The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-25
TALKS ON LIVE TOPICS
MANY PERSONS ENGAGED IN PAT
ENTING NOVELTIES.
Cheat Observation-Disclosures Profit
by Smoke Nuisance.

people with new ideas in the way of chill
dren's toys" said an Indianapolis patent
attorney one afternoon last week "You
would naturally imagine that at this time
of the year. when Christmas, with it's juve-
nile rlaythings. has just come and gone,
the minds Of the inventors would be turn
ing to more serious matters, but such is
not the case with the majority of the peo-
pie with inventive natures. You see, they
observe during the busy holiday shopping
season the tremendous sales of some special
kinds of toys that chance to win popu-
Iarity. and they begin figuring upon ere
ating something along similar lines that
will make fortunes for them when the en-
suing Christmas time comes round. About
four years ago an Indiana man invented
a 'snowstorm in a glass ball The idea
didn't occur to him until about month
after the holidays, and then he lost no
time I'm getting his invention ready for the
coming OF the next Christmas. You will
this little novelty only occasionally
now. but 1t is still being sold. The inventor
made a liquid full of white specks which
settled at the bottom Of the glass ball.
lie put in a doll and miniature trees and
bushes, and when the ball was shaken
the snow whirled and fell slowly. The
The man cleared a lot of money out OF the
idea.
THE inventors of these notions
curious lot to deal with, and 1 have some
funny experiences with them. AS a rule
the toy inventor is. the most enthusiastic
genius in the world: he firmly believes that
he is destined to become immensely wealthy
and usually thinks that quarter Of a
mil Of n ind Of fOv he
none too many to start with When these
fellows put all OF their money into their
invention they come to grief very often.
The one who is successful is the man who
has had a clever notion for a dozen years
or more and then just happens to meet
somebody with money who knows how to
put the thing on the market. Consider
ing that a successful toy trinket nets at
least $4,000, there are naturally hundreds
of men who devote their lives to the busi-
ness of Undertaking. other peoples ideas.
Some of the inventors come out with for
tunes, but only too many of them see
others reap the reward, as in the case of
the chap who made the lunch box in the
shape Of a camera case. He received only
a few hundred dollars from his creation,
while the manufacturers have cleared thou
sands-and all because the inventor was
not careful to cover the field by exclusive
patents"
ITS the strangest thing in the world to
me how many men. honest IN everything
else, will deliberately cheat a railroad every
time the opportunity Offers" observed a
prominent local railroad official yesterday,
as NE called a newspaper mans attention
to railroad ticket that had been tempered
A.
in one place and the official explained that
by an acid process somebody had changed
the name of the station originally written
the card 'Tt is a common fraud to
change the destination of ticket" he
continued. For instance. a traveller will
buy q ticket to point fifty miles out of
indianapolis. and before making use OF it
either he or some crooked scalper will re-
move the name OF the town and in its place
write the name Of a station many miles
further on. Another method often practiced
is to extend the limit by plugging up the
punch holes in the margin, which is &C
complished by hammering in a carefully
prepared pulp. The deception can only be
discovered by running the finger nail gently
along the surface, for IL there is a plug
the sharp edge Of the nail will lift il.
IF any one can satisfactorily explain to
me just why so many men will take ad-
vantage Of a railroad when they would re-
fuse to swindle any other concern, 1 wish
he would come forth and make the matter
clear to me. for IL puzzles me sorely. have
been railroad man for many years, and
have as yet been unable to account for this
peculiar trait in human nature. Why IL
is fact that thousands of people think
they are doing something really clever and
that they are deserving OF congratulation
II they manage to journey from one city to
another without paying the amount de-
manoed by the railroad company. The same
man would become enraged If some one
should ask him to enter into a deal for
forging check will not hesitate In signing
another mans name to a pass or ticket
that may enable him TO save money in
making railway trip. Many people do not
look upon this sort of thing as a forgery at
all. and what want to know is just where
they draw the line between honesty and
dishonesty
The BARRIERS of Indianapolis are perhaps
the only people who profit through the
smokiness of the atmosphere and the gen.
eral dirtiness of the city this winter. Yes
we are kept busy shampooing our custom
Der IL the shaving parlor of one of the best
hotels. in answer D a query. There was a
time when only about one man in five
would desire shampoo when coming TO be
shaved. That was when this city was re.
markable for its cleanliness. suppose We
BARRIERS notice the increased smokiness OF
the atmosphere. brought about by the alb
seuce of natural gas. more than the people
OF any other vocation. 1t is not possible L
keep clean throughout the day in Indian
apolis this winter any more than il is pos
siole TO keep clean in Pittsburg or Cincin
natl. both VIGOROUSLY dirty towns. In fact
Pittsburg travelling man insisted tn,
otter day. when he took his seat In m,
chair. that Indianapolis was the dirties
town OF them ALL To back up his Statement
he called my attention to his face, acros.
which were three big sooty marks. and Il
his blonde hair. which was actually discol
ored by the smoky atmosphere He haC
been in the city only three days. he said
aid had been shampooned just before com
ing here from Lafayette He said he hat
given up the Job of trying to keep his fac,
clean while in Indianapolis, and, as he no
ticed that most Of the other men will
whom he came in contact while going hi:
Il