Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-01-22
THE PATENT OFFICE.

THE PATENT OFFICE.
to the congressman with requests which
show the writer's idea to be that the
various departments are grouped about
the capitol very much as county Offices
are grouped around the courthouse. And
doesn't that congressman wish they
were! Stranger otill. thousands OF peo-
pie live here for years and never see
many Of the stock sights. The other day
I entered the 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 ia words Is dull in mechan-
les. Now. thought ] could do 1t, for J
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
NY Hciu aiitaiy' sh.nh yS"-
Nine Great Inventions.
They do not require models now. They
had l., 900 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 nc the Chicago World 5
fair and are now standing on the upper
floor ready TO be packed for the Atlanta
exposition Those who have studied the
subject sag there have been nine tran
scendently great and absolutely original
American inyeutlons-that Is, lHyen-
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 IL Is certain that the
inventors could have made millions by
so doing And some Of these inventors
died poor DR.. J Marion Simms never
patented his splendid discovery IN the
suture line, though experts III the office
say il would have bcen cheap at 900,
900 Pasteur did not patent his mad
dog antidote. \ little contriyarce 81
bringing up n specimen OF mud from tie
bottom Of the sen and now IN general usc
in deep soundings is supposed 10 have
been discovered by acclal.t and "I>
never patented. rs the inventor never
supposed II was Of any value Nn ~
all the pioneer inventors made iT',u"ts
namely. Bell, Howe, Westinghouse,
Pullman, possibly Edison aId oth'rs
Whitney lost what frrtle he had on ms
cotton gin, but recOuped on an invention
in firearms and grew rich enough 10 sat
isfy his modest desires. IL l. published
that the holders of the Westinghouse
patents have recently sold them for
$500, 600 Sir Henry Bessemor patented
nc least one great invention yearly for
30 years, and then. IN 1866, announced
that, as the Bessemer steel process was
Welding him el00, 900 per year, he
would quit Later however, he began
again and took out several more yalu-
able patents Several men who made
fortunes on patents have expended a
great deal Of their money in attempts at
aerial navigation. but not one on perpot
ual motion.
The Oldess Patent.
On the first day OF this year the Unit
ed States had granted 53l. l.6l9 patents
since July 2s, 1885, and tho number be
fore that cannot be ascertained exactly
on account of the destruction by fire and
a cranky commissioner. who destroyed
most Of the correspondence before HI"
time The oldest obtainable patent,
however. Of which facsImiles can be
bought ut the department, Is dated Jan
30 1871, and was granted to Francis
Bailey Of Philadelphia for process OF
molding letter types For the first 80
years nearly all the inventions were III
the agricultural line, and there have
been no less than @. 6S6 patents for plows
Stranger still, the first inventor Of al
American plow-namely, Charles New
bold of Burlington county, n J.-lost
all his money on it 1t was the first cast
iron plow in America, patented June
2s 1895, and really the farmers oughi
TO celebrate the approaching centennial
He began the manufacture on a large
tcale, but very few would use the plow,
and in a report made by farmers com
mittee they declared upon the evidence
submitted to them that a cast iron plow
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 modboard could be seen about
the old barns. In chihuahua 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, rs I said, have not been re
quired for many years, but in their
stead the applicant must file drawings
on a prescribed sized cardboard. These
are photolithographed and copies sold al
10 cents each One can now, therefore,
look over many hundred specifications In
an honr OF two. An examination OFFS
Of the files filed me with surprise. For
instance, there have been granted 3. S72
patents in the electrical line, and the
new applications are seldom less than
$50 per month. In clothing tho patents
have been 2,4l7; in boots aud shoes,
8, 100; in harvesters, 5000; In fences,
| Q, SSS; in railway cars, G,505; in laun-
dry work. 4.993. and in stoves and
heaters the astonishing number Of s,25S.