Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-30

men L. Lipnan. and that small piece Of
metal which you wear on the heel Of your
shoe to protect H. has made up 10 1881 over
ti.OOoooo for it's protector.
A man named Canheid first hit upon the
notion Of making arrn-pit shields seamless,
with a sheet OF oloth-oovered rubber. and Il
brought him an income OF many thousands
a year. The man who invented the metal
fastenings for buttons must have been a
bachelor. for II ala away with sewing. but
Il made him millionaire.
The barbed wire fence. about which
many have said unkind things as they dis
entangled themselves. was worth over
s1,5OcoO in royalties to the originator. A
countryman. whose loss from eggs being
broken on their way to market was a Sc
rious thing. evolved the idea OF packing
them In Separate compartments, and this
simple device Ia now used altogether, and
the countryman is not obliged to toll for
his daily bread.
1t must not be thought from this that
the field Of invention 10 occupied entirely
by man, for II IL not. Woman has en-
tered into competition with him in this
field also. and some OF her patents have
been as useful and az good money makers
as those belonging to the sterner sex. In
ventions by women cover all the branches
Of life, and, strange to say, quite as many
patents are granted them for improved
machinery as for articles OF women
wear.
The first patent ever granted to woman
In the United States was for a machine
for the weaving OF straw with silk or
thread. and this was patented in 1909 by
| Mary Kies. Mary Jane Montgomery In
vented the moving machine, and in 1855
she took out patent on a machine for
punching holes in corrugated metal Her
many inventions netted her a considerable
| fortune, as fortunes went In those days.
woman In California made over $4,000
| from her Invention Of the baby carriage,
and a woman in Washington, Mrs. John
son. made a good thing out OF the inven-
ton OF the ice cream freezer, for before
that time all cream was stirred with a
spoon until II was frozen.
Criminals have played an important part
Id some Of the worlds greatest invsn-
lions. and some have made small fortunes
out Of their discoveries. Charles Filler
who devised the new lock-stitch sewing
| machine, was serving his fourth term fol
burglary when the idea was perfected
| When he was released his idea was backed
by some capitalists and he was given q
salary OF 5000 a year to superintend tn,
construction of the machines in addition
TO a royalty. At the same time he sold hi
English rights for 10000 cash ana $500
worth Of stock of the English company
Four governments OF the old world arr
now using a coin. maker that was desisne,
by a oounterfeiter, and It was only from
the fact that his coins were so perfect!
made that he was discovered. The atten
tion OF Scotland Yard was called to tn
almost perfect coins that were being circu
lated, with the result that Henry Harve!
was lodged In Jail as a counterfeiter. Thu
government recognized that here was I
machine far in advance OF what IT wa
using, and, as there was no patent on II
appropriated 1t.
The discovery of thernite has helped
science and mechanics to such an exten
that one steel manufacturer remarked tina
1t would. when in general use. decrease tn
cost OF steel ships one-third, yet the in
ventor was Fritz Won Schmidt, known Il
the European police as Count Ether" be
cause he was setentist who. when wante'
for burglary. always vanished as quickl,
as that volatile spirit. Won Schmidt wa
discovered by mis- efforts to patent his In
vention. He explained to patent agent Il
Berlin what his patent would do. and OF
fered to make his way into the attorney
safe, but the attorney called up the polio
instead
Acetyisne gas. one Of the most importan
Industrial Inventions Of the last decade
was stumbled upon by accident by ma
named Wilson. who had an electrical fur
mace in North Carolina for mstallurgicc
! purposes From time to time he used
great deal OF rock salt in his furnace stock
and also limestone as a hux. wheneve
these two materials were fused together
as he noticed after while, the slags pro
duced by the intense electrical heat IN
cluded a dirty grayish substance wholly uu
like anything he had ever seen.
How Cnrborundnm Was Found.
For weeks he noticed this substance with
out giving more than a passing thought I