The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-06-21
INVENTION'SRAPID STRIDES
IN THE PAST HUNDRED
YEARS..
BY PATRICK o'FARRELL.

BY PATRICK o'FARRELL.
The century just closed stands out
pre- eminently as the century of inven-
tion, and the year 1900 as the banner
year in the Patent Office.
The inventive genius developed in
the United States within barely gen.
Grafton may be ascribed to the origi-
nality Of the American people, coupled
with the stimulus of great financial re-
wards guaranteed by favorable legisla-
tion.
The American patent system, which
had its birth one hundred years ago, has
witnessed a wizard like transformation
in mechanical appliances, in the utili
zation of natures forces, and in all the
conveniences and accessories of life. If
we consider the stride from the primi-
tive plow, with which the ancients
tickled the soil, to the marvellous farm
implements of to-day; from the burnt
brick libraries of Babylon and Nineveh
to the superb treasures in movable
types and sumptuous binding that
stand, piled tier on tier in our magni-
fcent Congressional Library and many
other extensive libraries throughout
the country, we may truly realize how
the world has progressed. Yet the
most wonderful part of this advance
ment has been made within the period
just mentioned.
During that time We have had the
discovery of the telegraph, the electric
light, and all the various uses of elec-
tricity. Within the same period we
have seen the evolution of the printing
press from the clumsy hand lever con-
trivance of Franklin's time, to the
marvellous Hoe machine which prints
and folds $4,000 copies Of a complete
eight page paper in an hour. In that
time the locomotive engine, the steam
boat and the luxurious sleeping car
have supplanted the primitive modes
of travel which preceded them, and we
have advanced from the old spinning
wheel to the wonderful weaving looms
and knitting machines of the present
day.
Besides all these we have the dis
covery of the telephone, which con-
veys the human voice. in CONVEX
sation, hundreds of miles; the phono-
graph, which records the sound of the
voice and repeats its tones at the will
of the operator; the sewing machine
and the typewriter, which revolution
lied methods in important branches
of business, and even the convenient
little lucifer match which replaced the
flint and friction Let any man try to
imagine the condition Of life and socie-
ty if these patented discoveries had
never been made, and he will measure
bly, appreciate the benefits of the sys-
tenn that inspired them.
The first patent law was enacted
April 10, 1876, and under it the Secre-
tary Of State, the Secretary of War
and the Attorney General were the
tribunal to determine the question of
granting patent. 1t was not until
July 16 of that year that the first pa
tent was issued, which was to Samuel
Hopkins for a new method of making
pot and pearl ashes. Since that date
more than 100000 patents, besides
thousands of trademarks, prints and
labels, have been granted. Under the
law of 1890, which remained in force
until February 10, 1898, only 81 pa
tents were issued, and the latter date
a new act effecting some notifications
was passed, which stood until 1886,
when the great law that really created
the American patent system and mark
ed an epoch was enacted.
Under the old English system pa
tent was simply grant from the
Crown, and the patent was not even
prima facie evidence of novelty, so
that the the inventor had to maintain
his rights as best he could in the
courts. The American laws, previous
to 1886, were afflicted with similar de-
fects, but under the new acts of that
year the Patent Office was given quasi
judicial as we'll as executive functions,
the patent being adjudicated upon in
advance, and possessing, 80 soon as
granted, the attributes OF patent
which, under the old system, had been
tested by expensive litigation. Thus
the patent acquires an immediate CON-
mercal value, and thus, under the
stimulating effect of fostering laws and
large profits, inventive genius has been
developed and great results have been
achieved.
From three patents in 1870 there
was a growth of 100000 patents in
January, 1901, and where one hundred
years ago Franklin, a man of science,
was content to leave the printing press
as he found it, and as Gutenberg had
left it three hundred years before, the
last hundred years has seen it advanc-
ed to one of the most marvellous mech
anisms in the age of wonders. And
where a century ago the workman and
the artisan were satisfied to gog along
with such crude implements and
methods as were at hand, to-day he is
alert and thoughtful, looking to the
attainment of better instrumentalities
and higher plane of action.