Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1895-06-20
PRIZES ON PATENTS.
How to Get twenty-five Hun.
dred Dollars for Nothing.
The winner has . Clear GILT ora
small Fortune, and the Losers
Have Patents that NAV
Bring them i'm still
More.

Is plenty OF luVcuIlVo s"ioAS IA 'AA'~ ~-s
needing nothing but c ourage m en-
a., nrn1uce practical results. That encOur-
srement the Press Claims Company pro-
poses to give: -
NOT SO HARD AS 1T SEEMS,
A patent strikes most people as an appail.
inply formidable thing. The idea 10 tnst an p
inventor must be q natural genius, like Edi-
aor, or Bell that he must put years TO delving
IN complicated mechanical problems ana
that he must spend fortune on delicate ex'
neriments before he can get new device 10
: patentable degree Of perfection. This de-
lus,on the company desires to dlspel. IL de-
aires 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 authors
Int the little, simple, and cheap ones-the
things that seem so absurdly trivial that the
citizen would feel somewhat ashamed OF
bringing them to the attention OF the fa'en'
ONCE. :uo.,
Edison saws that the profits he has received
from the patents on all bis marvellous 'nVen.
tions have not been sufficient to pay the cost
of bis experiments. But the man VINO con
ceived the idea of fastening bit OF rupper
cord to a child's ball, so that 1t wouio come
back to his hand when thrown maue ior'
tune out of his scheme. The modern sew
nc.machine ia miracle OF ingenuIty-the
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 needle al 'he
point instead of the other end.
THE LITTLE THINGS THE
MOST VALUABLE.
Comporatively few people regard them
selves a. inventors, but almost everybody
mas been struck, at one time or another,
with ideas that seemed calculated to reduce
some of the little frictions of life. Usually
snch ideas are dismissed without further
thought
"Why don't the railroad company make
its car windows so that they could be Slid up
md down without breaking the passengers
backse" excaims the traveller. III were
running the road I would make them IN s'ch
"What was the man that made this sauce
pan thinking oi?' grumbes the cook. he
never had to work oyer stoYe, or ne Wo9ia
have known how it ought to have been nxeo.
"Hang such collar button r. growls the
man who is late for breakfast. I'LL were IN
the business I'd make buttons that wouldn't
slip out or break of, or gouge out the oack
Of my neck"
Anu tncQ VIC NuIIOuc cuACiOi W. 81 s'~'"'
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, 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.
TEMPTING OFFER.
To induce people to keep track of their
bright ideas and see what there Is in them,
the Press Claims Company has reso. wed TO
offer a prize.
TO the person who submits to
IL the simplest and most prom
Using invention, from u CONNER.
cial point Of view, the company
will give e 500 I'm cash, i'm ad-
ditiOn to refunding the fees for
securing the patent.
1t will also advertise the In.
ventiOn free Ofcharge.
This offer is subject to the following con-
dtions:
Every competitor must obtain patent tor
his invention through the company. He
must first apply for q preliminary search,
the cost of which will be five dollars. Should
this search show his invention to be unpat-
entable, he can withdraw without further ex.
pense. Otherwise he will be expected to
complete his application and take out a pat
ent In the regular way. The total expense.
including Government and Bureau fees, will
be seventy dollars For this, whether he &C.
cures the prize o: not, the inventor will have
a patent that ought to be valuable property
to him. The prize will be awarded by ajury
consisting of three reputable patent attorn-
eys of Washington. Intending competitors
should I'll 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 10 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