The Minneapolis journal., 1903-12-23

Il, EEerN so OICen - tueA llCNope'PSAo
record the death of, some inventor or
q great labor-saving device, and the
types read that he who made fortunes
for others himself died poor. Ihefe
is no doubt that many origlnators OF
great things derive no benefits from
their inventions. A prominent attor-
ney who makes a speciality OF patent
law explained the apparent ingrati-.
tude and selfishness Of men who made
money "out of the poor inventor IN
this wise:
1T unauestionably is true that in
many instances the inventor gets noth-
ing and the maker of the hnlshed
product of what may be called the raw
invention gets everything. But 1t
must be remembered that the original
idea often is crude, impracticable and
standing alone is of no tangible value.
This idea may be set forth IN
drawing which depicts something
cannot be used. The idea is the germ,
the life principle of something, which
if developed along practical lines and
associated with tried methods and
mechanisms will produce something
useful, something wanted by so many
people that it's monopoly brings large
revenues. The inventor may have Sc
cured patent; the government gave
him a protected monopoly; gave him
the privilege of controlling the MAX
ing Of something which he couldn't
make. The practical man, the
adapter, happens along, discovers the
possibilities for practical utility in the
patented but Impractical idea, and in
vents the ways and methods and de-
vices to turn out a practical finished
product in quantities sufficient to meet
the demand and at cost low enough
TO market it at a profit.
man has more money than the in
ventor, but it frequently happens that
he risks more money and uses more
brain material and works harder at
tempting to put the idea on a prac-
teal footing than the inventor does.
He makes a fortune, the inventor dies
poor, and every one eXclalms, The
poor inventor was robbed.
This is no exaggerated exhibit. !
know of many such cases. Hundreds
and hundreds of inventions which
have proved to be of great value
some of them listed among the revo-
lutionary, the epoch-making inven-
than the pictured idea or the patent
office had it not been for courageous
audacious, hard working, strong
willed. practical men, who stood tC
lose everything they possessed wher
they started out to make the crude
lued d H1llSneu piOuuCl.
a man came to my office one day
with little device used to-day in al.
most every machine shop. He hac
whitfield it out of WOd evenings.
mechanical engineer working on {
small salary for large manufacturing
concern happened to be in the office
He saw the wooden model, and Offered
the man $3.50 for the sole right tt
make it. The offer was accepted The
engineer planned and built a compli
Gated machine, which was but com
bination Of we'll known mechanism
and mechanical principles, to make tn
Z tool. Before he had turned out th
first article he had mortgaged his littl
home and gone heavily into debt. I
took him several months to reach tn
productive point, but he never wav
cred. Then he went out to make
market for the tool and to-day he i
wealthy. Now which Of those tw
men deserved the fortune?''
=. Not every inventor, however, fail
to realize large profits The numbe
of successful inventors can never b
fixed. for 1T Is only when lawsuit
bring out the facts or the probat
courts schedule the estates that any
thing like definite Information as t
the incomes of successful inventors
disclosed. But it is Interesting to lear
that some Of the largest incomes wer
received by inventors of small thing!
Thus the man who conceived the ide
of sticking a rubber eraser on the en-
Of lead pencil made, it is said, ten
of thousands of dollars a year fror
his invention. The roller skate an
the return ball made their inventor
milliOnaires. The inventor of an i'm
proved steel pen in England built u