The record-union., 1897-03-25

On the other hand, the fundamental
principle on which the elder Mccormick
sought to construct a reaping macnlne
was wrong and it was only after this
had been amply demonstrated that the
son hit upon the right solution of the
problem These three typical instances
can be paralleIed by scores of others IN
the history of invention. And they not
lonly illustrate the crudeness OF most
inventions in their infancy, but also
the value of perseverance when
the first attempt results in d1sappolnt-
ment. The need of thorough test IS
stin further Illustrated by the fact that
experts, as well as novices, are often
deceived by the apparent merit or
scheme while yet it is only on paper
and are treated to a surprise when the
first practical experiment is made
This is the weak point in all perpet-
| ual- motion schemes. The inventor
probably knows that the best engineer
ing authorities agree in pronounclng
perpetual motion impossible, because,
as they say, you canrot get something
out of nothing But the self-satisfled
| isnoramus SMILES contemptuously at
| the teachings of science, and is sure
that his own particular plan has merits
| possessed by no other Perhaps he
| is able to see the absurdity of rival
schemes He would not. for instance,
| try to lift himself over the fence by
| his bootstraps, but he would make an
engine to be operated by compressed
air and use a part of the power thus
! in ;vtn r.
voir which corresponds to the steam
boiler. Or maybe he would run street
car by a storage battery, and employ
| the motion of the vehicle to run a
small dynamo in order to keep the bat
terry continually charged. Or, like
Keely, he will seek to hberate some
unknown force which nature has al
ready placed in a state of equilibrium,
and viii purpose to disturb that equili-
brium by one-rnillionth of the force to
| be produced.
COST OF PRODUCTION.
| Moreover, the cost of production and
operation must be kept in mind. For
! the last year or two there has been
craze over the possibility of devising
| bottle that could not be filled a second
time without betraying the fact There
is no such demand for a bottle of this
sort, as has been supposed to exist, yet
/ there is a distinct need and use for
one, and the agitation of the subject
| has not been altogether without sue
cess. Well, in consequence of this talk
| there have been hundreds of non-refil-
| able bottles invented and a good many
| of them patented But the manufac-
turers who supply bottlers say that none
of these schemes are available, COM
mercially, because they add too much
to the cost of the bottle. Again, there
is the case rof Bloomfield Moore's cold
electric light, which attracted a good
deal of attention last spring. Among
the criticisms passed upon it was the
charge that it would cost more to run it
than to run the incandescent lamp,
which it was intended to replace. This
may not have been true; certain we'll
| known electricians declared that it
wasn't But the instance serves to IL
lustrate the necessity for finding out
the actual cost of running any new ma
chine or conducting new process and
making sure that the expense will not
be greater than that of operating by ex-
listing methods and apparatus.
There is one more point which may
properly be borne in mind by the poor
and worthy inventor. Consideration
of morality, as well as of expediency
may be urged in support of it. Every
one who recalls BalZacs alchemist who
sacrificed his ambitions not only of
fortune but also the comfort of his fam
ily and even, undersigned, broke his
wife's heart by his neglect of her. can
see that there is danger of riding ones
hobby too vigorously. Moreover, it has
generally been the case that great in
ventors have given to the world num-
Der of good things. Werner Won Sic
mems devised an improved method of
electro plating and also perfected the
pneumatic tube conveyor before he in
vented his dynamo and thirdrail sys-
tenn of electric traction. Bessemer
studied out way TO prevent the re-
moval of revenue stamps without de-
| lection, and got up some bronze pow
derS which We're a source of profit to
him before he tackled the problem of
cheap steel. Edison was telegraph
operator with a moderate salary for
many years and was in those days
teeming with great ideas. But not un-
til after he had sold his printing tele-
graph instrument for stock exchanges
did he try to perfect his duplex, quad
ruplex, electric light and other now
historic inventions. 1t takes self-re-
straint to stick to the faithful perform
ance of ones bread and butter duties
while planning schemes that may even
i.tually make one rich, and to concen-
trate labor and thought on a modest
venture in preference to the greatest
effort of ones life; but in spite of the
apparent loss of time involved in the
procedure, it not infrequently proves to
he the best policy in the end, whether
one be a true genius or only an ordinary
Iinventor.-New York Tribune.