The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-01-19
THE PATENT OFFICE.

various departments are grouped about
the capitol very much as county offices
are grouped around the courthouse And
doesn't that congressman wish they
werel Stranger still, thousands of peo-
pie live here for years and never see
many of the stock sights. The other day
l entered tho patent Office for the first
time, and my main reason for going
was that many journalists have said that
the Office has never really been described,
and that no journalist can describe the
curious old models SO that reader can
understand the description without dia-
grams It is assumed, you know, that a
man fluent in words is dull in mechan-
les. Now, l thought l could do it, for 1
once wrote prize essay on Perpetual
Motion. - | took one look at the vast,
bewildering place and at once abandon
ed the idea. | have wheels enough in
my head already, thank you.
Nine Great Inventions.
They do not require models now. They
had 1000 tons or more of them ON hand
when the rule was made substituting
drawings, although there had been two
destructive fires in the institution. Still
there are very many interesting orig
inals, among them the first Howe sewing
machine, first typewriter, telephone,
Morse telegraph and cotton gin. They
were all shown at the Chicago Worlds
fair and are now standing on the upper
floor ready to be packed for the Atlanta
exposition. Those who have studied the
subject say there have been nine tran
scendently great and absolutely original
American inventiOnS-that is, inven-
tions not suggested by or in any manner
initiating anything already in use,
among them chloroform, the sewing
machine, airbrake, steamboat and cleo
trio telegraph.
A more surprising fact is that several
of the greatest inventions were never
patented. though it is certain that tho
inventors could have made millions by
so doing. And some of these inventors
died poor DIR. J. Marion Simms never
patented his splendid discovery in the
suture line, though experts in the Office
say it would have been cheap at 81, 0O0,-
900. Pasteur did not patent his mad
dog antidote. A little continuance for
bringing up a specimen of mud from the
bottom of the sea and now in general use
in deep soundings is supposed to have
been discovered by accident and was
never patented, as the inventor never
supposed it was of any value Nearly
all the pioneer inventors made fortunes
namely, Bell, Howe, Westinghouse
Pullman, possibly Edison and Others
Whitney lost what little he had on his
cotton gin, but recouped on an invention
in firearms and grew rich enough to sat
| isfy his modest desires. 1t is published
| that the holders of the Westinghouse
patents have recently sold them for
| $500, 900. Sir Henry Bessemer patented
at least one great invention yearly for
80 years. and then, in 1866, announced
| that, as the Bessemer steel process was
yielding him 91OO. 900 per year, he
would quit. Later, however, he began
again and took out several more valu-
able patents. Several men who made
| fortunes on patents have expended
! great deal OF their money in attempts at
aerial navigation, but not one on perpet-
ual motion.
The Oldest Patent.
On the first day of this year the Unit
ed States had granted 531, 619 patents
since July %, 1886, and the number be-
fore that cannot be ascertained exactly
on account of the destruction by fire and
cranky commissioner, who destroyed
most OF the correspondence before his
time. The oldest obtainable patent,
however, of which facsimiles can be
| bought at the department, is dated Jan.
80, 1891, and was granted to Francis
Bailey of Philadelphia for process Of
moIding letter types. For the first 40
years nearly all the inventions were in
! h0 ir171f nd hQ
been no less than 6, $50 patents for plows.
Stranger still, the first inventor of an
American plow-namely. Charles New
bold of Burlington county, n. J.-lost
all his money on it. It was the first cast
iron pillow in America, patented June
%, 1875, and really the farmers ought
to celebrate the approaching centennial.
He began the manufacture on large
SCALE but very few would use the pillow,
and in a report made by a farmers COM
mittee they declared upon the evidence
submitted to them that cast iron pillow
poisoned the land, injured its fertility
and promoted the growth of weeds !"
Forty years passed away before metal
plows came into anything like general
use, and in my boyhood many an old
wooden moldboard could be seen about
the old barns. In chihuahua I found the
Mexicans roofing up the ground with
plows which did not contain a silver of
iron, and yet it would take two men to
lift one
Models, as I said, have not been re-
CURED for many years, but in their
stead the applicant must file drawings
on a prescribed sized cardboard. These
are photolithographed and copies sold at
10 cents each. One can now, therefore,
look over many hundred specifications in