Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-30
FORTUNE WON BY ACCIDENT
Pickle Dame smilsi on Ardent wOOsrs at
Unexpected Nsmsnta
VALUE OF THINKING ASD WORKING
An Instructive and Suggestive. Review
of Achievements springinE from
AccIdent--stories of Sue
cessfuI Inventors.

II PAYS TO think-even about trihes. Not
long ago a young man who was visiting
in a strange city had that experience known
TO so many when riding on street cars, He
wanted 10 get OF at a certain street, the
name OF which he knew, but the locality
Of which he was in Ignorance. The car
was crowded He had told the conductor
the name OF the street but az is not I'M
usually the case, the conductor used In
pronouncing the name Of the streets was
on the order OF the "aii aboard for Chi
bospain--wawk'' that 90 frequently con-
POUNDS the railway traveller when the trains
are called" in stations.
Your streets two blocks back" said the
conductor suavely when the young man
asked him II he had arrived yet. More or
less angrily, the youth said
TITS wonder somebody wouldn't think
of something that would tell a passenger
when he got to his street,
well. why don't you invent somethingf"
asked the conductor.
The yaung man got to thinking. and to
working. The other day he refused tso oo
for q street car device that could be utilised
to show the names of the streets auto
matically. He thinks Il II worth more. The
man or woman who conceives an idea that
is patentabIe almost invariably has visions
Of immense wealth. but how often the
dream is realized may be found by consult
ing the patent Office authorities, the men
who handle thousands and thousands OF
these ''children of the brain" that never
bring to their inventors even the amount
Of money necessary for getting them pat
ented. But, on the other hand, there are
great many patents that have made their
orisinators immensely wealthy, and famous
as well.
One would naturally suppose that the
greatest returns would be from the large
affairs, such as the electric railroad the
telephone, and the telegraph, but such Il
not the case for the small household in.
ventions, mechanical toys. and puzzles have
given quicker returns and greater profits
for the money expended than any Of thu
larger affairs.
At some time or other In life everybody
has turned his mind to getting a patcnt
and the usual cry has been, when one mar
successed in amassIng a fortune that h,
had luck. Luck never enters into the patent
business, except in so far as one inventl
something at the time that that something
Is wanted by the buying public The mar
who Invented Pigs In Clover" happened
to strike the public fancy and millions o.
people all over the country were chasing
the little marbles into the middle pen Tn,
man made millions on his simple puzzl,
because he launched II at the right time
The rewards gained by inventors in tn,
past nifty years have been far in excess o.
those that faccrued to the earlier inventor
although the general public has believed
that the great majority OF inventors eithe
die in the poorhouse or the insane asylum
This impression was due partly to the fac
that Whitney, who invented the cotton gin
Goodyear. who first vulcanized rubber, an,
Morse the father OF teegraphy. all die,
poor. and derived no benefits from thei
Inventions.
Fortunes for Little Things.
Naturally. when a great inventionis pu
upon the market the inventor is exploite
In all the newspapers and magazines. bu
when some little trlne is brought out Their
Is hardly any notice taken of the man him
solf or what he has given to the world, bn
1t 10 Just such little things that have beer
II not the source. the start Of great for
tunes
j.. w. McGnl In 1867 invented the It'll
metal paper fastener without which no OF
hee Is now considered complete. and thong
but a trine Il made wealth for its inventor
Such little thing as the rubber tip on
pencil brought 10000 to its inventor. Hy