Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-05-04

street conduit enter into the estimat-
cd cost. These comparative estimates
follow:
width ., ao,O. .t Northern lnr route" sag
river. conduit. Calumet canal. route.
900 feet. .Gravity =. sci. IM.3sO s3i.,sI.si,
sop feet, Pumps O.@.J.ls1 :!.sl2.5,a
$50 icci. Pumps 80. 5s.SiS.S$i $,.osi.iai
Hon. Edward Il. Ellicott is the best
city electrician Chicago ever had.
~S
1T Is an old saying that our fore.
sight Is not as good as our hindsight,"
explained a wellknown citizen to n
reporter. 'and the illustrations of 1t
are so many that 1t would be useless to
recount them, even II II were possible
TO do so. This saying was very thor.
oughly impressed on me a few weeks
since during a visit to factory which
is engaged in manufacturing fountain
pens. The ordinary person can have
but a slight idea of the enormous
quantity of fountain pens that are sold.
There are dozens Of makes, all Of them
more or less good and many of them
almost perfect. They can be found In
every stationery and many other stores
in almost every city in the world.
There are more of them lost than worn
out, for 1t Is surprising how long any
Of the fountain pens OF popular makes
hold out. Once men or women get into
the habit Of using fountain pen they
rarely give 1t up. Now II happens that
Invented the first fountain pen which
was practical rs far rs the use Of II
was concerned. This was in 1850.
Prior to that there was fountain pen
known as Princes PrOtenn pen on the
market, but 1t worked rather unsatis.
factorily.
II took my invention 10 the leading
patent lawyer In Washington then and
asked his advice about getting a pat
ent for It.. lie gave me no encourage.
ment IN the matter: indeed. lie discour.
aged me. From him I went to pat
ent agency which did patent business
exclusively. ! knew the manager per.
sonally and ! regarded him as n man
| Of excellent Judgment. He coincited
with the patent lawyer ! had consult
ed. He convinced me. though some.
what against my Judgment. that the
people mt large did not want a fountain
pen. lie argued that rs pens We're so
cheap people would not spend the
amount of money which was necessary
| TO buy q fountain pen. Gutta perch,l
rs known to-day had not been invented
them. and but little was even known
of India rubber. for Mr.. Goodyear was
here then, busy with his experiments.
on which he secured his rubber patents
afterward. Mr.. Goodyear himself did
not enthuse on fountain pen. and
thought with the others that the world
did not want any relief from the or,li.
nary steel pen which then had Just
supplanted the Quill pen. or course.
dropped the matter and turned my at.
tention to mining. for the discovery OF
gold In California was ut that time the
sensation Of the day. But II ever
strike on another invention In view OF
my experience In this. ! will only con
suit patent lawyer In regard to q
patent and not for any advice In the
matter Of its use or value" Washing
ton Star.
Let those who are young cease to
vauat themselves and they who are OF
middle age rejoice. Research has
proved that the human mind Is at lis
fullest power between the ages OF II
and 90. There are, of course, OK.
ccptiOns to this rule. such MS Byron
the young Napoleon and Alexander. but
taking 1t full and by" the prime age
Of the mind Of man Is between 10 and
20. Swift was 40 when he wrote Gul'
liver's Travels, anu John Stuart Mill
~ when his essay on Utilitarlanism
was published, although his Liberty
was written three years before. When
Waverley came out Sir Walter Scott
was II years old. and nearby all OF
those tales which have made his last.
Ing fame as a novelist were written
between 81 and 80. II was between
those years that he wrote Paradise
Lost. The Task and John Gllpln Were
written when COwper was over 30, and
Defoe was within two years OF u
when he wrote Robinson CrusOe. OF
all the writing of Thomas Hood, The
Song Of the Shirt, and The Bridge OF
signs are the best known ANA will live
the longest Hood wrote these two
poems ut The age of 10.
Darwin wrote his Origin of Species
when he was 30, and was ~ when he
gave the world his Descent of Man
I.ongfellow wrote IIiawatha at Is, and
Oliver Wendell Holmes gave us Songs
of Many Keys when he had passed his
18th birthday. George Eliot was near
10 when she wrote Middlcmarch. Ba
cons greatest book took 80 years &c
mature, and GrOte's History of Greece
several years longer.
~0
One of the most remarkable inven
tions marking the opening of III,
twentieth century Is the method dc
yised by Prof. Michael !. Pupin, OF
Columbia University, for sending tele
phOnic messages through ocean cables
, The chief reason why telephonin:
through summarize cables has MT here
! tofore been successful Is because elec
tricty is retarded in passing through
;; them. The retardation Is variable
and its effect upon telephone mes
sage sent through a cable Is to produc,