Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1897-05-08
Edward III. Ort.

Edward III. Ort.
The sketch below will interest the
many friends of a talented, industrious
young native of Frostburg.
The JOURNAL has seen the model of
the BARRIERS chair, and it seems to be
all that the writer of the sketch claims
| The truthfulness of that old maxim, though
moss-c covered and weather-beaten it may be,
| that patience is a noble trait, and. coupled
with perseverance, is bound to bring with it
a fitting reward, has certainly been demon
pute in the case Of Edward H. Ort, a young
resident Of Allegheny city, Pa, and who is
of an inventive turn of mind. Though
young III years-for he has not yet reached
| his majorty-he is certainly old in ex-
| perience and on his broad shoulders there
| rests head that is full of brain matter and
| clever ideas.
Orts present place of residence is IS James
street, Allegheny city, Pa. His birth place
and former home, however, is at Frostburg,
| Md.
Mr. Ort, like hundreds of other young
| Americans, is poor but ambitious. He is
| the proud poSSeSSor of mind that is pro-
| gresSlve, and thinking apparatus that is in
| constant working order. Ort is one of those
! young men who believe in the advancement
| necessity is the mother of invention" and
| that all things that are useful are necessity.
| Ort is an inventor and is the originator of
| three inventions on which he has Just sue
ceeded ill getting his papers. All of these, he
thinks, are necessity and will be useful to
somebody. Ort, i'll fact, has a mdnia for i'll
vention, and consequently, he is always on
the alert for something new under the sun.
| Ort is firm in his belief that there never was
a thing invented that could not be improved
upon and he never permits an opportunity
to slip by him whereby he may be- able to
| improve on something.
Some time ago he invented a patent clasp
and lock for the railway mail pouch. This
| has been patented and he is now awaiting its
adoption by the government. 1t is one of
| the most practical and useful inventions in
| this line that has ever been brought before
| the postal authorities. If adopted, and the
chances are very good that it will be, the in
| come from it will run far up into the thous-
ands, and, instead of being poor, struggling
inventor, Ort will wake up some morning to
| find himself millionaire. Papers on this
were applied tor in June, 1886, and the patent
was granted about two weeks ago.
Ort's second invention far eXces his first
| from monetary point of view 1t is what
he calls a self-regstering BARRIERS chair, a
valuable and nuch-needed article by the
long-sutfering proprietors of tonsoral estab-
| iShments all over the country. Its benefits
and advantages over the chair in use at pres
ent are many. First of all, it will do away
entirely with the old check system. But the
main feature is the fact that it will prevent
the proprietor of the shop from being
trimmed by an employee who is inclined
to be dishonest or who is in a hurry to own
a shop of his own: With the selfreglstering
chair in use in his shop. the proprietor can
leave his place all the way from one day to 30
or 90 days, or longer, if desired, and know that
there will be no dickering with the receipts of
| fI,n tohl iShn hrt's Golf
paratus can be applied to any chair-those at
| present in use, or those manufactured here
after. Ort's lister works on the same
principle as do the registers in street cars.
On the back of each chair is a dial, inside of
the large dial are six smaller ones. The
mechanism is encased in the back of the
chair. When shave is desired the barber is
obliged to tilt the chair, and when haircut
or shampoo is wanted, it is necessary to re-
move the head-rest. Neither of these can be
done without the register calling the turn.
| The numbers around the outer edge of the
big dial run from to 100. When the hun
dred is reached the hands fly automatically
| back to zero. The numbers in the smaller
dials run from l to 500. In other words,
there can be registered 500 hair-cuts, and the
same number of shaves or shampoos.
Under no circumstances can the register be
tempered or broken, unless subjected to abuse
Even should the hands be removed, the
small dials will do the work of registering
just the same. The whole apparatus works
automatically and on an eccentric action. 1t
requires no winding or setting. The register,
though simple in construction, will outwear
any chair, no matter how substantially made
1t can be removed after the chair has worn
out or become useless and placed on another
| When the idea of this register occurred to
Ort, he was out of a job, and almost out Of
money. He had formerly been the emf
poye of large dry goods house in Pittsburg,
but gave up his position to devote his time to
his first invention, and he spent most all his
money in perfecting it. just about the time
this was accomplished he conceived the idea
of the registering chair and promptly went to
| work on it. First, however, he went to
Washington, and there made a tour of the
| patent office to learn if there was ever any
thing of the kind attempted before He
found nothing. So gathering together bag
and baggage, he went to the home of his
uncle in Frostburg and set to work. Many
were the discouragements encountered, but
| nothing daunted him and he went light
| ahead meeting and mastering them as they
| came. At the end of two months patience
and perseverance had brought the reward.
Success had at last crowned his energies and
his labors. Away up in the attic room of his
| uncle S home did the young inventor work
both by day light and lamp light, and event
ualy. as stated. did he put his invention i'll
to practical shape.
Those who have examined Ort's latest in
ventlon declare that it is mint IN itself, and.
with proper handling, is bound to place to
his credit in the near future a snug sum of
the long green
Mr.. Ort, will make visit to New York,
Chicago, ST. Louis. New Orleans and other
large cities, for the purpose of cOnferring with
and placing his invention before the large
chair manufacturing establishment owners
of those places.