Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-01-18
CLEVER WOMEN INVENTORS.
More and More Patents Taken Out by
Them of Late.

Men acquainted with the held say
that fully rs per cent. of the patents
taken out by women in the last five
years are yielding profitable returns.
The woman who invented satchel-bot-
toned paper bags, for instance, had an
offer of $4,000 for the patent before
she left Washington. A simple glove
buttoner is bringing to the woman In
ventor an income of $4,000 a year. A
woman clerk in a department store in
vented a parcel delivery system which
netted considerable returns. One New
England milliner, herself an inventor,
enjoys the right to several patents that
represent the ingenuity of the women
operatives in her employ. She shares
profits with the inventors, and one of
the devices first put in operation in
this factory brings in $4,000 a year.
1t often happens that a woman en-
ployer, from familiarity with the ma
chinery or business methods in use,
thinks out some time and labor-saving
scheme She shows the model to the
manager of her department. He tells
the firm of it's merits and they arrange
with the employe for the exclusive use
of the invention. The employe goes
on quietly with her work in the store
or mill. The public never hears of her,
but success has been a stimulus, and
she keeps on the lookout for further
inventive opportunity.
Much of woman's present activity in
inuontinnc e acarihQH tho hoft0r
educational facilities now obtainable
The college standard is high and pop
ular courses in sloyd and manual train
ing have taught women to use their
hands as we'll as brains Notwith-
standing this a large proportion of the
more successful women inventors are
those who have had only medium or
limited educational advantages but
have been daily toilers in the various
Inns of industry. A Rhode Island
woman invented an improved but
tonhole cutting machine that measures
the distance between the buttonhOles
automatically with much profit and
convenience to garment makers. A lock
with 5000 combinations is woman's
invention; also letter box for the out
side of homes that shows a signal
when there is a letter inside for the
postman to collect, an invention now
in constant use. A woman has just
perfected a valuable apparatus for re-
moving wool from skins by electricity,
showing that women are quick to adopt
the modern facilities of the age to prac-
teal purpose.
The woman inventor must never lose
sight of practically if she would sue
coed. Other women brain workers
may at times indulge in dreaming and
theorizing, but the woman inventor,
however high her flights Of fancy, must
always come back to the practical.
Many women's inventions are submit
ted to the Patent Office, accompanied by
elaborate models, but so COnspicuously
lacking in some vital principle as to be
unavailing A good many are rejected
on the score of absurdity, but, accord
ing to official testimony, the women as
pirants do not differ from the men in
this respect. Many women submit
practical specifications and fail to
score success, not from lack of origi-
naIity, but because the inventor was
ignorant of previous patents covering
the same point No matter how bril-
liant an inventors ideal may seem he
is advised to search thoroughly the
Patent Office records before making a
model. Some women have taken out
five and six patents for widely differ
ent purposes. A California woman,
whose first invention, in early youth,
was a corset, has lately patented sew
eral inventions relating to reservoirs
and irrigation.
The Northwest, the Middle and the
Eastern states have produced the most
active women inventors. The south
southern women who have entered
the field at all have been financially
successful Two important aids in
agriculture were the invention of an
Alabama woman. A working woman
in North Carolina succeeded with a
culinary invention. A Florida matron
patented a useful car heating appar-
GlIIIS - L tAdS "OIudu luN SuLSu d mover
folding tent and another southern
woman a finger exercising device, of
value to musicians. A western widow
patented method Of disappointing
ores: another invented a composition
solder Of use to metal workers.
Women inventors from the big
cities have almost invariably patented
articles pertaining to the elegance of
dress and house furnishings. Those
from the country districts and villages
have been active in the way of dress
drafting patterns. novel devices for ad-
justing portiers and curtains, and
patents useful in the manufacture of
artistic goods. Many facilities for
clerical use have been patented by city
women, such as safety envelopes, i'm
proved typewriting appliances, copy
holders, letter-openers, etc. Most of
these women were employed at some
time as clerks in business offices and
felt the lack of conveniences which
, they afterward supplied.
A number of women school teachers
are successful inventors and have
patented educational systems and de-
vices; also kindergarten implements.
erasers, school bags and book rests.