mite number of embossed copies of the
highest works of art at small cost.
This process, if made known to the IN
scrupulous, would have opened wide
door to fraud; for by its means there
was not a government stamp nor paper
seal of a corporate body which any
common clerk could not forge in few
moments to absolute perfection. The
disclosure of it at that time would
have shattered the whole system of the
British stamp Office. The secret has
been carefully guarded to this day. At
the period referred to it was reckoned
that the British government lost $780,
OO0 annually by the transfer of old
stamps to new deeds and other legal
papers, the tax being thus evaded.
BeSsemer invented new system, which
was adopted by the government, but he
never got even thanks for it. But so
much wealth and SO many great honors
were showered upon him that he cheer
fully donated the latter product of his
brain to his country.
The patent Office library contains the
histories of successful inventors, and
these books are handled and thuInbed
by the cranl1s who see in these stories
the reflection of the anticipated frui-
ton of the hopes of their daily lives.
But the number of these monomaniacs
about the patent offia,s and library is
appreciably diminishing every year.
The attorneys through whom they
make their applications try to shut
them of. No other inventors value
their ideas so highly as they do. Com
monty they are afraid to reveal their
plans lest they be stolen. The per-
petral-motion lunatic is always around
The great building at Ninth an Z
streets II the words perpetual mo-
lion" are mentioned in his papers his |
money Is sent back to him and his ap-
peal is fr,2ly declined. To get around !
this difficulty he usually calls his ma
chino 4 motor" The final resort for /
getting rid of him is to demand work |
ing model as a condition necessary be-
fore his claim can be further consid- |
cred. That silcCees him every time. |
But while the working model cannot /
be produced, the wheels continue to
revolve in the lunatic's head, and he
remains OF the same perpetual motion
opinion still; but he ceases to annoy
the examiners and other officials.
There are seine scrap books down in
the patent Office basement which tell
wonderful stories of the great fortunes
which have grown out of small ideas.
There are undeveloped gold mines in
the brains of men. if they could only
strike tie proper lead" in their pros
pecting. The scrap books tell Us that
a little metal paper fastener made
wealth for Mr. McGil who invented it
In 1867. The rubber pencil Zip was de-
yised by Philadelphia man, Hymen T.
sslpnan, in ISIS. 1t earned S10O, GOO for
him 1t was in the same year that
George 4. Mitchell got patent for the
metallic shoe tip. His application for
exclusive rights covered shoe tips of
silver and all other metals, but copper
was preferred. From that time on
every boot maker who sold shoes with