The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-03-01
Patents Are Gold Mines

| Whenever a new patent comes out.
especially some little thing that any
body might have made, you will al
ways hear the remark: why couldn't
| have thought OF that?" Fortunes
are made from even the most trivial
contrivances. A man walked from
Philadelphia to Washington to patent
the gimlet pointed screw, and the SIM
pie idea eventually earned him more
than a million dollars. The rubber tip
on the end of lead pencils maze its
inventor rich. The metal point at the
end of your shoestring earned for
tune for the woman who thought of
it, and the copper cap that SO long
adorned the toes of children's shoes
earned 100000 for the lucky person
who patented it,
Many valuable inventions were hit
upon in a most accidental way. The
art of making sugar while was dis
covered by a harmless. old speckled
hen. This feathered matron one day
| went out for walk through a field
OF clay and later without taking the
precautiOn to wipe her feet. walked
through a sugar mill on the same plan
tatlOn, scattering clay over the loose
mounds Of sugar as she went past. AT
terWard it was discovered that where
ever her tracks had fallen on the moist
sugar the clay had whitened it. Scien-
fists took the matter up and from this
incident introduced the method of
bleaching sugar by the clay process.
A dog gave us the art of dying cloth.
One afternoon, so many years ago that
the date is of small consequence, a
noted man and his sweetheart went
for walk along the sands of the sea-
shore in a far off country. A little
dog trailed along at their heels and
becoming weary of SO much lOve-mak-
ing finally ran ahead and went fishing
among the rocks. One particular shell
fish which he captured and devOured,
exuded a fluid which dyed the hair
about his mouth pretty purple. In
vestigation of this incident founded
the science of dying cloth.
Chance Plays Part.
A man from Michigan was told by
the doctors to take his wife South for
her health. He purchased big wagon
and team for the trip, and thought to
make some profit by carrying a stock
of feather busters to sell along the
way. One day he went to the factory
where his busters were being made
and while standing in the yard talk
ing to one of the employees. picked
up from the ground one of the strut
tiers" or tail feathers from the turkey
the refuse from the buster factory.
He began idly twisting the thread
back and forth through it's broken
edges and the idea of the featherbOne
came to him. The featherbone is the
successor of the whalebOne, and is
indispensable in the attire of the mod
ern woman. He patented the idea,
and received SO much money for 1t
that he will never have to travel
overland IN wagon again unless
he wants to
A man standing in front of the post
office in Washington bent small
piece of tin in his fingers until it
took the shape of T. This would
make a good paper fastener, he re-
marked to the man with whom he was
talking. and he straightway had the
idea patented Another man made
money from the device Oh an i'm
bedded string in the end OF an enveE
ope to cut the paper as it Is drawn
out. Still another man added TO this
idea by tying a knot in the end OF
the string to keep it from being drawn
through.
1t is interesting to note how man
has borrowed many of his ideas from
the animal world. Wasps made pa
per from wood long before man did.
The folding scissors and folding peck
ct compass are only copies OF the
folding jaw of the dragon fly. The
flying squid, species of cuttlefish,
has way of projecting Itself as high
as twelve feet above the service by
forcibly expelling water from its body.
Man saw this and invented the sky
rocket. The rope making machine
used in the United States navy yards
follows almost the precise lines that
a spider does when making his own
frail cable.
Women have been prominent in the
field Of invention and there are more
than $500 different devices credited to
their ingenuity. OF this list of things
invented by women about so per cent
are devoted to the nome, the kitchen
and to dress The nrst patent a Wo-
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