Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-02-06
INACCURATE JUDGMENT.
Capitalists Thought There Was Moth
Ing in the Invention and Are
Sorry Now.
From the Omaha worlt-Herald

From the Omaha Worlt-Herald.
Every little while one reads of how some
inventor made a fortune out of Il certain in
Vention. but il is not every day that an in
Ventor right in our midst creates Il fortune
out or what seemed an u~npatentable trif,e.
IN this connection an interesting little
story may be told concerning u Council
Bluffs inventor. which goes TO show how a
mar may suddenly stumble upon a little
Nicndike without having to travel to the
North pole to find it. Last spring John 7.
henderson. OF Council Bluffs. after having
Jailed in his own town. vainly tried to in
auce certain Omaha capitalists to advance
certain invention OF his and fur
nlsh the raw material necessary to
manufacture his new device. He has
model. which he exhibited To those he tried
10 interest. but in every instance failed
10 arouse enough enthusiasm to induce the
CAPITALISTS TO advance the necessary funds.
Ihree hundred dollars was the amount the
inventor tried TO raise.
after repeated failures he finally de-
ciaed to borrow $500 upon his $3.50 unin-
cumhersd home, which is situated in Coun-
cll BIuffs. in the belief. of course. that he
would at once be dvanced this money. es-
peclallE as 1t was backed up by the mort
gage OF his home and also by one upon his
invention. He daily applied at the bank,
put was more than surprised 10 find that
upon one preteNt or another the bank re-
fused to advance him the money. August
"a. " tudi I!iie arrived. ana so the IN
Ncltor finally became convinced that it
would be Impossible for him to enlist out
SluerS or borrow the necessary money. so
he determined to place his invention upon
the market as best he could, sending them
out i'll dozen and gross lots.
The inventor had a machine shop sufi-
Gent to begin manufacturing in a small
way. and he boldly set 10 work putting
ms invention upon the market. The new
device was nothing more than a disk of
sheet metal. that is. a round plate about as
thick as an ordinary sheet of writing paper
and a little larger than a silver dollar. The
DISK is made of thin sheet steel. has 4
raised border to strengthen 1t. and has sew
eral rings stamped upon the center to
slightly raise the central part of the disk.
h sheet steel before being fed into the
dies Is lacquered in suitable Colors so that
the device drops out of the press a finished
product ready for the market. Commercial
" the invention is styled the Cracker
Jack Telegraph" but in the patent office
It is known as "a sounding toy" If proper
" held and vibrated. Il clear metallic sound
Is Produced similar to but much louder than
a telegraph key. The inventor began with
Z small press, and as he stamped the disks,
sold them. AS soon as he had sold q suffi-
cient number, he applied for and received n
Omaha He then perfected his press and
at present has three OF them going. each
being capable of turning out two Cracker
jacks per second.
trade. and at one time during. last Novem-
her the inventor was $3.50 gross behind in
orders. His presses We're kept going day
and night. Over 100000 Of these toys have
refused TO advance the inventor $500. 1t
held TO his credit over 200. which he had
earned IN less than ten weeks. The presses
still going all day long. and every lit
cent. the price for which the toys are now
sold.