Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1901-03-21
Fortunes in Patents.

vention, writes Rene Bache IN the
Saturday Evening Post, it Is not sur
prising to find that many Of the most
valuable patents have been granted to
mechanics aud other persons obliged
to work for days wages, and in not a
few instances the ideas evolved from
their brains have produced veritable
showers of gold. Some Of the inven-
tions, indeed, have brought millions
of dollars, while in numerous other
instances they have made their origi-
nators independent
W. NJ. Jenne, of Ilion, n. Y, was
mechanic working by the day when
he began to produce typewriter inven-
tions. His ideas in this line have
brought him wealth, and he is now
superintendent of typewriter manu-
featuring company. To Jenne and
C. L. Sholes-two men whose names
are almost unknown to the general
public-is chiefly due the develop
ment Of the writing machines Of today.
Sholes, who died rich, began as me-
chanic, and universally known type
writer was to a great extent his crea-
ton.
Mergenthaler, who received millions
from the linotype machine, was oriG'-
nally an expert mechanic, engaged IN
making telescopes and ether scientific
apparatus. His contrlvance is now in
use all over the world, the mechanical
compositor having taken the place Of
the human tyPesetter in nearly every
great newspaper office.
L. C. Crowell was likewise a toiler
at days wages when he began to IN
vent improvements in printing ma
chimes. His contrivance for folding,
which brought him large fortune,
mad. possible the present enormous
editions of many-paged newspapers.
Up to that time the lack of folding
device had set limit on the output
of the printing press, but now the
Crowell folder takes the sheets as they
receive the impressions, packs them
into neat shape and stacks them up all
ready for distribution.
Frank A. Johnson was mechanic
in Minneapolis when he took out his
first patent for a typesetting machine.
Hisinventions in this linehave brought
him wealth, and he owns large blocks
of stock in the companies that manu-
facture mechanical typesetters.
F. A. Flanegin had little jewelry
shop in Washington, bnt at length he
devised a method of cleaning oil wells
by dropping an electric stove down
into them. Formerly, when such wells
became choked with parafn they were
cleaned by exploding nitroglycerlne
cartridges, which was a costly method
and risky. The electric stove process,
which is cheap and can do no damage,
has made the inventor a rich man.
William Painter, of Baltimore, was
a poor man. The notion Of crimplng
a piece of thin metal around the neck
of bottle, to take the place Of cork
struck him, and be became well of.
Many bottles nowadays have such
caps.
Augustus Schultz, Of New York,
invented the modern method Of tam
ming, which has reduced the process
Of making leather from an affair OF a
year or two to one Of few weeks
thus revolutionizing the business. All
of the thin, tough leather manufac-
tured nowadays is made in this way.
When Shultz began his experiments
he was so poor that, it is said, be had
to prepare bis solutions in tumblers.
His invention made him rich.
Emile Berliner was a clerk, and he
paid mechanic fifty cents night to
teach him something about electrici-
ty. The teacher was very ignorant
of the subject, and that was one rea-
son why Berliner was ed off the beat
en- track. lie began to make discov-
cries, and finally he evolved ideas
which made the long-distance tele-
phone possible, the Bell apparatus
being good only for short distances
The monopoly Of the Bell company is
now held under the Berliner patents
and the ambitious clerk is well to do
DR.. Bell, the telephone man, was a
school teacher. He took the FIRST
working mOd,l of his telephone to j
A. Logan and offered him half in.
terest for $500, saying that it would
do away with the telegraph and thai
there were millions in it. Logan said
81 dare say your machine works per
fectly, but who would want to talE
through such thing as that. anyway