The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-08-08

of the happy idea which he believes he
has discovered yet it is a singular fact
that the original inventor is rarely the
actual beneficiary, either because his
necessities compel him to sacrifice his
prospective profits before the patent is
secured or because he is so lacking in
business capacity that he lets his in
terest slip away from him before its
real value has been demonstrated. 1t
is the great companies organized for
handling or manufacturing valuable
patented inventions that really make
the money i'm a majority of cases. En-
Commissioner Mitchell is authority for
the statement that more than three
fourths of all the capital invested in
manufactures in this country, a total
of over S650.O00,0O0. is directly Or ind-
rectly based upon patents. Some of the
/ inventions that have produced enor-
nous returns may be cited: The sewing
machine patents not only made numer
GUS individual fortunes, but created
several large and wealthy corporations,
and the proportion which the patents
themselves contributed to this result
may be approximately measured by the
remarkable drop in the prices of these
machines since the patents expired: The
telegraph patents realized immense for
tunes to a number of people. The Good
year rubber patents, the original of
which was a simple mixture of rubber
and sulphur, formed the basis of vast
manufacturing industries and brought
wealth to hundreds of persons. The
Mccormick harvesters and many other
agricultural machines have made several
fortunes. The sleeping car patents and
the electric and telephone patents have
enormously enriched the inventors. and
all who are associated with them and
the marvellous typesetting machines.
which rank among the most wonderful
inventions of the age, promise also to
take place among the most profitable,
These are only a few conspicuous in
stances, yet it Is not alone the wonder
full mechanism or invention that attains
great financial success. Sometimes
simple little device like the common
buckle or the paper fastener will make
several fortunes. The little toy return
ball, with "a rubber string attached for
drawing it back when thrown. made
more money than the great big dredg-
ing machine for deepening waterways.
MEN MADE RICH.
Several of our wel-known American
millionaires owe their fortunes to vau-
able Inventions. OF these. perhaps the
four most CONSPICUOUS are George NJ.
Pullman, of palace car fame; Alexander
Graham Bell, who secured the first tel
ephone patent; Cyrus III. Mccormick,
the harvester manufacturer; and
Thomas a. Edison, the king of modern
inventors. Whether Mr.. Edison's tan
that of the other three would be difficult
of determination, but if the value of all
his holdings in all the various compan-
les and inventions bearing his name
could be computed, probably his wealth
would far exceed that Of any one of
them. He is not, however, an investor
and financier like some of the others,
his attention and abilities being concen-
trated upon the intricate problems with
which he is constantly wrestling. Mr..
Edison was born in Ohio in 1917. In boy
hood he was printers devil" in
youth telegraph operator and in early
manhood the inventor of the quadrup-
lex telegraph, followed a few years lat
er by the incandescent light and many
other electrical and scientific appli-
ances with which the public is familiar.
lie is tile InOSt pTOlI!lt inventor III tne
world having secured more patents,
for his own inventions than any other
one man.
Alexander Graham Bell was born in
Scotland. For several years previous
to the invention of the telephone he
had been known as a writer on scientific
subjects. but no. as an inventor, no
other patent having being previously
applied for by or issued to him. The
/, orotracted controversy in the courts i'll
stituted by Inventor .Drawbaugh of
Pennsylvania. who claimed to have
filed the first application for a telephone
patent, and that his discovery was
stolen in some manner in the patent Of
flee. was finally settled in favor of the
Bell patent, which has been one Of the
most profitable ever issued. George NJ.
Pullman, ratentec of the Pullman pal
ace sleeping and other cars, was born
in New York in 1881. At IA years Of age
he was a clerk in a country store and
ten years later was a contractor for
moving warehouses during the work of
widening the Erie canal. Shortly after
this he moved to Chica go and was the