Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1906-11-29
FORTUNE BY ACCIDENT,
Inventions Which Have Made the
Largest Returns to Inyestors


Largest Returns to Investors.
1t pays to think-even about trifes
Not long ago young man who wa
visiting In strange city had that ex
perience known to SO many when rid
Ing on street cars. He wanted to ge
Off at certain street, the name O
which he knew, but the locality q
which he was in ignorance. The cal
was crowded. He had told the conduc
tor the name OF the street, but as Is
not unusually the case the conductor
forgot.
Your streets two blocks back" said
the conductor suavely when the young
man asked him if he had arrived yet.
More or less angrily, The youth said
| ITS wonder somebody wouldn't
think of something that would tell a
passenger when he got to his street"
"Well, why don't you invent some
thing?' asked the conductor.
The young man got to thinking and
to working. The other day he refused
100000 for a street car device that
could be utilized to show the names Of
Is worth more. The man or woman
who conceives an idea that Is patent
able almost invariably has visions Of
immense wealth, but how the dream is
realized may be found by consulting
the patent office authorities, the men
who handle thousands of these "chiI-
1ren 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 originators Immensely
and famous as we'll.
One would naturally suppose that the
greatest returns would be from the
large affairs. such as the electric rail
-oad, the telephone and the telegraph, |
)ut such IS not the case, for the small |
inventions, mechanical toys
md puzzles have given quicker returns
md greater profits for the money ex-
pended than any Of the large affairs
The man who invented Pigs in Clov-
r. happened to strike the public fan
y, and millions Of people all over the
ountry were chasing the little marbles
nto the middle pen. That man made
lillions on his simple puzzle because
e launched it at the right time.
J. w. McGill In 1867 invented the
tile metal paper fastener, without
'hich no office Is now considered com
lete, and though but trifie it made
ealth for its inventor Such little
hing as the rubber tip on a pencil
rought 100000 to it's inventor, Hy-
IAN l.. Lipman, and that small piece
t metal which you wear on the heel
your shoe to protect it had made up {
} 1887 over 81 100000 for it's protector
man named Garfield first hit upon ,
le notion OF making arlnpit shields ,
aamless with sheet Of cloth covered '
18th rubber, and it brought him an in +
)me of many thousands year The t
ian who invented the metal fastenings {
)r buttons must have been a bachelor. /
,r 1t did away with sewing, but it
ade him millionaire. o
The barbed wire fence, about which
ANY have said unkind things as they
themselves, was worth
yer Sl,5O0OOO in royalties to the orig II
ator. A countryman, whose loss from Is
'gs being broken on their way to mar
It was a serious thing. evolved the
ca OF packing them in seperate COM n
irtments, and this simple device is n
wv used altogether, and that country b'
an is not obliged to toll for his daily
ead.
Criminals have played an important y.
lrt In some Of the worlds greatest CT
and some have made small a., a.
rtunes out Of their discoveries. Al
larles Filler, who devised the new
,kstitch sewing machine, was serving
fourth term for burglary when his
ga was perfected. When he was re- pi
lsed his idea was backed by some WI
pitalsts and he was given a salary va va
$4,000 year to superintend the
lstruction Of the machines, in addi-
II to royalty. At the same time he ~.
q his English rights for S5O. 600 cash g.
d $4,000 worth of stock OF the En- N,
Sh company.-Chicago Inter Ocean. A.,