Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1895-08-01
PRIZES ON PATENTS.
How to Get twenty-five Hun
dred Dollars for Nothing.
The winner has q Clear Gilt Oh I"
Small Fortune, and the Losers
Have Patents that NAV
Bring them I'm still
More.

Would YOU like to make twenty-five hun
dred dollarss Ifyou would, read careioiiy
what follows and you may zee a way 10 90 H.
The Press Claims Company devotes much
.tt.ntion to patents. 1t has handled thous-
ands of applications for inventions, but 1t
would like to handle thousands more. There
Ia nIentv of inventive talent in this country,
needing nothing but n c OF ra M en-
to produce practical results That encour-
apement the Press Claims Company pro-
poses to give. -
NOT so HARD AS 1T SEEMS.
A patent strikes most people as an appall'
inglv formidable thing The idea is that an
inventor must be natural genius, ike Edl-
son or Bell that he must put years 10 ociVihs
In complicated mechanical problems ano
that he must spend a fortune on dei!ca!e eA'
periments before he can get new device 10
a patentable degree of perfection. ms Ge'
luslon tue company desires 10 disPei. ~ ue.
sires to get into the head OF the puDi1c c'ear
comnrehension of the fact that it is not the
rreaf complex, and expensive inventions
thst bring the best returns to their authors
hut the little, simple, and cheap ones-the
things that seem 80 absurdly trivial That thc
citizen would feel somewhat ashamed OF
bringing them to the attention OF the Patent
SAASNA w
Office.
Edison saws that the profits he has received
from the patents on all his marvellous ihven-
lions have not been sufficient topay the cost
IF his experimcnts. But the man who CON
ceiyed the idea of fastening bit OF ruooer
cord to a child's ball, SO that it would come
back to his hand when thrown made 1or-
tune out of his scheme. The modern sew
inp.machine is miracle OF ingenulty-thc
nroduct 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 neeaie az 'he
point instead Of the other end.
THE LITTLE THINGS THE
MOST VALUABLE.
COMPARATIVELY few people regard them
selves as inventors, but almost everybody
mas been struck, at one time or ahother'
with ideas that seemed calculated to reduce
some of the little frictions OF life. Usually
such ideas are dismissed Wnhou' l"r'hcr
thought.
"Why don't the railroad company make
its car windows SO that they could be slid up
and down without breaking the passengers
backse" excaims the traveller. III l were
running the road would make them IN such
q way"
"What was the man that made this sauce
nan thinking ots' grumbles the cook. "Hc
never had to work oyer stoye, or he Wouiu
have known how il ought to have been liked
Hang such collar button y grows the
man who is late for breakfast. "lf were IN
the business I'd make buttons that wouldn't
slip ont or break off, or gouge out the oack
Of my neck"
And then the various sufferers forget about
their grievances and begin to think OF some
thing else. If they would sit down at the
next convenient opportunity put their IDEAS
about Car windows, saucepans, ana co'lar
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.
ATTEMPTING OFFER.
To induce people to keep track of their
bright ideas and see what there is In them
the Press Claims Company has reso we'd to
offer prize.
TO the person who submits to
1t the simplest and most prom.
Using inventiOn.f from Il CONNER.
cial point Of view, the company
will give So 500 in cash, in ad.
dition to refunding the fees for
securing the patent.
twill also advertise the In.
ventiOn free Ofcharge.
This offer is subject to the following con-
ditinns:
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.
eatable, 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
a patent that ought to be a 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:
-" , -, 1898.
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
Press Claims Company's offer is something
entirely different Each person is asked
merely to help himself, and the one who
helps himself to the best advantage is to be
rewarded for doing it. The prize is only a
stimulus to do something that would be well
worth doing It. The architect whose com.